2 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 195 7 



Freer, respectively. Both of these galleries admirably provide for the 

 specialized work of preservation, restoration, study, and public display 

 of their great art treasures. 



The United States National Museum, the National Collection of 

 Fine Arts, the National Air Museum, and the National Zoological 

 Park all in different ways need added facilities in order to perform 

 the functions assigned to them in a manner that is fitting for the 

 collections of the United States of America. 



Much progress has been made during the year in the work of the 

 United States National Museum. Detailed, and in some respects defin- 

 itive, planning has been carried on for the new and additional build- 

 ing for this museum for which a Federal appropriation was made 

 last year. This building, to be known as the Museum of History and 

 Technology, will be located on the Mall on a plot of land bounded 

 on the north, east, and west, respectively, by Constitution Avenue, 

 Twelfth Street, and Fourteenth Street. When completed, this new 

 structure, housing the Nation's collections in the fields of history and 

 technology, will be one of the world's finest museum buildings. It will 

 do much to regain for the United States its proper place in the museum 

 world which this country has been gradually losing during the past 

 half century. The years since the end of the Second World War 

 have seen a sharp increase in national museum construction and re- 

 construction throughout the world. 



The Natural History Building of the United States National Mu- 

 seum is also almost desperately overcrowded. A quarter of a cen- 

 tury ago this condition was recognized by the Congress, and new 

 wings for this building were authorized. The detailed planning of 

 these wings and their construction thus constitute one of the great 

 current needs of the Smithsonian, and funds for such planning are 

 included in the 1958 Smithsonian appropriation. 



Besides planning for new buildings and additions to existing 

 buildings, the Smithsonian was active during this year in the recon- 

 ditioning and renovation of its buildings. Some of the old build- 

 ings of the Institution had fallen into real disrepair. This year 

 wooden sash of the Smithsonian Building was renewed, external 

 painting carried on, and much needed repairs to the plumbing, elec- 

 trical and heating service were made in this and other buildings. 



The program of modernizing the public displays of the Institution 

 explained in previous reports was continued this year. Notable new 

 halls showing life in early America, power machinery, mammals of 

 North America, and the history of the telephone were opened. The 

 interest created by these new and truly educational halls is reflected 

 in a large increase in attendance. 



