Clerks on the first floor of 

 the Museum. This may be 

 Hull 12 in the west range, 

 looking south; before World 

 War I, it housed a bird 

 exhibit. Another hall, in the 

 distance, is blocked off f)r 

 offices. The 125 or so people 

 shown give some iudicaliou 

 of how croivded the building 

 must have been loilh desks 

 for 3,000 clerks. Fans pro- 

 vided all the climate control 

 that ivas aiHtilable. 



to war work in the city, far outweighed any minor sav- 

 ings in fuel or labor. 



One aftermath of the First World War was a huge 

 accumulation of uniforms, weapons, medical instru- 

 ments, and a host of miscellaneous materials that came 

 to be known as the War Collection and stayed in the 

 building for more than a decade. Partly as a result of 

 this great growth in the collections, in 1921 a Depart- 

 ment of History was split off from the Department of 

 Anthropology; it was headquartered in the Arts and 

 Industries Building. Another legacy of the war was a 

 sheet-metal shed, behind the Castle, that had been erected 

 by the Army Signal Corps. This became the Aircraft 

 Building and the nucleus of the National Air and Space 

 Museum. 



New Administration 



The Museum was under new administration, for on 

 the same day that it had been closed to the public — 

 July 16, 1918 — Richard Rathbun died. There was no 

 member of the scientific staff either willing or able to 

 succeed him. Perhaps if the war had not disrupted 

 matters so, one of the three head curators would have 

 moved into the job, but that did not happen, and on 

 November 1, 1918, the position of Assistant Secretary 

 in charge of the United States National Museum was 

 discontinued. William de C. Ravenel was placed in charge 

 of the administrative affairs of the Museum, with the 

 titles of Administrative Assistant to the Secretary and 

 Director of Arts and Industries in the Museum. 



It is hard to find out much about Ravanel, except 

 that he was of the South Carolina Ravenels. A former 

 official of the Fish Commissicjn, as Rathbun had been, 

 Ravenel was more a bureauciat than a scientist. His 



personal interests lay in Arts and Industries and the 

 historical collections. But he strongly asserted the right 

 of natural history to occupy the entire Natural History 

 Building, uncramped by the National Gallery of Art 

 or — even more unmanageable at that time — the War 

 Collection. 



The rotunda was set aside for naval exhibits during 

 the latter half of 1919, and the Navy soon filled it with 

 signalling devices, a paravane, and various munitions. 

 "During the month of June the large 6-inch naval gun 

 which fired America's first shot in the World War was 

 delivered at the building. Owing to its weight and the 

 impossibility of getting it in the building it was placed 

 on the east driveway, where it makes a most impressive 

 exhibit."' 



Early in 1920, according to the Annual Report, 

 the space assigned to the War Collections was 

 increased by two large ranges on the ground floor. 

 ... In one was installed the collection of foreign 

 uniforms, insignia and decorations . . . and the 

 collections of captured German military 

 ecjuipment. ... In the second range were placed 

 the collections of chemical warfare and ordnance 

 material. The west and central portion of the foyer 

 . . . was given over to the Corps of Engineers for 

 its exhibit; a portion of the foyer and three rooms 

 on the east to the exhibit of the Medical 

 Department . . . and the walls of three rooms on 

 the west of the foyer to the pictorial material. . . 



The public liked these new displays, but the staff had 

 become deeply frustrated by the continued occupation 

 of so much of their exhibit and storage space and the 

 hindrance of their work. □ 



The Great War and lis Lingering AjlerniaUi 



67 



