Report of the Secretary of the 

 Smithsonian Institution 



LEONARD CARMICHAEL 

 For the Year Ended June 30, 1955 



To the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution: 



Gbnti^emen : I have the honor to submit a report showing the activ- 

 ities and condition of the Smithsonian Institution and its branches 

 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1955. 



GENERAL STATEMENT 



The period coveied by this report has been an active and fruitful 

 one for the Smithsonian Institution. 



It was noted in last year's report that much time has been devoted 

 to preliminary planning for the new buildings so urgently needed to 

 make the museums of the Smithsonian comparable to the modern 

 national museums of other great nations. The Institution's collec- 

 tions are probably the largest in the world, but because of the inade- 

 quacy of its present buildings these collections can now be presented 

 to the public in only most limited ways. 



Building Program Gains Congressional Support 



It is a great satisfaction to be able to report that legislation pro- 

 viding for the planning and erection of a new museum building for 

 the Smithsonian Institution was enacted during the first session of the 

 84th Congress. The bill, authorizing a $36-million Museum of His- 

 tory and Technology, was signed by President Eisenhower on June 28, 

 1955. Subsequently, Congress appropriated $2,288,000 for the im- 

 mediate planning of this great new museum, bringing it even further 

 toward the realm of actuality. During the discussion of this legis- 

 lation on the floor of the House of Representatives, many favorable 

 statements were made about the place of the Smithsonian Institution 

 in our national life. All of us at the Smithsonian are indeed grateful 

 for the hard work done by so many people in connection with this leg- 

 islation, which clears the great hurdle from the path toward providing 

 adequate and fitting housing for many of the Nation's priceless treas- 

 ures. Certainly it is the greatest event for the Smitlisonian Institu- 

 tion since the erection of the Natural History Building half a century 

 ago. 



