Will/aiii <ie C Ravcncl. ni a pliotdiimjih published in loud 

 iieuisjKipi'rs in 1918. 



tenure he had to contend with inadequate tunding and 

 a limited staff, yet the collections grew and good re- 

 search was published by those under him. One of the 

 pieces of f urniture in the diiector's office was the large 

 desk once used by Secretary Baird; Wetmore was proud 

 of this heirloom and its owner. Later the desk was taken 

 back across the Mall and still later returned to the east 

 wing. It is a prized piece of iurnituie. for display and 

 not for use. 



During this period it was customary for all inquiries 

 from the public to be answered officially by the director. 

 Inquiries were sent to the departments, which prepared 

 replies for the director's signature. Over several years 

 there had been a series of letters from a skilled amateur 

 collector of Eskimo artifacts. One day an embarrassed 

 Wetmore brought a stranger to the ethnologist Henry 

 Collins's of fice. The amateur had come to Washington 

 anxious to meet Dr. Wetmore. for he was impressed 

 that such a renowned ornithologist could also be so 

 knowledgeable about Eskimo culture. 



"Alexander Wetmore is so familiar a figure to sci- 

 entists as the dean of American ornithology that it is 

 difficult to realize that he has been directly associated 

 with the Smithsonian Institution since 1924,"' Ripley 

 wrote of him in 1976, on the occasion of his ninetieth 

 birthday. Wetmore s activity both in the office and in 

 the field was only then coming to a close. After his 

 death in 1979, a British colleague remembered him 

 with affection and respect: "Dr. Wetmore was, in a 

 sense, an old-fashioned ornithologist, museum-based, 

 his field work centred round collecting — one who pro- 



vides the facts that others use. He did not originate 

 new theories, seemingly distrustful of the sweeping 

 generalization, as is often the case with those who are 

 very familiar with the facts and see, more clearly than 

 most, the exceptions and difficulties that need be taken 

 into account."' 



A. Remington Kellogg 



Wetmoi e was appointed Secretary of the Smithsonian 

 Institution in 1945, but continued to run the Museum 

 until May 1948, when A. Remington Kellogg was named 

 director of the United States National Museum. Kellogg 

 was the second person to hold this exact combination 

 of title and position. He moved up to Assistant Secretary 

 of the Smithsonian Institution in Eebruary 1958 and 

 got a chuckle out of the fact that when he retired in 

 1962, he was replaced by three appointees — an assistant 

 secretary, the director of the United States National 

 Museiun, and the director of the National Museum of 

 Natural History. 



" I he period of Kellogg's administrative appoint- 

 ments was an active one for the Smithsonian," wrote 

 Frank Whitmore of the Geological Survey, Kellogg's 

 fellow aficionado of fossil whales. The Museum's col- 

 lections grew from 25 million to 56 million specimens; 

 "almost all of the exhibit halls in the Natural History 

 Building were modernized, the scientific staff of the 

 Museum was enlarged, and many new research pio- 

 granis were initiated; and the new National Museum 

 of History and Technology . . . was built. Despite the 

 demands of these and many other services, Kellogg 

 managed to spend part of each day in research on fossil 

 marine manuals." ' 



All this is accurate and yet not quite the whole story. 

 Watson Perrygo stated, "One day A. W. [Wetmore] 

 asked me who might make a good director and I sug- 

 gested Kelly." Perrygo was an outgoing, diplomatic per- 

 son who had a real way with people, and perhaps his 

 suggestion did crystallize Wetmore's thoughts. Later, 

 Perrygo said, Wetmore told him to ask Kellogg if he 

 would take the position, but as anticipated, Kellogg 

 immediately refused. Perrygo was told to persist, and 

 eventually Kellogg said, "Tell the boss I'll do it." Kellogg 

 became director, but he was a reluctant administrator. 



Edward Henderson, who rode to work with Kellogg 

 for years, speculated that the appointment was in part 

 the result of a common background — both Wetmore 

 and Kellogg were graduates of the University of Kansas 

 and of the Biological Survey — and in part a recompense 

 for the long delay in Kellogg's advancement within the 

 Museum. Kellogg spent thirteen years as an assistant 

 curator of mammals under Gerritt S. Miller, Jr.,'' before 

 being promoted to curator. This was a typical career 

 pattern for staff members hired between the wars. 



Once Kellogg assumed office, he immediately gained 

 an unofficial title, "the abominable no man." He char- 

 acteristically took a dim view of requests for travel funds, 



130 



The Museum 



