This first-floor room was originally intended by James Renwick to be a vestibule, but it instead became part of the lower main hall’s museum when it was completed.
In 1899, Secretary Samuel P. Langley began preparations to convert the entire room for the “purpose of bringing together there, in a simple and attractive manner, objects which may
be of interest to children.” Langley explained his intent plainly, “It must be a cozy, pleasant room with plenty of light and pretty things, as well as a collection of specimens not many in number
but each object chosen just to give the child pleasure.” The notion to create the Children’s Room is significant because it is one of the first spaces in any museum to be dedicated to children.
Low glass-front exhibit cases were added to encircle the room at a child's eye level. A massive table in the center held a large aquarium with colorful fish, which, like the exotic birds in the cages above, were meant to inspire in a child wonder for
the beauty of nature. Exhibition labels were written in English rather than the academic Latin that the other museum labels used. This made them more accessible to children.
Other cases held such wonders as the largest and smallest birds of prey, the smallest and largest eggs of the world, the largest lump of gold ever found, and the largest diamond ever cut.
All objects were chosen to support the theme of the room, which was painted above the south entrance: “Knowledge Begins in Wonder.” The hope was that after a visit to this special place, “the
child goes home at last, glad, and with knowledge, and the love of knowledge, in his heart. He is happy, and, because [his curiosity] has been aroused, he has learned.” This same phrase is now above Wegman’s Wonderplace, the children’s space in the National Museum of American History.
By 1941, the Children’s Room was painted over and used for exhibitions to complement those in the main hall. After restoration with the original Children’s Room decorative elements, it reopened to the public in 1989.
Early in its history, the Castle’s north portion was considered as part of the National Mall and in 1883 the statue of first Secretary Joseph Henry was erected. The south yard of the Castle was thought of as the building’s back yard. Landscaping around the Castle turned what had been an open field into a serene, wooded park. Space in the Castle soon became scarce,
and the Smithsonian began constructing small buildings for laboratories, workrooms, and storage in the back yard. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this area next to a bustling thoroughfare (now Independence Ave) was called the South Yard, and it resembled a small village.
In 1884, a temporary structure was built as a workshop for preparing objects for exhibition.
Part of this preparation was the taxidermy of animals, such as tigers, pigeons, and bison.
One taxidermist, named William Temple Hornaday, requested the donation of live animals so he could study their forms. As a result, another shed was built to house the animals. That small shed opened to the public and became extremely popular, which led to more animals and more sheds being added.
Hornaday eventually urged Congress to establish a National Zoo; enabling legislation which passed in 1889. The animals in the South Yard were then relocated to Rock Creek Park where the National Zoological Park remains today.
Rockets and spacecraft were displayed in the South Yard starting in the 1950s until the National Air and Space Museum could be constructed to house them properly. During this time, the area was called Rocket Row. After this, the South Yard was cleared and was transformed into a Victorian garden complimenting the Castle’s architecture.
In 1979, plans began for a vast, three-story, underground museum and study center to be built in the South Yard. After four years of construction, in 1987 the new and improved South Yard was revealed, opening the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the National Museum of African Art.
Atop these museums laid the four-acre Enid. A Haupt garden, which is perhaps the country's largest green roof. The garden and the museum complex below remain there today.
In this room lies James Smithson, the founding benefactor of the Smithsonian. He died in Genoa, Italy, and never visited the United States. His tale involves a mysterious bequest and a voyage with inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell. To learn more about this and other Smithsonian tales (like another fire!), attend one of our Castle docent tours!