ABSTRACT
Several new divisions for the United States (US) National Museum were formed under Goode’s direction, including departments of Transportation, Historic Relics, and Graphic Arts, which had a Photographic Section. This new institutional approach for the collection and display of photography was the first recognition given to its status as a cultural artifact by any museum in the United States. The collection and display for the museum’s Photography Section was premised on a new approach to photography requiring the establishment of photography as a cultural artifact. Creating a place for photography within the larger context of artifacts illustrating “human culture and industry in all their phases” was the first step in establishing a Photography Section within the US National Museum. The placement of the Photography Section within the Museum’s Graphic Arts Division deserves some additional explanation. The Photography Section’s display was the last of the US National Museum’s exhibits to be installed at the 1888 Ohio Exposition.
