Hall of Eskimo atul hidian Groups (Hall 9). Indian 

 paintings by George C.atlin arc on the wall above the cases; 

 Eskimo clothing is in the /oregrotind and Indian clothing is 

 in the distanie. Pmbahly post- 1 930, judging from the light 

 J IX tares. 



The Piney Brandi ()_uar)y Indian gnmp. In the le/l. is 

 discussed and illlustrated in the Smithsonian Institution 

 Annual Report for 1920. The case behind, mainly 

 hidden, holds the Hopi snake dancers. Holmes's work at this 

 cpiarry in Washington, D.C.. brought him world fame and 

 cast new light on the manufacture of stone tools. In his 

 "Random Records" is another photograph of this group, 

 ii'ith a notation that someone had moved it to the second 

 floor without consulting him. After the move, furthermore, 

 the area surrounding the figures was strewn with water- 

 worn cobbles rather than flakes of broken stone. Holmes was 

 furious. 



came to rush the exhibits. . . . 



The "new" National Museum was individualistic, 

 unlike any other. It was entirely up to date. With 

 larger-than-usual exhibition spaces, special 

 furniture had to be designed. In archaeology, for 

 halls with twenty-foot ceilings and windows on 

 both sides, four kinds of cases were provided: 

 those fixed in position against a wall; caster- 

 equipped "floor" cases four feet wide by eight feet 

 long and eight feet high; "double-slope-top" cases 

 with storage drawers beneath; and "narrow flat- 

 top" cases, likewise on rollers and with storage 

 facilities. Each was precisely like every other of its 

 kind, and each was allotted a predetermined space, 

 row upon row. Wall cases and floor cases were 

 equipped with adjustable shelves, but it took two 

 strong men to lift their great plate-glass fronts. 

 They were all very modern. And every glass-front 

 case was a mirror reflecting every other case and 

 its contents. Those were parsimonious times at the 

 National Museum. We lacked competent assistants 

 and adequate equipment. But somehow the work 

 was done. ... As the task progres,sed, we begged 

 from colleagues in other halls and improvised 

 when other means failed. Prom sheer necessity we 

 continued to use handmade pasteboard boxes and 

 trays, salvaged from the "old" museum [and] red- 

 stained wood trays made to fit the old walnut 

 exhibition cases. . . . 



Three halls with 216 exhibition cases on nearly 

 35,000 square feet of floor space were reserved for 

 Western Hemisphere archaeology — from the 

 Arctic to the Antarctic. Under Prof. Holmes' 

 supervision those 216 cases were iny responsibility; 

 filling them in a hurry my job. . . . There was no 

 time to mark and describe individual specimens. 

 They were unpacked and immediately put in 

 exhibition cases, and the contents of those cases 

 became visible storage not to be changed 

 appreciably for forty years." 



Biology Exhibits 



The Department of Biology encountered the most chal- 

 lenges in installing material, for the subject matter to 

 be exhibited was far more diverse than that of Geology 

 or even Anthropology. Display of specimens was also 

 more difficult — there were serious problems of pro- 

 tection against pests and deterioration. After the build- 

 ing opened, an unanticipated change had to be made 

 in the halls themselves when the ground window glass 

 proved insufficient to protect the colors of the speci- 

 mens from sunlight. The enormous windows, each con- 

 taining two movable panes that had to be kept open in 

 warm weather, were fitted with a complicated system 

 of curtains. "The main curtains on the first floor, of 

 unbleached muslin, reach from the window top to the 

 upper level of the ventilating openings and are followed 



60 



The Exhibits 



