Oprah Winfrey has a new exhibit honoring her legacy at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. The new Smithsonian exhibit will be available for the public to see until June 2019.

About the exhibit

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that when Oprah gave up her successful talk show after 25 years and 4,561 episodes, she closed her Harpo Studios in Chicago in 2011. She did not get rid of her furnishings. Instead, she put most of it in storage in Chicago. That was a wise idea because those things are now part of an exhibit at the National Museum of African American History and Culture for the public to see and reminisce about the show they loved.

The exhibit is called “Watching Oprah: The Oprah Winfrey Show and American Culture.” It is a big display of Oprah's personal things that were used on the show over two decades. Oprah donated $21 million for the construction of the museum, but officials say that is not why she is being honored with an exhibit. For her contribution to the building of the museum, a theater there is named after her.

The well-known 64-year-old celebrity was given a year-long exhibit because the media mogul, actress, producer, network owner, and philanthropist has influenced America with her work. Therefore, it is appropriate for her belongings to be there for the public to see.

Contents of the exhibit

Viewers of the exhibit will see over 240 items they will recognize and remember.

The items include some of Oprah's costumes she wore as well as some of her awards she received while hosting her talk show.

Winfrey's visit to see the exhibit

On June 6, Winfrey toured the exhibit to see exactly what the public will see when they visit.

She had no idea what was there because Museum Director Lonnie Bunch III indicated that the exhibit was chosen by the museum, and the contents were decided by the museum. He added that Oprah and her staff had very little to do with the contents of the exhibit.

When Oprah did the walkthrough, she was with her best friend and co-host Gayle King, because the visit was being taped to air on “CBS This Morning.” Gayle was very emotional when she saw all the familiar items.

The exhibit will be at the museum long enough for everyone to see it at their leisure. It might take a considerable amount of time to view all the items because the exhibit is so big that it is divided into three sections that cover different phases of Oprah's legacy.
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