460 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 194 5 



agencies, made the Institution a ready source of quickly needed tech- 

 nical information and hence a valuable arm of the war services in 

 Washington. 



A brief resume of Smithsonian war work will not only serve as an 

 archival record, but might also conceivably be of value in connection 

 with certain postwar activities. 



WAR COMMITTEE 



The Secretary's intent in creating a War Committee was that it 

 should serve as the agent and the rallying point of the entire staff 

 of the Institution. The personnel of the committee was selected to 

 represent the various phases of Smithsonian interests. The chairman, 

 Carl W. Mitman, represented engineering and industries; the secre- 

 tary, William N. Fenton, anthropology ; Herbert Friedmann, natural 

 history; Loyal B. Aldrich, the physical sciences; and Webster P. True, 

 the publication and information branch of the Institution. The com- 

 mittee's instructions were brief and unencumbered by a multiplicity 

 of detailed directions. It was given the responsibility of doing a job 

 and left free to do it in whatever manner the turn of events indicated. 

 In effect, its sole purpose was to receive suggestions, canvass possi- 

 bilities on its own initiative, and recommend actions that would pro- 

 mote the effectiveness of the Institution in the war effort. 



The administrative simplicity of this method of adapting Smith- 

 sonian activities to wartime needs enabled the War Committee to cut 

 red tape and act promptly on all proposals from within the Institution 

 or from without. Of course, its authority was limited to the making of 

 recommendations to the Secretary, but it attempted through the word- 

 ing of its recommendations to produce a simple "yes" or "no" decision. 

 If the decision was "yes," the committee kept in close touch with the 

 approved project and aided whenever possible in promoting its success. 



The War Committee proceeded as follows: Recognizing that it 

 was merely the agent of the entire staff, it first invited suggestions 

 .from every member as to how best he or the Institution as a whole 

 could serve in the Nation's war effort. It next sifted the suggestions 

 and considered first those that appeared to be widely recognized as 

 desirable and suitable. Each project approved by the committee was 

 submitted to the Secretary as a separate recommendation to avoid 

 complicating the decision on approval. When suggestions from the 

 staff were all in hand and given full consideration, the committee it- 

 self made a systematic canvass of the Institution's resources, facili- 

 ties, and outside contacts to be sure no possibility of action had been 

 overlooked. 



The main principles guiding the committee in its consideration of 

 possible activities were four : They should be of definite war value ; they 



