SECRETARY'S REPORT 6 



Congress favorable comments concerning the need for such a building 

 were given by the Fine Arts Commission, the National Capital Plan- 

 ning Commission, and other interested groups, including the press. 

 It is hoped that in the next session of Congress enabling legislation 

 of this sort may be enacted. 



A gift of funds to the Institution from the Aircraft Association 

 and the Air Transport Association made it possible to obtain the 

 services of an architectural firm to make preliminary studies for a 

 suitable building to house the Wright brothers' Kitty Dawk Flyer, 

 Lindbergh's Spirit of /St. Louis, America's first supersonic jet plane, 

 and all the other great planes and aeronautical equipment that make 

 up the Smithsonian's woild-famous and unique collection of air- 

 craft and aviation materials. When these plans are complete, it will 

 be necessary to consider various possible ways in which this necessarily 

 large and expensive structure can be financed and built. 



Fifteen years ago an architects' competition was held for a design 

 for a building to house the Smithsonian's National Collecton of Fine 

 Arts and also to provide a place for the exhibition of works of art 

 created by living American artists and related displays. It was agreed 

 then and it is still clear that the great National Gallery of Art, which 

 is also a bureau of the Smithsonian Institution, cannot and should 

 not try to perform this function. Similarly, the Smithsonian's Freer 

 Gallery of Art, which was given to the Nation by a citizen for very 

 specific purposes, cannot be used for this broader purpose. It is now 

 by no means sure that the design that won the architectural competi- 

 tion for the new gallery in 1939 will meet all its now recognized needs. 

 It is certain, however, that the country does require and somehow must 

 secure a gallery to perform the functions outlined above. It was just 

 50 years ago that by a court decree the art collections of the Smithso- 

 nian Institution were "designated and established"' as this country's 

 national gallery of art, but in all that time there has been no adequate 

 housing either for proper protection or display. The collections have 

 grown in size and importance, as witness the large and valuable Gel- 

 latly collection added to it by gift in 1933, and the time has come 

 when the Government must assume full obligation toward this price- 

 less cultural asset of our country. Certainly all of us who are 

 interested in the Institution must do our best to consider ways to 

 achieve this important goal. 



Other museum buildings are also needed. A national planetarium 

 has with wisdom over and over again been proposed for location at the 

 Smithsonian. Additional buildings at the Smithsonian's National 

 Zoological Park are also required. 



The last great building for our nation's collections to be erected 

 from Federal funds was the Natural History Building. This monu- 

 mental structure was opened more than 40 years ago. Since that time 



