Northwest Indian (Haida) boats in the east courtyard before 1958. The shadow may be cast by the taxidermy shop. 



tution, and the less distance people have to travel to a 

 travel office, the better. 



The peregrinations of this office give a capsule view 

 of the changes caused by growth and construction over 

 the last two decades. The Travel Service began in the 

 Management Analysis Office in the Arts and Industries 

 building, but almost immediately moved to the Mu- 

 seum. It was in one of the glorified closets on the sec- 

 ond-floor rotunda balcony. Then there was a move to 

 the third floor of the north wing, near the photographic 

 laboratory; when the Travel Service left, the photo lab 

 lapped up the empty space. Next the Travel Service 

 was moved to the west side of the foyer on the ground 

 floor. After a time it was hustled from there to an area 

 on the second floor near where Hall 26, "Western Civ- 

 ilization," was being constructed. For its fifth move in 

 ten years, it went back to Arts and Industries. Finally, 

 in 1983, the Travel Service people returned to the Mu- 

 seum. They landed on the ground floor in the north- 

 west corner of the main building — formerly Division 



of Fishes territory and before that the office of Rem- 

 ington Kellogg — where they have stayed ever since. By 

 their standards, this is virtually a permanent home. 



East and West Courts 



The east court and the west court, in their way, have 

 functioned as shared facilities. In Rathbun's account of 

 the building, there is no indication of any actual or 

 projected public use of courtyards; they were empty 

 space, the single most valuable commodity in a mu- 

 seum. The courtyards, each in turn, were the strong- 

 holds of the taxidermists. Most of the taxidermists' work 

 was for the Department of Biology, but for half a cen- 

 tury they helped everyone with whatever exhibit work 

 was done, and they formed the basis for the exhibits 

 group of the 1950s.' ^ 



The courtyards are reached by two doors adjacent 

 to the rotunda stairs on either side of the building. The 

 east court also has, in its southwest corner, a large en- 

 tryway from the shop area. Because of this large door 



Shared Facilities 



153 



