Postcard of the Natural History Building

Summary

Postcard of the Natural History Building of the US National Museum, now the National Museum of Natural History. The grounds are empty and the trees are mostly bare. The postcard is unused, but the message side has a printed note about the museum: "The National Museum had its beginnings in the early activities of the Smithsonian Institution, starting about 1850. It first received Government support in 1858. The Museum contains both Government and Smithsonian specimens, number in 1932 a total of 13,600,000, representing the flora, fauna, mineralogy, paleontology, ethnology, mechanical arts, and history not only of the United States but of the World. Extensive researches on the collections are carried on in its laboratories by its own staff as well as by investigators from the Department of Agriculture, the Geological Survey, and elsewhere."

Subject

• National Museum of Natural History (U.S.)
• Natural History Building

Category

Historic Images of the Smithsonian

Notes

The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) first opened to the public on March 17, 1910, as the new United States National Museum. The National Museum was first housed in what is now the Arts and Industries Building.

Contained within

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 65, Box 16, Folder: Postcards

Contact information

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

Date

1933

Restrictions & Rights

No restrictions

Topic

• Postcard
• Museum buildings
• Architecture--Washington (D.C.)
• Architecture
• Museums
• Buildings

Place

Washington (D.C.)

Form/Genre

• Postcard
• Paper

ID Number

SIA2013-07789 (front) and SIA2013-07790 (back)

Physical description

Number of Images: 2; Color: Black and White; Size: 5.4w x 3.4h; Type of Image: Postcard; Medium: Paper

Full Record

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