What's New
The Interior Museum welcomes a new member to our team, assistant registrar Lindsay Laws. Lindsay joins us from the Office of Collections at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). While at NMAAHC, she primarily worked to prepare objects in long-term storage for exhibition. Lindsay has additional collections management experience from the National Air and Space Museum and Guarisco Gallery. She is thrilled to be part of the Interior Museum team and is looking forward to working in-depth with the collection.
Upcoming Events
Join us for these free public programs
Museum Moment: A Look Back at Johnny Horizon, "Symbol of the Thoughtful Outdoorsman"
Thursday, January 23, 2020
1:15 – 2:15 p.m.
Interior Museum Gallery, 1200W Corridor
Catch a 20-minute "Museum Moment" with the Interior Museum's chief curator Tracy Baetz during your lunch break and hear about Johnny Horizon, the backpack-toting fictional character created by the Bureau of Land Management in 1968 as its official symbol of the "thoughtful visitor to public lands" and the face of an anti-litter campaign.
Fifty years ago, a law went into effect allowing the Department of the Interior to collect royalties on the use of Johnny, and he catapulted onto the national scene with a marketing campaign, a diverse product line, and extensive celebrity support. You'll be able to watch some of the promotional clips and see first-hand the Johnny Horizon memorabilia preserved in the Interior Museum's collection.
Museum Moments are a series of brief, 20-minute informal presentations in which you can count on hearing, visiting, learning, or seeing something fascinating related to the Department of the Interior's history. It might be a special artifact, a tie-in with a historical event, a mini-tour, a new addition to the museum's collection, or even a behind-the-scenes peek at a current museum project.
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Protecting People in Parks: 100 Years of Partnership between the National Park Service and the United States Public Health Service
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
1:15 – 2:15 p.m.
Rachel Carson Room
Since 1921, the United States Public Health Service, one of the United States' seven uniformed services, has partnered with the National Park Service (NPS) to protect and promote the health of employees and visitors in public lands. Join Captain Sara B. Newman, Director, Office of Public Health, National Park Service to learn more about this nearly 100-year partnership as well as the role of DOI officers have in protecting people in parks from major disease outbreaks and from natural disasters.
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Museum Moment: Marian Anderson and the Department of the Interior Connection
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
1:15 – 2:15 p.m.
Sidney R. Yates Auditorium
Catch a 20-minute "Museum Moment" with the Interior Museum's chief curator Tracy Baetz during your lunch break and hear about legendary African American opera singer Marian Anderson's connections to the Department of the Interior. You'll visit the Department's auditorium where she gave performances in 1939 and 1943 and also see the special Mitchell Jamieson mural commemorating her historic Lincoln Memorial concert.
Museum Moments are a series of brief, 20-minute informal presentations in which you can count on hearing, visiting, learning, or seeing something fascinating related to the Department of the Interior's history. It might be a special artifact, a tie-in with a historical event, a mini-tour, a new addition to the museum's collection, or even a behind-the-scenes peek at a current museum project.
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150 Years of Wildlife Conservation History in 10 Artifacts
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
1:15 – 2:15 p.m.
Rachel Carson Room
Historian for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Mark Madison, PhD has selected 10 artifacts to bring to the Main Interior Building to tell the 150-year history of American Wildlife Conservation. Dr. Madison supervises the Heritage Branch at the National Conservation Training Center. In that role he manages the USFWS Museum and Archives with more than half a million objects.
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“Upon this Rock . . .”: 1318 Vermont Avenue, N.W. and the African American Women Who United for Change
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
1:15 – 2:15 p.m.
Rachel Carson Room
Join NPS Park Guide John T. Fowler, II for a discussion on Mary McLeod Bethune, the National Council of Negro Women, Inc. (NCNW), and the countless African American women that faced the challenges of race and gender with a tireless spirit and determination. Learn more about how the “Council House” provided the setting for countless meetings in which NCNW members discussed pivotal national events, how they created and implemented programs to combat discrimination, and how Bethune (and her successors) helped give a voice to black women, all while creating an organization that has continued to fulfill her vision more than 60 years after her death.
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Locations: The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior Building is at 1849 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20240. The Rachel Carson Room is adjacent to the cafeteria on the basement level of the building. The Sidney R. Yates Auditorium is off the C Street Lobby. The Museum gallery is located on the first floor, just beyond the C Street Lobby visitor entrance.
Building Access: Visitor access to the Department of the Interior headquarters is through the C Street entrance lobby. Adults must present a valid, government-issued photo ID. All visitors will be subject to security screenings, including bag and parcel checks.
Special Assistance: For those in need of special assistance (such as an interpreter for the hearing impaired) or for inquiries regarding the accessible entrance, please contact museum staff at (202)-208-4743 in advance of the program. Special needs will be accommodated whenever possible.
View the full Events Calendar >
Public Tours
Discover the art and architecture that made the Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior Building a "symbol of a new day" during the Great Depression. Free, hour-long, public tours of the building are offered at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Please make advance reservations by calling the Museum at (202) 208-4743.
For groups of eight or more (e.g. for new employee or intern orientations, conference-related events, or professional development/team-building sessions), other weekday times may be arranged based upon staff availability; please call to schedule.
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For more information >
Collections Spotlight
Rams horn-style wooden block insulator, circa 1861
Wood, iron, insulating material
U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, INTR 02579
This hardware was used on the first transcontinental telegraph line in the United States. Each wooden block was drilled with a hole and fitted with a metal rod encapsulated in insulating material. The one pictured in the foreground is a rams horn-style insulator, so named because of its shape. The wooden block was then nailed to a pole, with the telegraph wire strung from insulator to insulator the entire length of the line. This section was recovered in the Virginia City Grazing District in the 1930s by an employee of the Department of the Interior's Grazing Service at CCC Camp G-124 in Fallon, Nevada.
The push to complete a transcontinental telegraph occurred in 1860-1861, There was already a regional telegraph in California and a more extensive network throughout the eastern United States but nothing to connect the two. In 1860 Congress offered a $40,000 subsidy to any company that could span the remaining gap from Fort Kearny in Nebraska to Fort Churchill in Nevada. Western Union rose to the challenge and beginning on July 4, 1861, had crews working out of Nevada, Salt Lake City, and Nebraska. The line was constructed in four months--comprised of some 27,500 insulator blocks like this one--and opened on October 24. Just two days later, the fabled Pony Express ceased its operations, rendered obsolete by the efficiency of the transcontinental line.
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