What's New
The Interior Museum recently accessioned an original circa 1971 Department of the Interior-issued Johnny Horizon Outdoor Pledge card donated to the collection at the last Museum Moment: A Look Back at Johnny Horizon, "Symbol of the Thoughtful Outdoorsman"; a sampling of official letterhead from the Department's National Biological Survey (1993-1995); and a pane of 12 "Wild and Scenic Rivers" U.S. postage stamps issued in 2019 featuring three images by Bureau of Land Management wilderness program manager and photographer Bob Wick, who has also autographed the piece.
Upcoming Events
Join us for these free public programs
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.
|
Museum Moment: Marian Anderson and the Department of the Interior Connection
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
12:30 – 12:50 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.
|
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.
|
“Upon this Rock . . .”: 1318 Vermont Avenue, N.W. and the African American Women Who United for Change
Wednesday, March 4, 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.
|
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.
|
For more information >
Collections Spotlight
Silhouette, Prehistoric Life
1939
Zinc sheet metal, wood, paint
15.5 x 95 x 2 inches
U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, INTR 02653
This large-scale silhouette is one of two that were created in the summer of 1939 specifically for the U.S. Geological Survey's alcove within the inaugural exhibition galleries of the U.S. Department of the Interior Museum. The scene is constructed from sheets of zinc styled with a jeweler's saw and tin snips and supported by a wooden rail and steel rods. Fabrication records indicate an average cost of $35.31 per foot. It served as a static display illuminated from below by cove lighting in a recessed niche near the ceiling. The species roaming this prehistoric landscape accompanied a series of exhibit cases about geologic time. Other silhouettes in the museum showcased mining activities, national parks and recreation on public lands, and scenes from Native American life.
Silhouettes have long been used by different cultures for dramatic effect. In the late nineteenth century they enjoyed immense popularity as an element of shadow theater in the famous Parisian cabaret Le Chat Noir. Elaborate figures and groupings cut from sheets of zinc would be used like puppets behind an illuminated screen to act out stories, while fixed scenery was achieved with stationary silhouettes. Museums of the early to mid 1900s appropriated the concept of the silhouette for exhibition design, thereby introducing a novelty typically more decorative than didactic.
|
