Report of the Secretary of the 

 Smithsonian Institution 



LEONARD CARMICHAEL 

 For the Year Ended June 30, 1960 



To the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution: 



Gentlemen: I have the honor to submit a report showing the 

 activities and condition of the Smithsonian Institution and its branches 

 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1960. 



GENERAL STATEMENT 



It is perennially amazing, in rereading the history of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, to realize the wisdom that guided the founder, 

 James Smithson, and the prime organizer and first Secretaiy, Joseph 

 Henry. Smithson directed, in his now famous phrase, that his 

 institution concern itself with "the increase and diffusion of knowl- 

 edge among men." This was indeed a broad and humane prescrip- 

 tion. Equally so was Joseph Henry's interpretation of it when he 

 came to lay down the fundamental plan of the Institution. Said 

 Henry: "Smithson's will makes no restriction in favor of any par- 

 ticular kind of knowledge, and hence all branches are entitled to a 

 share of attention. He was well aware that knowledge should not be 

 viewed as existing in isolated parts, but as a whole, each portion of 

 which throws light on all the others, and that the tendency of all is 

 to improve the human mind, and to give it new sources of power and 

 enjoyment." He further added, "To effect the greatest good, the or- 

 ganization of the Institution should be such as to produce results which 

 could not be attained by other means." 



The social import of the Smithsonian's broad and inspiring 

 charter has never been more obvious than it is in today's atomic age 

 when the great modern achievements in science and technology, which 

 daily impress themselves upon every citizen, call for the widest and 

 most liberal basis of understanding. But this is still an age in which 

 enlightenment is far from universal. A great responsibility, therefore, 

 rests upon those individuals and institutions into whose hands has 

 been placed the preservation of our cultural and scientific heritage 



1 



