July 3, 2026 | 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
For one day only, the Federal Circuit Center for Innovation & Law is opening its doors to the public for Justice Up Close, History All Around, a special America250 program on the eve of Independence Day.
Inside the National Courts Building Complex, visitors will not simply read about history. They will step into it. Just steps from the White House, this landmark building connects Dolley Madison and Paul Jennings, the fight for women’s suffrage, NASA’s first headquarters, and the work of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit today.
Through cutting-edge technology, state-of-the-art interactive screens, historic spaces, courtroom experiences, hands-on activities, and rare artifacts, visitors will explore how law, innovation, science, and civic action have shaped the nation.
Guests can move from immersive digital exhibits to real courtrooms, from space artifacts to stories of invention, protest, and progress, and from America’s past to the legal questions shaping its future.
Review the Security & Entry information before your visit so you know which items are not permitted and what to expect during screening.
To help manage security screening and visitor flow, please plan to arrive no earlier than 15 minutes before and no later than 15 minutes after your scheduled entry time. Entry is not guaranteed for visitors who arrive more than 15 minutes after their scheduled entry time.
- May 19
- June 10
- June 29
- McPherson Square: Orange, Blue, and Silver Lines, White House exit
- Metro Center: Red Line, 12th Street exit
- Farragut North: Red Line, K Street exit
Hear directly from federal judges during 25-minute judge panels in a Federal Circuit courtroom. Judges will take the bench as three-judge panels, talk briefly about their work, and answer questions from the audience.
Join the action in a live mock trial. Seven audience members will step into courtroom roles, including judge, attorneys, witnesses, Granville T. Woods, and others, while the rest of the audience serves as the jury. Led by Federal Circuit attorneys, this 45-minute program is based on a real 1887 dispute involving Woods, an African American inventor whose story reveals powerful connections among law, technology, race, and Reconstruction.
Meet figures from the building’s past through interactive historical interpretation that connects the building’s early history to larger stories of power, freedom, and civic life in Washington, D.C.
Explore interactive digital exhibits, historic spaces, rare NASA and SpaceX artifacts, hands-on courtroom activities, and family-friendly craft and passport stations while discovering how history, law, science, and innovation connect from women’s suffrage, and NASA’s first headquarters to the Federal Circuit’s work today.
