Soittlt drive of Ike new National Museum in (lie I93()s, 

 looking west into the tunnel below the south steps. A 

 boxwood hedge fBoxiis) is to the right, and what parking 

 there loas was parallel to the bank on the left. 



As the Museum was originalh built, the driveway 

 made a U-shaped loop aiouiid the building. Trash tra- 

 dition. ilK was collected Irom tiie east side, but most of 

 the supplies <ind the mail went to the west loading plat- 

 form. All along the south side a boxwood hedge was 

 planted, and what tew cars wei e present parked parallel 

 to the hedge. Because this area had been excavated well 

 below the le\el of the Mall, the grassy slope from the 

 Mcdl was steep, and most of the driveway was hidden. 



In 1926 eightv-seven feet of the driveway running 

 f rom B Street was repaired. More road work was done 

 in 1930, and parking gates were put on both the east 

 and west entrances. Clearly, traffic control was becom- 

 ing a problem. Dm ing the mid-193()s, parking became 

 more dif ficult as a few of the younger staff finally man- 

 aged to buy automobiles. Offering to pay for the nec- 

 essary labor and paving, the staff petitioned to have 

 the hedge removed so that the space could be widened 

 and they could park at right angles to the building. The 

 request was refused on the grounds that this would 

 injure the appearance of the building. 



When the wings were put on, the hedges disappeared 

 in the twinkling of an eye, and much of the area im- 

 mediately surrounding the wings on the east and the 

 west is now paved. No one objects, for one of the most 

 desirable things in Washington is a parking space. More 

 anguish has been suffered over who has parking and 



who does not than over any scientific problem. As one 

 indication of the bustle and growth of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, on one summer day in 1984, 695 exits and 

 entrances by Smithsonian trucks, vans, cars, and Cush- 

 mans (powered carts used by the grounds people) were 

 logged through the east gate. There is nothing re- 

 markable about the vehicles, except that there are per- 

 haps a few more pick-up trucks than on the average 

 government parking lot. For a time one car whose owner 

 worked with mollusks had the license plate SNAIL, and 

 a paleontologist had PALEO. One truck bore a bumper 

 sticker saying, "I'm proud to be an avian paleontolo- 

 gist." 



In the great rainstorm of 1969, water poured down 

 the ramp into the basement of the west wing. Now each 

 ramp has a "sleeping policeman" — an asphalt bead — 

 across the top to slow down any further floods. Ap- 

 parently these have some effect, for there has not been 

 as severe a rain since they were installed. Unfortunately, 

 in the event of a future torrential downpour they would 

 prcjvide little protection, and the staff hopes that speci- 

 mens in the basement will be moved elsewhere before 

 the next great flood. 



Outdoor Exhibits 



As noted earlier, the War Collection consisted in part 

 of field guns placed on the west side of the building 

 and the gun from the USS Magnolia on the east. Not 

 much is known about how long this artillery stayed 

 there, or what else was on display, but it was not the 

 first outdoor exhibit. Some large samples of ores were 

 positioned on the east side of the building about the 

 time it was completed. A giant copper boulder from 

 Michigan was outside for a time. These large rocks were 

 present during the 1940s, and then just vanished. Noth- 

 ing is recorded of their installation, only one passing 

 mention is made of labels for them, and nothing is 

 recorded of their being moved. 



On the west side of the building where the west wing 

 now stands was a small park. This was the place where 

 a Museum football team was organized in the 1950s. 

 The lawns and the park were maintained by the Na- 

 tional Park Service; it was only after the wings were 

 constructed that the Museum assumed responsibility 

 for the grounds. 



Cleaning the Outside 



In August 1922, the District of Columbia Fire Depart- 

 ment washed the building. "The appearance of the 

 building was materially improved as a great amount of 

 dirt had accumulated, including nests of caterpillars 

 and other insects not readily dislodged. ... In attempt- 

 ing to get water for this purpose the Fire Department 

 discovered that all the fire hydrants in the Smithsonian 

 Park were in bad condition and of an antiquated type, 

 leaving the buildings practically unprotected in the case 

 of fire."-' 



192 



The Museum 



