McKeen is museum registrar of the Department of the Interior Museum. While the museum is closed for renovations, monthly lectures and tours of the 54 New Deal-era murals in the Main Interior Building remain available. The murals tour is offered Tuesdays at noon and Thursdays at 2 p.m. The tour is limited to 20 visitors and a reservation is required. The Interior Department has a museum? Who knew?
Given that the Interior Museum is nestled within the Main Interior Building, and not located on the Mall, it has been a challenge to make the public aware. That’s why I always say we are D.C.’s best kept secret. However over the last five years, Interior Museum has made significant improvements in our outreach, specifically utilizing new media such as an improved Web site and Facebook.
How long has it been there?
The Interior Museum opened in 1938 in the newly constructed Interior Building. The museum was the idea of then Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, under FDR, who saw the construction of his new office building as an opportunity to create a museum.
What’s there?
The Interior Museum has a collection of almost 7,000 objects which represent the history and work of the department and the respective bureaus and offices. The collection includes works of art, historical artifacts, ethnographic objects and natural history specimens.
What’s your favorite piece of history at the museum?
We have a collection of over 700 Native American baskets that were purchased by Secretary Ickes for inclusion in the museum collection from private collectors in the 1930s and 1940s.
Another favorite of the collection includes the spectacular painting by Thomas Moran, “The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone” which was painted in 1872 by Moran after he was the official artist for the Hayden Geologic Survey of 1871. The painting was so influential in capturing the majesty of Yellowstone that it led to the creation of the National Park Service.
Scott McCabe
