Stories in Miniature

Secretary Ickes realizes that the Interior Department is a large, complex federal agency difficult for the public to understand. He views the construction of the new headquarters as an opportunity for the Department to be more transparent and relevant to the American people. Consequently, the building is very intentional in terms of its design and what it will include.

One of several elements Ickes specifies is a museum that will present the story of the Department and educate the public. It will join some 67 other museums nationwide within the Department’s National Park Service but will be just the twenty-third museum in Washington, D.C.—and unique in a Cabinet-level agency as a “new instrument in the field of government public relations.” To this end, Ickes establishes a museum planning committee. By May 1935—just as initial construction is beginning on the headquarters itself—the Public Works Administration (PWA) allocates $100,000 for the Interior Museum.

. . . and a much larger one, so the exhibit fabricators at Morristown can better visualize the unbuilt gallery space. Come September, Burns is already beginning to translate the curators' ideas into physical exhibition components.

Having gained extensive experience at the City Museum of New York and the American Museum of Natural History, Burns is an acknowledged expert in exhibition design. By the end of 1935 Burns has assembled at Morristown a skilled team of 21 to work on Interior Museum exhibits: 12 preparators, 3 per diem carpenters, 3 per diem helpers, a field curator, an equipment engineer, and a clerk.

Life size ethnological displays and habitat groups of exotic taxidermy had featured in natural history museums since the late 1800s, but it is not until the 1920s that miniature groupings or dioramas truly gain in popularity. Deriving from the Greek meaning literally “to see through,” dioramas are essentially shadow box models—usually on a scale of 1 1/2 inches equaling 1 foot—viewed through an angled, polished glass aperture. The three-dimensional scene in the foreground blends seamlessly into a scenic perspective painted onto a curved background. Illuminated from above through a filter of sandblasted glass, the overall effect gives the illusion of greater depth.

Burns has previously employed dioramas to great success and therefore envisions creating several for the new Interior Museum. He appreciates that dioramas can convey considerable information in relatively little space and would later say:

The true worth of the miniature lies in its power to tell a vital story in a dramatic way, through its inherent attractiveness and appeal to the imagination. . . . This irresistible appeal . . . is universal in all of us who, as children, delighted in the toys with which we built our own miniature worlds. By taking advantage of this fundamental human psychology we are enabled to convey our museum story in a pleasant, yet equally effective and long-remembered way.
– Paper read at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Museums at New Orleans, May 3-5, 1937

That the Interior Museum contains so many dioramas provides us an unusual wormhole to the past. They represent an era of rapid development and adaptation in museum interpretation and are particularly notable for their craftsmanship. More broadly, the dioramas are emblematic of an increased professionalism and focus on the visitor experience.

What follows is an in-depth exploration of the creation of 13 dioramas. The first 11 are purpose-built for the Interior Museum in anticipation of its inaugural exhibitions opening in March 1938. The remaining two are added to the Museum's displays in 1940 and 1945.

Work begins on the Washington and Lafayette in Morristown diorama sometime during the last half of 1935. It is believed to be one of the first undertaken by the National Park Service's Eastern Museum Laboratory (EML) for the Interior Museum. EML’s close proximity to the historic Ford Mansion makes for easy reference and allows the preparators to be especially accurate in rendering the landscape and architecture.

Shown here is Rudolf W. Bauss (1899–1966) who came to the EML as a skilled model maker. He had previously served a full apprenticeship in Germany as a furniture woodcarver.

Preparators ultimately create two Washington and Lafayette in Morristown dioramas: one for New Jersey's Morristown National Historical Park (established as the nation's first National Historical Park in 1933) and one for the Interior Museum to open in Washington, D.C., in March 1938.

Here, Lee Roland Warthen (1893–1949) is painting the backgrounds. He is a prolific artist and illustrator who works extensively on the Interior Museum, contributes to countless other National Park Service museum displays, and goes on to do design work for the Navy and Army.

Basil E. Martin (1903–1988) attends to the finish work on this diorama's figurines. Most of the figures in these early Interior Museum dioramas are sculpted by Rosario Russell Fiore (1908–1994) who had trained at New York's National Academy of Design.

They are constructed by modeling hard wax onto wire frameworks. While clothing is typically sculpted as part of the wax, it is sometimes fashioned separately from leather or silk. For this diorama, Fiore is provided with detailed research on the uniforms and how the Continental Army’s differed from those worn by General Washington's personal guard.

In later dioramas, the figures are created by pouring wax (and later, plasticene) into plaster molds.

The small accessories in a diorama are made from a variety of woods, plastics and metals. Tools of the trade for creating these intricate miniature replicas include calipers and tiny chisels.

Note the detail on the rifles, swords, and door handle for the Washington and Lafayette scene.

The Fort Union Trading Post diorama is specifically created for display in the Indian Affairs alcove within the Interior Museum. Preliminary research in 1935 involves consulting numerous historical accounts of the trading post, as well as George Catlin's portraits of North American Indians. Construction on the diorama commences in February 1936. Frank G. Urban, pictured here, is completing some of the structural groundwork.

Sculptor Rosario Russell Fiore (1908–1994) and Frank G. Urban (right) stand before the incomplete Fort Union diorama, most likely in the summer of 1936. Chief Preparator Arthur Jansson's painted background already appears to be finished. To ensure the mural's accuracy, Jansson had requested information about Mackinaw boats and asked that the U.S. Geological Survey confirm the "color of the bluffs on the south bank of the Missouri River, about on the State line between North Dakota and Montana."

This tiny lantern is an example of the precise craftsmanship that went into creating the dioramas. Can you spot this same lantern in the Fort Union diorama? Hint: it is hanging by the doorway.

Like the Washington and Lafayette diorama, this one is made for the National Park Service’s alcove within the Interior Museum. Albert McClure (1903–1986) is shown here recreating the Yellowstone landscape at the Morristown laboratory in spring/summer 1936.

Groundworks for the dioramas are usually modeled with composition board, plaster and papier-mâché. Trees, too, are often papier-mâché, with the foliage crafted either from paper or metal and then affixed with fine wire.

An artist—believed to be Lee Roland Warthen (1893–1949)—paints a forest onto the jagged backdrop cutout. In the finished diorama, three-dimensional miniature trees are placed in front of the painted ones to create a realistic sense of depth and perspective. Note the reference photographs in the foreground of this image.

To lend further authenticity to the scene, the fabricators verified details with preeminent artist and photographer William Henry Jackson (1843–1942). He had camped in the Yellowstone region as part of the 1871 Hayden Expedition just one year after the 1870 Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition depicted in the diorama.

These are nine of the 12 figurines appearing in the Birth of the National Park Idea diorama. They represent some of the explorers in the Washburn-Langford-Doane party. The man standing with his arm outstretched is one of the civilians on the expedition, Judge Cornelius Hedges (1856–1907) from the Montana Territory.

Artist Arthur A. Jansson (1890–1960) paints the features that contribute to the realism of the Land Office diorama. Jansson had formerly painted life-size backdrops for the habitat groups at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, and the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

To convey the excitement and activity evident in the scene, museum technicians consulted historical photographs and even corresponded with Fred L. Wenner, a former newspaperman who had been an eyewitness to this very land rush reporting on “that and all the other stirring events of the early days of Oklahoma.”

Donald M. Johnson positions the painted wax figurines in the Land Office diorama. Johnson had studied art at the Pratt Institute. Prior to joining the National Park Service's Eastern Museum Laboratory, he had worked for many years creating dioramas at the Museum of the City of New York.

Striving for authenticity in the Coal Mine Explosion diorama, the model makers begin in 1935 by securing press images like this one of the accident site . . .

In 1935–1936, Albert McClure (1903–1986) constructs the framework for the coal tipple that is the focal point of this complicated diorama . . .

. . . and begins to fill in additional structural details.

Once painted, the figurines are the final elements added to the Coal Mine Explosion.

The figures are rendered with particularly lifelike expressions and poses. Some of the onlookers are obviously distraught. A uniformed official keeps the bystanders from descending into the disaster area, while in the background, workers disembark from a train marked "BUREAU OF MINES" to help with the recovery efforts.

Here, Rudolf Bauss (1899–1966) sculpts the automobile for the River-Measurement Station diorama. USGS Hydraulic Engineer John Hoyt sent Bauss a USGS license plate and automobile seal to replicate to scale, so the car would be as faithful a representation as possible.

Rudolf Bauss assesses progress on the diorama. He has placed the completed automobile in the scene but has yet to add the two figurines. The painted background and technical details—down to the precise wording on the tower sign—were informed by a series of photographs, pamphlets, blueprints and sketches supplied by USGS Hydraulic Engineer John Hoyt and O. W. Hartwell, a district engineer based in Trenton, New Jersey.

F. C. Crass from the USGS provides the Morristown crew with stacks of reference photographs of the Roswell Artesian Basin. This one almost certainly influences . . .

. . . how artist Albert McClure (1903-1986) models the irrigation canal for the completed diorama.

The Roswell Chamber of Commerce also sends photographs, including this one of a Roswell farm house, circa 1935. The farm depicted in the resulting diorama seems to be a compilation of several different locales.

Considerable research and critical review goes into ensuring the historical integrity of the dioramas. For example, a memo regarding the design of Irrigation of a Cotton Field includes the following direction:

"As cotton is a very characteristic crop of the Roswell area and is grown on about 50 percent of the area that is under cultivation, it would seem to be an especially appropriate crop to be shown in the foreground. Furthermore it is understood that it can be reproduced rather realistically, showing the cotton in the boll stage. However, as cotton in the boll stage is not generally irrigated, it will be necessary to direct the flow from the well—probably to the rear of the diorama—and show the water being run on an alfalfa field as this crop is irrigated until early fall. Another crop that might be considered in this connection is that of corn, as this crop can likewise be reproduced in miniature to good advantage."

All three crops—cotton, alfalfa and corn—are evident in the finished diorama.

At the time of this diorama’s construction in 1935-1936, the USGS is supervising “efficient oil and gas production from leased public lands,” and Kettleman is one of the largest and most productive oil fields in the country.

The field would yield more than a half billion barrels of oil and 2.5 trillion cubic feet of gas in the ensuing decades. Today, less than half of one percent of the original oil remains at Kettleman.

Preparators like Rudolf Bauss utilize many primary sources to aid their work on the dioramas.

W. P. Woodring, a USGS geologist well-versed with the Kettleman region, supplies the Morristown designers with relevant geological and topographical maps, as well as photographs, postcards, panoramic views, and technical books on petroleum production engineering.

Here, an artist believed to be Lee Roland Warthen (1893–1949), incorporates some of that visual material into the painted backdrop for Kettleman Hills North Dome.

This photograph imparts just how involved the dioramas are. Donald M. Johnson (left) and Albert McClure (right) lend a sense of scale to Kettleman Hills North Dome. While visitors will view this completed scene through a relatively small, framed glass front, the infrastructure needs to be much larger to accommodate the lighting effects and curved backdrop that create the proper perspective. Overall, the outer shell of this diorama measures more than two feet deep and six feet square!

To assist the diorama designers, the Bureau of Reclamation sends engineering drawings, maps, sketches and more than 50 photographic prints of the dam, permanent cableway, control house, anchorage, spillway, parking area, and the power house and intake towers on the Arizona side.

Lynn A. Royal uses them to meticulously craft the structural elements. The power transmission lines he is working on in this photograph appear on the ridgeline in the finished Boulder Dam (Hoover Dam) diorama.

Meanwhile, Donald M. Johnson sculpts the groundwork and is shown . . .

. . . here conversing with Ned Burns (left) about the diorama. Burns is a stickler for details, and even though Reclamation officials provided information early on about the color and composition of the canyon walls at the dam site, Burns requests a second opinion. On November 23, 1935, Burns write to his superior, Dr. Carl P. Russell:

“Some questions have arisen regarding the rock color of Bowlder [sic] Dam. Information to date has been that the rocks are black. It has occurred to me that all this was gained from engineers and other observers who are not artists. After the rock [in the diorama] is once colored it will be difficult to change it, and if possible, we should be sure before coloring it. . . . Perhaps you may think me rather fussy on this point, but past experience in making museum exhibits has taught me to be very careful with such details. The public loves to criticize, so if you get the opinion of an artist, it would be safer.”

A progress report issued in March 1936 about the Interior Museum states that the Boulder Dam (Hoover Dam) diorama is nearly done. Its dimensions are 7’ 6” x 4’, with the viewing opening 5’ wide by 3’ high.

Sculptor Rosario Russell Fiore views the completed Boulder Dam (Hoover Dam) diorama. With slight variations, this diorama is replicated for the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition in Dallas and the 1937 Paris International Exposition.

Research ensues.

The U.S. Indian Service provides this image to the designers. It shows one of the Navajo Central Agency administrative buildings newly constructed in 1936 from locally-quarried sandstone. This photo clearly impacts the perspective and orientation of the completed diorama . . .

The deterioration of rangelands had become a serious issue by the 1930s. As the country expanded westward, the number of sheep had already quadrupled, and the number of beef cattle had tripled in the period from 1870 to 1900.

Sponsored by U.S. Representative Edward T. Taylor (D-Colorado), the Taylor Grazing Act set aside approximately 80 million acres of land for “grazing districts,” valuable for forage crops.

To administer these grazing districts, Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes created a Division of Grazing and called upon ranchers, state officials and Department of the Interior employees to determine grazing district boundaries. The first grazing district was established in Wyoming on March 20, 1935. By June of that year, more than 65 million acres had been placed into grazing districts which are still in effect today.

The Division of Grazing was renamed the U.S. Grazing Service in 1939, and in 1946, it merged with the Department of the Interior’s General Land Office to form the current-day Bureau of Land Management.

. . . the Fort Hunt Model Lab. Located along the George Washington Parkway in Virginia, near Mount Vernon, the Fort is decommissioned by the Secretary of War in 1933 and repurposed as a camp for the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The camp employs hundreds building trails and clearing timber, and for a short time—between 1933 and 1938—approximately 20 enrollees work under the supervision of National Park Service (NPS) personnel on components of various NPS museum projects in eastern states.

Invitations are sent to internal stakeholders and also to senators, congressmen, the director of the American Association of Museums, the Secretary of the Smithsonian, the president of the National Geographic Society, the head of the Forest Service, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Agriculture, the director of the National Zoo, the directors of the National Gallery of Art and the Corcoran, and the curators at the Army Medical Museum and the American Red Cross Museum.

Several photographs like this one are also released to the press in advance of the opening. The dioramas feature prominently.

The Museum's soft opening occurs on Tuesday, March 8, 1938, at 8:00 p.m., with the public grand opening held the next morning.

On the opening weekend (March 12 and 13, 1938) there are special hours from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Highlighted in all the invitations and press materials are the “striking exhibits” showing the “manifold activities” of the Department's bureaus and offices. The publicity touts nearly 8,000 square feet showcasing 95 exhibit units, 1,000 objects, nearly 500 photographs, 250 maps and charts, 100 models, 12 large wall maps and countless text panels.

Response to the museum is overwhelmingly positive. Attendance routinely tops 10,000 a month with people coming from every state in the nation and from many foreign countries. Admission is free, and the museum remains open on Saturdays. Visitors are particularly enthralled by the dioramas, which are frequently mentioned in visitor comments.

On April 1, 1939—just over a year into the Interior Museum’s existence—oversight is transferred from the National Park Service's Museum Division to the Office of the Secretary of the Interior. Harry Raul comes on as the curator and museum administrator. In his June 30, 1939, fiscal year report he writes, “The museum is growing in influence, in its services, and also its needs. Natural changes and improvements continually should be expected. No museum should be allowed to become stagnant.”

To this end, Raul concentrates on keeping the displays fresh and up to date. In the coming years, more dioramas are added . . . .

It is believed that more than one copy of this diorama was made, with the initial one being completed in 1938 at a cost of $3,500.

In 1941, Ned Burns publishes his seminal National Park Service Field Manual for Museums. In codifying exhibition principles, techniques and museum best practices, Burns includes several drawn directly from his tenure with the Interior Museum.

Today, however, fewer and fewer examples remain from the 1920s–1950s heyday of dioramas in American museums. Dioramas have not always endured the test of time—materially or philosophically—and museums nationwide have often discarded their dioramas or otherwise replaced them with newer forms of display.

The Interior Museum itself underwent extensive renovations beginning in 2009 as part of building-wide structural and mechanical modernization efforts. At that time the dioramas were deinstalled to protect and preserve them. These “stories in miniatures” are still part of the museum’s collection and are powerful reminders of the themes valued by the Department of the Interior in the 1930s.


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