"Aiiditdiiinn in gwiaid stury oj the south pavilio)i, lookinir 

 toward the plat/orm," from United States National 

 Musemn Bulletin <S0 (1913). The scats arc now 

 soninvhat more comfortable. 



scientific or cultural events, particularly il a lecture was 

 to be presented. The auditorium, one of the few in 

 Washington, was in such demand that by 1917 a special 

 fireproof booth had been built for the motion-picture 

 and stereopticon machines. 



The auditorium was used not only by the scientific 

 public; various government departments used it for 

 meetings. As the First World War approached, the sub- 

 ject matter of governmental meetings gravitated toward 

 food production and economics, and during the war 

 the auditorium, like the rest of the building, was given 

 over to other purposes. 



After World War I the auditorium was back in full 

 swing. During the 1920—21 season, for example, there 

 were meetings of groups from the Northeni Nut Grow- 

 ers Association to the National Academy of Sciences to 

 the American Federation of Art. The Bureau of Public 

 Health Service conducted an fiistitute on Venereal Dis- 

 ease Control, and the Bureau of Plant Industry showed 

 movies to its staff. The big event of 1922 was President 

 Harding's appearance at the second annual meeting of 

 the Business Organization of the Government. The 

 meeting facilities were used on 110 occasions in fiscal 

 year 1926, and on 131 in fiscal year 1930. Fifteen years 

 later, the figure had doubled. 



One of the developments after World War I was the 

 use of the auditorium for memorial meetings. A tribute 

 to Charles Doolittle Walcott on January 24, 1928, was 

 one of the first. There were two in 1933, when Holmes 

 and Ravenel died. The custom lapsed from the 1940s 

 to the 1970s, but was reinstituted. Alexander Wetmore, 

 Waldo Schmitt, and Clifford Evans were all accorded 

 this mark of respect by the Museum, though Wetmore's 

 memorial was held in the Castle. 



Auditorium Named for Baird 



The auditorium has been modified slightly on several 

 occasions by the installation of better seats, improved 

 lighting, and proper projection equipment. The room 

 had its moment of glory in 1971, a year that marked 

 the 1 00th anniversary of the founding of the Fish Com- 

 mission by Spencer F. Baird,'' as well as the 125th an- 

 niversary of the Smithsonian Institution. In connection 

 with the celebration of the role of fisheries, a bust of 

 Baird and a brief account of his work were installed 

 directly in front of the auditorium. On November 16, 

 1971, in a ceremony honoring Baird, the auditorium 

 was named for him. When the installation of the es- 

 calator obscured the bust, it was moved inside and to 

 the rear of the auditorium, where, unfortunately, not 

 many people saw it. Subsequently the bust was put in 

 storage, but it has been returned. Visitors seldom see 

 the plaque on the low pedestal of the bust. 



The Institution began a lecture series even before 

 the Castle was built, and lectures in one form or another 

 have been given ever since. The current weekly series 

 of lectures and films, organized by the Office of Ed- 

 ucation, has been running in the Baird Auditorium for 

 eleven years. Audiences vary with the subject and the 

 time of year, but it is not unusual to find 250 people 

 in the room during a weekend noon hour. 



In the hallway outside the auditorium are several 

 cases of Birds of the District of (lohimbia, a nice exhibit of 

 some historical interest as the most-moved public dis- 

 play in the Museum. Originally Secretary Langley had 

 a children's room in the Castle where local specimens 

 were on view, including the largest and smallest local 

 birds. Later the collection was installed on the second 

 floor of the new Natiu al History Building. During World 

 War I it was moved in with the whales, and then to at 

 least one other location. After World War I three rooms 

 not far from the auditoi ium were devoted to local fauna, 

 including the bird.s — a sort of proto-Naturalist Center. 

 The collection had to be moved again when the foyer 

 was rebuilt in the 1970s, and there may have been 

 another move before the D.C. birds finally found their 

 present roost. 



The north wing that extends from the auditorium 

 to the Cx)nstitution Avenue entrance has almost always 

 had temporary shows in its central foyer. Most of these 

 were not recorded in detail, so it is dif ficult to know 

 the nature of the exhibits or how long they stayed. One 

 significant exhibit of 1916 was in honor of the centen- 

 nial of the Coast and Geodetic Survey. Another was 

 "Safety First," to which many government bureaus con- 

 tributed, and which one day drew 9,000 people. In 1917 

 a National Park conference, held under the auspices 

 of the newly formed National Park Service, was accom- 

 panied by an exhibition of forty-five paintings. This 

 led to the formation by Secretary Walcott of the Na- 

 tional Parks Association, a citizens' lobby. 



Possibly the most important show of this time was 



180 



The Museum 



