NATURAL HISTORY BUILDING 13 



services hereunder the sum of two thousand dollars annually in addition to his 

 present salary, to be paid out of said appropriations. 



Following the passage of this act, the Board of Regents, on March 

 12, 1903, provided by resolution. 



That the Secretary, with the advice and consent of the Chancellor and the 

 Chairman of the Executive Committee, be authorized to represent the Board of 

 Regents, so far as may be necessary, in consultation with Bernard R. Green, 

 to whom the construction and contracts for the new Museum building are 

 committed by Congress in the act making an appropriation for that purpose. 



The preparation of the definite and detailed plans was immediately 

 taken up by the architects in conjunction with the Museum author- 

 ities, and although the novel character of the building called for 

 more than the usual preliminary considerations, the progress of the 

 work during the early stages was greatly aided by the fact that it 

 was decided to construct the building in the form of a shell, leaving 

 nearly all interior dividing walls to be added in a subsidiary way. 

 At the beginning of the calendar year 1904 the plans had been suffi- 

 ciently advanced to fix the main lines, the general dimensions and the 

 architectural design, and at this stage they were, on January 27, 1904, 

 approved by the Secretary of the Institution in the manner prescribed 

 by the Board. The elaboration of details naturally continued much 

 longer, and modifications looking to improvements in both the plan 

 and the design were suggested and approved from time to time as 

 the work progressed. 



The ground was broken at the site on June 15, 1904, by Secretary 

 Langley, in the presence of the architects, the superintendent of con- 

 struction and the officers and employees of the Institution. Address- 

 ing Mr. Green, he said : " On behalf of the Regents of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, with the consent of the Chancellor and of the chairman 

 of the executive committee, I now authorize you, in accordance with 

 the act of Congress, to proceed with the construction of the new 

 building for the United States National Museum, designed to in- 

 crease and diffuse the knowledge of the arts and sciences among the 

 people." The excavation was completed during the summer and the 

 laying of the foundations on November 9, 1904. No further build- 

 ing operations were conducted during the fiscal year, but the kinds 

 of granite to be used for the fronts were selected, and contracts were 

 concluded for the stone, for the steel frame work for the main floor, 

 and for much other material. 



The first stone, one of the large pieces of the base course in the 

 east range directly adjoining the north pavilion, was laid on August 

 21, 1905, and by June 30, 1906, the basement walls and piers and the 

 steel work and arches of the main floor, except at the north and 

 south pavilions, had been finished, and work had been commenced on 

 the court walls of the first story. The laying of the corner stone. 

 which took place on October 15, 1906, was conducted without cere- 



