Collections
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| Eskimo snowglasses ivory. |
The Interior Museum preserves artifacts and documents related to the history of the Department and the architecture of the 1930s Main Interior Building. Starting in 1936, the Interior Museum has collected over 6,000 objects of cultural, historic, and scientific importance, including a collection of over 800 North American Indian baskets. These were contributed by private donors who collected in the Southwest, California, and to a lesser extent the Northwest, and the Plains. The Interior Museum also has 1,500 items made in the United States insular areas of American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Republic of Palau. Most of the artifacts are handicrafts such as storyboards, dolls, and baskets, that date from the 1940s to present time.
The Gibson and Colburn Collections
The first acquisition for the museum was a purchase by order of Secretary Ickes in 1936 from Mrs. Helen Gibson of San Francisco. The collection consisted of approximately 400 Native American artifacts and made up the majority of the museum’s exhibits for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Later in 1939, Mrs. Frederick Henry Colburn, also of San Francisco, gave her basket collection of approximately 400 pieces to the Interior Museum. Items from the collection have been lent to numerous organizations to help further the understanding of Native American culture.
Ansel Adams
Secretary Ickes hired the photographer Ansel Adams to photograph the National Parks but the project ended abruptly with the U.S. entrance into World War II. Throughout his career, Adams remained connected to the Department. Two of his experimental photographic screens, of which he made only thirteen, remain at the Interior Museum. The screen Leaves, Mills College, Oakland, CA was purchased by Secretary Ickes in the late 1930s for his office and was later given to the museum for its collection. The screen Fresh Snow, Yosemite Valley, CA was given to Secretary Stewart Udall by Adams in 1968.
Thomas Moran
The painter Thomas Moran accompanied the Powell survey of the Colorado River in 1873, and Hayden’s survey of the Yellowstone region in 1871. Following those explorations, he painted The Chasm of the Colorado and The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Both paintings were purchased by the U.S. Congress and were exhibited in the Capital building until 1950 at which point they were transferred to the Interior Museum. These two magnificent paintings were instrumental in the creation of the National Park system and Yellowstone National Park. The paintings hung in the Interior Department building until 1968 when they were lent to the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum. Today, they can be seen along with George Catlin’s Indian portraits at the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery.
