104 smithsonian miscellaneous collections vol. 10/ 



Washington Office 

 i. the board should maintain a washington office and 



STAFF 



The basic purpose of the board is to interrelate the academic re- 

 search and the Government programs. For this a Washington office 

 is essential, even though other offices are established. The Washing- 

 ton office would be the fiscal administrator, keeper of records, and 

 general executor. 



2. AN INSTITUTIONAL SETTING FOR THE WASHINGTON OFFICE 



IS DESIRABLE 



The Ethnogeographic Board was located in the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution, the home of one of its Sponsors. Not only did it receive enor- 

 mous cold financial support from this arrangement, but also many- 

 intangible benefits. The Smithsonian's versatile scientific and techni- 

 cal staflf, its specialized library and collections, its tremendous prestige, 

 were all at the Board's disposal. Gradually the Board took on the 

 color of the Smithsonian. This identification, both mystic and real, 

 may have hampered some of its activities, but in total the benefits 

 received counteracted the few limitations. 



3. THE WASHINGTON OFFICE SHOULD ESTABLISH LIAISON 



RELATIONSHIPS WITH GOVERNMENT AGENCIES 



The present Board established efi^ective liaison only with the Army 

 and Navy, but in the future an attempt should be made to increase 

 the coverage. This would be particularly true when the board obtained 

 academic materials of a broad character which would be useful to 

 many agencies. 



4. THE PRINCIPAL FUNCTION OF THE WASHINGTON OFFICE 



SHOULD BE TO ESTABLISH RELATIONSHIPS 

 WITH GOVERNMENT 



In order to do this, the staff could follow about the same lines de- 

 veloped by the present Directorate: dinner conferences, distribution 

 of materials, question-and-answer service, area rosters, information 

 files, request reports, and the rest. These would not only continue to 

 be of real value in themselves, but would likewise serve to pave the 

 way for the effective placement of the materials and reports which 

 the board would provide. 



The Washington office would, as in the present case, seek to make 



