PREFACE Vll 



The task of going through the extensive files, reviewing the record, 

 and what lay behind it, evaluating the successes and the failures, has 

 been possible only because of the whole-hearted cooperation of the 

 staff, the Board members, and the Sponsors. As a Board member my- 

 self, and a personal friend of everyone involved, the problem of main- 

 taining an objective attitude has not always been easy. However, 

 every participant has insisted that artificial courtesy should not spoil 

 the usefulness of the report. If then, I speak of the Board largely in 

 the past tense, it is only because that is the period covered, and not for 

 any lack of appreciation of the continuing activities. Likewise, if I 

 seem to judge harshly at times, the victim's consent is implied, al- 

 though the opinion is wholly my own. 



Wendell C. Bennett, 



New Haven, Connecticut, 



August I, ip45. 



Addendum 



This history when first submitted covered the activities of the 

 Ethnogeographic Board up to June 1945. Since that time the Board 

 has been formally disbanded, as of December 31, 1945, although cer- 

 tain unfinished commitments are still to be completed. The first 3 

 years were those of greatest activity, and consequently a complete re- 

 vision of the history does not seem necessary. However, revisions 

 have been made where needed to bring the activities up to date. 



