Freer's collected photographs of the construction of the Freer Museum

Object Details

Creator: Freer, Charles Lang, 1856-1919
Names: Smithsonian Institution; Platt, Charles A. (Charles Adams), 1861-1933; Walcott, Charles D. (Charles Doolittle), 1850-1927
Collection Creator: Freer, Charles Lang, 1856-1919

See more items in: Charles Lang Freer Papers; Charles Lang Freer Papers / Series 12: Photographs

Biographical / Historical: Due to illness, Charles Freer rarely visited Washington during the construction of his eponymous gallery. Secretary Charles Walcott sent periodic reports of the building's progress. These reports included the attached photographs, which Freer maintained in a bound album. Although the Freer Gallery did not open until 1923, the photographs in this album end in 1919 on Charles Freer's death.

Archival Repository: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

Collection Citation: Charles Lang Freer Papers. FSA A.01. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.

Collection Rights: Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.

Scope and Contents: An album of photographs of the construction of the Freer Gallery of Art, sent periodically to Charles Lang Freer from the office of the Secretary of the Smithsonian. Scenes include the building site; the groundbreaking ceremony; construction scenes from various angles including from the roof of the Smithsonian Castle, and an aerial view of the nearly completed building.; Photographs of the building in Washington to house the Freer Collection