Report of the Secretary of the 

 Smithsonian Institution 



LEONARD CARMICHAEL 

 For the Year Ended June 30, 1954 



To the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution: 



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

 tivities and condition of the Smithsonian Institution and its branches 

 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1054. 



GENERAL STATEMENT 



The period covered by this report is the first full year in which I 

 have served as Smithsonian Secretary. Certainly this has been an 

 active and fruitful year at the Institution. An extensive program 

 of renovation and remodeling of our exhibitions has been carried 

 forward. 



Modernization Program Under Way 



The first wholly new exhibition hall to be completed in many years 

 at the Smithsonian, "Highlights of Latin American Archeology," 

 was opened to the public on April 14, 1954. The hall shows in a 

 modern and graphic w^ay the development of the archeology of Cen- 

 tral and South America in the Pre-Columbian period. A number 

 of Smithsonian Regents, representatives of the Council of the 21 re- 

 publics of the Organization of American States, other ambassadors 

 to the United States from Latin America, as well as many scientists 

 and State Department officials, attended the opening ceremony. The 

 significance of the new hall lies not only in the excellent way it pre- 

 sents the special facts of Pre-Columbian archeology. It also exem- 

 plifies the plan of the Smithsonian to carry forward in an orderly 

 program the reconditioning and modernization of exhibitions in the 

 entire Institution. This new hall shows many new departures for us 

 in modern museum techniques, in lighting, and in the use of color. 

 The visitor who enters the hall and moves from case to case through 

 the exhibits cannot fail to leave w-ith a real understanding of Central 

 and South American cultures before the coming of Columbus. The 

 exhibition is thus a true teaching device. No materials have been 

 lost from the previous exhibits of South American pottery or stone 



