Harold W. Graves, Acting Supervisor

INCE 1934, the Office of Exhibits has served to present to the public a visual conception of Department of the Interior activities in the preservation of natural resources and its contribution to the economic and social welfare of the American people. As a result of its operations, exhibits consisting of animated dioramas and models, relief and animated maps, murals, transparencies and charts have been installed and viewed by thousands of people daily at national and international world's fairs, state and county fairs, expositions and conventions.

Today, the Office is in a position, both from the standpoint of equipment and skill, to render valuable aid in national defense through the preparation of maps, construction of models required by the Army or Navy, and the preparation of exhibits and displays as well as painted posters for reproduction.

With the popularity of the displays evidenced by a substantial increase in the number of requests for permission to use the exhibits, the Office has on hand approximately $75,000 worth of material which is loaned, free of charge, to groups, organizations, schools or colleges.

THE YEAR'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Maintaining a studio and workshop with a staff of skilled craftsmen, the Office of Exhibits, during the fiscal year 1940, designed and built approximately $30,000 worth of new exhibit material. Included in this work was an animated diorama of Bonneville Dam and power house on the Columbia River in Washington State. An animated and illuminated map, showing the natural resources found in the four Northwestern States, as well as the opportunities for electric light and power afforded by the Bonneville project, also was prepared. In addition, two large cases containing colored transparencies illustrating the advantages of increased use of Bonneville power were furnished.

During the same year, the Office of Exhibits completed one of its largest animated dioramas for the Government of Puerto Rico at a cost of nearly $5,000. This diorama is an exact replica in every detail of the city of San Juan and the new airport and harbor, and was installed in the Puerto Rico Building at the New York World's Fair.

The Office of Exhibits also constructed another large diorama showing the entire city of Washington. This was built for the National Capital Parks Planning Commission at a cost of $4,800, to assist it in the planning, designing, and locating of new Federal buildings in the District of Columbia.

Two groups of four dioramas each were built for the Coronado Exposition Commission. One of these groups, to be installed as part of the permanent exhibit in the Museum at Canyon, Tex., depicts early pioneer life on the plains of West Texas, and includes representations of early ranch life, transportation, wolf hunts and Indian buffalo hunts on the plains.

The second series of dioramas for the Coronado Exposition, to be placed on display at Phoenix, Ariz., includes a reproduction of Old Fort Elliott in northern Texas; picturization of a band of soldier scouts searching for marauding Indians; an attack of a wagon train of early pioneers by Indians; and a replica of the first prairie home to be set up on the western plains.

The Office also designed and constructed an exhibit of the Bureau of Mines at the Eighth Scientific Congress held in Washington during the past year.

The use of dioramas and exhibits by the various bureaus and offices of the Department of the Interior has proven so valuable in the past, that already approximately $27,500 worth of new material of this nature has been scheduled for the present fiscal year.

H. L. Raul, Museum Curator

ES

STABLISHED March 8, 1938, the Museum of the Department of the Interior has pioneered as a comprehensive governmental department museum. Designed as an historical, scientific, and educational institution, this modern museum is unique in its particular field. Popularly called an "Exposition of Conservation," the Museum visualizes and explains the history, organization, and present activities of the various bureaus of the Department.

Due to recent accessions and reclassification of the exhibits, the Museum at present contains approximately 1,300 specimens, 111 historical charts and maps, 12 large illustrated hand-painted mural maps, 75 scientific scale models, 190 interpretive oil and watercolor paintings and sculptures, 9 large mural paintings, 11 historical and scientific dioramas, 389 special photographs, 12 large mural silhouettes, 11 illuminated transparencies, and numerous miscellaneous exhibits; there are approximately 1,600 explanatory labels, making a total of more than 3,700 items.

A plan for "Conducted Museum Tours" was formally inaugurated by the Secretary during the past year. These tours were popular and proved the effectiveness of trained guidance, as compared with casual museum circulation, the modern museum technique of dynamic visual education serving to inform the public of the vital responsibilities vested in the Department concerning natural resources in relation to the national defense. Conducted tours were arranged for congressional parties, educational and tourist groups. Due to frequent requests from the public for guided Museum tours ample staff assistance should be provided to make it possible to extend and enlarge this service.

During the past year, 5 original special exhibits were prepared and displayed by the Museum in collaboration with the Bureaus, covering the following subjects:

Grazing Service; Present Status of Indian Reorganization; the Work of William H. Jackson, Pioneer Government Photographer; a special exhibit for the Eighth Scientific Congress; and Geology of the Alaska Railroad Region.

These special exhibits were favorably received and have been requested by the United States Travel Bureau for further display in New York City.

An important new accession, the Colburn Collection of Indian Basketry, was the gift of Mrs. Frederick H. Colburn of San Francisco. This collection contains approximately 300 specimens of characteristic shapes, decorative designs, materials and stitches, used by various groups of Indians ranging from Alaska to the Mexican border, and including antiques of the Southwest. Many rare and valuable specimens are included in this collection.

Among the Museum betterments accomplished during the year may be listed the following: A progressive Museum program with new features introduced; new displays and case revisions; a flexible filing system devised and installed; new methods of Museum extension service established; approved methods established for care and handling of exhibits; tourist information activity in "Travel America Year" program established; assistance rendered in preparing conservation study courses for school and college classes, and establishment of an information desk reference library relating to current Departmental activities and technical reports.

The consolidation under the President's Reorganization Plan, of the Bureau of Fisheries, the Biological Survey, and the Wildlife Division of the National Park Service, now designated the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior, brought a highly desirable exhibit feature into the Museum. Plans comprising animated dioramas and case displays are in progress for representation of the new Service among the exhibits.

The visitor's register of the Museum contains names from every State in the Union and from the outlying Territories and island possessions. More than 40 States have been represented in a single month, and an average of 4,000 to 5,000 persons visited the Museum monthly. Systematic efforts were made to contact visiting convention delegates, schools and colleges, churches, civic organizations, and other local and national groups.

Winfred Overholser, M. D., Superintendent

HAVE the honor to submit herewith the annual report of St. Elizabeths Hospital for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1940.

Under the terms of Reorganization Plan IV, made effective June 30, 1940, St. Elizabeths Hospital was transferred from the Department of the Interior to the Federal Security Agency. This is, therefore, the last report of this Hospital which will be submitted to the Secretary of the Interior.

It is gratifying to record that the general state of the health of the patients was held at a high level during the past fiscal year, and that no epidemics or other catastrophes occurred. The physical plant was developed and maintained in an excellent state of repair; several administrative changes designed to improve the care of the patients were carried out; and the teaching and research programs were prosecuted vigorously.

MOVEMENT OF POPULATION

On June 30, 1940, 6,535 patients remained in the hospital as compared with 6,274 on June 30, 1939, an increase of 261.

The total number of patients under treatment during the year was 7,476, as compared with 7,024 the preceding year. an increase of 452. The total number of admissions during the year was 1,202, as compared with 1,056 the preceding year, an increase of 146. With the exception of the year 1919, following the World War when 1,802 patients were admitted, this is the largest number of admissions recorded in the history of the hospital; 86 of the patients admitted were former patients of St. Elizabeths Hospital, and 116 others were former patients of other mental hospitals.

The total number of discharges was 619, as compared with 469 in the preceding year, an increase of 150.

The total number of deaths for the year was 322, as compared with 281 for the preceding year, an increase of 41.

The total number of discharges and deaths, combined, was 941, compared with 750 the previous year, or an increase of 191.

269753-41 -33