Today’s post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Research Services at the National Archives at College Park, MD.
Washington, DC, sitting as it does in the mid-Atlantic region, experiences hot and humid summers. Office buildings evolved to make the summertime work situation tolerable. By the early twentieth century, many government buildings had high ceilings, large windows, and opening/closing transoms over doors to allow air flow-through in an effort to make offices as comfortable as possible. Still, with the level of heat and humidity that can descend on the city, the weather could make offices unbearable.
With the advent of electricity came a new weapon in the cooling effort – electric fans. This was decades before the appearance of window or all-building air conditioning (cooling) units.
Just as today when AC systems are serviced before the hot and humid weather arrives, so, too, did the fans used in offices need servicing or replacement before the sticky season began. Two examples of the instructions from Department of State files follow:
Sources: Superintendent of the State, War, and Navy Department Building to the Chief Clerk of the Department of State, April 13, 1908, file 11200/39; Chief Clerk to Chiefs of Bureaus, April 8, 1909, file 11200/63, 1906-1910 Numerical File, RG 59: General Records of the Department of State. Available on National Archives Microfilm Publication M862 roll 760 and online (NAID 20161409).
Cover Image: Photograph of National Archives Employee in Front of Air Conditioning Equipment, Local ID: 64-PR-6-1, NAID 74227869
Thanks for writing this article. As I talk with others about the architectural features of NARA, I will mention this article as to what kept the building and people cool during the summer months.