SECRETARY'S REPORT 65 



exhibits modernization program in natural history, and assistant di- 

 rector Richard S. Cowan was responsible for integrating the work 

 of curators and exhibits personnel in the development of natural- 

 history exhibits. 



DOCENT SERVICE 



The Junior League of Washington conducted its volimteer guide 

 program for the school classes of the greater Washington area through 

 the Smithsonian museums for the tenth consecutive year. The pro- 

 gram was carried out through the cooperation of G. Carroll Lindsay, 

 curator of the Smithsonian Museum Service, with Mrs. Dickson R. 

 Loos as chairman of the League's guide service and Mrs. Arnold B. 

 McKinnon as cochairman. Mrs. McKinnon will serve as chairman 

 for the forthcoming year with Mrs. Joseph Smith, Jr., as cochairman. 



During the 1963-64 school year 20,044 children were conducted on 

 701 tours. During the year, the 100,000th child to participate in the 

 program was conducted on a tour by the volunteers. 



Tours were conducted in the Halls of Mammals, Native Peoples of 

 the Americas, and Textiles for grades 3 through 6 ; and in the Halls 

 of Gems and Minerals and Prehistoric Life for grades 5 through junior 

 high. The Prehistoric Life tour was given for the first time this 

 year. The Power Hall, in which tours had been conducted for the 

 past 6 years, was closed to tours because of its move to the Museum 

 of History and Technology. Since the beginning of Power Hall 

 tours in 1958, about 12,000 children have been conducted through this 

 hall. 



Tours were offered 5 days a week, four tours each day, every half 

 hour beginning at 10 :00 a.m. through 11 :30 a.m. in the Halls of Mam- 

 mals and Native Peoples of the Americas. Tours in the Halls of Gems 

 and Minerals and Prehistoric Life were offered Monday through 

 Friday at 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. The textile tour was offered 

 only on Wednesdays and Fridays at 10 :00 a.m. and 11 :00 a.m. 



Tours were conducted from October 2 through May 29, with the 

 exception of the month of April 1964, when, as usual, tours were 

 suspended because of the exceedingly heavy visitor traffic in all 

 museum halls during the Easter and cherry-blossom seasons. During 

 May, for the first time, the volunteers made use of compact, portable 

 amplifiers. With the aid of these amplifiers it is possible to conduct 

 tours even when the exhibit halls are heavily crowded. 



Li addition to Mrs. Loos and Mrs. McKinnon, the members of the 

 League's guided tour committee were : 



Mrs. Timothy Atkeson, Mrs. Leon Bernstein, Mrs. Thomas A. Bradford, Jr., 

 Mrs. Challen E. Casliie, Mrs. Thomas R. Gate, Mrs. F. David Clarke, Mrs. Steven 

 Conger, Mrs. Henry M. deButts, Mrs. Lee M. Folger, Mrs. Rockveood Foster, Mrs. 

 George Gerber, Mrs. Gilbert Grosvenor, Mrs. James Harvey, Mrs. William 



