2 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1960 



to provide, in every effectual way, those new sources of intellectual 

 power that Joseph Henry visualized so that every citizen will aspire 

 to an understanding of this complex modern world and feel himself 

 a part of man's upward struggle. 



We have an obligation to the future. In shaping our museum 

 halls, we must render human history — of our environment, our ideas, 

 or technical achievements, our institutions, our manners and customs, 

 our daily lives — meaningful to the citizens of tomorrow as well as 

 of today. It is, also, our responsibility to raise the general level 

 of cultural appreciation, to educate m the broadest sense, and to 

 encourage people to seek knowledge of the highest order. The Smith- 

 sonian Institution has an important role to fulfill in meeting these 

 responsibilities. Through its great museums, art galleries, research 

 laboratories, and explorations, it seeks not only to preserve and 

 document the full range of our history but also to interpret it to the 

 public. 



Scientific and other scholarly research, educational exhibits, 

 publication of new advances in knowledge, facilitation of worldwide 

 interchange of published scientific and literary infonnation, and, with- 

 in the Institution's resources, the fostering and stimulation of schol- 

 arly endeavor — all are part of the work of today's Smithsonian, just 

 as they have been during all the 114 years since its establislmient. 

 A great museum must be more than a laboratory or a showcase. It 

 must be a center of interpretation and inspiration for its millions of 

 visitors. 



In these first paragraphs of this year's Smithsonian Report., it 

 seems especially appropriate, therefore, to give particular attention 

 to the growing significance of the Institution's museum exhibits. We 

 are in the midst of extensive building and modernization programs 

 which have already had their impact upon the visiting public ; and it 

 may be salutary to analyze some of the factors involved. 



Both in April and again in May of this year more than a million 

 people, by actual count, came to the old buildings of the Smithsonian. 

 This does not include those who, during this time, visited the National 

 Gallery of Art and the National Zoological Park. Never before in 

 a single month have so many visitors come to the Smithsonian, or 

 probably to any other museum complex in the world. In fact, as 

 recently as 1953 the largest total monthly attendance was almost 

 exactly one-half the figure for this year's banner months. 



What has caused this explosive increase? There seems to be no 

 doubt that this amazing growth in public interest in the Smithsonian is 

 due to the many new, vital, and effective renovated museum halls which 

 have been opened to the public during the past few years. These 

 new halls include the First Ladies Hall, the American Indian Hall, 



