This accession consists of task force reports created as part of strategic planning at the National Museum of American History (NMAH) during the tenure of Spencer R.
Crew. The strategic planning process involved the creation of task forces that were charged with examining a variety of areas at NMAH : 20th century research and collecting,
community studies, education, exhibits maintenance, music programs, new media, project management, research, collection information system, staff development, collections
documentation standards, collections management procedures, exhibit review and approval process, exhibits upgrades, external affairs, and the public space reinstallation plan.
Materials include reports.
33.22 cu. ft. (56 document boxes) (9 tall document boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Manuscripts
Letterpress copybooks
Date:
1853-1962
Descriptive Entry:
This record unit includes correspondence of the division, 1861, 1877, 1881-1937; correspondence of assistant and associate curator Clarence R. Shoemaker, 1919-1958;
monthly and annual reports, 1881-1936; invoices of specimens received and sent out, 1853-1921; catalogue of duplicate specimens, 1872-1881; and historical material and typescripts.
Historical Note:
The origins of the collection of marine invertebrates under the care of the Smithsonian Institution can be traced to the collections made by William Stimpson while
serving as zoologist on the North Pacific Exploring Expedition, 1853-1856, and the specimens collected by the United States Exploring Expedition, which were transferred to
the Smithsonian in 1858. Stimpson seems to have been, nominally at least, in charge of the Smithsonian marine invertebrate collections until 1865. By that date the Smithsonian
collection of crustacea numbered more than 10,000 jars - the largest in the world at that time. Beginning in the 1870s, large collections of marine invertebrates came to the
Smithsonian as a result of the various expeditions conducted by the U. S. Fish Commission. Many of these specimens were retained at Yale University by Addison Emery Verrill
for study and identification and did not reach the United States National Museum until 1907.
As a result of a general reorganization of the United States National Museum, the Department of Marine Invertebrates was established in 1880. Under its care were all recent
invertebrates, marine and aquatic (excepting mollusks and insects), including protozoans, sponges, coelenterates, echinoderms, ascidians, worms, bryozoans, and crustaceans.
Richard Rathbun (1852-1918), a scientific assistant with the U. S. Fish Commission, was appointed honorary curator of Marine Invertebrates in 1880 and retained the title until
1914. In 1897, he was appointed assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, and responsibility for the administration of the Division of Marine Invertebrates fell
largely on the two assistant curators, James E. Benedict and Mary Jane Rathbun.
Prior to his appointment as assistant curator in 1890, James F. Benedict (1854-1930) had served as naturalist on the U. S. Fish Commission steamer Albatross. He
continued his duties in the Division of Marine Invertebrates until 1909 when he accepted appointment as Chief of Exhibits in the Department of Biology, United States National
Museum (USNM).
Mary Jane Rathbun (1860-1943), a sister of Richard Rathbun, was appointed copyist in the Department of Marine Invertebrates in 1886. She was promoted to aid in 1893 and
assistant curator in 1894. After her resignation in 1914, she was given the honorary title associate in zoology, and she remained in close association with the museum until
her death in 1943.
In 1897 USNM was reorganized into three departments: Biology, Geology, and Anthropology, with Marine Invertebrates as a division of the Department of Biology. On October
16, 1914, the Division of Marine Invertebrates was merged with the Division of Mollusks into a single division under the former title. Richard Rathbun resigned as curator,
and the position was assumed by Paul Bartsch. The collection of echinoderms was removed from the Division of Marine Invertebrates on April 1, 1919, and a separate Division
of Echinoderms was created with Austin H. Clark as curator. Clark had served as assistant curator in the Division of Marine Invertebrates since 1909. On February 1, 1921 the
collections of mollusks were removed from the Division of Marine Invertebrates, and the Division of Mollusks was reestablished with Paul Bartsch as curator. Waldo LaSalle
Schmitt assumed the curatorship of the Division of Marine Invertebrates.
In 1947 another administrative reorganization took place in the USNM. As part of the reorganization, the Department of Biology was divided into Departments of Botany and
Zoology, with Marine Invertebrates becoming a division of the Department of Zoology. In 1964 the Department of Zoology was divided into three departments: Vertebrate Zoology,
Invertebrate Zoology, and Entomology, with Marine Invertebrates a division of the Department of Invertebrate Zoology. On July 1, 1965 the Division of Marine Invertebrates
was abolished and three new divisions were formed - Crustacea, Echinoderms, and Worms - and were joined with the existing Division of Mollusks to form the Department of Invertebrate
Zoology.
Rehder, Harald Alfred, 1907- , interviewee Search this
Extent:
6 audiotapes (Reference copies).
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Transcripts
Audiotapes
Date:
1976-1977
Introduction:
The Smithsonian Institution Archives began its Oral History Program in 1973. The purpose of the program is to supplement the written documentation of the Archives'
record and manuscript collections with an Oral History Collection, focusing on the history of the Institution, research by its scholars, and contributions of its staff. Program
staff conduct interviews with current and retired Smithsonian staff and others who have made significant contributions to the Institution. There are also interviews conducted
by researchers or student on topics related to the history of the Smithsonian or the holdings of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Rehder was interviewed for the Oral History Collection because of his long and notable research career at the USNM. On May 13, 1982, Rehder was honored by his colleagues
for fifty years of service to the Institution.
Descriptive Entry:
Rehder was interviewed by Pamela M. Henson on five occasions between June 1976 and March 1977. The interviews cover his youth, early interests in natural history, education,
career in the Division of Mollusks of the USNM, reminiscences of Paul Bartsch, Austin Hobart Clark, Waldo LaSalle Schmitt, and other colleagues, field work, and research in
the systematics and geographic distribution of mollusks, especially marine mollusks of the Indo-Pacific region.
Historical Note:
Harald Alfred Rehder (1907-1996), was an invertebrate zoologist specializing in systematic malacology. The son of a botanist, Rehder developed an interest in natural history
early in his youth. These interests were fostered through shell clubs and the Boston Society of Natural History, especially by Charles W. Johnson. Rehder received the B.A.
from Bowdoin College in 1929, M.A. from Harvard University in 1933, and Ph.D. in zoology from the George Washington University in 1934. During his Harvard years, Rehder studied
fresh water land snails and Caribbean non-marine mollusks under the malacologist William James Clench. His career at the United States National Museum (USNM) began in 1932
as Senior Scientific Aid to Paul Bartsch, Curator of the Division of Mollusks. Rehder advanced to Assistant Curator in 1934 and Associate Curator in 1942. After assuming the
Curatorship in 1946, Rehder focused his research program on the systematics and geographic distribution of Indo-Pacific marine mollusks, and has been on many expeditions to
that region. In 1965 he was appointed Senior Zoologist in the division, and after his retirement in 1980 continued his research as Zoologist Emeritus.
Rights:
Restricted. Audio recordings may not be used without permission. Contact SIHistory@si.edu to request permission.
Wright, A. Gilbert, (Arthur Gilbert), 1909-1987, interviewee Search this
Extent:
9 audiotapes (Reference copies).
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Transcripts
Audiotapes
Place:
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (Saint Louis, Mo.)
Date:
1983
Introduction:
The Smithsonian Institution Archives began its Oral History Program in 1973. The purpose of the program is to supplement the written documentation of the Archives'
record and manuscript collections with an Oral History Collection, focusing on the history of the Institution, research by its scholars, and contributions of its staff. Program
staff conduct interviews with current and retired Smithsonian staff and others who have made significant contributions to the Institution. There are also interviews conducted
by researchers or students on topics related to the history of the Smithsonian or the holdings of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Wright was interviewed for the Oral History Collection because of his long and wide-ranging experience in the museum field.
Descriptive Entry:
Wright was interviewed by Pamela M. Henson on five occasions between May and November of 1983. The interviews cover Wright's youth; early interests in museums, natural
history, and taxidermy; his education; museum career at the Illinois State Museum, Peabody Museum of Natural History, Florida State Museum, National Park Service, and Smithsonian
Institution; internship at the Buffalo Museum of Science; teaching at George Washington University; reminiscences of colleagues such as Arthur Sterry Coggeshall, Ralph H.
Lewis, Alexander Wetmore, and John E. Anglim; and his publications and professional activities.
Historical Note:
Arthur Gilbert Wright (1909-1987), was a zoologist and exhibits curator, with diverse interests in natural history, exhibits preparation, and writing. Born in Carthage,
Illinois, in 1909, Wright developed an interest in natural history, taxidermy, and museum curatorship in his youth. After receiving a B.A. in biology from Carthage College
in 1932, he was appointed Zoologist at the Illinois State Museum (ISM) in 1933. Wright gained broad museum experience as a Rockefeller Foundation intern at the Buffalo Museum
of Science in 1937-1938. During his ISM tenure, he published two volumes, The Illinois State Museum, Guide to Exhibits, and Common Illinois Insects. He received
the M.S. degree in zoology from the University of Illinois at Urbana in 1946. Wright served briefly as Chief of the School Service Department of the Peabody Museum of Natural
History at Yale in 1947-1948. In 1953 he left the ISM to accept a position as Curator of Exhibits at the Florida State Museum (FSM) in Gainesville. During the fifties, Wright
prepared exhibits for the main FSM building, a "museumobile," and historical site museums throughout the state. In 1961, Wright was appointed Jefferson National Expansion
Memorial in St. Louis. The project was abruptly terminated in 1963 due to cost overruns for the Gateway Arch. Wright then joined the staff of the Office of Exhibits Programs
at the Smithsonian Institution, as Assistant Chief with responsibilities for planning exhibits renovation in the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). In 1971-1972 Wright
was Assistant to the Director of the NMNH for exhibits planning and during this time developed the Insect Zoo. When the Office of Exhibits was reorganized in 1972, Wright
became a writer/editor in the Office of the Exhibits Editor until his retirement in 1975.
In the early 1970s, Wright began teaching courses in museology at George Washington University. After his retirement, he directed their new Museum Studies Program until
1978. Throughout his career, Wright was an active member of the American Association of Museums and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
National Museum of the American Indian. Community Services Department Search this
Extent:
2 cu. ft. (2 record storage boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Manuscripts
Videotapes
Audiotapes
Date:
1991-1998
Descriptive Entry:
This accession consists of materials which document Museum Training Workshops (MTW) conducted by the Community Services Department. Topics covered in workshops include
museum stores, planning and developing cultural and educational programs, fundraising, collections care and management, curatorial methods, tribal archives, and facilities
planning. Materials include agendas, attendee lists, and audio and video recordings on DAT audiotapes, VHS videotapes, and 8mm videocassettes.
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 09-236, National Museum of the American Indian. Community Services Department, Museum Training Workshop Records
5 videotapes (Reference copies). 7 digital .wmv files and .rm files (Reference copies).
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Transcripts
Videotapes
Date:
1987-1988
Introduction:
The Smithsonian Videohistory Program, funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation from 1986 until 1992, used video in historical research. Additional collections have
been added since the grant project ended. Videohistory uses the video camera as a historical research tool to record moving visual information. Video works best in historical
research when recording people at work in environments, explaining artifacts, demonstrating process, or in group discussion. The experimental program recorded projects that
reflected the Institution's concern with the conduct of contemporary science and technology.
Eighteen Smithsonian historians participated in the program to document visual aspects of their on-going historical research. Projects covered topics in the physical and
biological sciences as well as in technological design and manufacture. To capture site, process, and interaction most effectively, projects were taped in offices, factories,
quarries, laboratories, observatories, and museums. Resulting footage was duplicated, transcribed, and deposited in the Smithsonian Institution Archives for scholarship, education,
and exhibition. The collection is open to qualified researchers.
Descriptive Entry:
Pamela M. Henson, Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, interviewed scientists in the museum's Department of Paleobiology who developed
its extensive fossil collection. She used the fossil collections to stimulate discussion of the history of the collections and visually documented fossil preparation techniques.
This collection consists of three interview sessions, totaling approximately 4:04 hours of recordings, and 115 pages of transcript.
For additional information on Cooper, see Record Unit 7318, G. Arthur Cooper Papers, Record Unit 328, Department of Paleobiology Records, and Record Unit 9524, G. Arthur
Cooper Oral History Interviews, Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Historical Note:
The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) of the Smithsonian Institution houses one of the world's major paleontological collections. In addition, museum curators
have developed many innovative techniques for handling, processing, and interpreting fossils.
Scientists interviewed for the project included G. Arthur Cooper (1902-2000), who received a B.S. degree from Colgate University in 1924 with a major in chemistry and an
M.S. in 1926. He was awarded a Ph.D. from Yale University in 1929 for his thesis on the stratigraphy of the Hamilton formation. In 1930 he was appointed Assistant Curator
in the Division of Stratigraphic Paleontology of the United States National Museum (USNM) and by 1957 assumed head curatorship of the Department of Geology, where he oversaw
its division into separate departments of Paleobiology and Mineral Sciences in 1963. He continued as Chairman of the Department of Paleobiology until he was appointed Senior
Paleobiologist in 1967. He retired from federal service in 1974 but continued his research as paleobiologist emeritus at the Smithsonian Institution until June 1987.
J. Thomas Dutro, Jr., (1923-2010) began his career as a geologist and paleontologist with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in 1948. He received his A.B. from
Oberlin College in 1948 and his M.S. and Ph.D. from Yale University in 1950 and 1953 respectively. He was stationed in the USGS offices in NMNH, and, in 1962, was appointed
Research Associate of the Smithsonian Institution. His interests include the Paleozoic stratigraphy of Alaska and the western United States and the systematics of late Paleozoic
Brachiopoda.
Richard E. Grant (1927-1995) received his B.A. in 1949 and M.S. in 1953 from the University of Minnesota and his Ph.D. in geology from the University of Texas at Austin
in 1958. From 1961 to 1972 he worked as a geologist and paleontologist with the USGS until he assumed the position of Chairman of the Department of Paleobiology at NMNH in
1972. In 1977 he was appointed Geologist in that department and in 1983 became Curator and Senior Geologist. His research interests include the brachiopods and stratigraphy
of the Permian period.
Ellis L. Yochelson (1928-2006) was a paleontologist with the USGS from 1952 until his retirement in 1985. During those years he occupied an office in NMNH and in 1967 was
appointed a Research Associate in the Department of Paleobiology. A specialist in extinct mollusks, concentrating on the evolution of gastropods, Dr. Yochelson received B.S.
and M.S. degrees from the University of Kansas and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. His research interests included the history of geology.
National Museum of Natural History. Department of Invertebrate Zoology Search this
Extent:
11 cu. ft. (22 document boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Manuscripts
Date:
1952-1973
Descriptive Entry:
This record unit contains records of the Department of Invertebrate Zoology, 1964-1972, as well as records created by its predecessor, the Department of Zoology, 1952-1964.
Most of the latter records document the Department of Zoology under Head Curators Herbert Friedmann, 1957-1961; Fenner A. Chace, Jr., acting head curator, 1961-1962; and Horton
H. Hobbs, Jr., 1962-1964. A small amount of records were created during the head curatorship of Waldo LaSalle Schmitt, 1947-1957. For administrative histories of the Department
of Zoology see Record Units 143 and 243. Included in the record unit is general correspondence of the Department of Zoology, 1952-1964 and the Department of Invertebrate Zoology,
1964-1973; files of the chairman of the Department of Invertebrate Zoology, 1964-1973; annual reports, 1956-1972; and administrative records, 1954-1972.
Historical Note:
The Department of Invertebrate Zoology was created in 1964 when the Department of Zoology was divided into three new departments: Vertebrate Zoology, Invertebrate Zoology,
and Entomology. The Divisions of Marine Invertebrates and Mollusks were under administrative control of the newly created Department. On July 1, 1965, the Division of Marine
Invertebrates was abolished and three new divisions were formed--Crustacea, Echinoderms, and Worms--and were joined with the existing Division of Mollusks to form the Department
of Invertebrate Zoology. Chairmen of the Department of Invertebrate Zoology have included Donald F. Squires, 1964-1965; Joseph Rosewater, acting chairman, 1966; Raymond B.
Manning, 1967-1971; David L. Pawson, 1971-1976; and W. Duane Hope, 1976- .
Folder 1 January, 1889 - June, 1889. Includes a letter of 7 February, from Samuel P. Langley to George Brown Goode concerning a major reorganization of the Department of Geology, USNM. The letter also contains Langley's opinions on offering the curator...
Collection Creator::
Smithsonian Institution. Assistant Secretary in charge of the United States National Museum Search this
Container:
Box 2 of 5
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 54, Smithsonian Institution, Assistant Secretary in charge of the United States National Museum, Correspondence and Memoranda
Japan Expedition, 1852-1854: The Personal Journal of Commodore Matthew C. Perry (Monograph)
Extent:
1 cu. ft. (1 record storage box)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Books
Brochures
Clippings
Manuscripts
Black-and-white photographs
Color negatives
Color photographs
Place:
Japan
Date:
1966-1985
Descriptive Entry:
Roger Pineau was the Managing Editor of the Smithsonian Institution (SI) Press and an officer (retired) of the U.S. Navy. The Pineau Papers contain documentation on
his curatorship of the Smithsonian exhibition "The Japan Expedition of Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, 1852-1854," held at the National Museum of Natural History in November-December
1968, and Pineau's editorship of the publication of Perry's journals from the expedition, The Japan Expedition, 1852-1854: The Personal Journal of Commodore Matthew C.
Perry (SI Press, 1968).
This accession contains copies of original Commodore Perry correspondence and journals, loan files concerning objects on loan for the exhibition, research files on Perry
and the Japan Expedition, research files relating to public and private sources of Perry archival materials, and publication production files.
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (Saint Louis, Mo.)
Date:
circa 1936-1981 and undated
Descriptive Entry:
The papers of A. Gilbert Wright provide partial documentation of most aspects of his professional career. Included are materials concerning Wright's tenure as a Rockefeller
Foundation Intern at the Buffalo Museum of Science, 1937-1938; his work at the Florida State Museum, the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, and the Smithsonian Institution;
and his teaching career at the George Washington University (GWU). Less well represented are records documenting his thirteen-year career at the Illinois State Museum, and
his brief tenure at the Peabody Museum of Natural History. The collection includes both personal and professional correspondence received and written by Wright between 1936
and 1981. The correspondence includes a voluminous exchange with his long-time friend, Roscoe Wilmeth, as well as letters documenting most of his professional appointments.
A small group of collected materials from Wright's professional work include his report on a tour of United States museums taken during the Rockefeller internship; teaching
records from his GWU course on museology; publications written by or concerning Wright; and records documenting his work at the Smithsonian, especially the By-Word Program
at the National Museum of Natural History. The collection also includes photographs and slides, many of which were taken by Wright. Included are images of Wright; the muralist,
Jay H. Matternes; Florida State Museum exhibits and personnel; and Smithsonian exhibits, laboratories, and research areas.
Historical Note:
A. Gilbert Wright (1909-1987) was a zoologist and exhibits curator with diverse interests in natural history, exhibits preparation, and writing. Born in Carthage, Illinois,
Wright developed an interest in natural history, taxidermy, and museum curatorship in his youth. After receiving the B.A. in biology from Carthage College in 1932, he was
appointed zoologist at the Illinois State Museum (ISM) in 1933. Wright gained broad museum experience as a Rockefeller Foundation intern at the Buffalo Museum of Science in
1937-1938. During his ISM tenure, he published two volumes, The Illinois State Museum, Guide to Exhibits and Common Illinois Insects. He received the M.S. degree
in zoology from the University of Illinois at Urbana in 1946. Wright served briefly as chief of the School Service Department of the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale
in 1947-1948. In 1953 he left the ISM to accept a position as curator of exhibits at the Florida State Museum (FSM) in Gainesville. During his tenure at FSM, Wright developed
exhibits for the main museum building, a "museumobile," and historical site museums throughout the state. In 1961, Wright was appointed chief of the Museum Planning Branch
of the National Park Service for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis. The project was abruptly terminated in 1963 due to cost overruns for the Gateway Arch.
Wright then joined the staff of the Office of Exhibits at the Smithsonian Institution, as assistant chief with responsibilities for planning exhibits renovation in the National
Museum of Natural History (NMNH). In 1971-1972 Wright was assistant to the director of the NMNH for exhibits planning and during this time developed the Insect Zoo. From 1972
until his retirement in 1975, he was a writer/editor in the Office of Exhibits Central.
In the early 1970s, Wright began teaching courses in museology at the George Washington University. After his retirement, he directed their new Museum Studies Program until
1978. Throughout his career, Wright was an active member of the American Association of Museums and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Researchers should consult the A. Gilbert Wright oral history interviews (Record Unit 9523), in the Smithsonian Institution Archives, for extensive information on Wright
and his career.
This record unit documents the administration of William Henry Holmes, first Curator of the National Gallery of Art (NGA), 1907-1920, and Director of the Gallery, 1920-1932.
To a lesser extent, it also documents the administration of Ruel P. Tolman, Acting Director of NGA, 1932-1937, and the National Collection of Fine Arts (NCFA), 1937-1946,
and Director of NCFA, 1946-1948. A few records from the Thomas M. Beggs administration (1948-1964) are also filed here.
Records document the routine operations of the NGA when it was a department of the United States National Museum, when it became a separate bureau of the Smithsonian, and
when it became the NCFA. The files include internal correspondence and log books, as well as numerous public inquiries about artists, works of art, exhibitions, and donations
of art and bequests. The Charles Lang Freer collection gift, the effects of early copyright laws regarding photographing art, and the long campaign for an NGA building are
documented here. These records also include many photographs of staff, collections, exhibitions, and the galleries. Exhibition materials such as catalogs, installation photographs,
shipping forms, invoices, and condition reports mostly document loan exhibitions and some new acquisitions. Frequent sponsors of loan exhibitions included the Pan American
Union/League, the American Federation of Arts, the Pennsylvania Society Club, the Metropolitan State Art Contest, and the Society of Washington Artists.
In addition, these records document campaigns to raise public and private support for the national art collection. There is correspondence with art galleries and reports
of visits to galleries throughout the United States, including the Carolina Art Association and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Minutes and reports show the functions and
activities of the National Gallery of Art Advisory Committee, National Gallery of Art Commission, and Smithsonian Gallery of Art Commission.
Important Smithsonian correspondents include Charles G. Abbot, Cyrus Adler, Richard Rathbun, William deC. Ravenel, Charles D. Walcott, and Alexander Wetmore. There is also
considerable correspondence with Leila Mechlin of the American Federation of Arts with Florence N. Levy, who was affiliated with the American Art Annual, and with various
women's clubs that helped promote the NGA.
Historical Note:
The history of the National Gallery of Art (later named the National Collection of Fine Arts) begins well before the foundation of the Smithsonian Institution. The
Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences was established in 1816; and John Varden founded his own museum, later called the Washington Museum, in 1829. These
two organizations eventually merged with the National Institution for the Promotion of Science, created in 1840, and incorporated by Congress as the National Institute in
1842. The National Institute displayed its art works in the newly-constructed Patent Office Building, under the care of John Varden. It boasted a large collection of John
Mix Stanley and Charles Bird King Indian portraits.
When the Smithsonian Institution was founded in 1846, Congress authorized its Regents to collect "all objects of art and of foreign and curious research." Although art
did not receive much focus until the early twentieth century, the collection slowly grew. Joseph Henry, first Secretary of the Smithsonian, purchased a large collection of
George Perkins Marsh etchings and engravings in 1849. In 1858 government-owned art works previously shown in the Patent Building were removed to the west wing of the Smithsonian
Institution Building ("Castle"), and in 1862, when the National Institute charter expired, its collections were transferred to the Smithsonian. The Smithsonian's small art
collection suffered a great setback in 1865, when most of the collection displayed on the second floor of the Castle was destroyed by fire. Surviving works were removed; prints
and drawings were stored at the Library of Congress, and paintings and sculptures at the Corcoran Gallery of Art (in the building now home to the Renwick Gallery).
Private contributions helped to rebuild the Smithsonian's art gallery. Most notably, Mrs. Joseph Harrison presented the Institution with a collection of George C. Catlin
Indian paintings in 1879, and the new works were shown in the Castle and in the newly-completed National Museum Building. In 1896 the remainder of the Smithsonian collection
was recalled from the Library of Congress and the Corcoran by Secretary Samuel P. Langley, and was added to the Catlin collection in the Castle and National Museum Buildings.
Langley also created an "Art Room" on the second floor of the Castle, which displayed reproductions of paintings, mostly portraits, by Old Masters, and a frieze of Parthenon
reliefs in plaster around the room.
At the turn of the century, however, a national gallery still did not exist in Washington, and pressure increased from outside the Smithsonian to create such an organization.
President Theodore Roosevelt campaigned for a National Gallery, but Congress failed to act on his request in 1904. In 1903 Harriet Lane Johnston, President James Buchanan's
niece and lady of the White House during his administration, bequeathed her large collection to a "national gallery of art." The trustees of her estate refused to release
her collection until such a gallery existed, and a legal battle ensued. In 1905 the District of Columbia Supreme Court ruled that the Smithsonian collection fell within the
description of a national gallery, and the Johnston collection was delivered to the Institution in 1906. The nucleus of the National Gallery consisted of the Johnston Collection
of European and American art and the William T. Evans Collection of contemporary American art (added in 1907 with President Theodore Roosevelt's influence). The new additions
greatly expanded the Gallery's holdings, but its growth would be severely hampered by the Smithsonian's lack of funds and an unwillingness to begin and support new ventures.
The National Gallery of Art (NGA) was administered under the United States National Museum's (USNM) Department of Anthropology. William Henry Holmes (1846-1933), artist,
topographer, archeologist, and geologist, was named first Curator of the NGA, in addition to his duties as Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) Chief (1902-1909), and later
as Curator of the Department of Anthropology (1910-1920). Holmes was a part of the Smithsonian most of his life. He was born near Cadiz, Ohio, in the same year as the Institution's
founding. A teacher and graduate of McNeely Normal School (1870) in Hopedale, Ohio, Holmes moved to Washington, D.C., in 1871 to study art under Theodor Kaufmann. During his
studies he became acquainted with another Kaufmann student, Mary Henry, daughter of Joseph Henry. On her suggestion, he visited the Smithsonian. Ornithologist Jose Zeledon
noticed Holmes as he was sketching two birds on exhibit, and Zeledon introduced Holmes to Fielding Bradford Meek, paleontologist and stratigrapher of state and federal surveys.
Impressed with his drawings, Meek immediately hired Holmes as an illustrator.
In his first years with the Smithsonian, Holmes joined Ferdinand V. Hayden's U.S. Survey of the Territories as an artist-topographer (1872) and was later appointed assistant
geologist (1874). This work inspired his career as an archeologist and his interest in Southwestern cliff dwellings. Between 1880 and 1889 Holmes worked with the U.S. Geological
Survey on the Charles Dutton expedition to the Grand Canyon, while also serving as Honorary Curator of Aboriginal Ceramics for the USNM. Holmes achieved great respect for
his scientific knowledge and artistic talent. By 1889 he was named Director of the Smithsonian Bureau of American Ethnology.
In 1894 Holmes moved to Chicago to manage the BAE exhibitions at the Field Columbian Museum and to teach anthropic geology at the University of Chicago. During this time
he traveled with the Allison V. Armour expedition to the Yucatan. His stay in Chicago lasted until 1897 when he returned to the Smithsonian as Head Curator of the Department
of Anthropology. In 1902 he resigned to become the BAE Chief.
Holmes was the natural choice for the Gallery's first Curator. An accomplished artist and advocate of the arts, he was often consulted on questions of exhibition and art
before the NGA existed. Holmes can be placed within the tradition of American artist-scientists exemplified by Thomas Jefferson and Charles Willson Peale. His sketches of
natural history specimens were highly regarded and are still used by scientists today. As a painter, Holmes is grouped in the "Washington Landscape School." His style appears
impressionistic (especially his later work), although he would have rejected that label; Holmes was artistically conservative, and spoke against the aberrations of such artists
as Matisse. Leila Mechlin, Washington art critic, considered him one of the best watercolorists in the country.
During his tenure with the National Gallery, the collections grew considerably, adding the Johnston and Evans Collections, as well as the A. R. and M. H. Eddy Collection
of miniatures and paintings (1918), the Ralph Cross Johnson and Alfred Duane Pell Collections of European masters (1919), the Henry Ward Ranger bequest (1920), and the John
Gellatly Collection (1929), a significant gift of American Renaissance works, decorative arts, and European masters. Holmes also saw the addition of the National Portrait
Committee, formed in 1919 to document America's role in World War I.
Space for the national art works was always an issue for the Gallery. Holmes continually lobbied for a separate building to house the Gallery, appealing to America's patriotism
and belief in civilization. In its early years, collections were housed in designated areas throughout the Castle and the National Museum Building. When the new museum building,
now the Natural History Building, was completed in 1910, the Gallery was allowed space in its central skylighted hall, and a small opening was held March 17, 1910. This, however,
was inadequate, and limited both the Smithsonian's art and natural history interests. Donors often hesitated to give to the Gallery due to these space limitations. In 1923
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge led a Congressional motion to set aside space on the Mall east of the Natural History Building for a new American art and history building. The Smithsonian
was obligated to raise funds for construction. The Regents raised $10,000 for initial planning costs, and commissioned Freer architect Charles A. Platt to design the new museum.
National organizations, most significantly women's clubs, helped campaign for a Gallery building, but did not raise the necessary monies.
In 1920, the Regents established the National Gallery of Art as a separate Smithsonian bureau. Holmes ended his ties with the National Museum and became the Gallery's first
Director. As head of the NGA for nearly thirty years, Holmes assembled a remarkable program of exhibitions, organized the meager and scattered collections, and remained committed
to the artistic community. He was a member of several art organizations, including the Washington Water Color Club, and was a charter member of the Cosmos Club, in which he
promoted art interests.
Holmes retired from the National Gallery in 1932 and died in 1933. He was succeeded by Ruel Pardee Tolman (1878-1954). Tolman was born in Brookfield, Vermont, and educated
in California, where he studied art at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art, the Los Angeles School of Art and Design, and the University of California at Berkeley. Tolman moved
to Washington, D.C., in 1902, where he studied at the Corcoran School of Art (1902-1905) and at the National Academy of Design in New York (1906). He taught at the Corcoran
between 1906 and 1918 and was employed in the Graphic Arts Division of the USNM, where he eventually became Curator. He remained with Graphic Arts when he was named Acting
Director of the NGA (1932-1946); and later resigned his curatorship to become Director of NGA (1946-1948).
In the late 1930s Andrew Mellon donated his considerable collection for a new gallery of art. In 1937 his collection became the National Gallery of Art, administered by
an independent board of trustees, in cooperation with the Smithsonian, and housed in a new building at 7th Street and Constitution Avenue. The former National Gallery was
renamed the National Collection of Fine Arts (NCFA), with Tolman continuing as Acting Director and art works remaining in the Natural History Building "art hall." From the
1930s forward, the NCFA focused more exclusively on American art, and the new National Gallery concerned itself primarily with European Masters.
Tolman resigned from the NCFA in 1948, succeeded by Thomas M. Beggs. During Beggs's administration (1948-1964), Alice Pike Barney, Washington painter, donated part of her
collection (1951), which became the core of an extensive lending program later established by Natalie Clifford Barney and Mrs. Laura Dreyfus-Barney, and her Sheridan Circle
studio home for meeting purposes (1960).
In 1957 the NCFA, still without a home of its own, was granted use of the Old Patent Office Building, scheduled for demolition but preserved by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The NCFA and the Portrait Gallery were transferred to the Patent Office Building in 1962 and opened on May 6, 1968. NCFA portraits were delegated to the Portrait Gallery,
decorative arts to the new National Museum of History and Technology, and other works to various Smithsonian bureaus. In 1972 Smithsonian-owned exhibits of crafts and design
were removed from storage in the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the U.S. Court of Claims into the new Renwick Gallery.
Chronology:
1816-1838 -- Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts & Sciences founded in Washington, D.C.
1829 -- John Varden Museum founded, later becomes Washington Museum (1836)
1840-1862 -- National Institution for the Promotion of Science is: founded (1840); combined with Varden collection and Columbian Institute (1840-1841); incorporated by Congress as the National Institute (1842)
1846 -- Smithsonian Institution founded
December 1, 1846 -- William Henry Holmes born near Cadiz, Ohio
1849 -- George P. Marsh etchings and engravings purchased by Secretary Joseph Henry
1858 -- Government art works moved from Patent Office Building
1862 -- Collections from National Institute are transferred to Smithsonian at expiration of charter
1865 -- Castle fire (January 24); surviving works moved to Library of Congress (prints and drawings) and to Corcoran (paintings and sculptures)
1865 -- Holmes receives teaching certificate in Ohio
1868 -- Ruel Pardee Tolman born in Brookfield, Vermont
1870 -- Holmes graduates from McNeely Normal School, Hopedale, Ohio
1871 -- Holmes hired by Smithsonian as illustrator
1872-1877 -- Holmes joins U.S. Survey of the Territories under Ferdinand V. Hayden as artist-topographer; appointed assistant geologist (1874)
1878 -- Cosmos Club founded, Holmes is charter member
1879 -- Catlin collection of Indian paintings donated
1879 -- National Museum Building completed (now Arts & Industries Building)
1879-1880 -- Holmes studies and travels in Europe
1880-1889 -- Holmes joins U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Charles Dutton expedition to Grand Canyon
1882-1889 -- Holmes is Honorary Curator of Aboriginal Ceramics, USNM
1883 -- Holmes marries Kate Clifton Osgood, genre painter, teacher at Madeira School (October); they have two children, Osgood and William Heberling
1889-1893 -- Holmes is Director of the Smithsonian Bureau of American Ethnology
1894-1897 -- Holmes moves to Chicago as professor of anthropic geology at the University of Chicago, and Head Curator of Anthropology at the Field Columbian Museum; joins Allison V. Armour expedition to Yucatan (1894)
1896 -- Remainder of Smithsonian art works recalled to Castle; Secretary Langley creates "art room" on second floor displaying copies of masterpieces
1897-1902 -- Tolman studies at Mark Hopkins Institute of Art, the Los Angeles School of Art & Design, and the University of California at Berkeley
1897-1902 -- Holmes is Head Curator of the Department of Anthropology, USNM
1898 -- Holmes wins Loubat Prize for achievement in archeology
1902-1905 -- Tolman studies at the Corcoran School of Art
1902-1909 -- Holmes is Chief of Bureau of American Ethnology
1903 -- Harriet Lane Johnston bequeaths collection of European and American works to a "national gallery of art"
December 6, 1904 -- President Theodore Roosevelt proposes a National Gallery of Art, no Congressional action taken
1905 -- Holmes elected to National Academy of Sciences
1905-1906 -- Charles Lang Freer offers collection of Asian art to Smithsonian with conditions to bequeath art and building after his death; formally accepted by Regents in 1906; suit filed with District of Columbia Supreme Court over Johnston collection (February 7); court order gives collection to Smithsonian (July 18); collection delivered (August 3)
1906-1918 -- Tolman teaches at Corcoran and works in Graphic Arts Division of U.S. National Museum
1906 -- National Gallery of Art officially established
1906-1920 -- NGA administered by USNM, Holmes is Curator
1907 -- William T. Evans donates contemporary American art works
March 17, 1910 -- Natural History Building opened; small opening for NGA exhibition space
1910-1920 -- Holmes is Head Curator of Department of Anthropology, USNM
1912-1946 -- Tolman is Curator of Graphic Arts, USNM
1915 -- Group of French artists donate 82 drawings in appreciation of American assistance in WWI
1916 -- Charles Lang Freer authorizes the immediate construction of a building designed by Charles A. Platt to house his collection
1917 -- Approval given to add National Portrait Gallery to the NGA
1918 -- A. R. and M. H. Eddy donate collection of miniatures and paintings
1918 -- Holmes receives Doctor of Sciences degree from George Washington University
1919 -- Ralph Cross Johnson donates his collection of paintings, largely European masters; Rev. Alfred Duane Pell donates European masters
1919 -- Henry Ward Ranger bequests money for art works which are to eventually reside in the NGA
September 25, 1919 -- Charles Lang Freer dies
1919 -- Holmes wins second Loubat Prize
July 1, 1920 -- Congress establishes the NGA as a separate Smithsonian bureau
1920 -- Freer Gallery opens in December, John E. Lodge is Curator
1920-1932 -- Holmes is Director of National Gallery of Art
1923 -- Congress sets aside space on Mall east of Natural History for American history and art; lack of funds prevents construction of building designed by Charles A. Platt
1923 -- Walter Beck donates Civil War Portraits
1923 -- World War I portraits displayed in NGA; beginning of Portrait Gallery
1925 -- Kate Clifton Osgood Holmes dies
1925 -- Mrs. John B. Henderson offers land (4-5 acres) on Meridian Hill, facing 16th Street, for gallery building
1926 -- Resolution favors the establishment of the National Portrait Gallery as a unit of the NGA
1926 -- Holmes' left leg amputated as a result of blood poisoning
1929 -- John Gellatly Collection gift of over 100 American Renaissance works and decorative arts and old European masters promised to the NGA; the collection to remain in the Heckscher Building in New York City for four years
June 30, 1932 -- Holmes retires
1932-1946 -- Ruel P. Tolman is Acting Director of NGA
April 20, 1933 -- Holmes dies in Royal Oak, Michigan
1933 -- Gellatly Collection transferred to the Smithsonian (May 1); opened to the public (June 1)
1937 -- National Gallery becomes the National Collection of Fine Arts; the Andrew Mellon collection becomes the National Gallery of Art
August 26, 1937 -- Andrew W. Mellon dies
1937-1938 -- Smithsonian Gallery of Art competition, building never constructed
1938 -- Congress authorizes space on Mall across from Mellon National Gallery for NCFA use, no money is made available
July 28, 1946 -- Tolman named Director of NCFA
1948 -- Tolman resigns from NCFA (March 31); Thomas M. Beggs succeeds him (Assistant Director, July 30, 1947; Director, April 1, 1948-1964)
1951 -- Alice Pike Barney, painter, donates part of her collection, which is the foundation for an extensive lending program established by Natalie Clifford Barney and Mrs. Laura Dreyfus-Barney; and her Sheridan Circle studio home is later donated for conferences (1960)
August 24, 1954 -- Ruel P. Tolman dies
1957 -- Old Patent Office Building, scheduled for demolition, is granted by President Eisenhower to the NCFA and Portrait Gallery
1962 -- NCFA and Portrait Gallery transferred to new home
1965-1968 -- David W. Scott is Director of the NCFA
May 6, 1968 -- NCFA officially opens in the Old Patent Office Building
1969 -- Robert Tyler Davis becomes Interim Director of NCFA
