NEWSLETTER NUMBER TWO

DECEMBER 2003

PROJECT NEWS

Adolf Cluss (1825-1905) From Germany to America: Shaping a Capital City Worthy of a Republic

--an exhibition to enhance public understanding of the architect’s work in Washington during the Gilded Age by interpreting the impact of Cluss’s revolutionary roots and his social vision on the city’s architecture and life.

Welcome to the premier issue of the Cluss Exhibition electronic newsletter! To join our mailing list and be kept informed about the progress of planning for the exhibition, please send your name, address, and email address to cluss@washington.goethe.org.

Smithsonian Institution

A revolutionary during the failed 1848 uprising, and a devoted socialist in his early years, Adolf Cluss became, from the 1860s to 1890s, one of the most influential architects and engineers in Washington, DC, responsible for over 80 major public and private buildings in Washington, Baltimore, and Alexandria, VA. During this period, the young city re-invented itself as the capital of a united nation following the Civil War. The city was recognized as a place for innovation, a national and international stage for giving shape to the future. Cluss was at the forefront of the movement. His elegant red-brick buildings—those still standing include the Sumner and Franklin Schools, the Smithsonian’s Arts & Industries Building, the 9th-Street Masonic Temple and Calvary Baptist Church—are among the capital’s most beloved 19th-century structures. Buildings that have not survived include Washington’s Center Market (below), Baltimore’s Concordia Opera House (below right), and the first US Department of Agriculture building on the Mall.

Smithsonian Institution

Cluss promoted the quality of urban life by designing enduring, beautiful school buildings for Washington’s students, both African-American and white, by fostering the development of the capital’s infrastructure and beautification as the city’s engineer and member of the Board of Public Works, and by the publication of innovative ideas in national media. In 1890, Cluss’s appointment as Inspector of Public Buildings for the United States government capped a long career as an architect for public buildings and as a public servant.

More information about Adolf Cluss.

ADDITIONAL FUNDING ANNOUNCED

We are delighted to announce that the MARPAT Foundation of Silver Spring, MD has made a grant of $10,000 to the Friends of the Goethe-Insitut to support the planning of the Adolf Cluss Exhibition Project. Our deepest thanks to the Foundation for this support, which will enable us to move forward with critical steps in the initial design process.

WALLACH AND FRANKLIN SCHOOLS

Cluss promoted the quality of urban life by designing enduring, beautiful school buildings for Washington's students, both African-American and white. His public schools in Washington enabled all segments of society, regardless of wealth or race, to experience architectural beauty and style.

Before the construction of the Wallach School on D St. between 7th and 8th Streets, Southeast, in 1864, most public school classes in Washington were held in rented rooms and makeshift buildings. Mayor Richard Wallach envisioned a "school within the reach of every child" and yet a building whose beauty and elegance would instill pride and admiration in both students and citizens of DC.

FEATURED BUILDINGS

The Franklin School on the corner of 13th Street and K Street, Northwest.

Mayor Wallach sought to change the widespread notion that public schools were for paupers. Wallach School reflected the most modern features of its day, with scientific ventilation and heating systems, a large assembly hall and covered passages to the outhouses. Wallach operated as a school until 1949. It was razed in 1950 and replaced with Hine Junior High School.

By 1869 the modern school building was again redefined by Adolf Cluss in his design of the Franklin School on the corner of 13th Street and K Street, Northwest. Franklin was the grandest building of all the schools, meant to house not only all grades at the time, but the offices of the Superintendent (this office created in 1869) and the Board of Trustees (Education), as well. Franklin also housed the first Normal School for white students. The massive Great Hall at Franklin functioned as a community resource for concerts and other special events. Alexander Graham Bell successfully tested his new invention, the photophone (sound transmitted by light waves), from the rooftop of Franklin School in 1880. The exterior of Franklin was restored in 1992 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

THE ARTS AND INDUSTRIES BUILDING

In the 1880s the role of the museum was to exhibit collections in as complete a fashion as possible in order to let them demonstrate their educational value. Visitors could view large portions of the collection in order to learn through observation. The Smithsonian's first dedicated museum building was entrusted to the firm of Cluss and Schulze. Their design was advanced in its day because of its flexible spaces and ample provision of natural light. No uninterrupted solid wall separated the 17 spacious exhibition halls. The large, open space was lit by natural light from the windows on all four sides of the building and on the roof.

Planning for the exhibition, slated to open in Washington and Heilbronn, Germany, Cluss's birthplace, in 2005, is a cooperative effort among many institutions in Washington and Heilbronn, Germany.

Scholars consulting on the project include:
Kathleen Neils Conzen (University of Chicago), Cynthia Field (Smithsonian Institution), Alan Lessoff (Illinois State University), William Reese (University of Wisconsin), Jonathan Sperber (University of Missouri-Columbia)

Cluss Electronic Newsletters

This project was made possible thanks to generous planning grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Humanities Council of Washington, DC and the MARPAT Foundation. A cooperative project of the Charles Sumner School Museum and Archives, the German Historical Institute, Washington, DC, Goethe-Institut Washington, the Historical Society of Washington, DC, the National Building Museum, the Smithsonian Institution’s Office of Architectural History and Historic Preservation and the Stadtarchiv Heilbronn.