THE SMITHSONIAN 100 YEARS AGO

1910 was a significant year in the history of the Institution.  On March 17, 1910, the new 

United States National Museum, now known as the National Museum of Natural History, 

opened its doors to the public.  Former President Theodore Roosevelt was in East Africa on 

the Smithsonian Roosevelt African Expedition, collecting animals for display in the new 

museum.  And in December of that year, the Smithsonian Biological Survey of Panama was 

launched to conduct an assessment of the flora and fauna of the isthmus prior to the 

construction of the Panama Canal. 

The Natural History Building

The road to the opening of the Natural History Building was a long one.  In 1881, the first 

U.S. National Museum, now known as the Arts and Industries Building, opened to house the 

Smithsonian’s growing collections.  Within a year, however, the building was full and 

Secretary Spencer F. Baird requested another building for the national collections.  The 

request was modest—$200,000 for a two‐story brick and terra cotta building, similar in 

style to the Arts and Industries Building—and was introduced by the Regents to Congress 

as H.R. 5781 in April of 1882.  The bill did not pass.  The following year, the Board of 

Regents increased the amount of the request to $300,000 but that too failed.  In 1888, 

Senator Justin S. Morrill, a Regent, submitted S. 3134 for $500,000 for a two‐story building 

and basement; again, the bill did not pass.  And so it went through the 1880s and 1890s, 

with Senator Morrill consistently pushing 

the bills, sometimes getting it passed in one 

house but not the other.    

In 1902, the Board of Regents created a 

special committee of the Board of Regents 

to lobby the Congress for the new building.  

Senators Francis M. Cockrell, Shelby M. 

Cullom, and Orville H. Platt, and 

Representatives Robert Adams Jr., Hugh A. 

Dinsmore, and Robert R. Hitt succeeded in 

having a bill passed for $1.5 million for a 

brick and terra cotta building, with $5,000 

appropriated for planning.  President 

Theodore Roosevelt, a naturalist and donor 

to the National Museum since he was a boy, signed the legislation.  At this time, however, 

the McMillan Commission had just completed an urban plan to create a monumental 

Washington and National Mall; this modest building did not fit their vision.  In 1903 

architects Hornblower and Marshall submitted a plan to build one half of a building for the 

$1.5 million.  The House Committee on Appropriations then held hearings on whether to 

change the authorization to a granite monumental building for a total of $3.5 million. In 

March of 1903, 32 Stat. 1083 was passed by Congress and signed by President Roosevelt as 

an amendment to the Sundry Civil Act for 1904, providing $3.5 million for a granite 

building.  Ground was broken on June 15, 1904, staff began moving collections into the new 

Construction of the U. S, National Museum,

1909.
2 

building in 1909, it opened to the public in March of 1910, and construction was completed 

in June 1911, seven years and five days after construction was initiated.  A deficiency act in 

1910 provided another $77,000 for construction expenses.  When the Museum opened, it 

displayed innovative new exhibits in the arts, culture, history, and natural history.  The 

National Gallery of Art (now the Smithsonian American Art Museum) opened the first 

exhibit hall in March of 1910.  To learn more about the history of the Museum, see 

http://www.mnh.si.edu/onehundredyears/explore_our_history.html. 

The Smithsonian Roosevelt African Expedition of 1909–1910

President Roosevelt was keenly interested in the progress of the new building.  When he 

decided not to seek reelection in 1908, he wanted to remove himself from the public eye 

and have a major change in his life as he left office.  Thus, he organized the Smithsonian 

Roosevelt East African Expedition and departed for Africa in early 1909, just after he left 

office.  He had a “bully” time out in the field, 

accompanied by three Smithsonian 

naturalists who ensured that the specimens 

collected were properly documented and 

prepared as museum specimens.  Harper’s

Magazine published Roosevelt’s very 

popular monthly travelogue, keeping him in 

the public eye but out of politics.  By the 

end of the expedition, Roosevelt had 

collected 5,000 plants, a small collection of

ethnological artifacts, and 11,400 zoological 

specimens, including 5,000 mammals; 

4,000 birds; 2,000 reptiles, frogs, and toads; 

and 2,000 fish, miscellaneous insects, crabs, 

myriapods, and mollusks.  In 1912, the 

Roosevelt specimens were placed on 

display—including an East African lion 

group that became the iconic exhibit in the Museum, giraffes, hippopotami, rhinoceros, and 

other exotic species.  To see more on Roosevelt, including photos and video, see 

http://www.mnh.si.edu/onehundredyears/expeditions/SI‐Roosevelt_Expedition.html.  

The Smithsonian Biological Survey of Panama, 1910–1912

The other major collection to arrive at the National Museum during this period was from 

the 1910–1912 Smithsonian Biological Survey of Panama.  As plans for the Panama Canal 

progressed, naturalists across the United States worried about the effects of the 

construction of the Canal on this biologically important location.  Scientists knew that the 

isthmus, which served as a land bridge between North and South America but also 

separated the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans when it arose, was a very important region for 

understanding the evolution and distribution of organisms in the Americas.  They were 

concerned about the environmental disruption of the region and the mixing of Atlantic and 

Pacific faunas.  The Smithsonian took the lead in responding to these concerns, writing to 

then‐President Roosevelt seeking support for a biological survey of Panama.  The President 

Taxidermist at work on Roosevelt Safari

Specimens, c. 1911.
3 

supported the project in theory but, 

knowing that he would no longer be in 

office in 1910, requested cooperation from 

a variety of government agencies, including 

the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the 

Isthmian Canal Commission, for the survey.  

It was then approved by President William 

H. Taft.  The Smithsonian coordinated this 

multi‐year biological survey to document 

the basic flora and fauna of the region.  

Other museums, including the Field 

Museum of Natural History in Chicago, 

participated in the survey.  In addition to 

the large collections amassed by this survey 

project, the Smithsonian Biological Survey 

of Panama established the Institution’s 

interest in this region, leading to the development of the Canal Zone Biological Area (now 

the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute) 13 years later and the Smithsonian’s 

continued presence in Panama over the last century.  To learn more about the 1910–1912 

Smithsonian Biological Survey of Panama, see 

http://www.mnh.si.edu/onehundredyears/expeditions/Panama.html. 

Cana Creek, Panama, 1912.  Courtesy The

Field Museum