American Banjo Museum, Oklahoma City (must see)

The American Banjo Museum has 21,000 square feet of space with over 400 instruments on display. The museum's extensive collections also include memorabilia, instructional materials, and printed music, video, film, and recordings.

Replicas of banjos spanning from the age of African slavery, the Minstrel show age, and the era up through World War II help tell the story of this instrument's evolution. The collection of Jazz Era banjos from the 1920s and 30s includes some of the most ornate designs that anyone will appreciate, regardless of their musical tastes.

A couple of examples of unique items to see include a banjo head that President Roosevelt signed in 1933 and Frederick Bacon's personal scrapbook. The instructional materials and print music are among some of the oldest in circulation, dating back to the late 1800s. An interpretive exhibit spanning eight minutes, "America's Instrument", is one of many exhibitions that detail how the instrument has evolved since the 1600s.