Statement by the 

 Secretary 



When I look back at my installation as Smithsonian Secretary, 

 in September 1994, it seems simultaneously to have happened 

 yesterday and a decade ago. I can hardly remember doing 

 anything else; yet I don't know where the year went. 



For me, one of the most exciting events of the year was the 

 launching of the Smithsonian's World Wide Web site on May 

 8, 1995. The Smithsonian Home Page (http://www.si.edu) is a 

 gateway to more than 2,000 electronic pages and thousands of 

 images in a fully integrated, cross-referenced presentation of 

 the Smithsonian's sites, people, and resources. This was the 

 first step toward fulfilling the commitment I made at my 

 installation, a promise that the Smithsonian would become 

 more than the place to visit in Washington, that we should 

 become present throughout the country in new ways, and that 

 we would become deeply engaged in this new world of 

 information transmission and sharing. As of September 30, 

 more than 8.5 million "hits" have been recorded at the site. 



At the heart of the information revolution is something far 

 more than an advance in technology. It is the fulfilling of one 

 central promise of democracy: to make knowledge available to 

 as many citizens as possible, and to allow that access to be 

 shaped by their needs. The "Electronic Smithsonian" gives us 

 an opportunity to interact with America's homes, schools, 

 senior-citizen and youth centers, universities, museums, 

 laboratories, and research centers in ways undreamed of a few 

 years ago. As we prepare for the celebration of our 150th 

 anniversary in 1996, we have continued to enlarge our 

 technological capacity and knowledge to extend the reach of 

 our historic mission. James Smithson's goal of the "increase 

 and diffusion of knowledge" has been reborn for a new century. 



Three ma]or challenges have also punctuated the year. First, 

 leadership changed in Congress, and we have had to get to 



know a whole new group of legislators and staff whose actions 

 can deeply affect us. Second, the Enola Gay episode exploded, 

 raising other issues as well, and disproportionately dominated 

 attention internally and externally; we were uncertain 

 whether the Smithsonian would continue to be cherished in 

 the light of so much negative publicity. However, a public 

 opinion survey taken befote the exhibit opened showed 

 encouraging results. Seventy-two percent of the people who 

 were surveyed said that the Smithsonian was extremely 

 important or very important as a major place in which to 

 understand American culture and American history. Just 14 

 percent said they were somewhat less favorable toward the 

 Smithsonian given what had happened. Third, it became 

 apparent that Congress was going to take serious action to 

 tame the budget deficit, that our budget would have to be 

 affected, and that we would have to concentrate on where to 

 reduce operations to live within a lower appropriation. 



It appears that we have established a good relationship with 

 our oversight and appropriation committees and othets in the 

 legislature. This is evidenced by fair treatment in the budget 

 process, real participation by our Congressional Regents, both 

 old and new, at Institution events, and a showing of great 

 interest in various of our activities by the Speaker, other 

 legislators, and key Congressional staff. 



The Enola Gay imbroglio was an enormous trial. The 

 conflict required us to question anew how both to tespect 

 scholarly integrity and to assure our general and specific 

 publics when we deal in conttoversial areas that we are not 

 using exhibitions to inculcate a patticular viewpoint. This is 

 no easy task, and we now have a set of guidelines that set 

 forth useful processes tor future exhibitions. However, thete is 

 no substitute for good judgment and a disposition to try to be 



