4 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1954 



two outstanding art buildings have been assigned to the Smithsonian 

 for administration. Both of these were financed by generous gifts 

 made to the United States by public-spirited citizens. Every day tens 

 of thousands of Americans have reason for gratitude for the wisdom 

 and generosity of Andrew W. Mellon for making possible the National 

 Gallery of Art and to Charles Lang Freer for his gift to the country of 

 the gallery which bears his name. Either by Federal appropriations 

 or by further private gifts it is hoped that the United States, which 

 has the world's greatest museum collections, now aggregating more 

 than 35 million cataloged objects, may be housed in an appropriate 

 way. Invaluable lessons in patriotism and science and in artistic ap- 

 preciation are now learned in our buildings. Last year over 8,100,000 

 visitors were counted in all our buildings. With modern and ade- 

 quate structures, possibly twice this number of American citizens 

 could be served and instructed every year. 



River Basin Program Curtailed 



Details of the operation of the ten bureaus administered by the 

 Smithsonian Institution are given elsewhere in this report. It should 

 be noted here that the funds that have previously been transferred 

 to the Smithsonian from the Department of the Interior in order to 

 make possible the study of the archeology of the river valleys of 

 the West have been sharply restricted. Authorities have estimated 

 that 80 percent of the important archeological remains which allow 

 the study of the early life of the original Americans are in river 

 valleys. Many of the most important of these sites are now being 

 covered by water as new dams are filling up. Emergency help with 

 this program is now being requested from nongovernmental sources. 

 It is sincerely hoped that in some way next year the Federal Govern- 

 ment may again make available the relatively small sum that would 

 allow the continuation of this emergency work before it is forever 

 too late. 



It may be appropriate to remark here that the appeal of the Smith- 

 sonian to outside donors for special funds to assist in this emergency 

 is by no means an isolated case. Much of the work of the Institution 

 today can be accomplished only because of the gifts and grants which 

 are transferred to it from philanthropic individuals, foundations, and 

 other agencies. 



Protection of Cultural Property in Wartime 



The Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution was appointed by the 

 President of the United States to serve as chairman of a United States 

 delegation to an international congress which met at The Hague this 

 spring to negotiate a treaty for the protection tliroughout the world 



