Hello educational travelers!
Welcome back to another exciting week in the world of student travel blogging. To kick things off this week, Jeff, one of our guest writers, is back with a fun little post on a museum many may not have known existed.
Enjoy!
Nestled within the 1200W wing of the United States Department of the Interior and near its entrance on C Street in downtown Washington, D.C. is a museum dedicated to educating its employees and the public on the important work done by the Department of Interior. An educational trip to Washington, D.C. should include half a day wandering the halls of the US Department of the Interior Museum. At the height of the New Deal in 1935 legendary Interior Secretary Harold Ickes hired Carl Russell from the National Park Service Museum to head a committee charged with developing and designing exhibits. Russell gathered a staff of curators, model makers, sculptors, and others to begin work on the museum. It opened in 1938 with a thousand objects, photographs, maps, watercolor illustrations, and interpretive panels in ninety-five exhibits. Soon three to four thousand people were visiting the museum each month. It remains a worthy stopping off point for every student tour of Washington, D.C.
Educational tours who visit the Department of Interior headquarters will discover the first building in the capital authorized, designed, and built by the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The building reflects the dedication and commitment to government service by Roosevelt and Ickes who believed a “new day” had arrived in which the government would provide for its citizens. The interior building combines elements of both modern and classical architecture, and illustrates the principles of utility and economy characteristic of the “New Deal” style. If visiting the Grand Canyon in person isn’t possible for your classroom, then do the next best thing. Stop by the Department of the Interior Museum and see its majestic murals of national parks on your student trip to Washington, D.C.
Have a great Monday,
Jeff.