REPORT OF NATIONAL, MUSEUM, 1924 9 



worn by Mrs. Benjamin Harrison at the inaugural ball in 1889. Pis- 

 tols belonging to Maj. Gen. Charles Lee, of the Continental Army, 

 and to Maj. Jacob Morris; the camp cups of Gen. Wayne Anthony; 

 a lock of hair of Napoleon I; and a silver tureen and platter pre- 

 sented to Hon. James R. Mann by Members of the United States 

 House of Representatives, Sixty-fifth Congress, were among the ad- 

 ditions to the biographical series- 



The historical objects in the west north range of the Arts and In- 

 dustries Building were early in the year moved elsewhere, and the 

 hall was installed with the numismatic collections of the Museum, 

 including the large numismatic collection received in 1923 from the 

 Philadelphia Mint. This necessitated the rearrangement of a large 

 part of the exhibition collections in the division of history, but the 

 results obtained are very satisfactory. 



Special loan exhibitions. — Eleven special loan exhibitions in con- 

 nection with the work of the division of graphic arts are enumerated 

 in the report of the assistant curator in charge of that division. Two 

 other temporary loan exhibitions deserve mention. 



An exhibit of industrial work done by Washington children on 

 the municipal playgrounds during the summer of 1923 was installed 

 on the east side of the south gallery in the Arts and Industries 

 Building on October 25, 1923, and remained on exhibition for five 

 weeks. More than 1,500 objects made on the playgrounds by chil- 

 dren from 4 to 15 years of age were shown, the exhibit comprising 

 drawings, modeling, woodwork, basketry, sewing, knitting, crochet- 

 ing, embroidery, toj^s, and paper work. 



A similar exhibition of the work done on a few playgrounds was 

 held in the National Museum in 1915, since which time the movement 

 has grown, so that by 1923 more than 60 municipal playgrounds 

 were open to give facilities for supervised play and instruction to the 

 children of Washington. Each playground is under the supervision 

 of a trained director who is assisted by experts in certain lines. 

 When tired of games the children are encouraged to create some- 

 thing with their hands, and the industrial work shown in the 

 Museum gave evidence that substantial results are obtained. 



An exhibition of the work of Viennese school children of drawings, 

 wood cuts, textile work, and sculpture, was held in the lobby of the 

 Natural History Building from May 5 to May 19, 1924, under the 

 joint auspices of the National Gallery of Art and the American Fed- 

 eration of Arts. These children of Vienna, who are chiefly of the 

 poorer classes, are taught by Professor Cizek, an innovator in educa- 

 tional methods. The children from the ages of 7 to 15 years go to 

 him for three hours on Saturday and two hours on Sunday, but the 



