Children's Room in Smithsonian Institution Building, 1901
ID: 13383 or 85-7818
Creator: Unknown (Thomas W. Smillie?)
Form/Genre: Photographic print
Date: 1901
Citation: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 95, Box 41, Folder: 8
Usage Conditions Apply
The Smithsonian Institution Archives welcomes personal and educational use of its collections unless otherwise noted. For commercial uses, please contact photos@si.edu.Summary
The Children's Room in the South Tower of the Smithsonian Institution Building, was created by third Secretary Samuel P. Langley (1887-1906) as a natural history display area especially for children. Grace Lincoln Temple designed the decorative scheme of the room, which featured a stenciled Celtic wall frieze of stylized birds and an elaborate painted ceiling of a leaf-covered trellis with birds peering down. To enhance children's interest in natural history, Langley had live birds and fish placed in the room, visible in the photograph. He also designed the large kaleidoscope at right, which had live fish swimming in the triangular tank at the end. The Latin labels common in the rest of the museum were not used.
Subject
- Smithsonian Institution Building (Washington, D.C.)
- Smithsonian Institution Building South Towers
- Smithsonian Institution Building Children's Room
Category
Historic Images of the Smithsonian
Notes
See Field, Stamm, and Ewing 1993, The Castle, pp. 126-130; Mary McCutcheon, "The Children's Room at the Smithsonian: 1901 to 1939," Curator, vol. 35, no. 1 (March 1992). In the SIA, RU55, B17 concerns the Children's Room; Grace Lincoln Temple's papers are in the Division of Political History at NMAH (cat. 258604.2). See also Linda NeCastro's "Grace Lincoln Temple and the Smithsonian's Children's Room of 1901" (M.A. thesis, Bryn Mawr College, 1988). AR 1901: This photo is also neg. # 85-7818.
Contained within
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 95, Box 41, Folder: 8
Contact information
Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
Date
1901
Restrictions & Rights
No restrictions
Topic
Temple, Grace Lincoln
Form/Genre
- Photographic print
- Interior
- Exhibit
ID Number
13383 or 85-7818
Physical description
Color: Black and White; Size: 10w x 8h; Type of Image: Interior; Exhibit; Medium: Photographic print