4 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 55 



Exhibits Modernization in Full Swing 



During the year further progress was made m the renovation of 

 major exhibits at the Smithsonian Institution, under the long-range 

 modernization program authorized by Congress. President and Mrs. 

 Dwight D. Eisenhower honored the Smithsonian by coming to the 

 Institution on May 24. On that occasion Mrs. Eisenhower officially 

 opened the new First Ladies Hall at special ceremonies in the Arts and 

 Industries Building. This hall displays in authentic settings gowns 

 worn by each of the ladies in the history of the country who have 

 served as Presidential hostesses. In creating the new settings the de- 

 signers wherever possible have combined real architectural details 

 taken from the White House in its various renovations with furniture 

 and fixtures owned by or associated with both the White House and 

 the First Ladies. The dresses are thus seen in the type of surround- 

 ings in which they were worn. All the objects, for example, in the 

 room in which Martha Washington's dress is displayed, belonged to 

 President Washington. A large and beautiful mirror on exhibit in 

 this room which belonged to President Washington has been at the 

 Smithsonian Institution for more than 60 years, but never before has 

 it been on display. The amazing success of this new hall is attested 

 by the crowds of visitors that it attracts. 



In the Natural History Building a modernized hall illustrating the 

 life of various Indian tribes of California, southwestern United States, 

 and Latin America was formally opened on June 2, as a feature of 

 the program of the 60th Annual Convention of the American Asso- 

 ciation of Musemns held in Washington. These exhibits, numbering 

 more than 50 in all, use mainly materials long in the possession of the 

 Smithsonian but present them in such an attractive way that the 

 visitors may learn easily and quickly how these primitive peoples 

 actually lived. They stress the remarkable ingenuity of the American 

 Indians in utilizing the natural resources of such different environ- 

 ments as seacoasts, deserts, gi'asslands, jungles, and mountain valleys 

 to provide food, clothing, shelter, and materials for arts and crafts. 

 The ability of the primitive Indian to wrest a living from the most 

 uninviting environments is a striking characteristic. The wide range 

 of Indian skills in handicrafts is represented in displays of California 

 Indian baskets (some of the world's finest basketwork), Navaho weav- 

 ing and silverwork, Pueblo Indian decorated pottery, colorful weav- 

 ings of Guatemalan Indians, religious wood carvings of the San Bias 

 Cuna in Panama, and paintings on guanaco skins worn as robes by 

 Tehuelche Indians in Argentina. Included are nine large, dramati- 

 cally lighted groups of life-size Indian figures engaged in typical 

 tribal activities. Another shows Navaho weavers and silversmiths 



