The Museum Resource Center (MRCE) houses over 1.7 million archeological objects from 34 park units of the National Capital Region (NCR) of the National Park Service. Archeological collections curated at MRCE include:
- Prehistoric artifacts dating back 13,000 years, representing the first evidence of human settlement in the Potomac River Valley;
- Historic objects from colonial frontier sites, farmsteads, plantations, slave quarters, tenant homes, industrial sites, historic amusement parks, and urban sites, including the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, Petersen House, and Arlington House;
- Civil War artifacts from famous battlefields managed by NCR including Antietam National Battlefield, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Manassas National Battlefield Park, and Monocacy National Battlefield;
- Artifacts associated with WWII training grounds at Prince William Forest Park, operated by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), America’s first intelligence agency between 1942 and 1945, and WWII prisoner of war interrogation facilities at Fort Hunt (part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway).