12 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. IO7 



ever, part of the intention of this analysis is to show where sources 

 could have been more widely and more effectively utilized, and fii 

 a future situation many unforeseen opportunities for service might 

 well arise. 



ORGANIZATION 



The Ethnogeographic Board is a conglomerate organization, in- 

 volving four sponsoring groups, Board members, a Directorate with 

 a Washington office and staff, six cooperating committees, and a 

 loosely assigned group of consultants. The historical account of the 

 founding explains how some of these became united. The interrela- 

 tionships, however, were not too clear at the beginning, and at the 

 end of 3 years of operation this situation had not changed. The 

 components are examined individually and then mixed. 



Sponsors 



"The Ethnogeographic Board is in effect a joint committee of the 

 three research councils (National Research Council, American Coun- 

 cil of Learned Societies, Social Science Research Council) with 

 which the Smithsonian Institution cooperates to furnish a secretariat 

 and office accommodations." (From the mimeographed statement 

 submitted to the Foundations in the application for financial sup- 

 port.) Actually, the Smithsonian Institution was a full-fledged fourth 

 Sponsor. The four sponsoring groups were represented on the Board 

 by their Directors, jointly appointed the other members, and jointly 

 applied for and received grants for the Board's support from the 

 Rockefeller Foundation and the Carnegie Institution. 



The Sponsors took an active interest in the Board, and controlled 

 many of its policies, sometimes by concrete statements, sometimes by 

 the negative technique of making no commitments. The prestige of 

 the Sponsors was a great boon for the Ethnogeographic Board, but, 

 also, so many masters had its drawbacks when quick decisions were 

 required. 



Board 



The interdisciplinary character of the Ethnogeographic Board ac- 

 counts for the sponsorship of three Councils instead of one, and 

 also for the selection of the members. These were appointed jointly 

 by the four Sponsors which was supposed to eliminate any idea of 

 representation, although it is not difficult to guess which Sponsor 

 proposed each member. In effect, however, the Board consisted of 

 a group of independent scholars, and not of a body of representatives. 



