THE SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM THAT NEVER WAS: WERE THERE REALLY PLANNED MUSEUMS THAT THE SMITHSONIAN DID NOT BUILD? At times it feels as if the Smithsonian is in a perpetual state of building a new museum and has never turned down the idea of a new museum. As one build- ing is completed, another is being planned. Although the process is usually a long one, the outcome is certain – once legislated or donated, the museum will come into existence. Or will it? The following are four case studies of museums that almost but never came to be at the Smithsonian. A MODERN MUSEUM OF ART: THE SAARINEN DESIGN Although the Smithsonian’s enabling act provided for a gallery of art, a national art museum was not a priority in the early decades of the Smithsonian. The earliest art collections were largely destroyed in the 1865 fire in the Castle. Secretary Jo- seph Henry, who thought art attracted “idlers,” sent the remaining art works to the Library of Congress and Corcoran Gallery of Art later Harriet Lane Johnson Collection on display in the U.S. National Museum that year. Some new art was (now the National Museum of Natural History) in 1952 acquired under the second Secretary, Spencer Baird, but the first real impetus for an ment, the paintings would be President Theodore Roos- art gallery did not come until turned over to it. evelt strongly encouraged the 1903 when Mrs. Harriet Lane Smithsonian Board of Regents Johnston, James Buchanan’s The Corcoran Gallery of Art to pursue the collection and niece, bequeathed her art declined the bequest under the third Secretary, Samuel collection to the Corcoran these terms, and the collec- Langley, a Boston aesthete, Gallery of Art, with the stipu- tions were subsequently des- concurred. In the 1906 case, lation that if a gallery of art ignated and established as the D.K. Este Fisher, et al, vs. should ever be established National Gallery of Art under Harriet Lane Home for Invalid by the United States Govern- the Smithsonian Institution. Children of Baltimore City, 1 (and therefore to the Smith- sonian) in the planning stages, Holmes commissioned a design for a stunning modern museum building on the Mall, designed by the noted archi- tect Eero Saarinen. However, at the 12th hour and to the dismay of Secretary Charles Abbot and Dr. Holmes, Mellon changed his mind and insisted that his collection go in a sep- arate museum in a classical building that was not part of Model of Eero Saarinen’s design for a National Gallery of Art at the the Smithsonian. Construction Smithsonian, 1939 of Mellon’s museum building, which opened in 1941, con- et al, Judge Ashley M. Gould, ral History) when it opened sumed all available funds as Justice, Supreme Court of the in 1910. The collection was the nation struggled through District of Columbia, ruled administered by the multi-tal- the Great Depression and Saa- that the bequest of Harriet ented William Henry Holmes, rinen’s dream museum never Lane Johnston of pictures, an artist, geologist, and an- became a reality. miniatures, and other articles thropologist who also chaired to a “national gallery of art,” the Museum’s Department of Eventually, in 1967, the “Na- were to go to the Smithson- Anthropology. Holmes longed tional Collection of Fine Arts” ian Institution, which for the for a building designated sole- moved to the old Patent Of- purposes of receiving the ly for the collection. In 1937, fice Building, which it shares bequest was adjudged to be with Andrew Mellon’s gift of with the National Portrait the National Gallery of Art. his art collection to the nation Gallery today. The Harriet Lane Johnston collection was then delivered to the Smithsonian Institu- tion as the beginnings of a National Gallery of Art under the Institution’s aegis. The col- lection consisted of 31 pieces comprised of several interest- ing historical objects as well as works of art. The collection formed the basis for what is now the Smithsonian Ameri- can Art Museum. At first the works were dis- played in the Arts and Indus- tries Building, but soon after moved to the new National The Smithsonian American Art Museum, along with the National Museum Building (now Natu- Portrait Gallery, now resides in the Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture 2 THE HILLWOOD MUSEUM AND GARDENS two years (1837–1938) in the Soviet Union while he served as U.S. Ambassador. Mrs. Post collected a great deal of 18th and 19th century Imperial Russian art, as well as Sevres porcelain, and numerous items created by Faberge, the jeweler for the Czars. In May of 1961, Mrs. Post hosted the Board of Regents so they could view the estate and col- lections that she was consid- ering donating to the Smithso- nian. The Regents had mixed reactions—some seeing it as the jewel in the Smithson- ian’s crown, others concerned about an institution dedicated to the broader public over- Hillwood Museum, front view stepping its mission by admin- istering so opulent an estate. In the 1950s, Marjorie Mer- 275 ct. [55g] diamond-and- In 1962, Mrs. Post and the riweather Post, then the turquoise necklace and tiara Smithsonian agreed in prin- wealthiest woman in the set that Napoleon I gave to his ciple and announced that she world, maintained a cor- second wife, Empress Marie would donate Hillwood to the respondence with Frank Louise); a pair of diamond Smithsonian to be operated Setzler of the Department earrings set with pear shapes, as a separate museum, with of Anthropology in the U.S. weighing 14 ct.(2.8g) and 20 a $10 million endowment. In National Museum. Mrs. Post ct. (4g), once belonging to was a collector of Americana, Marie Antoinette; a 30.82 ct. including Native American (6.164g) blue-heart diamond materials, many of which ring known as the Blue Heart could be seen in her Camp Diamond; and an emerald- Topridge on Upper St. Re- and-diamond necklace and gis Lake in the Adirondacks. ring, once belonging to Mexi- Operated as a “rustic retreat,” can emperor Maximilian. it eventually consisted of over 70 buildings on 300 acres, Secretary Leonard Carmichael with a fully staffed main lodge (1952–1964) opened discus- and private guest cabins. Mrs. sions with Mrs. Post about Post also donated a number the disposition of her estate of items from her gem collec- Hillwood, located in north- tion to the National Museum’s west Washington, D.C., and mineral collection, including its unique collections. During the Napoleon Necklace and her marriage to Joseph Davies the Marie Louise Diadem (a from 1935 to 1955, they spent Amethyst Easter Rabbit 3 was concerned over the bal- significantly and estimated ance of power between the costs for operating the mu- Regents and the Marjorie seum had increased substan- Merriweather Post Founda- tially. Secretary Ripley was tion of D.C. on such issues as more interested in his new appointing the Hillwood direc- Festival of American Folklife tor and managing the bequest and Anacostia Neighborhood for museum maintenance. Museum than a restrictive memorial to Mrs. Post. The Thus the Smithsonian was Post Foundation would not concerned about 1) who had provide additional funding for control over decision-making Hillwood, despite Mrs. Post’s about the collections and strictures that it should have management of the museum; first call on the foundation. 2) who had control over deci- Portrait of Catherine the Great sion-making about the mone- At the January 22, 1976, tary bequest; and 3) devoting meeting of the Board of Re- 1967, she presented terms of the Smithsonian’s resources gents, they voted to transfer her eventual bequest to the to a museum that memorial- the Hillwood estate and col- new Secretary S. Dillon Ripley ized a single wealthy individu- lections to the Marjorie Mer- (1964–1984) and in January al. By the time Mrs. Post died riweather Post Foundation, in of 1969, after two years of in 1973, the United States was accordance with Article 9A of negotiation, Hillwood was in the midst of great social her last will and testament. deeded to the stewardship of and cultural change, as well On July 1, 1976, the Smith- the Smithsonian Institution. as inflation and an economic sonian Institution formally downturn. The value of Mrs. returned the Hillwood gift to From the outset, however, Post endowment had dropped the Post Foundation. Secretary Ripley shared some of the Regents’ concerns about the terms of the be- quest—terms that echoed the Freer and Isabella Stewart Gardner museums in their restrictions, with provisions that limited what artworks could be added or disposed of and how objects were to be displayed, among others. Mrs. Post stipulated that the house be maintained substantially as she had kept it during her lifetime, for example, with fresh flowers changed daily throughout the estate. Rip- ley contested such terms as a prohibition against loaning items to other museums or Hillwood Museum, rear view of Lunar Lawn displaying items other than Mrs. Post’s at Hillwood. He 4 THE MUSEUM OF MAN There was also concern about the rapid disappearance of cultures in the face of indus- trialization and globalization. The new museum would capture the universalist view of the human race found in Edward Steichen’s 1955 exhibit and book, The Family of Man. National Museum of Natural History, 1965 During the 1960s and 1970s, a significant effort was made to build a National Museum of Man at the Smithsonian, to pres- ent the world’s varied cultures together in one building. Led by Secretary Ripley and anthropologists at the Smithsonian’s Bu- reau of American Ethnology and Department of Anthropology at the National Museum of Natural History, the new museum had several goals.