The Main Interior Building, officially known as the Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior Building, located in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, is the

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

of the

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation ...

. Located in the

Foggy Bottom Foggy Bottom is a neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States, located in the city's northwest quadrant. It stretches west of the White House towards the Potomac River, north of the National Mall, east of Georgetown, south of the West ...

neighborhood, it is bounded by 19th Street NW on the west, 18th Street NW on the east, E Street NW on the north, C Street NW on the south, and Virginia Avenue on the southwest. Although the building takes up the entire block, the address is "1849 C Street, NW" to commemorate the founding of the Department of Interior in 1849. To the east is

DAR Constitution Hall DAR Constitution Hall is a List of concert halls, concert hall located at 1776 D Street NW, near the White House in Washington, D.C. It was built in 1929 by the Daughters of the American Revolution to house its annual convention when membership ...

, the headquarters of the

Daughters of the American Revolution The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (often abbreviated as DAR or NSDAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War. A non-p ...

, as well as the

World Resources Institute The World Resources Institute (WRI) is a global research non-profit organization established in 1982 with funding from the MacArthur Foundation under the leadership of James Gustave Speth. Subsequent presidents include Jonathan Lash (1993– ...

and the

American Red Cross National Headquarters The American Red Cross National Headquarters is located at 430 17th Street (Washington, D.C.), 17th Street NW in Washington, D.C. Built between 1915 and 1917, it serves both as a memorial to women who served in the American Civil War and as the he ...

. To the west is the

Office of Personnel Management The United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is an independent agency of the United States government that manages the United States federal civil service. The agency provides federal human resources policy, oversight, and support, a ...

headquarters. To the north is Rawlins Park, which includes at its eastern end a

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or Casting (metalworking), cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to ...

of Major General John A. Rawlins, and Triangle Park is to the south. The building includes offices of the secretary of the interior and major bureaus with their employees. It includes the Interior Museum and Interior Library.

History

From 1852 to 1917, the Interior Department was headquartered in the

Patent Office A patent office is a governmental or intergovernmental organization which controls the issue of patents. In other words, "patent offices are government bodies that may grant a patent or reject the patent application based on whether the applicati ...

building, which today houses the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

and the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's lar ...

of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

. From 1917 until the completion of the Main Interior Building, the Interior Department was housed in what is now the U.S. General Services Administration Building, between E and F Streets and 18th and 19th Streets NW.Main Interior Building Modernization Project
."

. By the time

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

took office, the Department of the Interior had outgrown its headquarters, and satellite offices in 15 additional rented offices in Washington left employees scattered across the city and overcrowded. Plans for a new headquarters were undertaken by Roosevelt's Secretary of the Interior,

Harold L. Ickes Harold LeClair Ickes ( ; March 15, 1874 – February 3, 1952) was an American administrator, politician and lawyer. He served as United States Secretary of the Interior for nearly 13 years from 1933 to 1946, the longest tenure of anyone to hold th ...

. Sworn in on March 4, 1933, immediately after the Roosevelt administration took office, Ickes received permission from President Roosevelt to take over the soon-to-be finished

Interstate Commerce The Commerce Clause describes an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution ( Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and amon ...

Building in the

Federal Triangle Federal Triangle is a Triangle, triangular area in Washington, D.C., formed by 15th Street NW, Constitution Avenue, Constitution Avenue NW, Pennsylvania Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue NW, and E Street NW. Federal Triangle is occupied by 10 large c ...

area, but this plan was difficult because it required an

act of Congress An act of Congress is a statute enacted by the United States Congress. Acts may apply only to individual entities (called Public and private bills, private laws), or to the general public (Public and private bills, public laws). For a Bill (law) ...

. As an alternative, Roosevelt recommended that funds be appropriated for a new building specifically for the Department. In 1934 Ickes - who as Administrator of Public Works led the

Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by United States Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was ...

in addition to his position of Secretary - allotted $12.74 million, with the approval of the President, for a new Interior building. Three sites were considered for the Interior Building: One on the

National Mall The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institu ...

facing

Constitution Avenue Constitution Avenue is a major east–west street in the Northwest, Washington, D.C., northwest and Northeast, Washington, D.C., northeast quadrants of the city of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was originally known as B Street, and ...

between 12th and 14th Streets NW, the current site of the

National Museum of American History The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center is a historical museum in Washington, D.C. It collects, preserves, and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific, and m ...

; another on a cluster of small lots on the east, west, and north sides of the old Interior Building; and a third just south of the old Interior building and Rawlins Park in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood. On March 21, 1934, the third proposed site was selected. The plot including the area between 18th and 19th Streets and C and E Streets NW and was one of the few double-block sites in the city where an intervening street (D Street) could be eliminated for development. Waddy Butler Wood was selected as the architect to design the new Interior Building. Secretary Ickes was deeply involved in the design of the new building, and the January 9, 1937 edition of the '' Washington Daily News'' stated that "Secretary Ickes has a paternal concern for the new Interior Building. He designed most of it himself, and financed it through PWA." Ickes did not design the building, but many of its features were a result of his influence in the planning, design, and construction stages. The building design was directed as utility and economy. Significant aspects include wide central corridors, open

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary a ...

s, movable

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

office partitions, acoustically treated

ceiling A ceiling is an overhead interior roof that covers the upper limits of a room. It is not generally considered a structural element, but a finished surface concealing the underside of the roof structure or the floor of a story above. Ceilings can ...

s, a floor reserved for mechanical equipment, and

fireproofing Fireproofing is rendering something (Building, structures, materials, etc.) resistant to fire, or incombustible; or material for use in making anything fire-proof. It is a passive fire protection measure. "Fireproof" or "fireproofing" can be u ...

. Ickes had

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...

installed in his office in the Old Interior Building and insisted that central air condition be included throughout the new building so that all employees could enjoy it, the first such system in a large government building. Melding aspects of practicality and aesthetics, the Main Interior Building became "one of the most functional and innovative government office structures in Washington" in the 1930s. Ickes reported in a Cabinet meeting that the Interior Building cost 10 to 15 percent less to operate than the buildings in the Federal Triangle even with air conditioning, and cost less per square foot. Ickes also ensured that group assembly space and employee amenities were added to the building, including the Conference Hall (Auditorium), the Activity Space (Gymnasium), the Cafeteria with courtyard, the Employees Lounge (South Penthouse, now offices) with

soda fountain A soda fountain is a device that dispenses carbonated soft drinks, called fountain drinks. They can be found in restaurants, concession stands and other locations such as convenience stores. The machine combines flavored syrup or syrup concentrat ...

, the Interior Museum, the Art Gallery (currently used for offices), the Indian Arts and Crafts Shop, the Broadcasting Studio (North Penthouse), and the parking garage. Systems for maintainable, efficiency, and fire protection were also included in the design. These included a central vacuum system, a floor between the fifth and sixth floors for mechanical equipment (including

plumbing Plumbing is any system that conveys fluids for a wide range of applications. Plumbing uses piping, pipes, valves, piping and plumbing fitting, plumbing fixtures, Storage tank, tanks, and other apparatuses to convey fluids. HVAC, Heating and co ...

, electrical panels,

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

equipment, and air conditioning) and fire and security systems ( automatic sprinklers in the parking garage and storage areas, a fire detection system on the

mechanical floor A mechanical floor, mechanical penthouse, mechanical layer or mechanical level is a story of a high-rise building that is dedicated to mechanical and electronics equipment. "Mechanical" is the most commonly used term, but words such as ''utilit ...

, and 11 stairways for rapid evacuation). Despite the emphasis on functionalism of the building,

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

and

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

are also featured. Decorative detailing such as

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

grilles and hardware, the

light fixture A light fixture (US English), light fitting (UK English), or luminaire is an electrical lighting device containing one or more light sources, such as lamps, and all the accessory components required for its operation to provide illumination to ...

s, and plaster moldings, "reflecting the architect's and his client's concern for design materials and craftsmanship." Some architectural details feature Interior Department symbols, including a buffalo motif on

door A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide securit ...

s. The building contains more Public Work Administration artwork than any other government building and includes the work of the second-highest number of PWA artists, more than any except the Franklin Street Post Office Station in Washington. As in other aspects of the building design, Ickes was involved in every step of the artwork: In Ickes' official portrait, the plans for the Main Interior Building are shown lying on the table in front of him. Construction of Main Interior began in April 1935 and was completed in December 1936. The building was the first

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

building in the capital- authorized, designed, and built by the Roosevelt administration. It was notable for the speed of the project, with construction completed in 18 months. The Interior Museum described the double city-block building as "monumental...Its colossal

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s and

pillar A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

s emphasize monumental scale rather than relate the size of the building to the individual. It was meant to emphasize a new "heroic age of government," and "every aspect of the building tells this story."Self-Guided Tour of Public Areas of Main Interior Building
."

. At the dedication ceremony held on April 16, 1936, President Roosevelt referred to the building as "symbolical of the Nation's vast resources" and the "cornerstone of a conservation policy that will guarantee the richness of their heritage", while Ickes saw it as a "symbol of a new day."

Renaming of Main Interior Building

In 2010, the United States Congress passed legislation designating the Main Interior Building in Washington as the "Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior Building.", in honor of his contributions. The bill was signed into law on 8 June 2010. Stewart Lee Udall served as Secretary of the Interior for eight years (1961–1969). Stewart Udall died in March, 2010 at the age of 90.

Tenants

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...

(BIA) *

Bureau of Indian Education The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) is a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior under the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs that directs and manages education functions. Formerly known as the Office of Indian Education Programs ...

(BIE)
Identified as the Main Interior Building here
"The meeting will be held at 1849 C Street, NW, Main Interior Building, ..

Indigenous Peoples Arts and Crafts Shop

Ickes wanted to promote

Native American art The visual arts of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas encompasses the visual artistic practices of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas from ancient times to the present. These include works from South America and North America, which in ...

, as the

was included in the cabinet department. The building was designed to include a shop in which arts and crafts by living Native American artists would be sold. Today, the Indigenous Peoples Craft Shop on the first floor continues to include work by Native American artists. Three murals in the shop were completed by PWA artists. ''Breaking Camp at Wartime'' and ''Buffalo Hunt'' by Allan Houser depict the

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

. ''Deer Stalking'' by Gerald Nailor depicts

Navajo The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...

hunters creating

sandpainting Sandpainting is the art of pouring coloured sands, and powdered pigments from minerals or crystals, or pigments from other natural or synthetic sources onto a surface to make a fixed or unfixed sand painting. Unfixed sand paintings have a long es ...

Murals

Other murals in the building are by

Maynard Dixon Maynard Dixon (January 24, 1875 – November 11, 1946) was an American artist. He was known for his paintings, and his body of work focused on the American West. Dixon is considered one of the finest artists having dedicated most of their art to ...

, Gifford Beal, and William Gropper. Among them: *''An Incident in Contemporary American Life'', Mitchell Jamieson,

tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. ''Tempera'' also refers to the paintings done in ...

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable Plain weave, plain-woven Cloth, fabric used for making sails, tents, Tent#Marquees and larger tents, marquees, backpacks, Shelter (building), shelters, as a Support (art), support for oil painting and for other ite ...

, commissioned 1940, installed 1942. This depicts Marian Anderson's 1939 concert at the

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a List of national memorials of the United States, U.S. national memorial honoring Abraham Lincoln, the List of presidents of the United States, 16th president of the United States, located on the western end of the Nati ...

after the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to allow an integrated concert to be held at Constitution Hall. Secretary Ickes offered the use of the Lincoln Memorial for her concert. *''The Negro's Contribution in the Social and Cultural Development of America'',

Millard Sheets Millard Owen Sheets (June 24, 1907 – March 31, 1989) was an American artist, teacher, and architectural designer. He was one of the earliest of the California Scene Painting artists and helped define the art movement. Many of his large-scale b ...

oil on canvas Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or copper for several centuries. ...

, commissioned 1939, installed 1948. This series of four murals depicts African-American influence on America in the areas of Education, the Arts, Religion, and Science. *''Indian and Soldier'',

, oil on canvas, commissioned 1937, installed 1939. This represents the

and "symbolizes the transition of the Indian from warrior to farmer and the immense loss of Indian culture involved." The thickening clouds and disappearing buffalo signify the end of traditional life. The empty space evokes the vastness of the

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

. *'' Rush for the Oklahoma Land of 1894'',

John Steuart Curry John Steuart Curry (November 14, 1897 – August 29, 1946) was an American painter whose career spanned the years from 1924 until his death. He was noted for his paintings depicting rural life in his home state, Kansas. Along with Thomas Hart B ...

, oil on canvas, commissioned 1937, installed 1939. This mural depicts an

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

land run A land run or land rush was an event in which previously restricted land of the United States was opened to homestead on a first-arrival basis. Lands were opened and sold first-come or by bid, or won by lottery, or by means other than a run. The ...

. It "captures the seconds after the great gunshot that launched the Oklahoma land rush. It is pure emotion in motion." *''Construction of a Dam'', William Gropper, oil on canvas, commissioned 1937, installed 1939. This mural, which the Interior Museum states is the building's most reproduced, "glorifies not just

public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and procured by a government body for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, ...

projects, but work itself," showing the "drama, dignity, and strength of labor.

* ''

Ansel Adams Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his Monochrome photography, black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association ...

: Mural Project 1941–1942'' was installed in March 2010 after lying dormant for almost 70 years. Then-Secretary Ickes commissioned Adams to produce large-format photographs to convey not only the beauty and grandeur of the natural scene, but to show Interior managed resources, conservation, sound direction and stewardship of those resources. The project was halted in 1942 due to the US entrance into World War II. At that time, Adams had made more than 200 images during a trek that began in Yosemite National Park. He photographed more than just nature, portraying Boulder Dam, at the time the world's largest. A special part of Adams’ assignment was to show Natives American life and culture. Ansel Adams: The Mural Project 1941–1942 features 26 giclee canvas murals of some of the most iconic sites of the American West, including Grand Teton, Grand Canyon and Glacier National Parks.

Gallery

Image:Michelle Obama at Dept. of the Interior 2-9-09 3.jpg, First Lady

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...

and Secretary of the Interior

Ken Salazar Kenneth Lee Salazar (born March 2, 1955) is an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as United States ambassador to Mexico from 2021 to 2025. He previously served as the 50th United States Secretary of the Interior in the administ ...

, joined by some of the department's longest-serving employees on stage, thanked all employees for their service at a ceremony at Sidney R. Yates Auditorium at Main Interior.

References

External links

Interior MuseumInterior LibraryNative American murals in South Penthouse
of the Main Interior Building
Revisiting the Department of the Interior
by

DCist American news websites Mass media in Washington, D.C. DCist began as a volunteer-run blog focused on Washington, D.C., in the same family of "-ist" websites as Gothamist, LAist, and Chicagoist. A professional editor began steering the publi ...

Ansel Adams Murals
{{Authority control Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C. Office buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C. Government buildings completed in 1936 United States Department of the Interior Buildings of the United States government in Washington, D.C. Headquarters in the United States Beaux-Arts architecture in Washington, D.C. Neoclassical architecture in Washington, D.C.