42 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1958 
States Senate a report from the committee which reviews the legisla- 
tive history of the building and the progress made in its design. 
This report was printed as Senate No. 1437, 85th Congress, 2d session, 
April 16, 1958. 
Planning for this new building was directed by Frank A. Taylor, 
Director of the Museum of History and Technology. Designs for 
most of the exhibition halls requiring special architectural treatment 
were completed by the Museum staff, and the architects prepared 
the working drawings. John C. Ewers, administrative officer, di- 
rected the Museum staff engaged in the planning of all interior areas. 
Eugene Kingman, Director of the Josyln Art Museum, Omaha, 
reviewed many of the plans for exhibition halls and contributed 
constructive criticism. 
Funds for the design and the preparation of working drawings 
for the construction of additions to the Natural History Building 
were appropriated by Congress. The architects, Mills, Petticord & 
Mills, have submitted tentative drawings with a model of the building 
when completed and have made excellent progress with the working 
drawings. The Museum committee for the planning of the wings 
under the chairmanship of Dr. T. Dale Stewart, together with the 
curators of the natural history divisions, completed a detailed pro- 
gram of requirements which materially advanced the preparation of 
plans and estimates. 
Throughout the year’s planning of the two building projects, the 
Public Buildings Service of the General Services Administration 
contributed valuable advice and assistance in advancing, coordinating, 
and approving the plans. Leonard L. Hunter, Assistant Commis- 
sioner for Design and Construction, gave helpful advice and pro- 
fessional direction to the progress of the work through the various 
technical stages and presented the building plans before the approv- 
ing agencies. Many of his colleagues materially advanced these 
projects. John E. Cudd, architect of the Public Buildings Service, 
assigned as liaison to the Smithsonian Institution, contributed greatly 
to all phases of the two projects, assembling data on requirements, 
advising the Museum staff on the arrangement of their planned facili- 
ties, and assisting the architects in arranging discussions and ob- 
taining decisions on many questions of design and procedure. 
Contracts were let for completion of the replacement of the roof 
covering on the Natural History Building, the first phase of which 
was completed in the fiscal year of 1957. The work will include 
covering all skylights with metal and the installation of fluorescent 
lighting above the laylight glass. Covering of the skylights will 
permit uniform lighting in the three large halls and eliminate water 
leakage, which is impossible to control fully in large areas of skylight 
glass. 
