SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 
May 9, 1931. 
Dr. Alexander Wetmore, 
c/o American Consul, 
Port-au-Prince, Haiti. 
Dear Dr. Wetmore: 
I have received your letter of May 3, and have 
also had an opportunity of reading your letter of the same 
date to Dr. Abbot. Your radio relating to space for the 
Bicentennial was received a couple of days before. Need¬ 
less to say your opinions regarding space for the Bicenten¬ 
nial are very welcome and they agree absolutely with the 
opinions here. It begins to look as if this whole matter 
wi.ll not come up again before your return, which will be 
very welcome as far as we are concerned. 
The Bicentennial Commission has not supplied me 
with the information they promised at an early date nor 
have they approached any one here regarding space, in spite 
of the fact that they appeared to be in a very great hurry 
at the time of their visit, and indicated that they could 
not possibly await your return before obtaining a definite 
assignment of space. It may be that Mr. Goldsmith’s esti¬ 
mate of the cost of changing or eliminating partitions in 
the Art Gallery and then restoring them at the close of the 
Bicentennial has had a dampening effect. Certainly, they 
have given no indication of being willing to spend much 
money, and unless they are willing to pay the cost of any 
changes made, they will not be able to expect much coopera¬ 
tion from the Museum, since our funds during 1932 will be 
entirely inadequate for our own work. 
In case the members of this Commission make a 
move before your return, they will be dealt with kindly but 
firmly on the basis of your letter. Even the rotunda ques¬ 
tion is still up in the air, since the Secretary of the Navy 
indicated in his letter that he would give his consent to 
the removal of the Naval exhibit if it were stored in the 
building where it now is. The members of the Bicentennial 
Commission were informed of this, and it was pointed out 
