Long lines at the Newseum

The Newseum opened its doors yesterday to thousands of people who perused it, skimmed it, devoured it and panned it, treating the giant edifice to newsgathering and the First Amendment much like a hometown paper.

"I loved the history. Being my age, it was nice to look back on all the events during my lifetime, all the news," said Katherine Rice, 63, of the Tri-Cities area of Washington state, as she ate yogurt in the cafeteria. "And I loved the pictures. The Pulitzer photographs. And the cartoons -- don't forget the cartoons."

The 250,000-square-foot Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue marked its grand opening with free admission. For most of the day, the line stretched more than a block. About 10,800 people packed into the high-tech, glass-encased museum. Newseum spokeswoman Susan Bennett said that the facility reached capacity "sometime after 2 p.m." and that more than 1,000 free tickets were handed out to people who couldn't get in yesterday to come back today.