SECRETARY'S REPORT 127 



Although every effort has been made to keep up the other functions 

 of the Musemn at the Washington office, the maintenance of exhibits, 

 public services, research, and planning have reluctantly been given 

 less attention owing to reduction in personnel and enforced priority of 

 other projects. Normally the staff includes an administrative head, 

 a curator, and two associate curators. With the retirement last year 

 of the former head of the Museum and the addition of his adminis- 

 trative duties to those of the curator, plus the continued absence on 

 naval duty of one of the two associates, there are now only two persons 

 to do the work previously assigned to four. 



Because the Fiftieth Anniversary of Powered Flight is being cele- 

 brated during the calendar ^'■ear 1953, the National Air Musemn has 

 experienced a very busy period, with many requests to assist the 

 national anniversary committee, State organizations, industrial units, 

 airlines, aeronautical groups, and others who have joined to mark the 

 progress of a half century of human flight. This concentration of 

 interest in past accomplishments since the marvelous flight by the 

 Wright Brothers in 1903 has brought due recognition to the National 

 Air Museum as the authoritative source of records of the past. The 

 staff has frequently been called upon to furnish data on historic air- 

 craft, biographies of noted airmen and engineers, photographs and 

 descriptions of aeronautical events, drawings of airplanes, and other 

 material. Authors have come to the Museum to consult the staff 

 and to examine the library and reference files ; teachers have requested 

 assistance in planning courses ; students have sought help in meeting 

 assignments; and compilers of textbooks and pictorials have found 

 much needed data. As opportunity permitted, the staff worked on 

 the Museum's own feature exhibit that is to further honor the Wright 

 Brothers and mark the anniversary. This will be put on display dur- 

 ing December 1953 and will emphasize the fact that the Wright 

 Brothers not only invented the aeroplane but also developed it to a 

 practical form and in addition taught others to fly. 



As part of its function in distributing aeronautical knowledge, the 

 Museum issued a number of texts on airmen and aircraft for free dis- 

 tribution to correspondents, students, and others, and as the fiscal year 

 closed the ninth edition of the "Handbook of the National Aeronau- 

 tical Collections" was being prepared. 



ADVISORY BOARD 



Although there were no formal meetings of the Advisory Board 

 during the fiscal year, the Board members gave generously of their 

 time to advance the projects of the Museum. Informal conferences 

 were held at which the problems of the Museum were discussed, con- 

 structive suggestions made, and progressive action planned. Dr. 



