SECRETARY'S REPORT 25 



group of 14 to the Dragon Paleocene exposures in the Wasatch Plateau 

 country of central Utah. 



Dr. George Switzer, associate curator, division of mineralogy and 

 petrology, made trips to Colorado and Utah to observe the geological 

 occurrence of uranium minerals in the Colorado Plateau mining dis- 

 trict, and to the Fletcher mine, North Groton, N. H., to collect iron 

 and manganese phosphate minerals. 



The investigation of the European origins of seventeenth- and eight- 

 eenth-century American plovt^ types by Edward C. Kendall, associate 

 curator, division of crafts and industries, was materially advanced by 

 a grant of $1,500 from Deere & Co., which enabled him to attend the 

 International Conference for Research on Ploughing Implements, 

 History and Folklore, held at Copenhagen, June 1 to 5, 1954, and to 

 examine agricultural, industrial, and technical collections in institu- 

 tions at Stockholm, Oslo, Amsterdam, Brussels, Stuttgart, Munich, 

 Zurich, Rome, Paris, and London. One objective of this trip was in- 

 formation that will assist in reconstructing the types of plows in 

 use at Mount Vernon during the residence there of George Washing- 

 ton. 



Frank A. Taylor, head curator, department of engineering and in- 

 dustries, visited 16 museums in West Germany and Berlin (West) 

 at the invitation of the German Federal Government under the Amer- 

 ica Exchange Programs and subsequently studied museum prac- 

 tices of the Musee de la Marine, Musee de I'Air, Musee de I'Homme, 

 Musee de Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, Le Palais de la 

 Decouverte, and the Musee Postal in Paris, the Rijksmuseum voor de 

 Geschiedenis der Natuurwetenschappen in Leiden, the Nederlandisch 

 Historisch Scheepvaart Museum, and the Medish Pharmaceutish Mu- 

 seum in Amsterdam, the Norsk Sj0f artsmuseum, Norsk Folkemuseum, 

 Norsk Teknishmuseum, Skimuseet, and Vikingeskipene Museum in 

 Oslo, the Statens Sjohistoriska Museet, Tekniska Museet, Nordiska 

 Museet and Skansen in Stockholm, and the Science Museum, Victoria 

 and Albert Museum, National Maritime Museum, British Museum 

 (Natural History), and the British Museum (Bloomsbury) in Lon- 

 don. 



EXHIBITION 



The long-contemplated program for modernization of exhibits was 

 initiated under the 1954 Congressional authorization of $360,000. 

 With these funds contracts were let and work actually commenced 

 on the complete renovation of four major exhibition halls. 



Eight period rooms for displaying the collection of dresses of 

 the First Ladies of the "White House are now under construction in 

 the Arts and Industries Building. Furnishings, significant accesso- 

 ries, and a number of historical architectural features such as mantels 



