Mammal groups in the 

 central hall of the west wing 

 (Hull 16) in the later 193ds 

 or 1940s. The Wapiti (Cer- 

 vus) are still on exhibit; the 

 glass eyes, painted with oil 

 paint on the interior, are 

 becoming opaque with age as 

 the paint pulls away from the 

 glass. Behind the Wapiti is 

 the buffalo group assembled 

 by William Hornaday. To 

 the right, seen through the 

 glass of the case, are the 

 mountain goats fOreamnos). 

 Because one of them is lying 

 down, this may not be the 

 same group as is currently 

 displayed. 



ninety-two. When he was in his eighties his doctor for- 

 bade him to do any more waltzing, as he became too 

 dizzy. Had he not been injured by a car when crossing 

 Constitution Avenue, he might have worked another 

 decade. Waldo Schmitt took over as head curator of 

 biology. Although a few old-timers continued to work 

 during the late 1940s and the 195()s, the war essentially 

 marked the end of the old-time naturalists who had 

 joined the staff in the brick National Museum. 



Wetmore Succeeds Abbot 



In 1944 Charles Creeley Abbot finally retired after 

 sixteen years as Secretary of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion. After six months under the formal title of Acting 

 Secretary, Alexander Wetmore was appointed in 1945 

 as sixth Secretary of the Institution, making official 

 what he had been for years as Assistant Secretary. For 

 the next four years he continued to serve as director 

 of the National Museum, and the Annual Report by the 

 director was formally submitted by "A. Wetmore" to 

 "The Secretary." After 1947, when items concerning 

 the staff, the buildings, and a few other matters were 

 transferred for economy's sake from the Museum re- 

 port to the full annual report of the Secretary of the 

 Institution, many details that had cast light on day-to- 

 day events were no longer recorded. 



Just as the Annual ReJ)ort of the Museum never ex- 

 plicitly noted the beginning of World War II, it did not 

 record the end of the conflict. In the latter part of 1944 

 times continued to be diff icult, but by early 1945 victory 



was in the air, and by late summer the traiunatic event 

 was over. The staff finally could think of research un- 

 connected with military work and devote some time to 

 more basic activities. 



Nineteen forty-six marked the 100th anniversary of 

 the fotmding of the Smithsonian Institution. The Postal 

 Service issued a commemorative stamp, and consid- 

 ering that the war had been over for less than a year, 

 the Musetmi's anniversary celebrations were not a bad 

 effort. They included a special exhibition in the foyer 

 from July 1 to September 27, 1946; a scholarly lecture 

 by Matthew Stirling of the Bureau of American Eth- 

 nology on his excavations in Mexico; and, on October 

 23, an evening ceremony followed by a reception in the 

 rotunda attended by 1,021 guests. Lucile St. Hoynie, a 

 physical anthropologist who was there, remembers that 

 the Marine Band Orchestra played from the second 

 floor aroinid the rotunda. Wetmore surprised everyone 

 by dropping his modesty and leading the dancing. 



One thing that was lacking in the Smithsonian's cen- 

 tennial year was time to prepare a detailed written re- 

 cord considering what the Institution, and the Museum, 

 had accomplished in one century, and what they hoped 

 to accomplish in the next. Additional publicity would 

 have been extremely helpful, for the problems of the 

 thirties had not disappeared during the wai . Funding 

 slill was short, and even with the return of workers 

 from the armed forces, the Museum was understaffed 

 at every level. □ 



World War II 



83 



