Evening star., 1951-07-01
The National Museum
New Building Was First Used to House
inaugural Ball of President Garfield
By John cIaaett Proctor

The old National Museum Build
ing has only recently passed its
10th anniversary. 1t was first
opened to the public upon the oc-
casion of the inaugural ball OF
Jemes A. Garfield. March 4, 1881
GLOWING the GARFIELD inaugu-
ration, finishing touches to the
bvilding were made, and by the
following October it was occupied
by the employees and opened to
visitors. It is interesting to look
back and see what could be done
then and what cannot be done
~. For instance, to the writer S
knowledge, back in the early '80s,
in some of the Government Offices,
on might order beer and oysters
s1nt to his room, and it was
al right then to purchase a lot
te,y ticket or do other things that
tcl!ay are unlawful.
1t is also interesting to look
b. tx about So years and see some
of those who were employed in
tie Smithsonian Institution and
the National Museum at that time.
There were, for instance, G.
Brown Goode, assistant director.
one of the greatest museum Or
gc!lizers, and William Jones
Rhees, for many years chief clerk
of the institution.
OF all the polite men the writer
has ever known the most courteous
to him was Frederick A. Lucas.
His going to the American Mu-
scum of Natural History was quite
probably to be near another early
National Museum man, an aSso-
ciate, who had left the National
Geological Park when he was Of
fered the dictatorship of the New
York Geological Park, namely,
William T. Hornaday.
Smithsonian Grounds
Eight here it might be appro-
PIRATE, in view of the threatened
removal of the Natural History
Building, again to call attention to
the ownership of the Smithsonian
Grounds, on which stands the
Smithsonian Building, the Ma
tional Museum and the Freer Gal
lery of Art, by quoting what Sena-
tor j. S. Morrell had to say in
the Senate on February Is, 1885,
when the bill for erecting the
Army Medica, Museum was under
discussion. Senator Morrell said:
Il am directed by the Commit
tee on Public Buildings and
Grounds to report favorably the
bill Oh. 49, providing for the erec-
ton of building to contain the
records of the library and museum
OF the .1edical Department,
United States Army.
Il desire to say that if the COM
mittee had deemed it necessary to
amend the bill they would have
amended it by specifically provid-
ing for the location of the site,
which, as they believe, should be
at the corner of B street and Sew
enth street S.W., for the reason
that the regents of the Smithso-
man Institution have title to the
land round about the Smithsonian
to the extent of 80 acres; and
unqueStionably with a very short
time, probably less than half a
dozen years. the museum there
now will have to be doubled in
order to contain even the amount
OF articles that are ready to 60
into it at the present time. /
have conferred with two members
OF the commission, and find that
they would be both in favor of
the location on the site mentioned
by me-that is, on the corner of
B and Seventh streets S.W. There
fore, We do not make any amend
ment."
Old Fords Theoter
III glanclng over the arguments
IN the Senate regarding the erect
ing Of the Medical Museum Build
ing, before referred to, an inter-
esting statement was also found
regarding the old Ford's Theater
Building, on Tenth street. 1t is
especially interesting in view of
the calamity resulting from the
falling in of the floor of that
building on June 8, 1898, when 70
Government clerks were killed and
68 or more badly injured. Rep
reSentative j. F. Follett said in the
House on February 16, 1885:
Mr.. Speaker, the most mag
nif1cent medical museum and Ii
brary in the world belongs to the
Medical Department of our Army,
and is today exposed in a building
where no private individual own
Ing such library would permit it
to remain for "a hours. It has ac-