Evening star., 1946-03-24
Smithsonian Soon to Note Centennial
Second Century
Holds Promise
Of Expansion
BV William Millen

VI Expansion
BY William Millen
The Smithsonian Institution, with 100
years of public service behind it in 1916,
now looks forward to an even greater
century Of progress and achievement,
measured by its strides of the past.
Having faithfully preserved and re-
corded evidence of the achievements Of
this age of television, rocket ships, atom
bombs and electronics, it stands at the
threshold OF another portal bearing the
omnipresent question mark. What lies
beyond the door of the future?
President Polk affixed his signature to
an act of Congress officially establishing
the institution August 10, 1846, although
1t had existed in the mind of generous
Englishman many years earlier A fit
ting celebration of the centennial is
planned next fall and will recall that the
Smithsonian Institution has not only
witnessed the growth and wonders of SCI
entific development, but also has par
ticipated in not a few of them and has
nurtured the arts as we'll.
A reflection on what prodigies may be
evolved by Mother Nature and the BRAIN
children of scientists, inventors, engi-
neers and dreamers along the path that
leads to 2046 AID, enters into considera-
ton Of plans for its second century. To
begin with, there is need for more build
ings to house ever-growing exhibits.
There will be new displays, called from
collections from all corners of the earth.
More edifices are expected to arise on
the Mall between the Capitol and Wash
ington Monument.
AS man talks of rocket ships and in
terplanetary communication and trans
portation, translating the imaginative
fiction of Jules Verne into reality; while
scientists continue to investigate the at
mosphere that wraps the earth and as
astronomers prepare to further their
studies of the sun and the planets with
new impliments, strong hint implies
what the proposed new buildings may
contain. For the Smithsonian is and
has been interested in some of these
specialities.
Two Projects Slated
For Continued Research
The Smithsonian will continue to be
influential in promoting new scientific
agencies for the benefit of man and the
better enjoyment of his world, just as it
did in the past century. While one
branch of the institution projects its
studies beyond the stars, another is
digging up the bones of dinosaurs and
prehistoric monsters and delving into
the rocks to wrest the secrets of the be-
ginnings of the world.
Planned for the immediate future are
two definite major projects-examples of
tomorrow's tasks-a study of Indian
sites that will be flooded by proposed
hydroelectric and food-control pro-
grams and five-year study of fossils
preserved in old ocean bottoms by geolo-
gists who collect and classify the hun
dreds Of varieties of animal life which
inhabited the warm seas of the little
known Permian geological age.
The proposed Missouri Valley Author
California will bring about the flooding
of Indian mounds and sites in the river
valleys. The Smithsonian must record
their story for posterity, excavating and
preserving the objects found and con-
tinuing research into the history OF
American aborigines.
The possibility of using the heat OF
the sun for power, for cooking, for dis
tilling water and other uses will con-
tinue, to be of paramount Importance to
Smithsonian scientists.
There will be an expansion of the
habitat exhibits that depict groups of
animals in their native surroundings.
This new method of showing them has
been applied to moose, caribou and
Rocky Mountain sheep and goats. 1t is
planned to carry this plan out in Indian
and other exhibits. Material is brought
from the region concerned and displayed
against panoramic background.
The Smithsonian will continue to
study and classify scientific collections
as they come in. It's influence will be
felt in libraries all over the world and
on the work of other societies and the
publication of scientific literature in the
United States. Activities it has carried
on for the better part of the past GEN.
tury will be projected into the tomor-
row.
Millions Of dollars worth of fine arts
are found in the Smithsonian. It will
carry this artistic heritage into the COM
ing century and add to its treasures.
Information
Given Armed Services
The measure Of the next hundred
years might be gauged by brief survey
of the past century during which the
Smithsonian arrived at its present emf
nence, with property and exhibits worth
many millions of dollars. Brilliant
minds have guided it to this achieve
ment.
During World War II, the Smithson-
Ian conducted secret research for the
armed forces, translated out-of-t
way languages, supplied data on remote
peoples and places, furnished informa-
lion on disease-harboring insects, ami
mails and plants. in conjunction with