Preface 



Ol.D-TIME TOUR GUIDES IN WASHINGTON USed tO 

 like to say, "On the north side of the Mall, opposite 

 the Smithsonian Castle, the large granite building with 

 the green dome on top is the United States National 

 Mausoleum." In a way the building did look like an 

 oversize cemetery monument, and it does contain many 

 dead objects, but there is nothing funereal about the 

 place. Since March 17, 1910, when the public was first 

 invited to see the inside of a not-yet-completed building, 

 people ha\e been enjoN ing, more or less continuously, 

 this nali(jnal museum and its exhibits. 



Over the years a variety of names have been applied 

 to the structure. "The Lhiited States National Museum," 

 "the New National Museimi," "the National Museum 

 of Natural History," and "the Nattual History Build- 

 ing" have much in common, yet each is a shade dif- 

 ferent, indicating a stage in the development of the 

 nation's museums. The building itself has changed 

 through time. It has housed trivial and significant ob- 

 jects, uninspired and fascinating exhibits, and, always, 

 dedicated people. I have tried to write a little about all 

 these subjects — that is, alx)ut space and time and some 

 of the people who occupied both dimensions. 



One seldom finds an opportunity to use the word 

 "concatenation." But had the United States Geological 

 Survey not hired me in 1952 to work at the Natural 

 History Building of the United States National Mu- 

 seum, and had I not been involved with the Geological 

 Survey centennial in 1979, and had I not met National 

 Museum of Natural History director Richard Fiske at 

 the Invertebrate Zoology Christmas party in 1983, and 

 had the present Chief Geologist, Robert Hamilton, not 

 worked with Fiske when both were on the Geological 

 Survey, I would never have heard of the anniversary 

 of the Museum building, nor would I have been given 

 the time to write about its history. When it became 

 evident that the time allotted was not going to be enough. 



my branch chief, Richard Z. Poore, permitted me to 

 maintain the Geological Survey tradition of meeting a 

 commitment. 



William Massa, with the aid of his colleagues in the 

 Smithsonian Archives, invariably brought me the pa- 

 pers or photographs I requested, and then searched 

 around on his own to find the items he knew I really 

 needed. Without the help of Victor Kranz and, through 

 him, a whole host of people in photographic services 

 throughout the Instittttion, there would be no illustra- 

 tions. 



Because the Museum has no central photographic 

 archive, tracking down negatives and icfentifications for 

 old pictures posed special problems. Prints for which 

 negatives could not be found were copied, but some of 

 them, of course, may have been derived from even 

 earlier copies. Photo negative numbers are given at the 

 end of the book. 



Almost none of the Smithsonian's photographs are 

 captioned, and before 1975 scarcely any bore a date. 

 If the information given for a picture seems vague or 

 incomplete, it is because no ftu ther data were available. 



Honesty forces me to say that I enjoy talking. In past 

 years I have had the privilege of speaking with Sec- 

 retaries Abbot, Wetmore, Carmichael, and other fine 

 gentlemen and ladies no longer present. During a six- 

 month period, I conversed with about a quarter of the 

 people currently on the staff of the Museum and its 

 affiliated agencies in an attempt to determine how the 

 Museum has run and is running. It was far more stim- 

 ulating and informative than reading eighty-five years' 

 worth of annual reports. In particular I owe a major 

 debt to Ed Henderson and to "Coop" for advice and 

 recollections, and for first paying attention to me in 

 1944. If I did not get it right after all this assistance, 

 the fault lies with me. 



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