SMITHSONIAN'S PART IN WORLD WAR II 465 



the headings there are hundreds of recorded inquiries, whereas for 

 other topics with which the Institution is known not to be particularly 

 concerned, only a few appear. The four subjects that show the largest 

 number of inquiries are biology, anthropology, geography, and wood 

 technology. 



GEOGRAPHIC ROSTER 



The War Committee, shortly after its appointment, realized that 

 the first step toward a utilization of Smithsonian resources in the war 

 effort would be a systematic record of the geographic and other special- 

 ized knowledge of all members of the staff. A questionnaire was sub- 

 mitted to each member asking him to list his travel and field experience, 

 his knowledge of languages, and his available photographs of regions 

 other than the United States. This material was tabulated on cards 

 by areas of the world, and to it was added the individual's personal 

 history and his special knowledge. From the card file, a report was 

 prepared under the title "Roster of Personnel, World Travel, and 

 Special Knowledge Available to War Agencies at the Smithsonian 

 Institution." 



At the time the report was completed, the Ethnogeographic Board 

 (discussed in the next section) was being organized. As the Board 

 was to serve as the clearinghouse for just such information, the Smith- 

 sonian roster was turned over to it, serving as the nucleus for its larger 

 file of such data. Dr. William N. Fenton, a member of the War Com- 

 mittee who had prepared the Smithsonian roster, was designated by 

 the Secretary to serve as research associate of the Ethnogeographic 

 Board, and he at once proceeded to expand the roster to include per- 

 sonnel of the Department of Agriculture and other personnel records 

 that were available. The file grew steadily until it eventually covered 

 some 4,500 specialists whose knowledge covered every part of the 

 globe. 



The Director of the Board was enabled through this file, indexed by 

 names and countries, to locate promptly upon request from the Army 

 and Navy persons with special information, maps, photographs, and 

 knowledge of languages of any particular foreign region. Army and 

 Navy officers and civilians representing the war agencies used the 

 file constantly. 



ETHNOGEOGRAPHIC BOARD 



The Ethnogeographic Board was originally proposed by the Na- 

 tional Research Council as a means of bringing together in one place 

 all the known resources of specialized and regional knowledge so 

 urgently needed by the Army and Navy, particularly in the early days 

 of the war. The Smithsonian War Committee, hearing of the plan 

 and recognizing in it an extension of the service the Institution itself 



