Dumbarton Oaks

Enjoy Dumbarton Oaks Safely

Learn more about Dumbarton Oaks’ response to COVID-19, virtual opportunities, and plans to reopen the museum and gardens to visitors.

Land Back: Indigenous Landscapes of Resurgence and Freedom

Register now for the 2021 Garden and Landscape Studies virtual symposium, in which speakers highlight the many ways Indigenous peoples understand and practice land relations for political resurgence and freedom across the Americas.

Rare Book Collection Strengths

Discover the Rare Book Collection in a new descriptive tool that offers a detailed overview of the collection’s holdings and allows researchers to explore connections through broad thematic categories, such as travel, cartography, and technology.

Margaret Mee: Portraits of Plants

Centered on the paintings of botanical artist Margaret Mee, this exhibit explores the traditions of women botanical artists and illustrators primarily using materials from the Rare Book Collection.

Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection supports research and learning internationally in Byzantine, Garden and Landscape, and Pre-Columbian studies through fellowships and internships, meetings, and exhibitions. Located in residential Georgetown, Dumbarton Oaks welcomes researchers at all career stages who come to study its books, objects, images, and documents. It opens its doors to the public to visit its historic garden, designed by Beatrix Farrand; its museum, with world-class collections of art; and its Music Room, for lectures and concerts. The institute disseminates knowledge through its publications and online resources. Innovative programming has introduced students of all ages to the museum, garden, and collections.

Learn MorePlan Your Visit

Please note, the gardens are only open to season pass holders and docents at this time. Purchase season passes here.

Learn more about Dumbarton Oaks’ response to COVID-19, virtual opportunities, and plans to reopen the museum and gardens to visitors.

Upcoming Events

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Apr 29, 2021 - Jun 10, 2021

Land Back: Indigenous Landscapes of Resurgence and Freedom

In this symposium, speakers highlight the many ways Indigenous peoples understand and practice land relations for political resurgence and freedom across the Americas.

May 07, 2021 - May 08, 2021

The Empire of the Ancestors: The Wari of the Middle Horizon

Participants discuss and evaluate the role of ancestral veneration in Wari expansionism.

May 06, 2022 - May 07, 2022

Call for Papers—Landscapes in the Making

Garden and Landscape Studies Symposium, in partnership with the Mellon Initiative in Urban Landscape Studies

Research

Dumbarton Oaks supports and publishes scholarship in the three areas of study supported by Robert Woods Bliss and Mildred Barnes Bliss: Byzantine Studies, including related aspects of late Roman, early Christian, western Medieval, Slavic, and Near Eastern Studies; Pre-Columbian Studies of Mexico, Central America, and Andean South America; and Garden and Landscape Studies, including garden history, landscape architecture, and related disciplines.

Studies Programs Fellowships & Awards Library & Archives Publications