The Regents' Room

Summary

Article reviews the history of the room in the Smithsonian Institution's Castle Building intended for meetings of the Board of Regents, the governing body of the Smithsonian. Designed by James Renwick, Jr., the room was finished in late 1852, years before the entire building was completed. After the fire of 1865 severely damaged the building, architect Adolph Cluss (who later designed the Arts and Industries Building) was chosen to reconstruct the Castle building. He reconfigured the Regents' Room and after 1901 it was used for other purposes. The room was not used again as the meeting place for the Regents until 1970.

Subject

• Cluss, Adolph 1825-1905
• Henry, Joseph 1797-1878
• Rhees, William Jones 1830-1907
• Renwick, James 1818-1895
• Smithsonian Institution Building Regents' Room
• Arts and Industries Building
• Smithsonian Institution Building (Washington, D.C.)
• Board of Regents

Category

Smithsonian Institution History Bibliography

Notes

Article includes sketch of Regents' Room from 1859 Guidebook.

Contained within

Smithsonian Preservation Quarterly (Newsletter)

Contact information

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

Date

Fall 1992

Topic

• Architects
• Secretaries
• Smithsonian Institution
• SI, Early History

Physical description

p. 2

Full Record

View Full Record