Building the Bird House: The National Zoological Park Takes Flight

VIRGINIA B. PRICE ARRIS 28 § VoLUME 22 · 2011 BuiLDING THE BIRD HousE: THE NATIONAL ZooLOGICAL PARK TAKES FLIGHT VIRGINIA B. PRICE In the 1890s as the National Zoological Park began to take shape along Rock Creek in Washington, DC, an exhibit of aquatic birds emerged as one of the zoo's early attractions. The swans and pelicans swam in pools or ponds, their habitats melding with the picturesque setting envisioned for the zoo by the renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and the secretary of the Smithsonian Samuel P. Langley. The waterfowl proved popular. Photographer Frances Benjamin Johnston immortalized the enthusiasm of visiting school children for the birds in her c. 1899 photographs of the grounds (Figure 1). Johnston's pictures illustrate the built environment of the zoo's first decade, with predominantly outdoor exhibits consisting of paddocks, pools, and cages as well as some fencing to keep the animals in their habitats and the humans on a designated pathway . Through consideration of the zoo's collection of birds-how to display flight for example-a picture of the zoo itselfcomes into focus. During the zoo's first decades, exhibits like the popular waterfowl ponds were scattered throughout the park. The eagle cage and a temporary bird house, for example, stood amongst the other animal houses at the center of the grounds. Officials then installed other flight cages at the northwestern end of the zoo's land (Figure 2). As a result, architectural incoherence characterized the exhibits and their placement on the landscape. This was particularly true of the bird exhibits. The seemingly random siting of the aviary displays occurred despite instruction from secretary Langley who wanted to gather the birds into one location .1 Regardless of his wishes, it was well into the 1920s before the National Zoo got its purpose-built aviary. Secretary Langley, together with zoo superintendent Frank Baker, nurtured the fledgling park throughout the 1890s and into the twentieth century . They made the monies appropriated suffice and promoted the zoo's benefit to the public. From VoLUME 22 § 2011 ARRIS 29 FIGURE 1 The photograph of school-age children looking at the Zoo's aquatic birds was taken by Frances Benjamin Johnston around the turn of the century. (Courresy of rhe Frdnces Benjamin Johnsron Collection. Prinrs and Photographs Division, Libr,Jry of Congress (Lor 2749. no. 330. b/w film copy negarive LC-USZG-1672)) FIGURE 2 "A Class at the Zoo-The Bird Cage" was taken by Frances Benjamin Johnston around the turn of the century. (Courresy of rhe Frances Benjamin Johnston Collecrion. Prims and Photographs Division, Libr;1ry of Congress (Lor 2749, no. 275. b/w film copy neg