The National Museum of the American Indian is part
of the Smithsonian Institution and is committed to advancing knowledge
and understanding of the Native cultures of the Western Hemisphere—past,
present, and future—through partnership with Native people and others.
Alexander Hamilton U.S. Customs House
One Bowling Green
New York, NY 10004
Open daily 10 AM–5 PM Thursdays to 8 PM
Admission is free.
The lamps impressed me a lot and the grandeur of the building.
“Indians migrate to New York, now as in the past, for the same reason others do: to seek their fortunes. But beyond that, New York, an ancient place of exchange among Indians, has become a center of new thinking about Native cultures. The Hopi of Arizona have a prophecy of a time when they would travel to the east to meet with the nations of the world in a ‘house of mica.’ Through the exhibitions and programs of the National Museum of the American Indian's Heye Center, the custom house, too, is becoming a place for the exchange of ideas among peoples.”
—W. Richard West (Southern Cheyenne and member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma), Founding Director, National Museum of the American Indian
Before the imposition of the income tax in 1916, customs duties were the greatest single source of revenue for the U.S. government, and the Port of New York was the country's most prosperous trade center. In 1899, the government invited twenty architects to submit designs for a new custom house. The design chosen was by Cass Gilbert (1859–1934), a well-known young architect from St. Paul, Minnesota. Gilbert, who had once worked in the offices of McKim, Mead & White, felt that a public building should reveal the "imponderable elements of life and character."
In 1937, celebrated New York painter Reginald Marsh (1898–1954) accepted a low-paying position with the Treasury Department to produce murals for the rotunda dome. Working with astonishing speed, Marsh and eight young assistants depicted early explorers of the Americas in one series of paintings and traced the course of a ship entering New York's harbor in the other.
Exponates
Quipu the counting system of Inka
A quipu, or knot-record
(also called khipu), was a method used by the Incas and other ancient
Andean cultures to keep records and communicate information. In the
absence of an alphabetic writing system, this simple and highly portable
device achieved a surprising degree of precision and flexibility.
The fasces were a
bundle of rods and a single axe which were carried as a symbol of
magisterial and priestly authority in ancient Rome. They featured
prominently in important administrative ceremonies and public
processions such as triumphs. Some researchers say that they could have been used as electomagnetic weapons in the past.
Fasces a plurale tantum, from the Latin word fascis, meaning "bundle";] Italian: fascio littorio) is a bound bundle of wooden rods, sometimes including an axe with its blade emerging. The fasces had its origin in the Etruscan civilization and was passed on to ancient Rome, where it symbolized a magistrate's power and jurisdiction. The axe originally associated with the symbol, the Labrys (Greek: ??ß???, lábrys) the double-bitted axe, originally from Crete, is one of the oldest symbols of Greek civilization. To the Romans, it was known as a bipennis.
The image has survived in the modern world as a representation of magisterial or collective power, law and governance. The fasces frequently occurs as a charge in heraldry: it is present on the reverse of the US Mercury dime coin and behind the podium in the United States House of Representatives; and it was the origin of the name of the National Fascist Party in Italy (from which the term fascism is derived).
During the first half of the twentieth century both the fasces and the swastika (each symbol having its own unique ancient religious and mythological associations) became heavily identified with the authoritarian/fascist political movements of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. During this period the swastika became deeply stigmatized, but the fasces did not undergo a similar process.
The fact that the fasces remained in use in many societies after World War II may have been due to the fact that prior to Mussolini the fasces had already been adopted and incorporated within the governmental iconography of many governments outside Italy. As such, its use persists as an accepted form of governmental and other iconography in various contexts. (The swastika remains in common usage in parts of Asia for religious purposes which are also unrelated to early twentieth century European fascism.)
Location
National Museum of the American IndianAlexander Hamilton U.S. Customs House
One Bowling Green
New York, NY 10004
Open daily 10 AM–5 PM Thursdays to 8 PM
Admission is free.
Architecture & History
This building is absolute fascinating with large bloque of stones 1.5 -2 m wide and half meter high with an extremely large ceiling. The objects are also impressive. I highly recommend to visit it.The lamps impressed me a lot and the grandeur of the building.
“Indians migrate to New York, now as in the past, for the same reason others do: to seek their fortunes. But beyond that, New York, an ancient place of exchange among Indians, has become a center of new thinking about Native cultures. The Hopi of Arizona have a prophecy of a time when they would travel to the east to meet with the nations of the world in a ‘house of mica.’ Through the exhibitions and programs of the National Museum of the American Indian's Heye Center, the custom house, too, is becoming a place for the exchange of ideas among peoples.”
—W. Richard West (Southern Cheyenne and member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma), Founding Director, National Museum of the American Indian
The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House
Home of the NMAI's George Gustav Heye Center, the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House is one of the most splendid Beaux Arts buildings in New York. Rich in architectural and historic significance, the custom house is a National Historic Landmark, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.Before the imposition of the income tax in 1916, customs duties were the greatest single source of revenue for the U.S. government, and the Port of New York was the country's most prosperous trade center. In 1899, the government invited twenty architects to submit designs for a new custom house. The design chosen was by Cass Gilbert (1859–1934), a well-known young architect from St. Paul, Minnesota. Gilbert, who had once worked in the offices of McKim, Mead & White, felt that a public building should reveal the "imponderable elements of life and character."
A Monument to Commerce
The custom house Gilbert built, in collaboration with other renowned artists and craftsmen, was begun in 1900 and completed in 1907. The vast seven-story structure, with its 450,000 square feet, covers three blocks in lower Manhattan, immediately south of Bowling Green at the foot of Broadway. The exterior features forty-four columns, each decorated with a head of Mercury, the Roman god of commerce. On the building's huge entrance pedestals are four large sculptures—seated female figures representing America, Asia, Europe, and Africa—by Daniel Chester French (1850–1931), who also created the statue of Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Above the columns of the main facade are twelve heroic statues representing the sea powers of Europe and the Mediterranean, while above the main-floor windows are sculpted heads symbolizing the races of humanity. The exterior also features a giant cartouche depicting the shield of the United States, with a serene head of Columbia, sculpted by Vincenzo Alfano (1854–1918) in 1903, presiding over the building's main entrance.Interior Grandeur
Shells, marine creatures, and sea signs abound throughout the interior, as befits a tribute to New York's preeminence as a seaport. Monumental arches and columns highlight the symmetry of the great hall. Off this spectacular lobby is the ornate Collectors Reception Room, its walls oak-paneled by the Tiffany Studios. The immense arch of the custom house's magnificent elliptical rotunda was built according to the principles of Spanish-immigrant engineer Rafael Guastavino (1842–1908). The ingenious design allowed the rotunda's 140-ton skylight to be constructed without visible signs of support.In 1937, celebrated New York painter Reginald Marsh (1898–1954) accepted a low-paying position with the Treasury Department to produce murals for the rotunda dome. Working with astonishing speed, Marsh and eight young assistants depicted early explorers of the Americas in one series of paintings and traced the course of a ship entering New York's harbor in the other.
Exponates
Quipu the counting system of Inka
Fasces a plurale tantum, from the Latin word fascis, meaning "bundle";] Italian: fascio littorio) is a bound bundle of wooden rods, sometimes including an axe with its blade emerging. The fasces had its origin in the Etruscan civilization and was passed on to ancient Rome, where it symbolized a magistrate's power and jurisdiction. The axe originally associated with the symbol, the Labrys (Greek: ??ß???, lábrys) the double-bitted axe, originally from Crete, is one of the oldest symbols of Greek civilization. To the Romans, it was known as a bipennis.
The image has survived in the modern world as a representation of magisterial or collective power, law and governance. The fasces frequently occurs as a charge in heraldry: it is present on the reverse of the US Mercury dime coin and behind the podium in the United States House of Representatives; and it was the origin of the name of the National Fascist Party in Italy (from which the term fascism is derived).
During the first half of the twentieth century both the fasces and the swastika (each symbol having its own unique ancient religious and mythological associations) became heavily identified with the authoritarian/fascist political movements of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. During this period the swastika became deeply stigmatized, but the fasces did not undergo a similar process.
The fact that the fasces remained in use in many societies after World War II may have been due to the fact that prior to Mussolini the fasces had already been adopted and incorporated within the governmental iconography of many governments outside Italy. As such, its use persists as an accepted form of governmental and other iconography in various contexts. (The swastika remains in common usage in parts of Asia for religious purposes which are also unrelated to early twentieth century European fascism.)
