NORTH PAHLION 



Plan of exhibits on the first floor as anticipated in 1919, 

 but not realized iiiil/l l/ie 193()s. Frotn a 1919 brochure 

 (ontaiuiug ten fMiges of text describniir the exhibits, jAiis 

 floor plans. 



many tons of heavy storage racks containing geological 

 and paleonlological specimens from ilie fourth floor 

 lo the ground and second floors of tlie Natural History 

 Building. Also, storage cases and many specimens were 

 taken from other sections of the fourth floor to the 

 second tlooi to such an extent tliat allows free move- 

 ment throughout the upper floor of the building in 

 case of fire from incendiary bombs, the floor in question 

 being directly under the roof; various items of inflam- 

 mable material were eliminated." 



Building-Stone Exhibit Closed 



Charged with seeming storage space for these hefty 

 collections, a (.ommiitee recommended that the build- 

 ing-stone exhibit on the second floor be "reduced in 

 size and that specimens that had outlived their useful- 

 ness be made available to other Government bureaus. 

 As a result, a considerable portion of such material was 

 accepted by the National Bureau of Standards for use 

 in testing the weathering conditions of various types of 

 building material. The space thus obtained made room 

 for a portion of the rock series and all the Paleozoic 

 invertebrate fossil collections. Then, the paleobotanical 

 collections formerlv occupying the northern half of the 

 fourth floor were removed as a unit into two rows of 

 cases 9 feet high lining both sides of the northeast base- 

 ment hallway."' 



Hall 20. G. P. Merrill's old "Building Stone Hall," 

 actually had been under scrutiny for years, with some 

 members of the Geology Department wanting it closed. 

 Not many visitors came to the Museum in the 1930s, 

 and very few of them went in to see the slabs and cubes 

 of stone, Merrill's pride and joy. Part of the exhibit 

 consisted of a series of bottles from various mineral 



NORTH P«/ILtON 



Pla7i of exhibits on the second floor as anticipated in 1919 

 but never realized, because of the moving-in of the lace 

 collection in the west north ra)ige and the gradual 

 encroachment of offices in the west range. 



springs, but since the water had evaporated from some 

 of them, they had to be refilled from the tap. Edward 

 Henderson finally persuaded a friend at the National 

 Bureau of Standards that the Bureau might build a wall 

 of the various stones. Bassler as usual was against the 

 idea until Wetmore approved. 



The paleobotanical collections were placed in the east 

 north range corridor outside the library, an area des- 

 ignated as an air-raid shelter. Yet the drawers of very 

 heavy specimens, piled up nine feet high, would have 

 been killers had they ever been tumbled by bomb blast. 

 In later years, just climbing up to look into them was 

 a hazard. 



Civil Defense Measures 



Frank Setzler, head curator of Anthropology, was in 

 charge of air-raid precautions for the Mall buildings. 

 Practice air-raid and blackout drills were described in 

 the report for 1943: "Twice during the year our air- 

 raid defense organization, consisting of approximately 

 212 employees, was given instruction in the use of fire 

 hoses, chemical fire extinguishers and the portable fire 

 pumps. Numerous incidents were prescribed during 

 the daytime air-raid drills which provided practice for 

 the stretcher and first-aid squads."^ 



For a number of years, wooden boxes filled with sand 

 were scattered throughout the attics. Gradually the 

 shovels and buckets disappeared and in the 1960s the 

 sand boxes were discarded, except for some near locked 

 doorways, to be used in case of fire. The measures that 

 might have mitigated destruction by incendiary bombs 

 would not have much impact in a nuclear age. 



As might be expected, Museum attendance declined 

 at the start of the war. Attendance was so low in early 



80 



The Exhibits 



