This research compares the descriptions of museum interiors in the "Russian Diaries" by American writers T.Dreiser and J.Steinbeck. The article identifies similarities in the purposes and circumstances of their two visits, characterizes the stylistic features of the descriptions, and reveals the individual characteristics of the spaces portrayed in the analyzed accounts. It has been established that the authors demonstrate their negative attitude towards absolute power in both works, both explicitly and through symbolic subtext. The historical space preserved in the museum exhibitions of Tsarskoye Selo and the Kremlin, together with its subjective assessment, helps authors identify the causes of historical events and the essence of the historically formed system of state governance. Dreiser, however, evaluates the museum exhibition solely as evidence of the past, while Steinbeck, infusing the description with psychological observations, projects his insights into the present, suggesting possible parallels between czarist and imperial power and central authority in post-war Russia.