SECRETARY'S REPORT 15 



Dr. Eobert H. Goddard. The unique specimens of Goddard's work 

 •were given to the Smithsonian by Mrs. Goddard in tribute to the 

 early support that the Smithsonian gave to Dr. Goddard's scientific 

 "u-ork. Other more modern space-flight specimens on display are 

 the first recovered American Space Flight nose cone, the Able-Baker 

 space flight apparatus, the first recovered orbiting satellite (Discoverer 

 XIII), and many other "firsts" of modern air-space science. 



Immediately outside this temporary building are displayed not 

 models, but actual examples, of present-day rockets, including a 

 United States Army Jupiter C, a United States Navy Vanguard, a 

 Navy Polaris, and an Air Force Atlas. 



In the paragraphs above reference has been made to the present 

 progress of the renovation of exhibits at the Smithsonian. Mention 

 could also be made to improvements and better lighting used in the 

 display of the outstanding collections of oriental objects and paintings 

 at the Smithsonian's Freer Gallery of Art. The National Collection 

 of Fine Arts of the Smithsonian has also improved some of its tem- 

 porary galleries. Notable new installations, including rooms for the 

 decorative arts, have been opened at the National Gallery of Art, which 

 is a bureau of the Smithsonian Institution. 



The summaries that have been presented in the immediately pre- 

 ceding pages have been given to bring the reader of this report up 

 to date in regard to one aspect of the work of the Smithsonian. This 

 is a report of progress. It suggests something of the accomplishments 

 of the past 8 years in transforming the formerly old and then sadly 

 outmoded museum presentations at the Smithsonian Institution into 

 modern effective and educational exhibits. During 1953, the year in 

 which this work began, 3,429,429 visitors came to the Smithsonian 

 buildings on the Mall. In the year covered by the present report, as 

 noted elsewhere, 7,103,474 came to these same buildings. There can 

 be no doubt that the renovations summarized here have met warm 

 public acceptance. 



This whole great program of renovation has been possible only 

 because of the enthusiastic support that has been given to it by the 

 Board of Regents of the Institution, by the Congress, and by the 

 labors of the Smithsonian's devoted and skillful staff of curators and 

 exhibit workers. Because of this work it is now beginning to be 

 possible for many millions of American citizens and for foreign visitors 

 also to see the great national treasures of the Smithsonian in an 

 orderly and also in an educationally significant way. 



Other new halls are in the process of development and will be open 

 to the public as soon as the complex work of constructing them can 

 be completed by the small staff of the Institution. These other new 

 haUs include a Hall of Dinosaurs, a Hall of Pleistocene Mammals, a 



