1.
National Mall
–
The National Mall is a national park in downtown Washington, D. C. the capital of the United States. The National Park Service administers the National Mall, which is part of its National Mall, a smaller designation, sometimes referred to as the Mall proper, excludes both the Capitol grounds and the Washington Monument grounds, applying only to an area between them. The National Mall contains a number of museums and memorials and receives approximately 24 million visitors each year, in his 1791 plan for the future city of Washington, D. C. The National Mall occupies the site of this grand avenue. The Washington Monument stands near the site of its namesakes equestrian statue. Mathew Careys 1802 map is reported to be the first to name the area west of the United States Capitol as the Mall, during the early 1850s, architect and horticulturist Andrew Jackson Downing designed a landscape plan for the Mall. Over the next century, federal agencies developed several naturalistic parks within the Mall in accordance with Downings plan. Two such areas were Henry Park and Seaton Park, in addition, railroad tracks crossed the Mall on 6th Street, west of the Capitol. Near the tracks, a market and a railroad station rose on the north side of the Mall. Greenhouses belonging to the U. S. Botanic Garden appeared near the east end of the Mall, the plan differed from LEnfants by replacing the 400 feet wide grand avenue with a 300 feet wide vista containing a long and broad expanse of grass. Four rows of American elm trees planted fifty feet apart between two paths or streets would line each side of the vista. Buildings housing cultural and educational institutions constructed in the Beaux-Arts style would line each outer path or street, on the opposite side of the path or street from the elms. In subsequent years, the vision of the McMillan plan was followed with the planting of American elms. In accordance with a plan that it completed in 1976, the NPS converted the two innermost boulevards into gravel walking paths, the two outermost boulevards remain paved and open to vehicular traffic. Although the Navy intended the buildings to provide quarters for the United States military during World War I. Much of the area then became Constitution Gardens, which was dedicated in 1976. From the 1970s to 1994, a model of a triceratops named Uncle Beazley stood on the Mall in front of the National Museum of Natural History. The life-size statue, which is now located at the National Zoological Park in Northwest Washington, in 2003, the 108th United States Congress enacted the Commemorative Works Clarification and Revision Act
National Mall
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National Mall
National Mall
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Looking east from the top of the Washington Monument towards the National Mall and the United States Capitol in the summer of 1901. The Mall exhibited the Victorian-era landscape of winding paths and random plantings that Andrew Jackson Downing designed in the 1850s.
National Mall
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The National Mall was the centerpiece of the 1901 McMillan Plan. A central open vista traversed the length of the Mall.
National Mall
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Barricade blocking walkway adjacent to Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool during 2013 federal government shutdown, looking east toward Washington Monument undergoing repair
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
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Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
3.
Red Line (Washington Metro)
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For the proposed light rail project in Baltimore, Maryland, that was cancelled in 2015, see Red Line. The Red Line of the Washington Metro rail rapid transit system serves 27 stations in Montgomery County, Maryland and it is a primary line through downtown Washington and the oldest and busiest line in the system. It forms a long, narrow U, capped by its stations at Shady Grove. The line provides service at 6-minute intervals during the day and 12-minute intervals in the evening, the Red Line is the only line in the system that does not share its tracks with another Metrorail line. Planning for Metro began with the Mass Transportation Survey in 1955 which attempted to forecast both freeway and mass transit systems sufficient to meet the needs of 1980, in 1959, the studys final report included two rapid transit lines which anticipated subways in downtown Washington. The route continued in rapid transit plans until the formation of WMATA, with the formation of WMATA in October 1966, planning of the system shifted from federal hands to a regional body with representatives of the District, Maryland and Virginia. Congressional route approval was no longer a key consideration, instead, routes had to serve each local suburban jurisdiction to assure that they would approve bond referenda to finance the system. By 1969, WMATA had decided on the current routing and stations, Montgomery County officials opposed ending the Red Line in downtown Rockville, saying it would cause congestion in the area and use scarce vacant land for a storage yard. Metro decided to propose to extend the red line one more station to Shady Grove, construction on the Red Line began with a groundbreaking ceremony on December 9,1969. Service on the Red Line began on March 27,1976, Gallery Places opening was delayed due to a court order regarding lack of handicapped access, but it opened in the middle of the line on December 15,1976. A short time after the Green Line branch north of Fort Totten opened in the early 1990s, due to its success, the shortcut continued until the mid-city portion of the Green Line was completed in 1999. The NoMa – Gallaudet University Metro station, located between Union Station and Rhode Island Avenue – Brentwood, opened on November 20,2004 and it was the systems first in-fill station. The Red Line is undergoing a $212 million improvement program, on November 3,2004, an out-of-service Red Line train rolled backward into the Woodley Park – Zoo / Adams Morgan station and hit an in-service train stopped at the platform. No one was killed, but 20 people were injured, a 14-month investigation concluded that the train operator was most likely not alert as the train rolled backward into the station. Safety officials estimated that had the train been full, at least 79 would have died, the train operator was dismissed and Metro officials agreed to add rollback protection to more than 300 rail cars. On the afternoon of June 22,2009, at 5,03 p. m. EDT, a stationary train was struck from behind by a second six-car train, resulting in the telescoping of the moving train onto the rear of the stationary train. Nine people were killed in the collision and at least 70 people were injured and it is the deadliest accident in the history of the Washington Metro. The NTSB report on the accident was released on July 27,2010 and blamed a faulty circuit, part of the automatic train control system
Red Line (Washington Metro)
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Red Line
Red Line (Washington Metro)
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June 2009 Metro collision scene
4.
Judiciary Square (WMATA station)
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Judiciary Square is a Washington Metro station in Washington, D. C. on the Red Line. Judiciary Square is located in Northwest, with entrances at 4th and D Street and 5th and it serves the many courthouses and municipal buildings in the area. The 5th and F Street entrance is in the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, as the monument is built around the escalator, the 4th and D Street entrance is closed on weekends. Service began on March 27,1976 and this station is also the birthplace of the Metro, as the initial groundbreaking was held here on December 9,1969. During a September 2012 refurbishment of the station, new signage was installed, similar signage can be found at the Gallery Place, NoMa – Gallaudet University, Morgan Boulevard, Grosvenor-Strathmore, and Largo Town Center stations. The station has 2 tracks with 2 side platforms, each of which has a platform-level faregate and an elevator directly to the surface at the entrance for the National Building Museum
Judiciary Square (WMATA station)
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Judiciary Square
5.
Yellow Line (Washington Metro)
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The Yellow Line of the Washington Metro consists of 17 rapid transit stations from Huntington or Franconia Springfield in Virginia to either Mount Vernon Square, Fort Totten or Greenbelt. Additional Yellow Line trains may continue passenger service to Greenbelt during off-peak hours, in non rush/peak hours, almost all regularly scheduled trains run to Fort Totten. The line shares tracks with the Green Line from LEnfant Plaza northward to Fort Totten and it is a quick link between downtown Washington and National Airport, and shares nearly all of its track with either the Green or Blue Line. The Southern terminus of the Yellow Line is adjacent to Kings Highway in Fairfax County, the Yellow Line then merges with the Blue Line and follows the right-of-way of the CSX Railroad through the City of Alexandria. The line enters a tunnel under U. S. Route 1. After crossing a bridge over Four Mile Run, the line enters Arlington County on a structure above the National Airport parking lots. At the north end of the airport, the Yellow Line enters a tunnel under 18th Street South and South Hayes Street, the tunnel continues along the southwest face of the Pentagon which is a two level station to facilitate a fork with the Blue Line. At the end of the bridge, the Yellow Line re-enters a tunnel near the Jefferson Memorial, the tunnel merges with the Green Line tunnel under 7th Street Southwest just south of the LEnfant Plaza. The joint Yellow Line — Green Line tunnel continues north through downtown Washington under 7th Street, turns west under Florida Avenue and U Street, the tunnel then turns toward the northeast under Park Road and New Hampshire Avenue. The tunnel then bends eastward under Rock Creek Cemetery and Fort Totten Park to emerge just before entering the level of the Fort Totten station. The track continues northeast as just the Green Line to the Greenbelt terminus, the Yellow Line needs 10 six-car trains to run at peak capacity. Internally, the Yellow Line in Virginia was called the Huntington Route, planning for Metro began with the Mass Transportation Survey in 1955 which attempted to forecast both freeway and mass transit systems sufficient to meet the needs of the region projected for 1980. In 1959, the final report included two rapid transit lines which anticipated subways in downtown Washington. The new agency, the National Capital Transportation Administration, issued a 1962 Transportation in the National Capital Region report, a central route under 7th Street in downtown was only added in 1967 primarily to serve the inner city. In March 1968, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority board approved its 98-mile Adopted Regional System which included the Yellow Line from Franconia and Backlick Road to Greenbelt. While a cut-and-fill tunnel for Yellow Line was built under 7th Street and U Street, the result was the loss of the traditional retail businesses along the route. The downtown segment of the line was projected to open in September 1977. Obtaining approval of the District of Columbia and Prince Georges County of the alignment of the Yellow Line north of U Street delayed construction
Yellow Line (Washington Metro)
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Yellow Line train at
Huntington station
Yellow Line (Washington Metro)
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Crossing the
Potomac River from Virginia on the Yellow Line, with the
Washington Monument and
Jefferson Memorial in the background
Yellow Line (Washington Metro)
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One of hundreds of signs that were reworded from just "National Airport"
6.
Green Line (Washington Metro)
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The Green Line is one of the six heavy rail subway lines that make up the Washington Metro rapid transit system in the Washington, D. C. metropolitan area. The Green Line consists of 21 stations, with termini at Branch Avenue, the Green Line runs through Prince Georges County, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. It was the last line in the original Metrorail plan to be constructed and it shares nine stations with the Yellow Line, one station with the Blue, Silver and Orange lines, and two stations with the Red Line. The Green Line requires 19 trains to run at peak capacity, planning for Metro began with the Mass Transportation Survey in 1955 which attempted to forecast both freeway and mass transit systems sufficient to meet the needs of the region projected for 1980. In 1959, the final report included two rapid transit lines which anticipated subways in downtown Washington. The agency, the National Capital Transportation Administration, issued a 1962 Transportation in the National Capital Region report, a central route under 7th Street in downtown was only added in 1967 primarily to serve the inner city. In March 1968, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority board approved its 98-mile Adopted Regional System which included the Green Line from Branch Avenue to Greenbelt and it also foresaw possible future extensions to Laurel, Maryland and Brandywine, Maryland. Plans for rapid transit prior to the creation of WMATA in February 1967 focused on the needs of commuters while neglecting some of the Districts less affluent neighborhoods, however, by late 1966, some plans started to include a line along 7th Street in the District of Columbia. The new line was included in WMATAs master plan for its proposed then-101-mile system in 1968, at that time, a Green Line was planned to pass through some of the areas poorest and most transit-dependent neighborhoods and provide them with subway service. The original 1969 plan called for a line under 13th Street NW with just two stations. However, in 1970, the District of Columbia Council agreed to pay an additional $3 million to add a station and reroute the Green Line under U Street. Instead of opening in 1976, the first Green Line stations opened in 1991, public hearings on whether to build a Green Line and the route it should take were completed in 1973, and portions of the Green Line was originally scheduled to open in 1976. While a cut-and-cover tunnel for the Green Line was built under 7th Street and U Street, the result was the loss of the traditional retail businesses along the route. The downtown segment of the line was projected to open in September 1977. Obtaining approval of the District of Columbia and Prince Georges County of the alignment of the Green Line north of U Street delayed construction. Controversy dogged the route of the rest of the Green Line, the site of the Anacostia Station, set for the intersection of Martin Luther King, Jr. By the end of 1977, Metro had pushed the opening of the Green Line to June 1983, increasing construction costs and financing problems led WMATA to consider whether to shift the Green Line to a more southerly route along Wheeler Road SE to terminate near Rosecroft Raceway. In October 1977, WMATAs Board of Directors refused to declare construction of the Green Line a high priority, although the United States Department of Transportation approved the Glenmont extension, federal officials were unhappy that Metro had yet to construct the Green Line into Anacostia
Green Line (Washington Metro)
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Green Line train on the lower level of
Fort Totten station
Green Line (Washington Metro)
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Naylor Road Station in Prince George's County, MD
Green Line (Washington Metro)
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William T. Coleman, civil rights attorney and former Ford administration Cabinet official, helped break the funding impasse.
Green Line (Washington Metro)
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Extensive bus bays (depicted) were added to the Anacostia station to accommodate Prince George's County buses that never serviced the station.
7.
Archives (WMATA station)
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Archives is a Washington Metro station in Washington, D. C. on the Green and Yellow Lines. It takes its name from the nearby National Archives and its subtitle is derived from the U. S. Navy Memorial and the Penn Quarter neighborhood in which the station is located. It is a stop for tourists, with easy access to the northern side of the National Mall. Service began on April 30,1983, until 2004, the station was known as Archives-Navy Memorial. At that time it was renamed Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter, in recognition of the nearby Penn Quarter neighborhood, Navy Memorial and Penn Quarter were moved to a new subtitle, leaving Archives as the main name, on November 3,2011. New signage was installed accordingly in 2005, following the 2004 renaming, there is a provision for a future second mezzanine at the south end of the station, with a knock-out panel visible on the stations south wall. In 2004, the station was referenced in the Disney film National Treasure
Archives (WMATA station)
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Archives station
Archives (WMATA station)
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Station entrance pylon
8.
Blue Line (Washington Metro)
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The Blue Line of the Washington Metro in the United States consists of 27 rapid transit stations from Franconia–Springfield to Largo Town Center. It has stations in Fairfax County, Alexandria and Arlington, Virginia, the District of Columbia, thirteen of the lines stations are shared with the Orange Line,18 are shared with the Silver Line and 9 are shared with the Yellow Line. Only one station – Arlington Cemetery Station – is exclusive to the Blue Line, planning for Metro began with the Mass Transportation Survey in 1955 which attempted to forecast both freeway and mass transit systems sufficient to meet the needs of 1980. In 1959, the final report included two rapid transit lines which anticipated subways in downtown Washington. It did not include a route in Prince Georges County, the route continued in rapid transit plans until the formation of WMATA. With the formation of WMATA in October 1966, planning of the system shifted from federal hands to a body with representatives of the District, Maryland. Congressional route approval was no longer a key consideration, instead, routes had to serve each local suburban jurisdiction to assure that they would approve bond referenda to finance the system. In March 1968, the WMATA board approved its 98-mile Adopted Regional System which included the Blue Line from Huntington to Addison Road, the ARS contained a Blue Line/Orange Line station at Oklahoma Avenue between Stadium/Armory and the Anacostia River Bridge. Local residents objected to a proposed 1, 000-car commuter parking lot at that station, in reaction to their lobbying, the DC government insisted that the station be removed and that the tunnel for the line be extended through the neighborhood. This then made the line the only one to have a station canceled due to neighborhood opposition, to better accommodate tourists, a Smithsonian station exit was added on the Mall and the federal government requested in 1972 that the Arlington Cemetery Station be added to the Blue Line. The federal government paid the cost of design changes. Service on the Blue Line began on July 1,1977, the line was extended by three stations to Addison Road on November 22,1980. Service south of National Airport began on June 15,1991 when Van Dorn Street opened, the original plan for the line was completed when this link was extended to Franconia–Springfield on June 29,1997. Two new stations in Maryland – Morgan Boulevard and Largo Town Center – opened on December 18,2004, beginning December 1,1979, the Orange Line diverged westward from Rosslyn to Ballston. The Blue and Orange Lines remain co-aligned from Rosslyn to Stadium-Armory, the Blue Line was originally planned to follow a slightly different route. The plan would have sent Blue Line trains to Huntington, with Yellow Line trains serving Franconia–Springfield and this was changed due to a shortage of rail cars at the time of the completion of the line to Huntington. From 1999 to 2008, the Blue Line operated to Huntington on July 4, the ARS had the Blue Line end at Addison Road. However, sports fans continually argued for an extension to the Capital Centre sports arena in Largo
Blue Line (Washington Metro)
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Blue Line train on the D Route bridge, near the Blue/Silver and Orange Line's eastern split
Blue Line (Washington Metro)
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Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Station
Blue Line (Washington Metro)
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Addison Road station
Blue Line (Washington Metro)
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Farragut West Station
9.
Orange Line (Washington Metro)
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The Orange Line of the Washington Metro consists of 26 rapid transit stations from Vienna to New Carrollton. It has stations in Fairfax County and Arlington, Virginia, the District of Columbia, half of the lines stations are shared with the Blue Line and over two thirds are shared with the Silver Line. Orange Line service began on November 20,1978, the Orange Line needs 30 trains to run at peak capacity. Planning for Metro began with the Mass Transportation Survey in 1955, in 1959, the studys final report included two rapid transit lines which anticipated subways in downtown Washington. The route continued in rapid transit plans until the formation of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, with the formation of WMATA in October 1966, planning of the system shifted from federal hands to a regional body with representatives of the District, Maryland and Virginia. Congressional route approval was no longer a key consideration, instead, routes had to serve each local suburban jurisdiction to assure that they would approve bond referenda to finance the system. The construction of the downtown Washington sections of the Orange and Blue lines began simultaneously with the Red line, a joint ground-breaking ceremony was held on December 9,1969. Service on the joint downtown track was at first branded as just the Blue Line, in 1976, Robert Patricelli, federal Urban Mass Transportation Administrator, ordered Metro to conduct an alternatives analysis of the portion of its system that was not already under contract. This prompted the City of Falls Church to sue WMATA for breach of contract, in the end, WMATA kept the Vienna route intact, leaving Tysons Corner without Metrorail service until 2014. Service on the Orange Line began on November 20,1978 between National Airport and New Carrollton, with five new stations being added to the network from Stadium–Armory. When the line from Rosslyn to Ballston–MU was completed on December 11,1979, the line was completed on June 7,1986, when it was extended by four stations to Vienna in the I-66 median. It was the first incident within the Metro system that caused a fatality, as a part of this project, the train yard adjacent to the West Falls Church station on the Orange Line was expanded. On July 26,2014, Orange Line stations between East Falls Church and Stadium-Armory began to serve Silver Line trains, at the Clarendon station, the tunnel shifts to Wilson Blvd. and 16th Street North. The tunnel then turns north and merges with the Blue Line just before entering the Rosslyn station which is located under North Lynn Street, the tunnel continues under the Potomac River and bends to the east to travel under I Street NW in the District of Columbia. The tunnel continues east under I Street and between Farragut West and McPherson Square stations there is a branch track that connects with the Red Line. The tunnel then turns south under 12th Street Northwest and enters the level of the Metro Center station. After Smithsonian station, the tunnel turns east under D Street Southwest, the tunnel then travels under the RFK Stadium parking lots to surface near Benning Road. The elevated tracks follow Benning Road across the Anacostia River and then split from the Blue, there is a pocket track just west of this split
Orange Line (Washington Metro)
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Orange Line train at
West Falls Church station
Orange Line (Washington Metro)
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As originally planned, Silver Line trains would have reversed course using the D98
pocket track east of the Stadium Armory stop. Safety concerns raised in December 2012 necessitate the trains to continue to
Largo Town Center.
Orange Line (Washington Metro)
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Unused bridge pier east of West Falls Church station, intended for use in connecting the Silver Line to the Orange Line.
10.
Silver Line (Washington Metro)
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The Silver Line of the Washington Metro in the United States consists of 28 existing and six planned rapid transit stations from Wiehle–Reston East to Largo Town Center. It has stations in Fairfax County and Arlington, Virginia, the District of Columbia, only five stations are exclusive to the Silver Line, which began service on July 26,2014. Phase 2 will expand the line another 11.5 miles to Loudoun County via Washington Dulles International Airport, preliminary construction of Phase 2 began in 2014 and is scheduled to open in 2019. The $6.8 billion project is the largest expansion by route mileage since the inception of Metro in 1976, the Silver Line has two primary goals. The first is to link Washington, D. C. by rail to Washington Dulles International Airport and the cities of Tysons Corner, Reston, Herndon. The second is to spur development in Tysons Corner and reduce overall reliance on highway traffic in the business district, Virginias largest. The districts area is comparable in size to downtown Washington, D. C. but is rather insulated from its surrounding neighborhoods and has no existing grid pattern in its streets. Funding for the phase of the project will be shared by Loudoun County, Fairfax County, the Commonwealth of Virginia. It follows the Blue and Orange Line tracks through DC, continuing through Arlington along the Orange Line, the new tracks run in the median of the Dulles Connector Road to an elevated bridge, which takes them over Virginia Route 123. Two elevated stops along the west side of Route 123 serve the national headquarters of CapitalOne, SAIC, the tracks then enter a tunnel which emerges in the median of Virginia Route 7. Two elevated stations above Route 7 serve the section of Tysons Corner. The elevated track then swings into the median of the Dulles Access Road until it reaches the airport, along the way, five new stations would be built with platforms in the median of the access road and a faregate and pedestrian bridges to parking areas elevated above the highway. The garage has drawn criticism because of alleged construction flaws, as currently planned, upon reaching the airport the track will enter a tunnel which will follow the path of the arrivals driveway of the airport terminal to a station located close to the terminal. The track would leave the tunnel near the hotel and economy parking lots. A storage yard and maintenance facility would branch off to the west occupying the airports buffer zone north of the end of its major runways, the final two stops would be in the median of the Dulles Greenway, serving the Ashburn suburb. Hence, the line is expected to draw both airport traffic and commuters from the far suburbs of Washington, DC. Buses currently provide these users with limited public transportation, in contrast, the Silver Line is expected to provide trains once every six minutes during rush hours and once every fourteen minutes during non-rush hours. Metros new 7000 series cars have been ordered at a price of $3 million per car,64 of which are for Silver Line service, the contract was signed on July 2,2010 for 428 cars
Silver Line (Washington Metro)
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Panoramic view of Silver Line Phase I project under construction between the
Tysons Corner station on
Route 123 at Tysons Boulevard and the overpass on the
Capital Beltway (I-495).
Silver Line (Washington Metro)
–
As originally planned, Silver Line trains were to reverse course using the D98
pocket track east of the
Stadium Armory stop. Safety concerns raised in December 2012 required service to extend to
Largo Town Center.
Silver Line (Washington Metro)
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Unused bridge pier near West Falls Church station in 2010, intended to support a Silver Line bridge
Silver Line (Washington Metro)
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Pennant given to users of the Silver Line on its grand opening, July 26, 2014.
11.
Smithsonian (WMATA station)
–
Smithsonian is a side platformed Washington Metro station at the National Mall in Washington, D. C. The station was opened on July 1,1977, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and it is a stop on the Blue, Orange and Silver Lines. The station is named for its proximity to the Smithsonian Institutions museums and is close to the Washington Monument, the station is also near several federal office buildings, including those of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Energy. The station opened on July 1,1977 and its opening coincided with the completion of 11. Orange Line service to the station began upon the opening on November 20,1978. Silver Line service at Smithsonian station began on July 26,2014, near this station, Metro had its first fatalities, which occurred on January 13,1982 when a train derailed. On the same day, Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge, the two events closed the federal government in the Washington Metropolitan Area. Metro stopped closing Smithsonian station on July 4 beginning in 2009
Smithsonian (WMATA station)
–
Smithsonian
Smithsonian (WMATA station)
12.
Metrobus (Washington, D.C.)
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Metrobus is a bus service operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Its fleet consists of 1,480 buses covering an area of 1,500 square miles in Washington, there are more than 300 bus routes serving 12,216 stops, including 2,398 bus shelters. In fiscal year 2009 Metrobus provided more than 133 million trips, on a typical weekday, it provides more than 424,000 trips. Metro stopped issuing and accepting paper bus transfers as of January 4,2009, bus, up to two children, per paying adult, under 5 years of age ride for free. Children at least 5 years of age pay adult fare, Express routes, J7, J9, P17, P19, W13, W19, 11Y, 17A, 17B, 17G, 17H, 17K, 17L, 17M, 18E, 18G, 18H, 18P and 29W. All Metrobuses have SmarTrip card readers which automatically deduct the correct fare from a riders SmarTrip card, formerly, Metrobus issued paper transfers which gave the rider free transfers to any regular bus for two hours. This section discusses the transfer policy to and from Metrobus and other bus operators. The routes can be Metrobus routes or routes of other regional operators, note that as of January 4,2009, transfer credit is issued on a SmarTrip card, riders using cash payment cannot obtain a paper transfer and must pay full fare upon boarding the bus. On June 27,2010, the window was reduced from 3 hours to 2 hours. NOTES, Local Buses, Metrobus local routes, Ride-On, The Bus, DC Circulator, Fairfax Connector, Connect-A-Ride, Fairfax CUE, DASH and Arlington Transit. Express Buses, Metrobus express routes, PRTC OmniRide, PRTC MetroDirect, Ride-On route 70, Metro has currently awarded a five-year contract with NABI for the procurement of up to 654 new buses. The first batch of 85 NABI diesel-electric hybrid 42-foot buses is already on order, the new buses will replace some of Metro’s older Orion V buses, which were delivered in 1997 and 2000. Going forward, the contract gives Metro the option to order up to 498 additional 42-foot buses, red/Silver painted buses will be used on local routes and Blue/Silver buses will be used on Express routes. These buses will have either Local or MetroExtra on the top of each side of the bus for easy identification, the numbering represents its region of operation. To differ the regions numbering system, most Maryland letters is prefix to the route number, WMATA is adding a total of 533 hybrid buses to replace its diesel bus fleet. Each new New Flyer Xcelsior XDE40 bus costs $571,737 and is expected to break less frequently as well as offer greater fuel economy. With the latest purchase of 152 hybrid buses for $89.3 million from New Flyer of America, note, In 2015, the rest of the NABI BRT order was converted to the New Flyer Xcelsior order, due to New Flyer discontinuing production of its NABI-branded buses. Note, Also, the numbering for the 2017 New Flyer XN40 buses is to be determined, 1976-1978 Flxible New Looks #8000-86611988 Gillig Corporation|Gillig Phantoms #5080-5099 1959-1974 GMC Fishbowls #1000-6718
Metrobus (Washington, D.C.)
–
A Metrobus operating the 23A northbound route is seen driving on North Glebe Road in
Arlington County, Virginia.
Metrobus (Washington, D.C.)
–
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority recently purchased
BRT buses that are painted in the new Local and Express paint schemes.
Metrobus (Washington, D.C.)
–
The interior of a WMATA (Metrobus) New Flyer D40LFR Suburban
Metrobus (Washington, D.C.)
–
Orion Bus Industries
13.
DC Circulator
–
The DC Circulator is a bus system in Washington, D. C. The service began in 2005, and passengers increased as the routes grew from two to five, but ridership peaked in 2011, and has decreased since then. The top month was July 2011, with 546,000 riders, the subsidy per rider is unusually high, in 2014, it ranged from $2.78 in July to $3.50 in December. The concept of a downtown bus was included in a 1997 report by the National Capital Planning Commission. The report called for a simple, inexpensive, and easily navigable surface transit system that complements Metrobus, Washington Convention Center to the Southwest Waterfront. The two lines served the National Mall and the Southwest Waterfront were discontinued in 2011 due to low ridership. The National Mall route was reinstated on June 15,2015, the route is operated in collaboration with the National Park Service. On April 18,2007, a driver of a bus was off-duty and had left the bus to attend to other business, while he was out of the bus, the bus rolled back and crashed into a Georgetown University building. The DC Circulator has six lines operating at 10-minute intervals, the east-west line connects Georgetown with Union Station and operates primarily along Wisconsin Avenue, K Street, and Massachusetts Avenue. Eastbound, the bus starts on Wisconsin Avenue at Whitehaven Street in Georgetown, westbound, the route starts in the bus level of the Union Station parking garage. This line operates between Woodley Park, Adams Morgan, and McPherson Square via the 14th Street Corridor, Service operates from 7,00 a. m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday and 7,00 a. m. to 3,30 a. m. Part of this route replaced the discontinued WMATA98 line and this line operates from Dupont Circle primarily via M Street through Georgetown and travels over the Key Bridge to Rosslyn. This services operates from 7,00 a. m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday and this route replaced the former Georgetown Metro Connection blue bus. This line connects Union Station and Navy Yard through Capitol Hill, operates weekdays between 6,00 a. m. and 7,00 p. m. from October 1 through March 31. Summer service operates weekdays between 6,00 a. m. and 9,00 p. m. and this route replaced the discontinued Metrobus N22 line. This line operates from the Potomac Avenue Metro Station and Skyland Town Center east of the Anacostia River via Barracks Row on Capitol Hill, Service operates weekdays between 6,00 a. m. and 7,00 p. m. from October 1 through March 31. Summer service operates weekdays between 6,00 a. m. and 9,00 p. m. and Saturday 7,00 a. m. to 9,00 p. m. Jr. memorials. Service operates weekdays between 7,00 a. m. and 7,00 p. m. and weekends from 9,00 a. m. to 7,00 p. m. from October 1 through March 31
DC Circulator
–
A DC Circulator bus at
Union Station in August 2006.
DC Circulator
–
A300K
DC Circulator
–
A300L
DC Circulator
–
New Flyer Industries
14.
Art museum
–
An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art. Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection, the term is used for both public galleries, which are non-profit or publicly owned museums that display selected collections of art. On the other hand, private galleries refers to the commercial enterprises for the sale of art, however, both types of gallery may host traveling exhibits or temporary exhibitions including art borrowed from elsewhere. In broad terms, in North American usage, the word gallery alone often implies a private gallery, the term contemporary art gallery refers usually to a privately owned for-profit commercial gallery. These galleries are found clustered together in large urban centers. Smaller cities are home to at least one gallery, but they may also be found in towns or villages. Contemporary art galleries are open to the general public without charge, however. They usually profit by taking a portion of art sales, from 25% to 50% is typical, there are also many non-profit or collective galleries. Some galleries in cities like Tokyo charge the artists a flat rate per day, curators often create group shows that say something about a certain theme, trend in art, or group of associated artists. Galleries sometimes choose to represent artists exclusively, giving them the opportunity to show regularly, a gallerys definition can also include the artist cooperative or artist-run space, which often operates as a space with a more democratic mission and selection process. A vanity gallery is an art gallery that charges fees from artists in order to show their work, the shows are not legitimately curated and will frequently or usually include as many artists as possible. Most art professionals are able to identify them on an artists resume, University art museums and galleries constitute collections of art that are developed, owned, and maintained by all kinds of schools, community colleges, colleges, and universities. This phenomenon exists in both the West and East, making it a global practice, although largely overlooked, there are over 700 university art museums in America alone. This number, in comparison to other kinds of art museums, throughout history, large and expensive works of art have generally been commissioned by religious institutions and monarchs and been displayed in temples, churches, and palaces. Although these collections of art were private, they were made available for viewing for a portion of the public. In classical times, religious institutions began to function as a form of art gallery. Wealthy Roman collectors of engraved gems and other precious objects often donated their collections to temples and it is unclear how easy it was in practice for the public to view these items. At the Palace of Versailles, entrance was restricted to wearing the proper apparel – the appropriate accessories could be hired from shops outside
Art museum
–
The Louvre in
Paris,
France, is one of the world's largest museums and
the most visited art museum in the world.
Art museum
–
The Gallery of
Cornelis van der Geest,
Willem van Haecht, 1628. A private picture gallery as an early precursor of the modern museum.
Art museum
–
University of Tartu Art Museum is the oldest museum in
Estonia.
Art museum
–
The art collection at the
Palace of Versailles in
France was periodically open for 'respectable' public viewing.
15.
Washington, D.C.
–
Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing
Washington, D.C.
–
Clockwise from top left:
Smithsonian Institution Building,
Rock Creek Park,
National Mall (including the
Lincoln Memorial in the foreground),
Howard Theatre and the
Frederick Douglass National Historic Site
Washington, D.C.
–
Map of the District of Columbia in 1835, prior to the
retrocession
Washington, D.C.
–
Ford's Theatre in the 19th century, site of the 1865
assassination of
President Lincoln
Washington, D.C.
–
Crowds surrounding the
Reflecting Pool during the 1963
March on Washington
16.
Constitution Avenue
–
Constitution Avenue is a major east-west street in the northwest and northeast quadrants of the city of Washington, D. C. in the United States. It was originally known as B Street, and its section was greatly lengthened and widened between 1925 and 1933. It received its current name on February 26,1931, Constitution Avenues western half defines the northern border of the National Mall and extends from the United States Capitol to the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge. Its eastern half runs through the neighborhoods of Capitol Hill and Kingman Park before it terminates at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, a large number of federal departmental headquarters, memorials, and museums line Constitution Avenues western segment. In Pierre Charles LEnfants original plan for the city in 1791, B Street NW began at 6th Street NW and its eastern segment, which was unimpeded by any water obstacles, ran straight to the Eastern Branch river. Along its entire length, B Street was 60 feet wide, LEnfant proposed turning Tiber Creek into a canal. His plan included cutting a new canal south across the side of the United States Capitol grounds. The Washington Canal Company was incorporated in 1802, and after several false starts substantial work began in 1810, the Washington City Canal began operation in 1815. The canal suffered from problems and economic competition almost immediately. Traffic on the canal was adversely affected by forces, which the builders had not accounted for. At low tide, portions of the canal were almost dry, after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad built Washington Branch into the city in 1835, competition from railroads left the canal economically unviable. Although the Washington City Canal remained in use after the coming of the railroad, by 1855 it had filled with silt and it remained in this condition throughout the 1860s. In 1871, Congress abolished the elected mayor and bicameral legislature of the District of Columbia, territorial government only lasted until 1874, but during this period the D. C. Board of Public Works enclosed the canal and turned it into a sewer, B Street NW from 15th Street to Virginia Avenue NW was constructed on top of it. Work began in October 1871 and was complete in December 1873 and this reclaimed land — which today includes West Potomac Park, East Potomac Park, the Tidal Basin — was largely complete by 1890, and designated Potomac Park by Congress in 1897. B Street NW extended through the newly created West Potomac Park between Virginia Avenue NW and 23rd Street NW, however, since this area was considered parkland, the street narrowed to just 40-foot in width. But Congress appropriated no money for the design or construction due to the onset of World War I, but after President Warren G. Congress approved funding for design work on June 12,1922, and authorized construction of the Arlington Memorial Bridge on February 24,1925. The 1925 legislation specified that B Street NW be treated as an approach to Arlington Memorial Bridge
Constitution Avenue
–
Signage on the 1900 block of Constitution Avenue NW
Constitution Avenue
–
1818 map of Washington, D.C., showing Tiber Creek
Constitution Avenue
–
1850 map of Washington, D.C., showing the completed (and disused) Washington City Canal
Constitution Avenue
–
Junction of Constitution and Virginia Avenues NW, the western terminus of "B Street" between 1873 and roughly 1897.
17.
United States Congress
–
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States consisting of two chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the Capitol in Washington, D. C, both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a gubernatorial appointment. Members are usually affiliated to the Republican Party or to the Democratic Party, Congress has 535 voting members,435 Representatives and 100 Senators. The House of Representatives has six non-voting members in addition to its 435 voting members and these members can, however, sit on congressional committees and introduce legislation. Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms representing the people of a single constituency, known as a district. Congressional districts are apportioned to states by using the United States Census results. Each state, regardless of population or size, has two senators, currently, there are 100 senators representing the 50 states. Each senator is elected at-large in their state for a term, with terms staggered. The House and Senate are equal partners in the legislative process—legislation cannot be enacted without the consent of both chambers, however, the Constitution grants each chamber some unique powers. The Senate ratifies treaties and approves presidential appointments while the House initiates revenue-raising bills, the House initiates impeachment cases, while the Senate decides impeachment cases. A two-thirds vote of the Senate is required before a person can be forcibly removed from office. The term Congress can also refer to a meeting of the legislature. A Congress covers two years, the current one, the 115th Congress, began on January 3,2017, the Congress starts and ends on the third day of January of every odd-numbered year. Members of the Senate are referred to as senators, members of the House of Representatives are referred to as representatives, congressmen, or congresswomen. One analyst argues that it is not a solely reactive institution but has played a role in shaping government policy and is extraordinarily sensitive to public pressure. Several academics described Congress, Congress reflects us in all our strengths, Congress is the governments most representative body. Congress is essentially charged with reconciling our many points of view on the public policy issues of the day. —Smith, Roberts, and Wielen Congress is constantly changing and is constantly in flux, most incumbents seek re-election, and their historical likelihood of winning subsequent elections exceeds 90 percent
United States Congress
United States Congress
–
United States Congress
United States Congress
–
In 1868, this committee of representatives prosecuted president
Andrew Johnson in his impeachment trial, but the Senate did not convict him.
United States Congress
–
George Washington presiding over the signing of the
United States Constitution.
18.
Andrew W. Mellon
–
Andrew William Mellon was an American banker, businessman, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector, and politician. From the wealthy Mellon family of Pennsylvania, he established a vast business empire before transitioning into politics. He served as United States Secretary of the Treasury from March 9,1921 to February 12,1932, presiding over the years of the 1920s. Leaving office after the onset of the Great Depression, he served as the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. A conservative Republican, Mellon lowered taxes and government spending in the aftermath of World War I, Mellon was born in Pennsylvania on March 24,1855. His name is listed on the 1860 Census as William A. Mellon and his father was Thomas Mellon, a banker and judge who was a Scots-Irish immigrant from County Tyrone, Ireland, his mother was Sarah Jane Negley Mellon. He had three brothers, Thomas A. James R. and Samuel, and he also had a younger brother named Richard B. He was educated at the Western University of Pennsylvania and left before graduating, in 1872 his father set him up in a lumber and coal business, which he soon turned into a profitable enterprise. He joined his fathers banking firm, T, Mellon & Sons, in 1880 and two years later had ownership of the bank transferred to him. In 1889, Mellon helped organize the Union Trust Company and Union Savings Bank of Pittsburgh and he also branched into industrial activities, oil, steel, shipbuilding, and construction. Areas where Mellons backing created giant enterprises included aluminum, industrial abrasives, Mellon financed Charles Martin Hall, whose refinery grew into the Aluminum Company of America. He became the partner of Edward Goodrich Acheson in manufacturing silicon carbide and he created an entire industry through his help to Heinrich Koppers, inventor of coke ovens which transformed industrial waste into usable products such as coal-gas, coal-tar, and sulfur. He also became an investor in the New York Shipbuilding Corporation. Mellon was one of the wealthiest people in the United States, while he served as Secretary of the U. S. Treasury Department his wealth peaked at around $300–$400 million in 1929–1930. Mellon was a member of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, along with his closest friends Henry Clay Frick and Philander Knox, Mellon served as a director of the Pittsburgh National Bank of Commerce. Mellon also was one-third owner with Frick and one Charles W. Mauck in the Old Overholt whiskey distillery in West Overton, at the time, Old Overholt was one of the largest and most respected whiskey producers in the country. In 1907, as prohibition became more popular across the country, Frick and Mellon removed their names from the distilling license and it is believed that Mellons connections in the Treasury Department are what allowed the company to secure a medicinal permit during Prohibition. This permit allowed Overholt to sell existing whiskey stocks to druggists for medicinal use, when Frick died in December 1919, he left his share to Mellon
Andrew W. Mellon
–
Andrew Mellon
Andrew W. Mellon
–
Mellon on US stamp
Andrew W. Mellon
–
Mellon Institute of Industrial Research
Andrew W. Mellon
–
Vice President
19.
Paul Mellon
–
Paul Mellon was an American philanthropist and an owner/breeder of thoroughbred racehorses. He is one of five people ever designated an Exemplar of Racing by the National Museum of Racing. He was co-heir to one of Americas greatest business fortunes, derived from the Mellon Bank created by his grandfather Thomas Mellon, his father Andrew W. Mellon, Mellons autobiography, Reflections in a Silver Spoon, was published in 1992. He died at his home, Oak Spring, in Upperville, Virginia and he was survived by his wife, Rachel, his children, Catherine Conover and Timothy Mellon, and two stepchildren, Stacy Lloyd III and Eliza, Viscountess Moore. Paul Mellon was the son of Andrew W. Mellon, US Secretary of the Treasury from 1921 to 1932, and Nora McMullen of Hertfordshire and brother of Ailsa Mellon-Bruce. He was a benefactor of his alma maters, donating the Mellon Arts Center and the Mellon Science Center to Choate. After graduating from Yale he went to England to study at Clare College, Cambridge, receiving a BA in 1931, in 1930 he was a founding member, alongside Sir Timothy William Gowers, of the CRABS, the Clare Rugby And Boating Society. In 1938 he received an MA from Clare College and he was a major benefactor to Clare Colleges Forbes-Mellon library, opened in 1986. Mellon returned to Pittsburgh, to work for Mellon Bank and other businesses for six months, in 1935, he married Mary Conover Brown and the couple, who had two children, Catherine and Timothy, moved to Virginia. He enrolled at St. Johns College in Annapolis, Maryland in 1940 but six months later joined the United States Army, Mellon served with the Office of Strategic Services in Europe. He rose to the rank of major and was the recipient of four Bronze Stars, after his wife Marys death in 1946 from an asthma attack, he married Rachel Lambert Lloyd, known as Bunny, the former wife of Stacy Barcroft Lloyd Jr. She was a descendant of the Lambert family who formulated and marketed Listerine, Bunny Mellon was an avid horticulturist and gardener, whose fondness for French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting, as well as American art, Mellon came to share. By this marriage, he had two stepchildren, Stacy Lloyd III and Eliza Lambert Lloyd, while Mellon did not share his fathers interest in business, the two found common ground in their love of art and philanthropy. Shortly before Andrew Mellons death in 1937, construction began on the West Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, four years later Paul Mellon presented both the building by John Russell Pope and his fathers collection of 115 paintings to the nation. He served on the board for more than four decades, as trustee, as president, as board chair. Mellon commissioned I. M. Pei to build the East Building and, with his sister Ailsa, over the years he and his wife Bunny donated more than 1,000 works to the National Gallery, among them many French and American masterworks. In 1936 Mellon purchased his first British painting, Pumpkin with a Stable-lad by George Stubbs, beginning in the late 1950s, with the help of English art historian Basil Taylor, Mellon amassed a major collection by the mid-1960s. London art dealer Geoffrey Agnew once said of his acquisitions, “It took an American collector to make the English look again at their own paintings. ”Mellon granted his extensive collection of British art, rare books, and related materials to Yale University in the 1960s, along with the funding to create an appropriate museum to house it
Paul Mellon
–
Paul Mellon
Paul Mellon
–
Paul Mellon (
William Orpen, 1924)
Paul Mellon
–
Plaque to Paul Mellon,
American philanthropist and galloping
anglophile within
St George's, Bloomsbury
20.
Lessing J. Rosenwald
–
Lessing Julius Rosenwald was an American businessman, a collector of rare books and art, a chess patron, and a philanthropist. He resided for many years in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. C and he was one of the founding donors of the National Gallery of Art when it opened in 1941. The Giant Bible of Mainz has been on permanent display in the entrance hall of the Library of Congress since Rosenwald donated it in 1952. Rosenwald was also a chess enthusiast, and donated money to support American chess, just three months after its founding, he resigned from the committees board in December 1940 over concerns about anti-Semitism. He became director of the Bureau of Industrial Conservation in the War Production Board during World War II, during this time, Rosenwald was also active in rescue efforts of European Jews, and urged the United States to admit large numbers of refugees, both Jew and Gentile. Lessing J. Rosenwalds importance as a book collector and donor to the Library of Congress is featured in David Baldaccis novel, The Camel Club, London 2006. The New York Times, June 26,1979, p. C17, c
Lessing J. Rosenwald
–
Giant Bible of Mainz donated by Rosenwald to the Library of Congress
21.
Samuel Henry Kress
–
Samuel Henry Kress was a businessman and philanthropist, founder of the S. H. Kress & Co. five and ten cent store chain. With his fortune, Kress amassed one of the most significant collections of Italian Renaissance, in the 1950s and 1960s, a foundation established by Kress would donate 776 works of art from the Kress collection to 18 regional art museums in the United States. Kress was born in the village of Cherryville, near Allentown, Pennsylvania and his father was a retail merchant. His siblings were Mary Conner Kress, Jennie Weston Kress, Palmer John Kress, Claude Washington Kress, another sibling, Elmer Kress, died ten days after birth. Kress never married or had children, young Kress worked in the stone quarries. Intelligent, energetic and precocious, he earned his credentials by the age of 17. His first position was instructor for a class of 80 students and he walked 3 miles each way to the schoolhouse. In 1887, Kress opened a stationery and notions store in Nanticoke, as the business prospered he used his profits to open additional stores, naming his chain S. H. Kress & Co. These eventually would become known as the Kress Five and Dime stores. Unlike many businessmen of his day who only opened their stores in urban areas. These stores became the jewel of many of cities, which only had a dry goods or general store until then. By the mid-1920s, he was living in a penthouse at 1020 Fifth Avenue in New York City, across the street from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and he was a major art collector, and created a foundation to hold and dispose of his vast art collection. Kress died in 1955 and is interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, S. H. Kress & Co. a chain of five and dime retail department stores, was started in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, by Samuel H. Kress in 1896. Eventually expanding to over 200 locations nationwide, Kress stores were long a familiar sight in many cities, the Kress chain was known for the fine architecture of the stores, with a number of locations being hailed by architects for their design. A number of former Kress stores, now put to uses, are ranked as landmarks. Some of the most well-known Kress locations included New York Citys Fifth Avenue, Canal Street, New Orleans, in 1964 ownership of Kress was acquired by Genesco, Inc. The company abandoned its center-city stores and moved to the shopping malls, Genesco began liquidating Kress and closing down the Kress stores in 1980. Kress was founder and president of the eponymous Samuel H. Kress Foundation, an avid art lover, he acquired, through art dealer Joseph Duveen, a collection of paintings and sculpture, primarily of the Italian Baroque school
Samuel Henry Kress
–
A Kress store building, showing the characteristic design
22.
Peter Arrell Brown Widener
–
Peter Arrell Browne Widener was an American art collector, businessman, and head of the Widener family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A merchant who supplied meat to the Union Army during the United States Civil War, Widener grew to prominence in the city and by 1871 had become Philadelphia City Treasurer. He and his Philadelphia business partner William L. Elkins invested in public systems in other major cities with businessmen such as Charles Tyson Yerkes. Widener used the wealth accumulated from that business to become a founding organizer of U. S. Steel. He is considered to have been among the 100 wealthiest Americans, Widener was named after Peter Arrell Browne, a noted lawyer in 19th-century Philadelphia. In 1858, he married Hannah Josephine Dunton, and they had three sons, Harry, George and Joseph, in 1900 he completed Lynnewood Hall in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, a 110-room Georgian-style mansion designed by Horace Trumbauer. Widener was an art collector, with a collection that included more than a dozen paintings by Rembrandt as well as works by then-new artists Édouard Manet. Wideners son, George Dunton Widener, and grandson, Harry Elkins Widener, Widener died at Lynnewood Hall at the age of 80 on November 6,1915, after having suffered from poor health for three years. Rhône v. Peter A. B. Widener Widener University Article on Widener and Widener Mansion in Philadelphia, Peter Arrell Browne Widener at Find a Grave
Peter Arrell Brown Widener
–
Peter Arrell Brown Widener
Peter Arrell Brown Widener
–
Peter A. B. Widener Mansion, Broad St. & Girard Ave., Philadelphia, PA (1887),
Willis G. Hale, architect.
Peter Arrell Brown Widener
–
Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, PA (1897-1900),
Horace Trumbauer, architect.
Peter Arrell Brown Widener
–
Peter A. B. Widener's Yacht Josephine later
USS Vixen (PY-4)
23.
Joseph E. Widener
–
Joseph Early Widener was a wealthy American art collector who was a founding benefactor of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C. A major figure in Thoroughbred horse racing, he was head of New Yorks Belmont Park and builder of Miami, Widener was born in Philadelphia, the second son of the extremely wealthy transportation and real estate magnate Peter A. B. Joseph Widener attended Harvard University, and for a time studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. Joseph Widener used his wealth to pursue his interest in Thoroughbred horse racing on a large scale. In 1901, thirty-year-old Joseph Widener began purchasing Thoroughbred horses to compete in flat racing and steeplechase events. Racing Hall of Fame horse trainer, J. Howard Lewis, for the next four decades they combined to race fourteen Champions, two in flat racing and twelve Steeplechase Champions. Wideners steeplechase horses won important races including three editions of the American Grand National with Relluf, Arc Light, and Bushranger. His steeplechasers Bushranger and Fairmount were both elected to the U. S, following the death of August Belmont, Jr. Joseph Widener and friends W. Averell Harriman and George Herbert Walker, purchased much of Belmonts Thoroughbred breeding stock. For his Elmendorf Farm breeding operation, Widener acquired Belmonts very important sire Fair Play and the broodmare Mahubah, the parents of Man o War. He also purchased a son of Fair Play named Chance Shot who would go on to win the 1927 Belmont Stakes, Widener had a life-size statue of Fair Play erected by his grave at Elmendorf Farm. As part of the selloff of the August Belmont, Jr, in 1930, he imported the stallion Sickle from Lord Derby in England who came to visit the U. S. that year and was Wideners guest at the 1930 Kentucky Derby. A son of the important sire Phalaris, Sickle would produce 45 Graded stakes race winners. Following Chance Shots win in the 1927 Belmont Stakes, Wideners racing stable won the two more times with Hurryoff in 1933 and with a son of Chance Shot in 1934 named Peace Chance. He also had five horses compete in the Kentucky Derby with his best finishes a second place earned by Osmand in 1927, Joseph Wideners father had had business interests in France and like other wealthy elite Americans of that era, maintained a place in fashionable Paris. In addition to racing horses in the United States, Widener also kept a stable of Thoroughbreds in France. Competing in French grass racing, his horses won the 1923 and 1926 editions of the Prix La Rochette and the 1923,1924, Widener also owned English Hackney horses who competed at various shows. He married Ella Pancoast with whom he had two children, Peter A. B, designed by Horace Trumbauer and Jacques Greber, the mansion, along with its extensive and important art collection, was part of the huge fortune he inherited. In poor health for years, Joseph Early Widener died at his Lynnewood Hall estate in 1943 and was interred in the West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia
Joseph E. Widener
–
1921 portrait by Augustus John.
Joseph E. Widener
–
The Mill (1645-48) by
Rembrandt, Widener Collection,
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
Joseph E. Widener
–
Descent from the Cross (1650-52) by
Rembrandt, Widener Collection,
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
Joseph E. Widener
–
Portrait of a Gentleman (1650-52) by
Frans Hals, Widener Collection,
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
24.
Chester Dale
–
Chester Dale was an American banker and patron of the arts. Dale earned large sums from working for the New York Stock Exchange, allowing him to collect a group of 19th and 20th-century French paintings. Although he considered establishing a museum, he donated a part of his collection to the National Gallery of Art in Washington. The rest of his collection was bequeathed to the National Gallery upon his death, Dale was born in 1883, and started his financial career at the age of fifteen, as a runner for the New York Stock Exchange. In time, he acquired assets that included utilities, railroads, when the National Gallery of Art opened, Dale lent the gallery 22 American pictures, and within a few months, two rooms of French Impressionist paintings were established. Upon the request of painter George Bellows, Dale agreed to sit for an oil on canvas painting in 1922, both Dale and Bellows were semi-professional athletes in their younger years. In 1962, the long term loans of major artists who worked in Paris from the century through the mid-20th century were left to the gallery at the bequest of Dale. Included in the works that Dale bequeathed to the gallery were works by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne, Salvador Dalí, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. At the age of 27, he married Maud Murray, a painter and critic, the National Gallery of Art obtained 88 paintings from Dales personal residence, an apartment in the Plaza Hotel in New York, upon his death. The paintings were added to his 152 items already on loan to the National Gallery of Art, there were 6 new galleries established on the main floor to house the additional acquisitions. The bequest included 240 paintings,7 sculptures,22 graphics, over 1200 sales catalogs, additionally as part of the bequest, there were 3 fellowships established with a $500,000 endowment. Dales gifts are located on the main floor in galleries 86 through 91
Chester Dale
–
Portrait of Chester Dale by
George Bellows, 1922, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C.
25.
Leonardo da Vinci
–
He has been variously called the father of palaeontology, ichnology, and architecture, and is widely considered one of the greatest painters of all time. Sometimes credited with the inventions of the parachute, helicopter and tank, many historians and scholars regard Leonardo as the prime exemplar of the Universal Genius or Renaissance Man, an individual of unquenchable curiosity and feverishly inventive imagination. Much of his working life was spent in the service of Ludovico il Moro in Milan. He later worked in Rome, Bologna and Venice, and he spent his last years in France at the home awarded to him by Francis I of France, Leonardo was, and is, renowned primarily as a painter. Among his works, the Mona Lisa is the most famous and most parodied portrait, Leonardos drawing of the Vitruvian Man is also regarded as a cultural icon, being reproduced on items as varied as the euro coin, textbooks, and T-shirts. Perhaps fifteen of his paintings have survived, Leonardo is revered for his technological ingenuity. He conceptualised flying machines, a type of armoured fighting vehicle, concentrated power, an adding machine. Some of his inventions, however, such as an automated bobbin winder. A number of Leonardos most practical inventions are nowadays displayed as working models at the Museum of Vinci. He made substantial discoveries in anatomy, civil engineering, geology, optics, and hydrodynamics, today, Leonardo is widely considered one of the most diversely talented individuals ever to have lived. Leonardo was born on 15 April 1452 at the hour of the night in the Tuscan hill town of Vinci. He was the son of the wealthy Messer Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a Florentine legal notary, and Caterina. Leonardo had no surname in the modern sense – da Vinci simply meaning of Vinci, his birth name was Lionardo di ser Piero da Vinci, meaning Leonardo. The inclusion of the title ser indicated that Leonardos father was a gentleman, little is known about Leonardos early life. He spent his first five years in the hamlet of Anchiano in the home of his mother and his father had married a sixteen-year-old girl named Albiera Amadori, who loved Leonardo but died young in 1465 without children. When Leonardo was sixteen, his father married again to twenty-year-old Francesca Lanfredini, pieros legitimate heirs were born from his third wife Margherita di Guglielmo and his fourth and final wife, Lucrezia Cortigiani. Leonardo received an education in Latin, geometry and mathematics. In later life, Leonardo recorded only two childhood incidents, one, which he regarded as an omen, was when a kite dropped from the sky and hovered over his cradle, its tail feathers brushing his face
Leonardo da Vinci
–
Portrait of Leonardo
Leonardo da Vinci
–
Leonardo's childhood home in
Anchiano
Leonardo da Vinci
–
Leonardo's earliest known drawing, the Arno Valley (1473),
Uffizi
Leonardo da Vinci
–
The Baptism of Christ (1472–75)—
Uffizi, by Verrocchio and Leonardo
26.
Alexander Calder
–
Calder’s monumental stationary sculptures are called stabiles. He also produced wire figures, which are like drawings made in space, Alexander Sandy Calder was born in 1898 in Lawnton, Pennsylvania. His actual birthday, however, remains a source of much confusion, according to Calders mother, Nanette, Calder was born on August 22, yet his birth certificate at Philadelphia City Hall, based on a hand-written ledger, stated July 22. When Calders family learned about the certificate, they reasserted with certainty that city officials had made a mistake. His father, Alexander Stirling Calder, was a sculptor who created many public installations. Calders mother was a portrait artist, who had studied at the Académie Julian. She moved to Philadelphia, where she met Stirling Calder while studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Calders parents married on February 22,1895, his sister, Mrs. Margaret Calder Hayes, was instrumental in the development of the UC Berkeley Art Museum. In 1902, Calder posed nude for his father’s sculpture The Man Cub and that same year he also completed his earliest sculpture, a clay elephant. Three years later, Stirling Calder contracted tuberculosis, and Calders parents moved to a ranch in Oracle, Arizona, the children were reunited with their parents in late March 1906 and stayed at the ranch in Arizona until fall of the same year. After Arizona, the Calder family moved to Pasadena, California, the windowed cellar of the family home became Calders first studio and he received his first set of tools. He used scraps of copper wire that he found in the street to make jewelry for his sisters dolls, on January 1,1907, Nanette Calder took her son to the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, where he observed a four-horse-chariot race. This style of event later became the finale of Calders miniature circus performances, in the fall of 1909, the Calder family moved back to Philadelphia, where Calder briefly attended Germantown Academy, then moved to Croton-on-Hudson, New York. That Christmas, he sculpted a dog and an out of sheet brass as gifts for his parents. The sculptures are three-dimensional and the duck is kinetic because it rocks when gently tapped, in Croton, during his early high school years, Calder was befriended by his fathers painter friend Everett Shinn with whom he built a gravity powered system of mechanical trains. Calder described it, We ran the train on wooden rails held by spikes and we even lit up some cars with candle lights. After Croton, the Calders moved to Spuyten Duyvil to be closer to New York City, while living in Spuyten Duyvil, Calder attended high school in nearby Yonkers. During Calders high school years, the family moved back and forth between New York and California, in each new location, Calders parents reserved cellar space as a studio for their son. Toward the end of period, Calder stayed with friends in California while his parents moved back to New York
Alexander Calder
–
Alexander Calder, by
Carl Van Vechten, 1947
Alexander Calder
–
Red Mobile, 1956, Painted sheet metal and metal rods, a
signature work by Calder -
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Alexander Calder
–
Calder's
theatrical set for a 1936 production of the symphonic drama Socrate.
Alexander Calder
–
Man, a sculpture by Alexander Calder for
Expo 67, on
Saint Helen's Island Parc Jean-Drapeau,
Montréal, Quebec
27.
John Russell Pope
–
Pope was born in New York in 1874, the son of a successful portrait painter. He studied architecture at Columbia University and graduated in 1894 and he was the first recipient of the Rome Prize to attend the newly founded American Academy in Rome, a training ground for the designers of the American Renaissance. He would remain involved with the Academy until his death, Pope was one of the first architectural students to master the use of the large-format camera, with glass negatives. Pope attended the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1896, honing his Beaux-Arts style, after returning to New York in 1900, he worked for a few years in the office of Bruce Price before opening his own practice. He also designed the extension of the Henry Clay Frick mansion in New York City that created the Garden Court, in 1919, he developed a master plan for the future growth of Yale University. Popes original plan is a document in the City Beautiful movement in city planning. Pope won a Silver Medal in the 1932 Summer Olympics for his design of the Payne Whitney Gymnasium and his firms designs alternated between revivals of Gothic, Georgian, eighteenth-century French, and classical styles. Pope designed the Henry E. Huntington mausoleum on the grounds of The Huntington Library and later used the design as a prototype for the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D. C. The Jefferson Memorial and the National Gallery of Art were both neoclassical, modeled by Pope on the Roman Pantheon. C, the National City Christian Church, Constitution Hall, American Pharmacists Association Building, Ward Homestead, and the National Archives Building. In 1932, he constructed the house for Alpha Delta Phi at Cornell University in Ithaca. He designed additions to the Tate Gallery and British Museum in London, an honor for an American architect. Pope was also responsible for alterations to Belcourt, the Newport residence of Oliver. The Georgian Revival residence he built in 1919 for Thomas H. Frothingham in Far Hills, Pope was a member of the U. S. Commission of Fine Arts from 1912 to 1922, serving as chairman from 1921 to 1922. He also served on the Board of Architectural Consultants for the Federal Triangle complex in Washington, a 1991 exhibition at the National Gallery of Art, John Russell Pope and the Building of the National Gallery of Art, spurred the reappraisal of his work. For some time, it had been scorned and derided by many critics influenced by International Modernism, 1911–15, House of the Temple, Washington, D. C. C. 1930, National City Christian Church, Washington, D. C. C, 1938–41, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C. Eggers & Higgins Bedford, Steven McLeod, John Russell Pope, Architect of Empire, New York,1998
John Russell Pope
–
John Russell Pope
John Russell Pope
–
The
Jefferson Memorial, built 1939 — 1943
John Russell Pope
–
The West Building of the National Gallery of Art
John Russell Pope
–
National Archives, Washington D.C.,
James Earle Fraser, sculptor; opened 1935
28.
I. M. Pei
–
Ieoh Ming Pei, FAIA, RIBA, commonly known as I. M. Pei, is a Chinese-American architect. In 1948, Pei was recruited by New York City real estate magnate William Zeckendorf, Pei retired from full-time practice in 1990. Since then, he has taken on work as an architectural consultant primarily from his sons architectural firm Pei Partnership Architects and he went on to design Dallas City Hall and the East Building of the National Gallery of Art. He returned to China for the first time in 1975 to design a hotel at Fragrant Hills, and designed Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong, a skyscraper in Hong Kong for the Bank of China fifteen years later. In the early 1980s, Pei was the focus of controversy when he designed a glass-and-steel pyramid for the Musée du Louvre in Paris. He later returned to the world of the arts by designing the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, the Miho Museum in Japan, the Suzhou Museum in Suzhou, in 1983, he won the Pritzker Prize, sometimes called the Nobel Prize of architecture. Peis ancestry traces back to the Ming Dynasty, when his family moved from Anhui province to Suzhou, finding wealth in the sale of medicinal herbs, the family stressed the importance of helping the less fortunate. Ieoh Ming Pei was born on April 26,1917 to Tsuyee Pei and Lien Kwun, the family eventually included five children. As a boy, Pei was very close to his mother and she invited him, his brothers, and his sisters to join her on meditation retreats. His relationship with his father was less intimate and their interactions were respectful but distant. Peis ancestors success meant that the family lived in the echelons of society. The younger Pei, drawn more to music and other forms than to his fathers domain of banking. I have cultivated myself, he said later, at the age of ten, Pei moved with his family to Shanghai after his father was promoted. Pei attended Saint Johns Middle School, run by Protestant missionaries, academic discipline was rigorous, students were allowed only one half-day each month for leisure. Pei enjoyed playing billiards and watching Hollywood movies, especially those of Buster Keaton and he also learned rudimentary English skills by reading the Bible and novels by Charles Dickens. Shanghais many international elements gave it the name Paris of the East, the citys global architectural flavors had a profound influence on Pei, from the Bund waterfront area to the Park Hotel, built in 1934. He was also impressed by the gardens of Suzhou, where he spent the summers with extended family and regularly visited a nearby ancestral shrine. The Shizilin Garden, built in the 14th century by a Buddhist monk, was especially influential and its unusual rock formations, stone bridges, and waterfalls remained etched in Peis memory for decades
I. M. Pei
–
in Luxembourg, 2006
I. M. Pei
–
As a child, Pei found the
Shizilin Garden in
Suzhou to be "an ideal playground".
I. M. Pei
–
Pei describes the architecture of Shanghai's
Bund waterfront area (seen here in a 2006 photo) as "very much a colonial past".
I. M. Pei
–
Pei said that "
Bing Crosby 's films in particular had a tremendous influence on my choosing the United States instead of England to pursue my education."
29.
Pittsburgh
–
Pittsburgh is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States, and is the county seat of Allegheny County. The city proper has a population of 304,391. The metropolitan population of 2,353,045 is the largest in both the Ohio Valley and Appalachia, the second-largest in Pennsylvania, and the 26th-largest in the U. S. The city features 30 skyscrapers, two inclines, a fortification and the Point State Park at the confluence of the rivers. Aside from steel, Pittsburgh has led in manufacturing of aluminum, glass, shipbuilding, petroleum, foods, sports, transportation, computing, autos, and electronics. For part of the 20th century, Pittsburgh was behind only New York and Chicago in corporate headquarters employment, Americas 1980s deindustrialization laid off area blue-collar workers and thousands of downtown white-collar workers when the longtime Pittsburgh-based world headquarters moved out. The area has served also as the federal agency headquarters for cyber defense, software engineering, robotics, energy research. The area is home to 68 colleges and universities, including research and development leaders Carnegie Mellon University, the region is a hub for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, sustainable energy, and energy extraction. Pittsburgh was named in 1758 by General John Forbes, in honor of British statesman William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. The current pronunciation, which is unusual in English speaking countries, is almost certainly a result of a printing error in some copies of the City Charter of March 18,1816. The error was repeated commonly enough throughout the rest of the 19th century that the pronunciation was lost. After a public campaign the original spelling was restored by the United States Board on Geographic Names in 1911. The area of the Ohio headwaters was long inhabited by the Shawnee, the first known European to enter the region was the French explorer/trader Robert de La Salle from Quebec during his 1669 expedition down the Ohio River. European pioneers, primarily Dutch, followed in the early 18th century, Michael Bezallion was the first to describe the forks of the Ohio in a 1717 manuscript, and later that year European fur traders established area posts and settlements. In 1749, French soldiers from Quebec launched an expedition to the forks to unite Canada with French Louisiana via the rivers, during 1753–54, the British hastily built Fort Prince George before a larger French force drove them off. The French built Fort Duquesne based on LaSalles 1669 claims, the French and Indian War, the North American front of the Seven Years War, began with the future Pittsburgh as its center. British General Edward Braddock was dispatched with Major George Washington as his aide to take Fort Duquesne, the British and colonial force were defeated at Braddocks Field. General John Forbes finally took the forks in 1758, Forbes began construction on Fort Pitt, named after William Pitt the Elder while the settlement was named Pittsborough
Pittsburgh
–
Clockwise:
Cathedral of Learning at the
University of Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh skyline;
Carnegie Mellon University;
PNC Park;
Duquesne Incline
Pittsburgh
–
This article is about the Pennsylvania city. For other uses, see
Pittsburgh (disambiguation).
Pittsburgh
–
Monongahela River scene, 1857
Pittsburgh
–
Downtown facade memorializing Pittsburgh's
industrial heritage with an image of legendary steelworker
Joe Magarac
30.
United States Treasury Secretary
–
This position in the Federal Government of the United States is analogous to the Minister of Finance in many other countries. The Secretary of the Treasury is a member of the Presidents Cabinet, nominees for The Secretary of the Treasury undergo a confirmation hearing before the United States Senate Committee on Finance before being confirmed by the United States Senate. The Secretary of the Treasury is a member of the U. S. National Security Council. The Secretary along with the Treasurer must sign Federal Reserve notes before they can become legal tender, the Secretary also manages the United States Emergency Economic Stabilization fund. Most of the Departments law enforcement agencies such as the U. S. Customs Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, secret Service were reassigned to other Departments in 2003 in conjunction with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. The Secretary of the Treasury salary is $205,700 annually,2 Deputy Secretary of the Treasury M. Peter McPherson served as Acting Secretary of the Treasury from August 17,1988, to September 15,1988. 4 Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Kenneth W. Dam served as Acting Secretary of the Treasury from December 31,2002,5 Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Robert M. Kimmitt served as Acting Secretary of the Treasury from June 30,2006, to July 9,2006. 7 Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Neal Wolin served as Acting Secretary of the Treasury from January 25,2013, as of April 2017, there are eleven living former Secretaries of the Treasury, the oldest being George P. Shultz. The most recent Secretary of the Treasury to die was Lloyd M. Bentsen, United States Department of the Treasury
United States Treasury Secretary
–
Incumbent
Jack Lew since February 27, 2013
United States Treasury Secretary
–
Seal of the Department of the Treasury
United States Treasury Secretary
United States Treasury Secretary
31.
Old master
–
In art history, Old Master refers to any painter of skill who worked in Europe before about 1800, or a painting by such an artist. An old master print is a print made by an artist in the same period. The term old master drawing is used in the same way, therefore, beyond a certain level of competence, date rather than quality is the criterion for using the term. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the term as A pre-eminent artist of the period before the modern, a pre-eminent western European painter of the 13th to 18th centuries. The term is used to refer to a painting or sculpture made by an Old Master. Les Maitres dautrefois of 1876 by Eugene Fromentin may have helped to popularize the concept, the collection in the Dresden museum essentially stops at the Baroque period. The end date is necessarily vague – for example, Goya is certainly an Old Master, the term might also be used for John Constable or Eugène Delacroix, but usually is not. The term tends to be avoided by art historians as too vague, especially when discussing paintings, although the terms Old Master Prints and it remains current in the art trade. Auction houses still usually divide their sales between, for example, Old Master Paintings, Nineteenth-century paintings and Modern paintings, christies defines the term as ranging from the 14th to the early 19th century. S. Master of Flémalle, Master of Mary of Burgundy, Master of Latin 757, Master of the Brunswick Diptych or Master of Schloss Lichtenstein
Old master
–
Giorgione's
Sleeping Venus (c. 1510), Dresden,
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister.
Old master
–
Still Life with Pie, Silver Ewer and Crab by
Willem Claeszoon Heda (1658) Oil on canvas
Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem
Old master
–
Portrait of a young woman by
Sandro Botticelli, 1480
Old master
–
Sistine Chapel ceiling,
Ignudi, Michelangelo, 1509
32.
Hermitage Museum
–
The State Hermitage Museum is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums in the world, it was founded in 1754 by Catherine the Great and has open to the public since 1852. Its collections, of only a small part is on permanent display. The collections occupy a complex of six historic buildings along Palace Embankment, including the Winter Palace. Apart from them, the Menshikov Palace, Museum of Porcelain, Storage Facility at Staraya Derevnya, the museum has several exhibition centers abroad. The Hermitage is a state property. Since July 1992, the director of the museum has been Mikhail Piotrovsky, of the six buildings in the main museum complex, five, namely the Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage, New Hermitage and Hermitage Theatre, are open to the public. The entrance ticket for foreign tourists more than the fee paid by citizens of Russia. However, entrance is free of charge the first Thursday of every month for all visitors, the museum is closed on Mondays. The entrance for visitors is located in the Winter Palace. A hermitage is the dwelling of a hermit or recluse, the word derives from Old French hermit, ermit hermit, recluse, from Late Latin eremita, from Greek eremites, literally people who live alone, which is in turn derived from ἐρημός, desert. Originally, the building housing the collection was the Small Hermitage. Today, the Hermitage Museum encompasses many buildings on the Palace Embankment, apart from the Small Hermitage, the museum now also includes the Old Hermitage, the New Hermitage, the Hermitage Theatre, and the Winter Palace, the former main residence of the Russian tsars. In recent years, the Hermitage has expanded to the General Staff Building on the Palace Square facing the Winter Palace, the Western European Art collection includes European paintings, sculpture, and applied art from the 13th to the 20th centuries. It is displayed, in about 120 rooms, on the first, drawings and prints are displayed in temporary exhibitions. Since 1940, the Egyptian collection, dating back to 1852 and it serves as a passage to the exhibition of Classical Antiquities. A modest collection of the culture of Ancient Mesopotamia, including a number of Assyrian reliefs from Babylon, Dur-Sharrukin, the collection of Classical Antiquities occupies most of the ground floor of the Old and New Hermitage buildings. Its floor is made of a marble mosaic imitating ancient tradition, while the stucco walls
Hermitage Museum
–
Winter Palace
Hermitage Museum
–
The Hermitage Museum complex. From left to right: Hermitage Theatre – Old Hermitage – Small Hermitage – Winter Palace (the "New Hermitage" is situated behind the Old Hermitage).
Hermitage Museum
–
Egyptian Hall
Hermitage Museum
–
The Pavilion Hall
33.
Soviet sale of Hermitage paintings
–
Several of the paintings had been in the Hermitage Collection since its creation by Empress Catherine the Great. About 250 paintings were sold, including masterpieces by Jan van Eyck, Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens, Raphael, and other important artists. Andrew Mellon donated the paintings he purchased from the Hermitage to the United States government in 1937. In the late 1920s, the Soviet government urgently needed foreign currency to finance the rapid industrialization of Russia ordered in the first Five Year Plan. The government had sold off collections of jewelry, furniture and icons seized from the Russian nobility, wealthy classes. In February 1928, the State Hermitage Museum in Leningrad, along with the Russian Museum, was ordered to make a list of art works worth at least two million rubles, for export. A special agency called Antiquariat was created under the Narkompros and opened an office in Leningrad to oversee the sale, the Hermitage was instructed to sell 250 paintings for at least 5000 rubles each, plus engravings and a number of golden treasures from ancient Scythia. The sale was secret, but word was spread to selected western art dealers and collectors that the paintings were on the market. The organizers of the sale were dissatisfied with the amounts received from Gulbenkian. He conceived the idea of founding a National Gallery for the United States modeled after the National Gallery and he heard about the secret Hermitage sale from Knoedler and Company of New York, dealers which he regularly used for his art purchases. He was surprised soon afterwards to several of the paintings on his list were in Paris. Gulbenkian asked him to act as his agent on further purchases, in 1930 and 1931 the consortium bought twenty-one paintings from the Soviet government, which they offered to Mellon, who had the right of first refusal. By the end of 1931, Mellon had acquired twenty-one paintings for a price of $6,654,000. They included Van Eycks Annunciation and Raphaels The Alba Madonna, the latter painting was sold for $1,166,400, the largest sum ever paid for a single painting until that time. The consortum sold several paintings to other clients, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The sales came to an end in 1934, possibly as a result of a letter to Stalin from the deputy director of the Hermitage, Joseph Orbeli, protesting the sale of Russias treasures. The director of the Hermitage, Boris Legran, who had brought to the museum to conduct the sale, was dismissed in 1934. In 1937, Andrew Mellon donated the paintings, along with the money to build a National Gallery of Art to house them
Soviet sale of Hermitage paintings
–
The Alba Madonna by
Raphael, was bought for the Hermitage by Emperor
Nicholas I of Russia in 1836. It was sold to Andrew Mellon by the Soviet Government in 1931 for $1,166,400, the largest sum ever paid for a painting until that time.
Soviet sale of Hermitage paintings
–
The Annunciation by
Jan van Eyck (1434) was purchased for the Hermitage by Emperor
Nicholas I of Russia in 1850. It was sold to Andrew Mellon in June 1930 for $502,899.
Soviet sale of Hermitage paintings
–
Saint George and the Dragon, by Raphael, was purchased for the Hermitage by
Catherine the Great in 1772, and later hung in the gallery of portraits of the generals who had defeated Napoleon. It was sold to Andrew Mellon in 1931.
Soviet sale of Hermitage paintings
–
The Lute Player by
Antoine Watteau, was purchased for the Hermitage by
Catherine the Great in 1767. It was sold in May 1930 to
Calouste Gulbenkian, who sold it in 1934 to the
Metropolitan Museum in New York.
34.
Raphael
–
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period. Raphael was enormously productive, running a large workshop and, despite his death at 37. Many of his works are found in the Vatican Palace, where the frescoed Raphael Rooms were the central, the best known work is The School of Athens in the Vatican Stanza della Segnatura. After his early years in Rome much of his work was executed by his workshop from his drawings and he was extremely influential in his lifetime, though outside Rome his work was mostly known from his collaborative printmaking. Raphael was born in the small but artistically significant central Italian city of Urbino in the Marche region and his poem to Federico shows him as keen to show awareness of the most advanced North Italian painters, and Early Netherlandish artists as well. In the very court of Urbino he was probably more integrated into the central circle of the ruling family than most court painters. Under them, the court continued as a centre for literary culture, growing up in the circle of this small court gave Raphael the excellent manners and social skills stressed by Vasari. Castiglione moved to Urbino in 1504, when Raphael was no longer based there but frequently visited, Raphael mixed easily in the highest circles throughout his life, one of the factors that tended to give a misleading impression of effortlessness to his career. He did not receive a humanistic education however, it is unclear how easily he read Latin. His mother Màgia died in 1491 when Raphael was eight, followed on August 1,1494 by his father, Raphael was thus orphaned at eleven, his formal guardian became his only paternal uncle Bartolomeo, a priest, who subsequently engaged in litigation with his stepmother. He probably continued to live with his stepmother when not staying as an apprentice with a master and he had already shown talent, according to Vasari, who says that Raphael had been a great help to his father. A self-portrait drawing from his teenage years shows his precocity and his fathers workshop continued and, probably together with his stepmother, Raphael evidently played a part in managing it from a very early age. In Urbino, he came into contact with the works of Paolo Uccello, previously the court painter, and Luca Signorelli, according to Vasari, his father placed him in the workshop of the Umbrian master Pietro Perugino as an apprentice despite the tears of his mother. The evidence of an apprenticeship comes only from Vasari and another source, an alternative theory is that he received at least some training from Timoteo Viti, who acted as court painter in Urbino from 1495. An excess of resin in the varnish often causes cracking of areas of paint in the works of both masters, the Perugino workshop was active in both Perugia and Florence, perhaps maintaining two permanent branches. Raphael is described as a master, that is to say fully trained and his first documented work was the Baronci altarpiece for the church of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino in Città di Castello, a town halfway between Perugia and Urbino. Evangelista da Pian di Meleto, who had worked for his father, was named in the commission
Raphael
–
Presumed Portrait of Raphael
Raphael
–
Self-portrait with a friend (1518 circa),
Louvre,
Paris
Raphael
–
Giovanni Santi, Raphael's father; Christ supported by two angels, c.1490
Raphael
–
The
Mond Crucifixion, 1502–3, very much in the style of
Perugino
35.
Titian
–
Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio, known in English as Titian /ˈtɪʃən/, was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno, during his lifetime he was often called da Cadore, taken from the place of his birth. His painting methods, particularly in the application and use of color, would exercise a profound influence not only on painters of the Italian Renaissance, during the course of his long life, Titians artistic manner changed drastically, but he retained a lifelong interest in color. Although his mature works may not contain the vivid, luminous tints of his pieces, their loose brushwork. The exact date of Titians birth is uncertain, when he was an old man he claimed in a letter to Philip II, King of Spain, to have been born in 1474, but this seems most unlikely. Other writers contemporary to his old age give figures that would equate to birthdates between 1473 and after 1482 and he was the son of Gregorio Vecelli and his wife Lucia. His father was superintendent of the castle of Pieve di Cadore, Gregorio was also a distinguished councilor and soldier. Many relatives, including Titians grandfather, were notaries, and the family of four were well-established in the area, at the age of about ten to twelve he and his brother Francesco were sent to an uncle in Venice to find an apprenticeship with a painter. At that time the Bellinis, especially Giovanni, were the artists in the city. There Titian found a group of men about his own age, among them Giovanni Palma da Serinalta, Lorenzo Lotto, Sebastiano Luciani. Francesco Vecellio, his brother, later became a painter of some note in Venice. A fresco of Hercules on the Morosini Palace is said to have one of Titians earliest works. Others were the Bellini-esque so-called Gypsy Madonna in Vienna, and the Visitation of Mary and Elizabeth, now in the Accademia, a Man with a Quilted Sleeve is an early portrait, painted around 1509 and described by Giorgio Vasari in 1568. Scholars long believed it depicted Ludovico Ariosto, but now think it is of Gerolamo Barbarigo, Rembrandt borrowed the composition for his self-portraits. Titian joined Giorgione as an assistant, but many contemporary critics found his work more impressive—for example in exterior frescoes that they did for the Fondaco dei Tedeschi. Their relationship evidently contained a significant element of rivalry, distinguishing between their work at this period remains a subject of scholarly controversy. A substantial number of attributions have moved from Giorgione to Titian in the 20th century, one of the earliest known Titian works, Christ Carrying the Cross in the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, depicting the Ecce Homo scene, was long regarded as by Giorgione. In 1507–1508 Giorgione was commissioned by the state to create frescoes on the re-erected Fondaco dei Tedeschi, Titian and Morto da Feltre worked along with him, and some fragments of paintings remain, probably by Giorgione
Titian
–
Self-Portrait, c. 1567;
Museo del Prado, Madrid.
Titian
–
A Man with a Quilted Sleeve, an early portrait, c. 1509,
National Gallery, London.
Titian
–
Salome with the Head of John the Baptist c. 1515, (
Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome), or
Judith; this religious work also functions as an idealized portrait of a beauty, a genre developed by Titian, supposedly often using Venetian
courtesans as models.
Titian
–
Bacchus and Ariadne, c. 1520-1523.
36.
Venus with a Mirror
–
Venus with a Mirror is a painting by Titian, now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and it is considered to be one of the collections highlights. The painting is said to celebrate the beauty of the female form, or to be a critique of vanity. It was copied by later artists, including Peter Paul Rubens. Titian made a number of paintings of the subject, but this is the believed to be the earliest. It remained in his house until his death in 1576, x-rays of the painting have revealed that Titian painted it over a double portrait which he had abandoned. Titian kept the red cloak of one of the figures in the abandoned painting, the use of the cloak from the earlier painting probably played a large part in the composition of the new painting. A drawing of the version was included by Anthony van Dyck in the sketchbook made during his trip to Italy. This other version is now lost, but a copy exists in the Hermitage Museum. Titian is thought to have made a copy, which was sent to his regular patron King Philip II of Spain, in 1567. This version was also lost, but a copy of it by Peter Paul Rubens exists, which is in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid. In 1581, five years after Titians death, the contents of his house in Venice, including the Venus with a Mirror, were sold by his son, in 1850 the Russian Consul-General in Venice, A. Mellon donated it to the United States Government in 1937 and it was one of the first masterpieces to be displayed in the National Gallery of Art in Washington when it opened in 1941. The pose of the painting may have influenced by Ancient Greek and Roman statues of Venus Titian could have seen in Rome. He was also influenced by his teacher Giovanni Bellini, who was the leader of the Venetian school of painters, the theme of the painting was adapted by a number of later artists, including Peter Paul Rubens and Diego Velázquez. The painting itself was the inspiration for the protagonist Severins imagination in the 1870 novel Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. Humfrey, Peter, Titien, Tout loeuvre peint, Ludion,2007, ISBN 978-90-5544-689-6 Nicholas Ilyin and Natalia Semonova, Prodanniy Sokrovischye Rossiyi, Trilisnik Publishers, Moscow, ISBN 5-89480-027-7
Venus with a Mirror
–
Venus with a Mirror
Venus with a Mirror
–
Woman with a Mirror, by
Giovanni Bellini (1515). Titian had worked as a pupil in the studio of Bellini, and adopted Bellini's rich and sensuous colors.
Venus with a Mirror
–
Venus at her Toilet by
Peter Paul Rubens, about 1608. This is believed to be a copy Rubens made of the Titian commissioned by
Philip II of Spain.
Venus with a Mirror
–
Venus at a Mirror by Peter Paul Rubens (1615). Rubens adapted the theme to his own style.
37.
Jan van Eyck
–
Jan van Eyck was a Flemish/Netherlandish painter active in Bruges. He is often considered one of the founders of Early Netherlandish painting school, the few surviving records of his early life indicate that he was born c. After Johns death in 1425 he was employed in Lille as court painter to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, until 1429 before moving to Bruges, where he lived until his death. Apart from the Ghent Altarpiece and the miniatures of the Turin-Milan Hours, about 20 surviving paintings are confidently attributed to him. Ten, including the Ghent altarpiece, are dated and signed with a variation of his motto, ALS IK KAN always written in Greek characters, Van Eyck painted both secular and religious subject matter, including altarpieces, single panel religious figures and commissioned portraits. His work includes single panels, diptychs, triptychs, and polyptych panels and he was well paid by Philip, who sought that the painter was secure financially and had artistic freedom and could paint whenever he pleased. Van Eycks work comes from the International Gothic style, but he soon eclipsed it, through his developments in the use of oil paint he achieved a new level of virtuosity. Van Eyck was highly influential and his techniques and style were adopted and refined by the Early Netherlandish painters, little is known of Jan van Eycks early life and neither the date nor place of his birth is documented. This suggests a date of birth of 1395 at the latest, however, his apparent age in the London probable self-portrait of 1433 suggests to most scholars a date closer to 1380. He was identified in the late 1500s as having been born in Maaseik and this claim is still considered credible on etymological grounds, considering that Van Eyck means of Eyck which is an old variant spelling of eik. He had a sister Margareta, and at least two brothers, Hubert and Lambert, both painters, but the order of their births has not been established. Another significant, and rather younger, painter who worked in Southern France and it is not known where Jan was educated, but he had knowledge of Latin and used the Greek and Hebrew alphabets in his inscriptions, indicating that he was schooled in the classics. This level of education was rare among painters, and would have made him attractive to the cultivated Philip. Van Eyck served John of Bavaria-Straubing, ruler of Holland, Hainault, by this time van Eyck had assembled a small workshop and was involved in redecorating the Binnenhof palace in The Hague. After Johns death in 1425 he moved to Bruges and came to the attention of Philip the Good c and his emergence as a collectable painter generally follows his appointment to Philips court, and from this point his activity in the court is comparatively well documented. He served as court artist and diplomat, and a was a member of the Tournai painters guild. On 18 October 1427, the Feast of St. Luke, he travelled to Tournai to attend a banquet in his honour, also attended by Robert Campin, a court salary freed him from commissioned work, and allowed a large degree of artistic freedom. Over the following decade van Eycks reputation and technical ability grew, unlike most of his peers his reputation never diminished and he remained well regarded over the following centuries
Jan van Eyck
–
Portrait of a Man in a Turban, possible self-portrait, 1433
Jan van Eyck
–
The Three Marys at the Tomb, painted or begun by Jan's brother
Hubert van Eyck, perhaps between 1410 and 1420, completed by members of Jan's workshop c 1440.
Jan van Eyck
–
Ghent Altarpiece, c. 1432, Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent
Jan van Eyck
–
The Arnolfini Portrait, 1434;
National Gallery, London
38.
Annunciation (van Eyck, Washington)
–
The Annunciation is an oil painting by the Early Netherlandish master Jan van Eyck, from around 1434-1436. The panel is housed in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D. C and it was originally on panel but has been transferred to canvas. It is thought that it was the wing of a triptych. The annunciation is a complex work, whose iconography is still debated by art historians. The picture depicts the Annunciation by the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary that she bear the son of God. The inscription shows his words, AVE GRÃ, PLENA or Hail, full of grace. She modestly draws back and responds, ECCE ANCILLA DÑI or Behold the handmaiden of the Lord, the words appear upside down because they are directed to God and are therefore inscribed with a Gods-eye view. Through Christs human incarnation the old era of the Law is transformed into a new era of Grace. Mary was believed in the Middle Ages to have been a studious girl who was engaged by the Temple of Jerusalem with other selected maidens to spin new curtains for the Holy of Holies. The book she is reading here is too large to be a ladys Book of Hours, the architecture moves from older, round Romanesque forms above, to pointed Gothic arches below, with the higher levels largely in darkness, and the floor level well-lit. The gloom of the Old Covenant is about to be succeeded by the light of the New Covenant, the flat timber roof is in poor repair, with planks out of place. The decoration of the Temple is naturally all derived from the Old Testament, in the floor tiles Davids slaying of Goliath, foretells Christs triumph over the devil. Behind this, Samson pulls down the Temple of the Philistines, to the left, Delilah is cutting Samsons hair, and behind he slays the Philistines. The death of Absalom and possibly that of Abimelech are identified by art historians. Erwin Panofsky, who developed much of this analysis, proposed a scheme for the significance of the symbols in the round border tiles. The rear wall has a stained glass window, where Jehovah stands, above triple plain-glazed windows below. On either side of the window are dim wall-paintings of the finding of Moses by Pharaohs daughter. Below them are roundels with Isaac and Jacob, for various symbolic functions have been proposed
Annunciation (van Eyck, Washington)
–
The Annunciation
Annunciation (van Eyck, Washington)
–
Floor tiles:
David slaying
Goliath in front,
Samson pulling down the
Philistines ' Temple behind
Annunciation (van Eyck, Washington)
–
Detail - Mary and Gabriel
Annunciation (van Eyck, Washington)
–
Le sacerdoce de la Vierge (The Priesthood of the Virgin), 1425-50, Louvre, unknown French artist
39.
Smithsonian Institution
–
The Smithsonian Institution, established in 1846 for the increase and diffusion of knowledge, is a group of museums and research centers administered by the Government of the United States. Originally organized as the United States National Museum, that ceased to exist as an administrative entity in 1967. Additional facilities are located in Arizona, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York City, Texas, Virginia, more than 200 institutions and museums in 45 states, Puerto Rico, and Panama are Smithsonian Affiliates. The Institutions thirty million annual visitors are admitted without charge and its annual budget is around $1.2 billion with 2/3 coming from annual federal appropriations. Other funding comes from the Institutions endowment, private and corporate contributions, membership dues, and earned retail, concession, Institution publications include Smithsonian and Air & Space magazines. The British scientist James Smithson left most of his wealth to his nephew Henry James Hungerford, Congress officially accepted the legacy bequeathed to the nation, and pledged the faith of the United States to the charitable trust on July 1,1836. The American diplomat Richard Rush was dispatched to England by President Andrew Jackson to collect the bequest, Rush returned in August 1838 with 105 sacks containing 104,960 gold sovereigns. Once the money was in hand, eight years of Congressional haggling ensued over how to interpret Smithsons rather vague mandate for the increase, unfortunately, the money was invested by the US Treasury in bonds issued by the state of Arkansas which soon defaulted. The United States Exploring Expedition by the U. S. Navy circumnavigated the globe between 1838 and 1842, in 1846, the regents developed a plan for weather observation, in 1847, money was appropriated for meteorological research. The Institution became a magnet for young scientists from 1857 to 1866, the Smithsonian played a critical role as the U. S. partner institution in early bilateral scientific exchanges with the Academy of Sciences of Cuba. The Smithsonian Institution Building began construction in 1849, designed by architect James Renwick Jr. its interiors were completed by general contract Gilbert Cameron and the building opened in 1855. The Smithsonians first expansion came with construction of the Arts and Industries Building in 1881, Congress had promised to build a new structure for the museum if the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition generated enough income. It did, and the building was designed by architects Adolf Cluss and Paul Schulze, meigs of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The National Zoological Park opened in 1889 to accommodate the Smithsonians Department of Living Animals and this structure was designed by the D. C. architectural firm of Hornblower & Marshall. More than 40 years would pass before the museum, the Museum of History. It was designed by the firm of McKim, Mead & White. That same year, the Smithsonian signed an agreement to take over the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration, the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum opened in the Old Patent Office Building on October 7,1968. The first new building to open since the National Museum of Natural History was the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Smithsonian Institution
–
The
"Castle" (1847), the Institution's first building and still its headquarters
Smithsonian Institution
–
Smithsonian Institution Logo of the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
–
Aircraft on display at the
National Air and Space Museum, including a
Ford Trimotor and
Douglas DC-3 (top and second from top)
Smithsonian Institution
–
The Smithsonian Castle doorway
40.
Charles Greeley Abbot
–
Charles Greeley Abbot was an American astrophysicist and the fifth secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, serving from 1928 until 1944. Abbot went from being director of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, to becoming Assistant Secretary, as an astrophysicist, he researched the solar constant, research that led him to invent the solar cooker, solar boiler, solar still, and other patented solar energy inventions. Charles Greeley Abbot was born in Wilton, New Hampshire and his parents were farmers and he was the youngest of four children. As a youth he built and invented numerous things, such as a forge to fix tools, a wheel to power a saw. He dropped out of school when he was 13 to become a carpenter, two years later he went back to high school. When a friend of his went to Boston to take the exam to get into the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. However, upon arrival, he was uncomfortable visiting Boston alone and he passed and his family gathered the funds to send him to MIT for one year. He started out studying chemical engineering, but eventually moved on to physics and he would graduate in 1894 with a Master of Science in physics. Abbot would meet Samuel P. Langley on MIT campus when Langley visited seeking an assistant, in 1895, he would start working as an aid at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. While at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Abbot would work under Samuel P. Langley, Langley would go on to change his focus from solar radiation to aeronautics, with Abbot taking over solar radiation research. Abbot would participate in many expeditions, in 1900 he, along with Langley, would travel to Wadesboro, North Carolina to observe a solar eclipse, followed by another eclipse expedition to Sumatra in 1901. During his expedition experiences he would travel to Algeria, Egypt, South Africa, Australia. Abbot would become acting director of SAO in 1906 and in 1907, Abbot became the Director of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, while Langley was still Director, he had visited Mount Whitney, and decided it would be a great place for an observatory. Abbot secured funding for the observatory and it was built in 1909, as Director, a position he would hold until his retirement, Abbot would open the Radiation Biology Laboratory in 1929, to study radiation effects on plants, and other organisms. This helped to develop the first wave of biophysics researchers in the United States, Abbot would become the Assistant Secretary at the Smithsonian Institution in 1918, upon the death of Frederick W. True. In his role as Assistant Secretary he would oversee the Smithsonian Institution Libraries, the International Exchange Service, and he also co-created the Smithsonian Scientific Series books, which helped raise funds for the Smithsonian. Ten years later, on January 10,1928, he became the fifth Secretary of the Smithsonian after the death of Charles Doolittle Walcott, Abbot would also maintain his position as Director of the Astrophysical Observatory. In 1927, Walcott had finalized the Smithsonians strategic plan, which Abbot took on responsibility for upon his election as Secretary, the Smithsonian began a capital campaign in 1929, coinciding with the start of the Great Depression
Charles Greeley Abbot
–
Dr. Charles Greeley Abbot
Charles Greeley Abbot
–
Abbot, at age eleven, with the
water wheel he invented.
Charles Greeley Abbot
–
Abbot with a container full of printouts of solar observations, 1968
Charles Greeley Abbot
–
Abbot's
solar cooker at Mount Wilson Observatory.
41.
Washington Star
–
The Washington Star, previously known as the Washington Star-News and the Washington Evening Star, was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D. C. between 1852 and 1981. For most of time, it was the citys newspaper of record. On August 7,1981, after 128 years, the Washington Star ceased publication, in the bankruptcy sale, The Washington Post purchased the land and buildings owned by the Star, including its printing presses. The Washington Star was founded on December 16,1852 by Captain Joseph Borrows Tate, in 1853, Texas surveyor and newspaper entrepreneur William Douglas Wallach purchased the paper. As the sole owner of the paper for the next 14 years, Wallach built up the paper by capitalizing on reporting of the American Civil War, among other things. In 1867, the group of investors Crosby Stuart Noyes, Samuel H. Kauffmann, the paper would remain family-owned and operated for the next four generations. In 1907, subsequent Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman joined the Star, Berryman was most famous for his 1902 cartoon of President Theodore Teddy Roosevelt, Drawing the Line in Mississippi, which spurred the creation of the teddy bear. During his career, Berryman drew thousands of cartoons commenting on American Presidents, presidential figures included former Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Harry S. Truman. Berrymans career continued at the Star until he collapsed on the floor one morning in 1949. The next major change to the newspaper came in 1938 when the three owning families diversified their interests, on May 1, the Star purchased the M. A. Leese Radio Corporation and acquired Washingtons oldest radio station, WMAL, in the process. Renamed the Evening Star Broadcasting Company, the 1938 acquisition would figure later in the 1981 demise of the newspaper, suburbanization and television were accelerating the decline of evening newspapers in favor of morning dailies. The Post, meanwhile, acquired and merged with its morning rival, by the 1960s, the Post was Washingtons leading newspaper. In 1972, the Star purchased and absorbed one of DCs few remaining competing newspapers, for a short period of time after the merger, both The Evening Star and The Washington Daily News mastheads appeared on the front page. The paper soon was retitled Washington Star News and finally, The Washington Star by the late 1970s, in 1973, the Star was targeted for clandestine purchase by interests close to the South African Apartheid government in its propaganda war, in what became known as the Muldergate Scandal. The Star, whose policy had always been conservative, was seen as favorable to South Africa at the time. In early 1975, the owning families sold their interests in the paper to Joe L. Allbritton, Allbritton, who also owned Riggs Bank, then the most prestigious bank in the capital, planned to use profits from WMAL-AM-FM-TV to shore up the newspapers finances. The Federal Communications Commission stymied him with rules on media cross-ownership, however, WMAL-AM-FM was sold off in 1977, on October 1,1975, press operators at the Post went on strike, severely damaging all printing presses before leaving the building. Allbritton also had disagreements with editor Jim Bellows over editorial policy
Washington Star
–
Evening Star Building at 1101
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW in
Washington, D.C. The building is a contributing property to the
Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site.
42.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
–
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is a museum in Washington, D. C. Together with its museum, the Renwick Gallery, it holds one of the worlds largest and most inclusive collections of art, from the colonial period to the present. Most exhibitions take place in the main building, the old Patent Office Building. The museum provides electronic resources to schools and the public through its education program, including Artful Connections. Since 1951, the museum has maintained a traveling exhibition program, as of 2013, American Arts main building, the Old Patent Office Building, is a National Historic Landmark and is considered an example of Greek Revival architecture in the United States. It was designed by architects Robert Mills, and Thomas U, during the 1990s, the Smithsonian Institution worked on restoring the building. According to the Smithsonian Institution, Extraordinary effort was made to use new technologies to restore the historic fabric of the building. During the renovation, the Lunder Conservation Center, the Luce Foundation Center for American Art, Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium, and the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard were added to the building. The Luce Foundation Center for American Art is an art storage and study center. The Lunder Conservation Center is the first art conservation facility to allow the public permanent behind-the-scenes views of the work of museums. In 2008, the American Alliance of Museums awarded reaccreditation to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, as of 2014, Elizabeth Broun is Director of the museum. American Art has maintained a traveling exhibition program since 1951.5 million visitors, since 2006, thirteen exhibitions have toured to more than 30 cities. American Art provides electronic resources to schools and the public as part of programs such as Artful Connections. Artful Connections gives real-time video conference tours of American Art, numerous researchers and millions of virtual visitors per year use these databases. Also, American Art and Heritage Preservation work together in a joint project, Save Outdoor Sculpture, the museum produces a peer-reviewed periodical, American Art, for new scholarship. Since 1993, American Art has been had an online presence and it has one of the earliest museum websites when, in 1995, it launched its own website. EyeLevel, the first blog at the Smithsonian Institution, was started in 2005 and, as of 2013, the blog has approximately 12,000 readers each month. Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum has a variety of American art, with more than 7,000 artists represented
Smithsonian American Art Museum
–
Lincoln Gallery
Smithsonian American Art Museum
–
The Smithsonian American Art Museum's main building is shared with the National Portrait Gallery. This view taken from G Street, NW in Washington DC.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
–
The Luce Foundation Center for American Art on the third floor of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
–
Lunder Conservation Center Laboratory where the public is shown behind-the-scenes views of essential art preservation work.
43.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
–
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, commonly known as FDR, was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 32nd President of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. A Democrat, he won a record four presidential elections and emerged as a figure in world events during the mid-20th century. He directed the United States government during most of the Great Depression and he is often rated by scholars as one of the three greatest U. S. Presidents, along with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Roosevelt was born in 1882 to an old, prominent Dutch family from Dutchess County and he attended the elite educational institutions of Groton School, Harvard College, and Columbia Law School. At age 23 in 1905, he married Eleanor Roosevelt, and he entered politics in 1910, serving in the New York State Senate, and then as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson. In 1920, Roosevelt was presidential candidate James M. Coxs running mate and he was in office from 1929 to 1933 and served as a reform governor, promoting the enactment of programs to combat the depression besetting the United States at the time. In the 1932 presidential election, Roosevelt defeated incumbent Republican president Herbert Hoover in a landslide to win the presidency, Roosevelt took office while in the United States was in the midst of the worst economic crisis in its history. Energized by his victory over polio, FDR relied on his persistent optimism and activism to renew the national spirit. He created numerous programs to support the unemployed and farmers, and to labor union growth while more closely regulating business. His support for the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 added to his popularity, the economy improved rapidly from 1933–37, but then relapsed into a deep recession in 1937–38. The bipartisan Conservative Coalition that formed in 1937 prevented his packing the Supreme Court, when the war began and unemployment ended, conservatives in Congress repealed the two major relief programs, the WPA and CCC. However, they kept most of the regulations on business, along with several smaller programs, major surviving programs include the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Wagner Act, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Social Security. His goal was to make America the Arsenal of Democracy, which would supply munitions to the Allies, in March 1941, Roosevelt, with Congressional approval, provided Lend-Lease aid to Britain and China. He supervised the mobilization of the U. S. economy to support the war effort, as an active military leader, Roosevelt implemented a war strategy on two fronts that ended in the defeat of the Axis Powers and initiate the development of the worlds first atomic bomb. His work also influenced the creation of the United Nations. Roosevelts physical health declined during the war years, and he died 11 weeks into his fourth term. One of the oldest Dutch families in New York State, the Roosevelts distinguished themselves in other than politics. One ancestor, Isaac Roosevelt, had served with the New York militia during the American Revolution, Roosevelt attended events of the New York society Sons of the American Revolution, and joined the organization while he was president
Franklin D. Roosevelt
–
Roosevelt in 1933
Franklin D. Roosevelt
–
Roosevelt in 1884, 2 years old.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
–
The birthplace of FDR at Springwood.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
–
Roosevelt sailing with half-niece Helen and father James, 1899.
44.
Baltimore and Potomac Railroad
–
The Baltimore and Potomac Railroad operated from Baltimore, Maryland, southwest to Washington, D. C. from 1872 to 1902. Controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad, it was the railroad company to connect the nations capital to the Northeastern States. Part of the B&P route is now part of Amtraks Northeast Corridor, the charter also allowed the construction of branches of up to 20 miles in length. The B&P was organized on December 19,1858, and began surveying the route on May 3,1859, construction started in 1861 but progressed slowly until 1867, when the B&P was purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad and its ally, the Northern Central Railway. The PRR at the time had access to Baltimore via its own lines, the PRR and B&O had trouble getting along, but Maryland refused to grant a charter to end the B&Os monopoly on Baltimore-Washington travel. However, the Baltimore and Potomac charter allowed exactly that, via the clause that allowed branches, congress granted a charter for the section in Washington on February 5,1867. Thus the new Baltimore-Washington line opened on July 2,1872, the first B&P station in Washington was a simple wood frame structure. A more substantial brick and stone building opened in 1873 at the southwest corner of Sixth Street and this is the present site of the West Building of the National Gallery of Art, on the National Mall. The station was built over the old Washington City Canal, which complicated the construction of the foundation, tracks ran south from the station along Sixth Street to a wye junction at Sixth Street SW, Maryland Avenue SW, and Virginia Avenue SW. On November 1,1902, B&P was consolidated with PW&B to form the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad, the Washington Terminal Company and its Union Station opened in 1907, serving the PB&W, the B&O and several other railroads. Since then, the line has passed under control of Penn Central in 1968, followed by Conrail, since the breakup of Conrail in 1999, Norfolk Southern has provided freight service over the main line. However, the Popes Creek Subdivision is operated by CSX Transportation, Catonsville The Catonsville Short Line Railroad opened in 1884 and was immediately leased by the Baltimore & Potomac. This provided a branch from just south of Baltimore to Catonsville. Southern Maryland Line The 48. 7-mile branch to Popes Creek was part of the original chartered main line, the main line from Bowie to Washington, a distance of 17.1 miles, was provided for in the charter as a branch. There was a passenger and freight station at Collington on the Southern Maryland Line, today, a 5, 200-foot railroad siding is all that remains of this stop, although the spur is still in use. It is located at milepost 3.0 on the spur, just south of where the spur crosses under Maryland Route 450 near Maryland Route 197. Corporate Genealogy - Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington Hobos Guide to the Pennsy - Main Line Washington to New York, mD-163, Baltimore & Potomac Interlocking Tower,11 photos,27 data pages,2 photo caption pages
Baltimore and Potomac Railroad
–
Baltimore & Potomac Railroad Passenger Terminal, on the future
National Mall, Washington, D.C. (1873-77,
Wilson Brothers & Company, architects, demolished 1908). U.S. President
James A. Garfield was assassinated in this station in 1881
Baltimore and Potomac Railroad
–
High Bridge over Gwynns Falls, Baltimore and Potomac Railroad, in 1872
45.
Charles Guiteau
–
Charles Julius Guiteau was an American writer and lawyer who was convicted of the assassination of James A. Garfield, the 20th President of the United States. Guiteau was offended by Garfields rejections of his various job applications, Garfield died two months later from infections related to the injury. Guiteau was sentenced to death for the crime in January 1882, Guiteau was born in Freeport, Illinois, the fourth of six children of Jane August and Luther Wilson Guiteau, whose family was of French Huguenot ancestry. He moved with his family to Ulao, Wisconsin in 1850 and lived there until 1855, soon after, Guiteau and his father moved back to Freeport. He inherited $1,000 from his grandfather as a man and went to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Due to inadequate preparation, he failed the entrance examinations. Despite the group marriage aspects of that sect, he was rejected during his five years there. After leaving, he went to Hoboken, New Jersey, and this failed and he returned to Oneida, only to leave again and file lawsuits against the communitys founder, John Humphrey Noyes. Guiteaus father, embarrassed, wrote letters in support of Noyes, Guiteau then obtained a law license in Chicago, based on an extremely casual bar exam. He argued only one case in court, the bulk of his business being in bill collecting and his former wife later detailed his dishonest dealings, describing how he would keep disproportionate amounts of the bill and rarely give the money to his clients. He published a book on the subject called The Truth which was almost entirely plagiarized from the work of Noyes. He wandered from town to town lecturing to any and all who would listen to his religious ramblings, Guiteau spent the first half of 1880 in Boston, which he left owing money and under suspicion of theft. On June 11,1880, he was a passenger on the SS Stonington when it collided with the SS Narragansett at night in heavy fog, the Stonington was able to return to port, but the Narragansett burned to the waterline and sank, with significant loss of life. Although none of his passengers on the Stonington were injured. Guiteaus interest then turned to politics, ultimately, he changed little more than the title and any mention of Grant in the speech itself. When on trial, Guiteau stated that his speech elected Mr. Garfield President of The United States and he insisted he should be awarded an ambassadorship for his vital assistance, first asking for Vienna, then deciding that he would rather be posted in Paris. Guiteau is actually believed to have encountered Blaine on more than one occasion, borrowing $15 from a Mr. Maynard, Guiteau went out to purchase a revolver. He knew little about firearms, but did know that he would need a large caliber gun and he had to choose between a.442 Webley caliber British Bulldog revolver with wooden grips or one with ivory grips
Charles Guiteau
–
Charles Julius Guiteau
Charles Guiteau
–
President
James A. Garfield with Secretary of State
James G. Blaine after being shot by Guiteau, as depicted in a period engraving from
Frank Leslie 's Illustrated Newspaper.
Charles Guiteau
–
1881 political cartoon showing Guiteau holding a gun and a note that says " An office or your life! " The caption for the cartoon reads "Model Office Seeker".
Charles Guiteau
–
A cartoon depicting Guiteau as a dangerous fool
46.
James Garfield
–
James Abram Garfield was the 20th President of the United States, serving from March 4,1881, until his assassination later that year. He is the only sitting House member to be elected president, Garfield was raised in humble circumstances on an Ohio farm by his widowed mother. He worked at various jobs, including on a canal boat, beginning at age 17, he attended several Ohio schools, then studied at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, from which he graduated in 1856. A year later, Garfield entered politics as a Republican and he married Lucretia Rudolph in 1858, and served as a member of the Ohio State Senate. Garfield opposed Confederate secession, served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and fought in the battles of Middle Creek, Shiloh. He was first elected to Congress in 1862 to represent Ohios 19th District, throughout Garfields extended congressional service after the Civil War, he firmly supported the gold standard and gained a reputation as a skilled orator. Garfield initially agreed with Radical Republican views regarding Reconstruction, but later favored an approach for civil rights enforcement for freedmen. At the 1880 Republican National Convention, Senator-elect Garfield attended as campaign manager for Secretary of the Treasury John Sherman, and gave the presidential nomination speech for him. When neither Sherman nor his rivals – Ulysses S. Grant and James G. Blaine – could get votes to secure the nomination. In the 1880 presidential election, Garfield conducted a front porch campaign. Garfield made notable diplomatic and judiciary appointments, including a U. S. Supreme Court justice, Garfield advocated agricultural technology, an educated electorate, and civil rights for African Americans. He also proposed substantial civil service reform, eventually passed by Congress in 1883 and signed into law by his successor, Chester A. Arthur, Presidents due to the short length of his presidency. James Garfield was born the youngest of five children on November 19,1831, in a log cabin in Orange Township, now Moreland Hills, Orange Township was located in the Western Reserve, and like many who settled there, Garfields ancestors were from New England. James father Abram had been born in Worcester, New York and he instead wed her sister Eliza, who had been born in New Hampshire. James was named for a brother, dead in infancy. In early 1833, Abram and Eliza Garfield joined the Church of Christ, Abram Garfield died later that year, his son was raised in poverty in a household led by the strong-willed Eliza. James was her child, and the two remained close for the rest of her life. Eliza Garfield remarried in 1842, but soon left her husband, Warren Belden
James Garfield
–
Brady -
Handy photograph of Garfield, taken between 1870 and 1880
James Garfield
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Birthplace site of James Garfield
James Garfield
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Garfield at age 16
James Garfield
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Lucretia Garfield in the 1870s
47.
James A. Garfield assassination
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James A. Garfield, the 20th President of the United States, was assassinated at 9,30 am on July 2,1881, less than four months into Garfields term as President. He was shot by Charles J. Guiteau at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D. C. and died in Elberon, Garfield was the second of four Presidents to be assassinated, following Abraham Lincoln and preceding William McKinley and John F. Kennedy. His Vice President, Chester A. Arthur, succeeded Garfield as President, Charles Guiteau turned to politics after failing in several ventures, including theology, a law practice, bill collecting, and time in the utopian Oneida Community. He wrote a speech in support of Ulysses S. Grant called Grant vs. Hancock, Grant was the early front runner for the Republican nomination for president in the election of 1880, but lost to Garfield. Guiteaus speech, even in written form, was ineffective, among other problems, his hurried effort to replace references to Grant with references to Garfield was incomplete. But Guiteau convinced himself that this speech was responsible for Garfields narrow victory over Democratic nominee Winfield S. Hancock. Guiteau believed he should be awarded a diplomatic post for his vital assistance, first asking for a consulship in Vienna. He loitered around Republican headquarters in New York City, expecting rewards for his speech, still believing he would be rewarded, Guiteau arrived in Washington on March 5,1881, the day after Garfields inauguration. He obtained entrance to the White House and saw the President on March 8,1881, Guiteau was destitute and increasingly slovenly because he was wearing the same clothes every day. On May 13,1881, he was banned from the White House waiting room, on May 14,1881 he encountered Secretary of State James G. Blaine, who told him to Never speak to me again of the Paris consulship as long as you live. Guiteaus family had judged him to be insane in 1875 and attempted to have him committed, now his mania took a violent turn. After the encounter with Blaine, Guiteau decided that he had been commanded by a power to kill the supposedly ungrateful president, later stating. After borrowing $15 from George Maynard, a relative by marriage and he knew little about firearms, but believed he would need a large caliber gun. While at OMearas store in Washington, he had the choice between two versions of the, though he could not afford the extra dollar, the store owner dropped the price for him. He spent the few weeks in target practice—the kick from the revolver almost knocked him over the first time he fired it—and stalking Garfield. He wrote a letter to Garfield, saying that he should fire Blaine, or you, the letter was ignored, as was all the correspondence Guiteau sent to the White House. Guiteau continued to prepare carefully, writing a letter in advance to William Tecumseh Sherman and he went to the District of Columbia jail to ask for a tour of the facility where he expected to be incarcerated, but was told to come back later. Guiteau spent the month of June following Garfield around Washington
James A. Garfield assassination
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President Garfield with
James G. Blaine after being shot by
Charles J. Guiteau
James A. Garfield assassination
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Charles J. Guiteau
James A. Garfield assassination
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Contemporary illustration of Guiteau's pistol
James A. Garfield assassination
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Smithsonian file photograph of the British Bulldog revolver used by
Charles Guiteau to assassinate President
James A. Garfield in 1881
48.
Samuel H. Kress
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Samuel Henry Kress was a businessman and philanthropist, founder of the S. H. Kress & Co. five and ten cent store chain. With his fortune, Kress amassed one of the most significant collections of Italian Renaissance, in the 1950s and 1960s, a foundation established by Kress would donate 776 works of art from the Kress collection to 18 regional art museums in the United States. Kress was born in the village of Cherryville, near Allentown, Pennsylvania and his father was a retail merchant. His siblings were Mary Conner Kress, Jennie Weston Kress, Palmer John Kress, Claude Washington Kress, another sibling, Elmer Kress, died ten days after birth. Kress never married or had children, young Kress worked in the stone quarries. Intelligent, energetic and precocious, he earned his credentials by the age of 17. His first position was instructor for a class of 80 students and he walked 3 miles each way to the schoolhouse. In 1887, Kress opened a stationery and notions store in Nanticoke, as the business prospered he used his profits to open additional stores, naming his chain S. H. Kress & Co. These eventually would become known as the Kress Five and Dime stores. Unlike many businessmen of his day who only opened their stores in urban areas. These stores became the jewel of many of cities, which only had a dry goods or general store until then. By the mid-1920s, he was living in a penthouse at 1020 Fifth Avenue in New York City, across the street from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and he was a major art collector, and created a foundation to hold and dispose of his vast art collection. Kress died in 1955 and is interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, S. H. Kress & Co. a chain of five and dime retail department stores, was started in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, by Samuel H. Kress in 1896. Eventually expanding to over 200 locations nationwide, Kress stores were long a familiar sight in many cities, the Kress chain was known for the fine architecture of the stores, with a number of locations being hailed by architects for their design. A number of former Kress stores, now put to uses, are ranked as landmarks. Some of the most well-known Kress locations included New York Citys Fifth Avenue, Canal Street, New Orleans, in 1964 ownership of Kress was acquired by Genesco, Inc. The company abandoned its center-city stores and moved to the shopping malls, Genesco began liquidating Kress and closing down the Kress stores in 1980. Kress was founder and president of the eponymous Samuel H. Kress Foundation, an avid art lover, he acquired, through art dealer Joseph Duveen, a collection of paintings and sculpture, primarily of the Italian Baroque school
Samuel H. Kress
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A Kress store building, showing the characteristic design
49.
Joseph Widener
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Joseph Early Widener was a wealthy American art collector who was a founding benefactor of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C. A major figure in Thoroughbred horse racing, he was head of New Yorks Belmont Park and builder of Miami, Widener was born in Philadelphia, the second son of the extremely wealthy transportation and real estate magnate Peter A. B. Joseph Widener attended Harvard University, and for a time studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. Joseph Widener used his wealth to pursue his interest in Thoroughbred horse racing on a large scale. In 1901, thirty-year-old Joseph Widener began purchasing Thoroughbred horses to compete in flat racing and steeplechase events. Racing Hall of Fame horse trainer, J. Howard Lewis, for the next four decades they combined to race fourteen Champions, two in flat racing and twelve Steeplechase Champions. Wideners steeplechase horses won important races including three editions of the American Grand National with Relluf, Arc Light, and Bushranger. His steeplechasers Bushranger and Fairmount were both elected to the U. S, following the death of August Belmont, Jr. Joseph Widener and friends W. Averell Harriman and George Herbert Walker, purchased much of Belmonts Thoroughbred breeding stock. For his Elmendorf Farm breeding operation, Widener acquired Belmonts very important sire Fair Play and the broodmare Mahubah, the parents of Man o War. He also purchased a son of Fair Play named Chance Shot who would go on to win the 1927 Belmont Stakes, Widener had a life-size statue of Fair Play erected by his grave at Elmendorf Farm. As part of the selloff of the August Belmont, Jr, in 1930, he imported the stallion Sickle from Lord Derby in England who came to visit the U. S. that year and was Wideners guest at the 1930 Kentucky Derby. A son of the important sire Phalaris, Sickle would produce 45 Graded stakes race winners. Following Chance Shots win in the 1927 Belmont Stakes, Wideners racing stable won the two more times with Hurryoff in 1933 and with a son of Chance Shot in 1934 named Peace Chance. He also had five horses compete in the Kentucky Derby with his best finishes a second place earned by Osmand in 1927, Joseph Wideners father had had business interests in France and like other wealthy elite Americans of that era, maintained a place in fashionable Paris. In addition to racing horses in the United States, Widener also kept a stable of Thoroughbreds in France. Competing in French grass racing, his horses won the 1923 and 1926 editions of the Prix La Rochette and the 1923,1924, Widener also owned English Hackney horses who competed at various shows. He married Ella Pancoast with whom he had two children, Peter A. B, designed by Horace Trumbauer and Jacques Greber, the mansion, along with its extensive and important art collection, was part of the huge fortune he inherited. In poor health for years, Joseph Early Widener died at his Lynnewood Hall estate in 1943 and was interred in the West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia
Joseph Widener
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1921 portrait by Augustus John.
Joseph Widener
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The Mill (1645-48) by
Rembrandt, Widener Collection,
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
Joseph Widener
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Descent from the Cross (1650-52) by
Rembrandt, Widener Collection,
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
Joseph Widener
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Portrait of a Gentleman (1650-52) by
Frans Hals, Widener Collection,
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
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