472 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 194 5 



The Institution put on a number of special wartime exhibits, includ- 

 ing several representing the war activities of our allies, one of identi- 

 fication models of Allied and enemy aircraft, several regional exhibits 

 covering areas involved in the war, one showing the development of 

 modern weapons, and one illustrating life-saving and rescue equipment 

 used by the Navy. 



In the matter of special services to members of the armed forces, the 

 Institution's efforts included the opening of its buildings all day 

 Sunday for the benefit of the many servicemen in and around Washing- 

 ton; the furnishing of free postcards in color to servicemen, with 

 writing and mailing facilities available for their use ; and servicemen's 

 guided tours on Sundays through the Museum exhibits in cooperation 

 with the U. S. O. and under the supervision of Frank M. Setzler, Head 

 Curator of Anthropology of the National Museum. 



SUMMARY 



After the outbreak of war, as it became apparent that the Smith- 

 sonian Institution was not to be assigned definite war duties, the 

 Secretary planned a deliberate effort to make its resources of the 

 greatest possible usefulness in the prosecution of the war. He ap- 

 pointed a War Committee, which canvassed every facility of the 

 Institution and recommended lines of action. A roster of the geo- 

 graphical and specialized knowledge of every member of the staff was 

 compiled. Thousands of requests for technical information from 

 Army and Navy were handled, both directly by the Institution's 

 staff and through the Ethnogeographic Board, a clearinghouse set up 

 jointly by the Smithsonian and three other agencies. Members of the 

 scientific staff undertook a number of war research projects, and the 

 engineering laboratory assisted the National Inventors' Council in 

 working out certain inventions. The Institution took an active part 

 in the Government's program of improving cultural relations with the 

 other American republics. A number of publications having a direct 

 war bearing were issued, the most outstanding being the new series 

 of War Background Studies, of which the Army and Navy used over 

 400,000 copies. Other wartime activities included special librarj' 

 service to war agencies, service on wartime committees, special war 

 exhibits, and special features for members of the armed forces. No 

 particular administrative problems were involved in the Smithsonian's 

 war activities, as most of them were merely extensions of its normal 

 peace-time work. It is the hope and belief of the Institution that no 

 possibility of war service was overlooked and that the Smithsonian's 

 contributions were of measurable value in the Nation's all-out war 

 effort. 



