Report of the Secretary of the Smithsonian 

 Institution 



LEONARD CARMICHAEL 

 For the Year Ended June 30, 1953 



To the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution: 



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

 ties and condition of the Smithsonian Institution and its branches 

 for the fiscal year which ended on June 30, 1953. 



GENERAL STATEMENT 



My duties as the seventh Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 

 were assumed on January 2, 1953. Thus, during approximately half 

 the year covered by the present report the Institution was under the 

 able direction of its eminent former Secretary, Dr. Alexander Wet- 

 more. Detailed statements covering the work of the several bureaus 

 and divisions of the Smithsonian during the full year are presented 

 elsewhere in this report. 



I should like first to express my deep appreciation to the Honorable 

 Fred M. Vinson, Chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution, to the 

 chairman of our executive committee, and individually to our regents, 

 all of whom have most unselfishly performed many services essential 

 to the effective operation and progress of the Institution during the 

 year covered by this report. I wish also to thank Dr. Wetmore for 

 the great assistance he has given me as his successor, and the entire 

 Smithsonian staff for the cooperation they have extended to me as 

 the new occupant of the office of Secretary. 



The Smithsonian has many pressing needs and unsolved problems, 

 but it is fortunate in possessing a staff that is in an outstanding degree 

 professionally qualified and is superlatively loyal to the best interests 

 of the Institution. Many former employees, some long retired, return 

 regularly to carry on research and follow the progress of the Institu- 

 tion with keen interest. In a striking way present and past staff mem- 

 bers correctly feel that they truly belong to the old and distinguished 

 Smithsonian family. In this respect and in many others I find the 

 Institution similar to a great university. 



The Smithsonian is unique because it is the Nation's principal re- 

 search center in a number of basic scientific and cultural fields. Be- 

 cause of its unequaled natural-science collections, which contain a vast 

 number of "type specimens," it is a continuing repository of standards 



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