National Museum of Natural History Construction

Images documenting the construction of the United States National Museum, now the National Museum of Natural History. In 1903 Congress authorized the Board of Regents to begin a new museum building, construction to be under the direction of Bernard R. Green, Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds of the Library of Congress. Construction began in June 1904 and ended in 1911. Richard Rathbun, Assistant Secretary, spent much of his time from 1901 to 1911 planning and supervising construction of the new building, including extensive consultation with foreign and domestic museum experts.