yy) ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1958 
nearly 51 million cataloged objects in its collections. In number of 
items, therefore, as well as of visitors, the Smithsonian Institution is 
certainly one of the largest museum complexes, if not the largest, on 
the face of the globe. 
The fact that the Smithsonian possesses such great collections and 
also attracts such armies of visitors makes it very important that the 
public displays of its museums be prepared and presented in the most 
interesting and instructive manner for the benefit of all who come 
through its doors. It is a pleasure, therefore, to report that real 
progress was made during the year in the renovation of exhibits in 
the older buildings of the Smithsonian. Detailed planning has also 
been carried on in preparation for the construction of the great ex- 
hibits that must be ready for immediate installation when the struc- 
ture of the Institution’s new Museum of History and Technology 
building is completed in 1961. 
Since the Institution’s program of modernizing exhibitions began 
about 5 years ago, more than a dozen new exhibit halls have been 
opened in our older buildings—the First Ladies Hall, two halls por- 
traying North American Indians and Eskimos, the Hall of Latin 
American Archeology, Birds of the World, North American Mammal 
Hall, Everyday Life in Early America, the Hall of Power Machinery, 
the Hall of Health, the Printing Arts Hall, the Hall of Gems and 
Minerals, and the Halls of Naval and Military History. These new 
halls represent notable accomplishments and have attracted wide and 
favorable notice, not only from the general public but also from 
museum technicians and specialists in visual education here and 
abroad. 
This current improvement of Smithsonian museum units is thus 
really part of a new worldwide regard for the educational function 
of museums. This growth is attested by the reports of the Inter- 
national Museums Office in Paris. Hardly a nation can be named 
that is not now engaged in new developments of buildings or displays 
in its national museums. It is interesting that such projects are 
being carried out on a large scale in Russia and its satellite states as 
well as in western nations. 
This new emphasis upon the preservation for posterity and the 
effective display of objects that represent the resources and the phys- 
ical development of each nation may well have been fostered by 
mankind’s recognition of the destruction of its heritage that was 
brought about by two world wars. In this sense every great museum 
stands as a tribute to mankind’s faith in the continuity of human 
achievement. Each such institution attests a recognition that the 
future is best when it 1s solidly grounded upon a knowledge of past 
achievements. 
