APPENDIX 1 

 REPORT ON THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Sir : I have the honor to submit the following report on the con- 

 dition and operation of the United States National Museum for the 

 fiscal year ended June 30, 1945. 



Appropriations for the maintenance and operation of the National 

 Museum for the year totaled $938,994, which was $8,995 more than 

 for the previous year. 



THE MUSEUM IN WARTIME 



It was with considerable relief that we were able during the year to 

 bring back to Washington the thousands of valuable type specimens 

 and other irreplaceable objects that early in the war had been re- 

 moved from the Capital for safekeeping in the event of enemy air 

 raids on the city. Return of this material, which aggregated more 

 than 60 tons, was completed in November 1944, and by the end of the 

 year most of the specimens had been reinstalled. 



As in previous years since 1941, all possible efforts of the staff were 

 concentrated on projects related to the prosecution of the war, di- 

 rectly or indirectly, though naturally these lessened toward the close 

 of the year, as the end of the war became imminent. Again this year 

 several members of the staff were called upon for work in connection 

 with the Department of State's program for cultural cooperation with 

 the other American republics. This entailed travel and study in 

 Mexico and Haiti, respectively, by two Museum anthropologists, and 

 in Chile by the curator of insects. Strategic geological work was 

 conducted in Mexico in cooperation with the Geological Survey; and 

 biological investigations in Panama were made for the War Depart- 

 ment by two Museum staff members. Others undertook specific re- 

 search projects directly connected with the war and its attendant 

 disease, food, and other problems. Still others were granted fur- 

 loughs for military service or for work with the Office of Strategic 

 Services and other war agencies. Hundreds of specimens were iden- 

 tified for the Army and Navy, and special attention was given to ma- 

 terial sent in by members of the armed services from remote corners 

 of the earth where few or no collectors had previously been. All 

 these activities add up to considerable when their far-flung results are 



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