Box 13, Folder 3, Document 114

Dublin Core

Text Item Type Metadata

Text

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
WASHINGTON, D. C. 20560

June 3, 1966

Mrs. Ann Moses
Executive Secretary
The Mayor's Office
Atlanta City Hall
Atlanta, Georgia

Dear Mrs. Moses:

Dorothy asked that I contact you directly to save time. The
original Hadad may be in East Berlin. From the original, a plaster
reproduction was made for the Atlanta Exposition of 1895. At the
termination of the Exposition the sculpture was brought to Washington,
D. C. and has most recently been on exhibit in the Museum of Natural
History, Washington, D.C.

Included in our moderization program at the Smithsonian is a
new "Hall of Classical Archeology". Hadad was to be displayed in an
area where the public could come into contact with the sculpture and
we were fearful of vandalism. To avoid vandalism we made a duplicate of
our plaster reproduction using strong, durable fibre-glass reinforced
plastic. It is the plastic reproduction which we will use -- leaving
the plaster reproduction for a possible home in Atlanta.

Some additional information that is interesting is--to our knowledge
there is no other reproduction and the original Hadad, housed in the
Old Berlin Museum, now in Communist Germany, is believed to have been
destroyed during World War II.

Communicating face to face can be less than adequate and letters ----
but I hope this clarifies "original".

Sincerely yours,

Wedoner

John C. Widener
Exhibits Specialist
Museum of Natural History
public items show