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So thoroughly was the work of the Park Commission appre- ciated both by the public and by Congress that it was determined to create a similar body which should be of a permanent char- acter. This sentiment took definite shape in an Act of Congress approved May 17, 1910, creating the Commission of Fine Arts. This Commission was to consist of seven well qualified judges of fine arts to be appointed by the President and to serve four
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years each. The Act provided that it should be the duty of such Commission to advise upon the location of statues, fountains and monuments in the public squares, streets and parks in the District of Columbia, and upon the selection of models for statues, fountains and monuments erected under the authority of the United States, and upon the selection of artists for the execution of the same. The Act required all officers charged by law to determine such questions to call upon the Commission for its advice, the only exceptions being in connection with the Capitol Building and the Library of Congress. The Commission was also required to advise generally upon questions of art when called upon to do so by the President or any Committee of either house of Congress. The members of the Commission were expected to serve gratuitously but their expenses in attending meetings at Washington were to be defrayed by Congress.
Under commissions dated June 15, 1910, President Taft appointed as members of the Commission of Fine Arts, Daniel H. Burnham, of Illinois, Frederick Law Olmsted of Massachu- setts, Thomas Hastings, of New York, Daniel Chester French, of New York, Francis D. Millet, of New York, Cass Gilbert, of New York, and Charles Moore, of Michigan. Mr. Moore was for many years clerk of the Committee on the District of Colum- bia of the House of Representatives in which position he had, through his intense enthusiasm and untiring interest, rendered services of incalculable value to the National Capital. His influence had always been strong with members of Congress in favor of the development of the District upon a noble scale, and his appointment upon the Commission of Fine Arts was a fitting recognition not only of past services but of his pre- eminent qualifications to pass upon subjects relating to the beautification of the nation's capital.
The Commission of Fine Arts took charge of the plans, drawings, designs and photographs which had been prepared by the Park Commission in 1901. On October 25, 1910, President Taft issued an order to the effect that no plans for any public building to be erected in the District of Columbia for the Gen-
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eral Government should thereafter be approved by the office in charge thereof until submitted to the Commission of Fine Arts for its comment and advice.
Mr. Burnham was appointed Chairman of the Commission and at its first meeting Mr. Millet was elected Vice-Chairman. Upon Mr. Millet fell the greater part of the task of organizing the work of the Commission. On returning from a visit of inspection of the American Academy in Rome, Mr. Millet perished in the Titanic disaster on April 15, 1912. Mr. Burnham died in Heidelberg, Germany, on June 1, 1912. Edwin H. Blashfield of New York, was appointed by President Taft on May 31, 1912, to fill the vacancy caused by Mr. Millet's death and Mr. Peirce Anderson of Illinois was appointed on July 5, 1912, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Mr. Burnham.
The availability of Rock Creek Valley as the site for a park was officially noticed as early as 1866 by Major N. Michler, of the Corps of Engineers to whom had been referred a resolution of the Senate providing for the selection of a site for a public park and a presidential mansion.
Major Michler brought the matter to the attention of a number of prominent citizens of Washington, among them Ad- miral Lee, and Mr. W. W. Corcoran, but notwithstanding that considerable interest was shown in the project, no definite action was taken toward the acquisition of the necessary land at that time. In 1883, Captain Richard L. Hoxie, then Assistant to the Engineer Commissioner of the District, recommended the estab- lishment of a park embracing the entire Rock Creek Valley within the District of Columbia, including the hilly country as far west as Tenleytown, and as far east as Rock Creek Church Road, an area of approximately 8,000 acres. Captain Hoxie as a detail of his plan, proposed the construction of a dam just above Georgetown of such height as to back the water up the creek for a distance of four miles in order to secure an added water supply for the city.
To the efforts of Mr. Charles C. Glover is due the credit for the first definite action taken toward the establishment of the park. As the result of his indefatigable exertions Congress by an
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Act approved September 27, 1890, authorized the acquisition of a tract of land upon both sides of Rock Creek beginning at Klingle Ford Bridge and running northwardly following the course of the creek, of a width not less at any point than 600 feet nor more than 1200 feet, including the bed of the creek, of which not less than 200 feet should be on either side of the creek south of Broad Branch Road and Blagdon Mill Road, and of such greater width north of those roads as the Commissioners designated by the Act for carrying it into effect, might select.
The area of the territory to be so acquired was limited to 2,000 acres and the cost confined to $1,200,000. For the purpose of acquiring this ground the Act created a Commission to consist of the Chief of Engineers of the United States Army, the Engineer Commissioner of the District of Columbia, and three citizens to be appointed by the President. One-half the cost was to be appropriated from the Treasury and one-half from the revenues of the District of Columbia. The Act authorized the Commission in the event it should be unable to purchase the necessary land at reasonable prices, to institute condemna- tion proceedings and further directed that such real estate within the District as the Commission should find to be directly bene- fitted by reason of the location of the park should be assessed to the extent of its benefits received therefrom to pay the cost of the land.
On March 11, 1892, a map setting out the tracts which the Commission proposed to include within the park was prepared and the money therefor drawn from the Treasury and paid into the Registry of the Court for the benefit of the owners, where- upon under virtue of the Act authorizing the creation of the Commission, by its Executive Officer, it formally took possession of the land. On December 13, 1894, the park was turned over by the Commission to the Board of Control created by the original Act. This Board consisted of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia and the Chief of Engineers of the Army. The territory acquired contained 1,605.9 acres and the cost of its acquisition including the incidental expenses was $1,174,- 511.45.
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After the acquisition of the land the Commission held a number of meetings for the purpose of determining upon the assessments against adjoining property to pay for the park, and made a test case of the Van Riswick property. Mr. T. A. Lambert, representing the property owners, obtained from Judge Cox of the Supreme Court of the District an injunction against the assessment of benefits against this property and this decision was upheld by the Court of Appeals of the District but reversed in the Supreme Court of the United States. The Commission then renewed its hearings for the taking of testimony but after thorough consideration, concluded that the testimony did not show that there was any appreciable increase in the value of the surrounding property resulting from the establishment of the park and so reported to the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.
In 1904 Mr. Charles C. Glover offered to dedicate an addi- tional strip of ground along the east side of Rock Creek between Massachusetts Avenue and Connecticut Avenue Bridge, and this offer was accepted by a clause in the appropriation act for the fiscal year 1904, authorizing the Board of Control of Rock Creek Park to accept the dedication of land for the purpose of adding to that park. The dedication of this strip leaves only a small space of about fifty feet in the entire stretch from Massachusetts Avenue to the north end of Rock Creek Park on the east side of the creek which is not owned by the government.
By Act approved February 27, 1907, Congress authorized a parkway approach averaging 400 feet wide, to the Rock Creek Park from 16th Street down the valley of Piney Branch, and Congress is now being asked to authorize the further acquisition of the valley of the Klingle Road from Rock Creek Park to the junction of Klingle and Woodley Roads, comprising 281/2 acres, as well as land necessary to extend Rock Creek Drive and Lovers' Lane from Montrose Park north of Georgetown to the proposed Klingle Valley Park, thus giving a continuous driveway from Montrose Park to Rock Creek Park of about two miles in length. It is proposed also to extend the Piney Branch Driveway from 16th Street to Georgia Avenue, giving a connection between
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Rock Creek Park and the Soldiers' Home Grounds. In the 15 years following the acquisition of this park $223,333.98 have been expended in its improvement, making the total cost to date, $1,397,845.43.
On April 30, 1908, the District Commissioners submitted to Congress a report recommending the improvement of Rock Creek Valley from the Zoological Park to the mouth of the creek, by the open valley method as recommended by the Park Commission in 1901. This report, coming to the attention of Senator Wetmore, of Rhode Island, the latter requested the Commissioners to prepare a map of the lands required for carry- ing out the proposed improvement, and upon the preparation of this map by the Engineer's office, Senator Wetmore introduced a bill which was enacted in the public buildings act of March 4, 1913, and provided that for the purpose of preventing the pol- lution and obstruction of Rock Creek and of connecting Potomac Park with the Zoological Park and Rock Creek Park, a com- mission composed of the Secretaries of the Treasury and of War and Agriculture, should acquire by purchase, condemnation or otherwise, the land on both sides of the Creek included within the lines on the map so prepared and authorized the expenditure for this purpose of $1,300,000.
The public buildings act of June 25, 1910, authorized the Secretary of the Interior to acquire by purchase or condemna- tion the ground included between Euclid Street, Columbia Avenue or 15th Street, W Street or Florida Avenue, and 16th Street extended, containing approximately 437,000 square feet and appropriated the sum of $490,000 for this purpose, one-half of which was to be contributed out of the revenues of the District and be repaid in four annual instalments with interest at 3%. The same act authorized the Commissioners to purchase or con- demn the tract of land known as Montrose lying immediately north of Road or R Street and east of Lovers' Lane on George- town Heights, containing 16 acres, at an expense of not over $150,000. Both of these parks were acquired by the Commis- sioners, that on Meridian Hill at the full amount appropriated and Montrose Park at the cost of $110,000.
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From 1898 until 1905 Mr. William P. Richards was employ- ed in laying out, grading and macadamizing new roads, building bridges, culverts, fords, etc., in Rock Creek Park. The main work in road construction was the grading of a road along the Creek from its northern to its southern boundary and now known as "Beach Driveway," in honor of Commissioner Lans- ing H. Beach, who began, and during his entire term of office, took an especial interest in the designing and development of the improvements of the Park, including the celebrated "Boul- der Bridge."
The general appropriation act for the District of Columbia approved June 26, 1912, provided for the acquisition of the ground necessary to preserve the sites of Ft. Davis and Ft. Dupont for park purposes, and for providing a highway between them by widening Alabama Avenue to 150 feet, the entire area thus taken comprising 411/4 acres of land. This act required that not less than one-third and all in excess of $21,334 should be assessed as benefits against the adjoining property. By the same act the Secretary of War was directed to investigate and report on the question of the present water supply in the District of Columbia and the sufficiency of its source at Great Falls, to supply the future needs of the United States and of the District of Columbia, and also the availability of the water power at Great Falls or vicinity on the Potomac River, or between the Great Falls and the District of Columbia for the purpose of supplying light and power for the use of the United States and of the government of the District of Columbia.
The Zoological Park originated in the custom of the Smith- sonian Institution of obtaining living animals for purposes of study of taxidermists engaged in the preparation of skins and skeletons for mounting. These animals, owing to the absence of adequate arrangements for keeping them, were either killed for their skins or if not desired as specimens were sent to the Zoological Gardens at Philadelphia. During the eighties, Mr. William T. Hornaday, the taxidermist of the National Museum, noted both for his skill in his profession and for the results of his travels in Borneo and South America, conceived the idea of
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retaining these living animals with the idea of accumulating a collection of them for public exhibition. At Mr. Hornaday's suggestion a separate department of the National Museum- that of living animals-was created, and Mr. Hornaday was appointed curator of this department. As the result of his activities, the Museum owned in 1887 and 1888 about 220 living specimens.
The rapid extermination of many forms of wild animal life aroused a general interest in the subject of the preservation of specimens of these animals to posterity. To Mr. S. P. Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, occurred the idea of establishing a Zoological Park in which to preserve specimens of wild animals for the double purpose of diffusing zoological knowledge and preserving the various species from extinction.
Mr. Langley's idea was to place the animals in surround- ings as near as possible like those to which they were accustomed in their wild state. This idea was at the time a novel one and had not been adopted in the zoological collections of Europe, owing to lack of space in those crowded cities where such collec- tions existed. Secretary Langley saw the possibilities for such a park which were to be found in the valley of Rock Creek and he solicited the cooperation of numerous public spirited and official gentlemen in the promotion of his project to convert a portion of this valley into a zoological park. Among those who evinced an active interest were Senator Beck of Kentucky and Senator Morrow of Vermont. Senator Beck introduced a bill in Congress on April 23, 1888, providing for a commission to be composed of the Secretary of the Interior, the President of the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia, and the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution to locate and purchase land for a park which should be turned over to the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, after being so acquired. This bill failed of passage but the following year Senator Edmunds intro- duced a similar bill as an amendment to the District of Columbia appropriation bill, carrying an appropriation of $200,000. This bill was passed and was approved March 2, 1889. The Com- mission provided for in the act selected approximately 166 acres
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of land and after overcoming some difficulties in re-establishing the lines of the owners of the property needed, owing to the obliteration of old land marks, completed the survey on Novem- ber 21, 1889, and completed the acquisition of the site on November 4, 1890. An Act of Congress approved April 30, 1890, placed the National Zoological Park under the direction of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Dr. Frank Baker was appointed Superintendent, and under Dr. Baker and the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution the work of developing and improving the land which had been purchased was begun. The amount originally available for this purpose was $100,000. The services of Mr. Frederick Law Olmsted were obtained for the purpose of devising the general plan of im- provement and after a number of visits Mr. Olmsted outlined plans for developing the park which have in the main been followed so far as the funds at the disposal of the Regents have permitted.
The park has been very popular with the people of Wash- ington. During the first decade of its existence, attendance as high as 10,000 in a day were frequent, but these numbers were greatly exceeded in the following decade, and on Easter Monday, April 13, 1914, the attendance was slightly under 57,000. The advantage of this establishment over similar establishments in Europe lie not alone in the natural beauties of its location, including Rock Creek and the cliffs and forests of its valley, but also in its extent. This park includes 166.48 acres. The Jardin des Plants at Paris in which is located the Paris Zoological Gardens, includes 17 acres, the Gardens of the Zoological Society of London includes 36 acres, and the Berlin Zoological Garden, 63 acres.
Following the close of the Civil War, or even earlier, the problem of disposing of the rapidly accumulating silt in the Potomac River opposite Washington became a serious one. Between 1870 and 1881, $290,000 was spent in dredging chan- nels 16 feet deep and 200 feet wide through the Georgetown and Washington channels and in removing a number of dangerous rocks which obstructed the harbor at Georgetown.
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In connection with the problem of keeping the channels open was that of dealing with the extensive flats reaching from the bend of the river at Easby's Point to the forks of the channel opposite the mouth of the Eastern Branch. Under the River and Harbor Act of March 3, 1881, and a resolution of the Senate of December 13, 1881, the Board of Engineers of the Army investigated and reported upon a plan called for by Congress, having for its object the widening and deepening of the channels of the Potomac; the reclamation of the flats by depositing on them the material dredged from the channels; the freeing of the Washington channel of sewage, and the establishment of harbor lines. The flats were to be reclaimed to a height of three feet above the flood plane of 1877, which, although the highest freshet of record to that time, was exceeded by about three feet by the flood of 1889. The engineer's report provided for a tidal reservoir with automatic inlet and outlet gates to insure the flushing of the Washington channel with each tide. In 1890 a training dike on the Virginia shore was made a part of the project.
The work reached a point during the early nineties where the retaining wall around the vast area of the Potomac flats had been constructed and the area reclaimed and planted with a fringe of willows.
By Act of March 3, 1897, Congress declared this area to be a public park under the name of "Potomac Park." About 19,- 000,000 cubic yards were dredged from the river and deposited on the flats. The area reclaimed is 628 acres exclusive of that of the tidal reservoir of 111 acres. The office of public buildings and grounds has done a considerable amount of improvement on the Potomac Park, particularly in the laying out of a drive along the river bank.
The improvement of the Anacostia River commenced with the authorization in 1890 of the dredging of a channel 20 feet deep and 200 feet wide near the mouth of that stream. In 1902 Congress authorized the improvement of the portion below the Navy Yard Bridge by a channel 400 feet wide and 20 feet deep at the center. The dredged material was deposited behind a
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stone bulkhead to a height of seven feet above low tide and the reclaimed area is to be surrounded by an earthen embankment fourteen feet above low tide. This work has resulted in the reclamation of about 160 acres. By the District appropriation act of June 26, 1912, Congress appropriated $100,000 for con- tinuing the reclamation and development of the Anacostia River and Flats from the Anacostia Bridge to the District line, this sum to be expended under the supervision of the Chief of Engineers of the Army upon plans to be approved by a board to consist of the Engineer Commissioner of the District, the engineer officer in charge of the improvement of the Potomac River and the officer in charge of public buildings and grounds. Two similar appropriations have since been made. It is pro- posed to reclaim the entire extent of the Anacostia flats much along the line suggested by the Park Commission in 1901.
ARLINGTON
CHAPTER XIII
Art, Literature, Music and the Drama
The first public buildings erected in Washington were structures of beauty instead of mere rude habitations such as those with which infant cities usually begin. Although these palaces in the woods, separated by great distances, were themes for the jest of the short-sighted, yet their majestic proportions rising from their sylvan surroundings must have had an inspir- ing and prophetic effect upon the appreciative. The White House, the Patent Office, the Treasury Building, and the Capitol, follow closely the old Grecian principles, and are worthy of the great Republic whose government they represent. The other government buildings present varying degrees of merit and mediocrity.
In 1816 David Baillie Warden tells that "Mr. Boyle, a painter from Baltimore, collects objects of natural history, to form a museum in a building near the center of the city, which was formerly occupied as a study by Stewart, the celebrated portrait painter."
In 1845 William Q. Force tells of King's Art Gallery. Mr. Charles King was an artist living in Washington at that time, having his studio and exhibition building on Twelfth between E and F Streets. Mr. Force also recounts that there were in Washington at that time several other portrait and landscape painters, and that the capital city had become somewhat of an art center.
A National Gallery of Art was early advocated but was many years being provided for. When the National Institute was formed one of its provisions was for the advancement of literature and art, although science received the Institute's greatest attention.
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In April, 1841, the Institute was given space in the new Patent Office building, and with the scientific collection began one of art, meager at first but by 1845 large enough to be constituted the germ of a National collection.
When the Smithsonian Institution was established in 1846, the small collection of art pieces was transferred with the scientific collection to its management. One of the provisions in the Smithson will required that a fine art collection be part of the effort of the Institution, and the Committee in its report in 1847, suggested the buying of paintings and sculpture for a more extensive exhibit, besides engravings and architectural designs.
The first important collection purchased was the collection of Indian portraits of Mr. George Catlin. These portraits were taken from life and had been exhibited quite extensively in Europe and America. The whole collection comprised over six hundred pictures, and besides portraits contained landscapes and scenes showing sports, religious ceremonies and other cus- toms of the Indians, making it a valuable historical as well as artistic collection. The purchase of plaster casts of some of the classic statues of Europe was also authorized about this time.
In 1849 the Institution purchased the collection of George Perkins Marsh, comprising many fine engravings and etchings, there being several hundred portfolios altogether, in bound volumes and loose.
This acquisition cost the Government $3,000, and was pro- nounced the choicest collection of its kind in America. Among these engravings and etchings were many from celebrated artists, such as Rembrandt, Dürer, Lorraine, Hollar, Leonardo, and others equally celebrated.
Another Indian collection was sent to the Institution in 1852, by J. M. Stanley comprising one hundred fifty-two can- vases.
The main section of the Smithsonian building was com- pleted in 1855. The upper story was divided into three rooms, the western of which was devoted to art purposes and known
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