Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-01-31
HAIL OPEN MUSEUM
New Plan Is Pleasing to
Washington Educators.
BENEFIT TO ALL CLASSES
Many School Children Know Moth
ing Of Collections.
CITY IN NEED OF AMUSEMENT
Sunday and Evening Opening Will
Increase Value of Smithsonian
and National Museum Shows.

That great benefit will come to the
Washington public in general and to
government clerks anL -;chool children in
particular from the opening of the
Smithsonian Institution and National Mu-
scum collections in the evenings and on
Sundays is the opinion of all Wash
ingtonians who are interested in the de-
velopment of the city's educational IA
cilities.
The museums. as announced exclusively
in yesterdays Star, will be thrown open
to the public at night and on Sundays
as soon as the exhibits are installed in
the new building. This will occur next
autumn, probably about October 1, al
though no definite date can be fixed by
the authorities at this time.
Superintendents and principals of the
public schools are highly gratified to
know that the pupils will have an oppor-
tunity to study the exceedingly interest
ing and highly valuable collections that
are on view in the museums. Com
paratively few children know anything
about them at present, because the build
ings are open from 8 O'Clock in the morn
ing to 4:3O o'clock in the afternoon only
Saturdays the children are busy witt
other things. When they are not playing
they are taking special lessons of yari
GUS kinds, and have no time to visi
museums.
Capt. Oyster Enthusiastic.
Cant James F. OYSTER president of tn,
school board, is enthusiastic over the an
| nouncement that the hours are to b'
| heightened.
| 1T will be of untold benefit, not only
to school children, but to hundreds o
persons in Washington who are eager
20 study, but who have not the time t
visit such places as museums during th'
day." said Capt. Oyster today
Our experience with extending the
hours of the Mckinley Manual Training
School SO as to provide for night classe:
lis a good guide to what may be ex
pected when people are given an oppor
tunlty to visit the museums at night. Th'
class of students that attends that nigh
school is surprising. Not only 90 INT
aborinS people come, but clerks ano
others who have already fair education
| but who wish to put in their evenings in
do not care to waste their evenings ol
they have no money to spend in frivoii
| ties. The greater opportunities we ca.
afford them for study and self-improve
ment the higher will become the educa
itional plane of Washington
! DR.. +. B. Brown. commissioner of edu
! cation of the Department of the Interior
| is another who expressed great pleasure
'It seems to me that the opening of thu
National Museum and Smithsonian In
l 10 ,a1t n1nry Of 20.
| noon and evening and evenings during
the week is an excellent innovation.
was DR.. Browns comment. 1T will
offer one more place of nigh and whole
some interest to which our people cal
go without expense at those times in tht
needed
Pleasure and Education.
Continuing. DR.. Brown said he though
the people of Washington would derive
| great benefit from spending Sunday aft
ernoons at the museums. In his opinion
it would afford them an opportunity fol
pleasure as we'll as education and per
nit them to make use of their Sunday
afternoons in manner most advan
tageouS.
Speaking from the standpoint of
school principal, Miss Kent, principal o
| the Webster High School, at 10th and +
streets, said today that a canvass Of hel
pupils showed that 30 OF them had neve
| been inside either the National Museum
or the Smithsonian. This is about % pc
| cent of the pupils of the Webster school
THE peculiar part of it Is that not onl.
| is our school very near the museum, bu
most Of our children live stilr nearer.
said Miss Kent. 'If the museums were
open in the evenings the children ant
their parents could visit them togethe
and both be improved.
The help the children Of the gradet
schools would get from study of th
tory exhibits would be wonderful, and
will welcome the time when the hours O.
exhibition are extended.
In Need of Amusements.
Frequently l have sent visitors to the
museums and invariably they have come
back enthusiastic and struck with Won
der. The Smithsonian and the Nationa
Museum contains some remarkably valu
able exhibits and Washingtonians are
only too ignorant of them.
"Washington is badly enough off fol
amusements anyhow. This is why there
is so much patronage of the five-csnt the
ater and other affairs that exercise little
if any, good influence upon the young
people of the city. 1 am strongly In
favor of having the museums open or
Sunday as we'll as in the evening. Those
ably will be spending their time better