AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: The National Mall in Washington, D.C., took a step closer to normalcy today. Four Smithsonian museums and the National Gallery of Art reopened to the public. Millions of people visit the free museums in a typical year to see their collections of important objects from American history and culture. NPR s Elizabeth Blair has more.
ELIZABETH BLAIR, BYLINE: As soon as free passes to the Smithsonian s National Museum of African American History and Culture were available, Allyson Carpenter was ready.
ALLYSON CARPENTER: And I called. I had them on the phone. I had them on the internet. And so I just wanted to make sure I was going to get passes cause I ve been through this before.