Women in World War I -- Resources at Smithsonian Institution Archives
Resources at Smithsonian Institution Archives
The objects highlighted below are held by the Smithsonian Institution Archives (SIA) and represent only a preliminary survey of the museum’s holdings that are related to women in World War I. Please also keep in mind that we have a very broad definition of what constitutes women's involvement in the war.
These objects relate to the closure of the Natural History Building of the U.S. National Museum at the Smithsonian. The Natural History Building, now the National Museum of Natural History, closed to the public on July 16, 1918, in order to accommodate the Bureau of War Risk Insurance. Many of the Bureau's clerks who worked in the museum were women. The building reopened to the public in April 1919.
Also, check out SIA's blog post about Smithsonian employees' contributions to the war effort during World War I—including the charwomen of the Natural History Building!
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Letter from William deC. Ravenel to President Woodrow Wilson
- Category
- Historic Images of the Smithsonian
- Notes
- The Bureau of War Risk Insurance was founded in 1914 by the United States Congress to ensure the availability of marine insurance during World War I. The Bureau of War Risk Insurance was established within the Treasury Department to provide insurance policies and pay claims to sailors during World War I.
- Summary
- Letter from William deC. Ravenel, Administrative Assistant to Secretary Walcott, to President Woodrow Wilson informing him of the approval by the Committee of the Board of Regents for the Natural History Building closure and ithe use of space in the exhibition halls by the Bureau of War Risk Insurance.
- Contained within
- Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 192, Box 194, Folder: 1
- Contact information
- Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
- Date
- July 15, 1918
- 20th century
- Author
- Ravenel, William deC
- Subject
- Wilson, Woodrow 1856-1924
- United States National Museum
- United States Bureau of War Risk Insurance
- Natural History Building
- Administrative Assistant in charge of the United States National Museum
- Standard number
- SIA2014-06992
- Data Source
- Smithsonian Archives - History Div
-
Letter from William deC. Ravenel to Mr. Henderson, Oct. 19 1918
- Category
- Historic Images of the Smithsonian
- Notes
- The Bureau of War Risk Insurance was founded in 1914 by the United States Congress to ensure the availability of marine insurance during World War I. The Bureau was established within the Treasury Department to provide insurance policies and pay claims to sailors during World War I.
- Summary
- Letter from William deC. Ravenel, Administrative Assistant to Secretary Walcott, notifying Mr. Henderson that the space in the Natural History Building previously occupied by the Bureau of War Risk Insurance will be filled with the new war collection materials, e.g. the Natural History Building rotunda, foyer, etc. He stated that the United States War Department and Navy Department were fully cooperating with the Smithsonian's collecting efforts, and also, General John J. Pershing expressed his willingness to make collections from our allies and enemies in Europe.
- Contained within
- Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 192, Box 194, Folder: 2
- Contact information
- Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
- Date
- October 19, 1918
- 20th century
- Author
- Ravenel, William deC
- Subject
- Pershing, John J (John Joseph) 1860-1948
- United States National Museum
- United States Bureau of War Risk Insurance
- Natural History Building
- Standard number
- SIA2014-06995
- Data Source
- Smithsonian Archives - History Div
-
Letter from Henry White to Richard Rathbun
- Category
- Historic Images of the Smithsonian
- Notes
- The Bureau of War Risk Insurance was founded in 1914 by the United States Congress to ensure the availability of marine insurance during World War I. The Bureau of War Risk Insurance was established within the Treasury Department to provide insurance policies and pay claims to sailors during World War I.
- Summary
- Letter from Henry White, Smithsonian Regent and Chairman of the Committee on the Use of the National Museum Buildings, informing Richard Rathbun, Assistant Secretary and Director of the United States National Museum, that the Board of Regents has adopted a resolution to close the Natural History Building for use by the Bureau of War Risk Insurance during World War I.
- Contained within
- Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 192, Box 194, Folder: 1
- Contact information
- Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
- Date
- July 15, 1918
- 20th century
- Author
- White, Henry 1850-1927
- Subject
- Rathbun, Richard 1852-1918
- United States National Museum
- United States Bureau of War Risk Insurance
- Natural History Building
- Regents Smithsonian Institution
- Assistant Secretary in charge of the United States National Museum
- Standard number
- SIA2014-06993
- Data Source
- Smithsonian Archives - History Div
-
Letter from Charles D. Walcott to President Woodrow Wilson, November 26, 1917
- Category
- Historic Images of the Smithsonian
- Notes
- The Bureau of War Risk Insurance was founded in 1914 by the US Congress to ensure the availability of marine insurance during WWI. The bureau was located within the US Department of the Treasury and provided insurance policies and paid claims to sailors during WWI.
- Summary
- Letter from fourth Smithsonian Secretary Charles D. Walcott in response to President Woodrow Wilson's request to use all of the Smithsonian's Natural History Building for the Bureau of War Risk Insurance. Secretary Walcott enumerates all of the delays and difficulties in making space available and offers other suggestions, such as building temporary quarters on Smithsonian grounds.
- Contained within
- Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 192, Box 194, Folder: 1
- Contact information
- Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
- Date
- November 26, 1917
- 20th century
- Author
- Walcott, Charles D (Charles Doolittle) 1850-1927
- Subject
- Wilson, Woodrow 1856-1924
- United States National Museum
- United States Bureau of War Risk Insurance
- Natural History Building
- Standard number
- SIA2014-06990 and SIA2014-6991
- Data Source
- Smithsonian Archives - History Div
-
Natural History Building Reopens to Public
- Category
- Chronology of Smithsonian History
- Notes
- Annual Report of the United States National Museum of the Smithsonian Institution for the year 1919, p. 14.
- Yochelson, Ellis L. The National Museum of Natural History: 75 Years in the Natural History Building. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1985., p. 9
- Summary
- The United States National Museum, not the National Museum of Natural History reopens to the public after giving the Bureau of War Risk Insurance the use of three floors of its building for office space in October 1917. The Museum reopens to the public when the Bureau vacates to their new building. The first floor is opened on April 11 and the second floor on April 22.
- Contact information
- Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
- Date
- April, 1919
- Subject
- United States Bureau of War Risk Insurance
- National Museum of Natural History (U.S.)
- Natural History Building
- United States National Museum
- Data Source
- Smithsonian Archives - History Div
-
National Museum Closes for WWI Work
- Category
- Historic Images of the Smithsonian
- Notes
- Yochelson: 66-67. AR 1918: 14-15.
- Summary
- Clerks of the Bureau of War Risk Insurance work at makeshift desks packed into areas not meant for offices, such as one of the display spaces of the United States National Museum, now the National Museum of Natural History Building. The Bureau first moved into the building in October 1917. At the request of President Wilson, the Board of Regents closed the museum to the public on July 16, 1918, and made available to the government the ground and two exhibition floors (138,600 sq. ft.) for the duration of the war for wartime activities. The museum reopened to the public in April 1919.
- Contained within
- Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 95, Box 33, Folder: 26
- Contact information
- Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
- Date
- 1918
- Author
- Unknown
- Subject
- National Museum of Natural History (U.S.)
- United States Bureau of War Risk Insurance
- United States National Museum
- Natural History Building
- Standard number
- 23905 or MAH-23905
- Data Source
- Smithsonian Archives - History Div
-
Certificate of Insurance for one case of scientific specimen from S. Dillon Ripley
- Category
- Historic Images of the Smithsonian
- Notes
- Future Secretary S. Dillon Ripley, formerly assistant curator in the Division of Birds, U.S. National Museum, volunteered for service during World War II with the Office of Strategic Services, predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency. Stationed in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, he continued his ornithological passion with bird field studies in his free time. Having traveled widely in the South Pacific before the war, he knew the geography, natural history and languages of the region.
- See Neg. SIA2010-0598 for page 2.
- Summary
- Page 1 of the Certificate of Insurance under War Risk policy for one case of scientific specimen from S. Dillon Ripley going to U.S. Dispatch Agent, New York, U.S.A..
- Contained within
- Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 305, Box 866, Folder: 164398
- Contact information
- Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
- Date
- August 23, 1944
- Author
- Thomas Cook (Firm)
- Subject
- Ripley, Sidney Dillon 1913-2001
- United Dispatch, Inc
- United States National Museum
- United States National Museum Dept. of Biology Division of Birds 1897-1947
- Standard number
- SIA2010-0597
- Data Source
- Smithsonian Archives - History Div
-
Bureau of War Risk Insurance in NHB
- Category
- Historic Images of the Smithsonian
- Notes
- Yochelson: 66-67. AR USNM 1918: 14-15. AR 1918 26-27.
- Summary
- Clerks of the Bureau of War Risk Insurance occupying the Natural History Building, now the National Museum of Natural History. On the request of President Wilson, the Board of Regents closed the museum to the public on July 16, 1918, making available to the government the ground and two exhibition floors (138,600 sq. ft.). The museum reopens to the public in April 1919.
- Contained within
- Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 95, Box 33, Folder: 26
- Contact information
- Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
- Date
- 1918
- Author
- Unknown
- Subject
- United States National Museum
- National Museum of Natural History (U.S.)
- Natural History Building
- United States Bureau of War Risk Insurance
- Standard number
- 23904 or MAH-23904
- Data Source
- Smithsonian Archives - History Div
-
Letter from Woodrow Wilson to Charles D. Walcott, October 13, 1917
- Category
- Historic Images of the Smithsonian
- Notes
- The Bureau of War Risk Insurance was founded in 1914 by the US Congress to ensure the availability of marine insurance during WWI. The bureau was located within the US Department of the Treasury and provided insurance policies and paid claims to sailors during WWI.
- Summary
- Letter from President Woodrow Wilson to fourth Smithsonian Secretary Charles D. Walcott requesting to use space in the US National Museum, now the National Museum of Natural History, for the Bureau of War Risk Insurance during WWI. After negotiations, the Bureau of War Risk Insurance was given space in the Natural History Building.
- Contained within
- Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 192, Box 194, Folder: 1
- Contact information
- Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
- Date
- October 13,1917
- 20th century
- Author
- Wilson, Woodrow 1856-1924
- Subject
- Walcott, Charles D (Charles Doolittle) 1850-1927
- United States National Museum
- United States Bureau of War Risk Insurance
- Natural History Building
- Standard number
- SIA2014-06989
- Data Source
- Smithsonian Archives - History Div
-
Press release on closing the Natural History Building for the Bureau of War Risk Insurance
- Category
- Historic Images of the Smithsonian
- Notes
- The Bureau of War Risk Insurance was founded in 1914 by the US Congress to ensure the availability of marine insurance during WWI. The Bureau of War Risk Insurance was established within the Treasury Department to provide insurance policies and pay claims to sailors during World War I.
- Summary
- Press notice issued by the Smithsonian Institution on closing the Natural History Building for the Bureau of War Risk Insurance and sent to local newspapers (Washington Post, Star, Times, and Herald).
- Contained within
- Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 192, Box 194, Folder: 1
- Contact information
- Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
- Date
- July 15, 1918
- Author
- Smithsonian Institution
- Subject
- United States National Museum
- United States Bureau of War Risk Insurance
- Natural History Building
- Standard number
- SIA2014-06994
- Data Source
- Smithsonian Archives - History Div
-
National Museum Bldg. Closed Due to War
- Category
- Chronology of Smithsonian History
- Notes
- Yochelson, Ellis L. The National Museum of Natural History: 75 Years in the Natural History Building. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1985., p. 9
- Summary
- The United States National Museum Building, now the National Museum of Natural History, is closed for use by the Bureau of War Risk Insurance which had moved into a portion of the building the previous October.
- Contact information
- Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
- Date
- July 16, 1918
- Subject
- United States Bureau of War Risk Insurance
- National Museum of Natural History (U.S.)
- Natural History Building
- United States National Museum
- Data Source
- Smithsonian Archives - History Div
-
Certificate of Insurance for one case of scientific specimen from S. Dillon Ripley
- Category
- Historic Images of the Smithsonian
- Notes
- Future Secretary S. Dillon Ripley, formerly assistant curator in the Division of Birds, U.S. National Museum, volunteered for service during World War II with the Office of Strategic Services, predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency. Stationed in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, he continued his ornithological passion with bird field studies in his free time. Having traveled widely in the South Pacific before the war, he knew the geography, natural history and languages of the region.
- See Neg. SIA2010-0597 for page 1.
- Summary
- Page 2 of the Certificate of Insurance under War Risk policy for one case of scientific specimen from S. Dillon Ripley in Ceylon going to the U.S. Dispatch Agent, New York, U.S.A.
- Contained within
- Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 305, Box 866, Folder: 164398
- Contact information
- Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
- Date
- August 23, 1944
- Author
- Thomas Cook (Firm)
- Subject
- Ripley, Sidney Dillon 1913-2001
- Office of Strategic Services
- United Dispatch, Inc
- United States National Museum
- United States National Museum Dept. of Biology Division of Birds 1897-1947
- Standard number
- SIA2010-0598
- Data Source
- Smithsonian Archives - History Div
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