SI Records
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 613, Smithsonian Institution, Office of the Secretary, Administrative Records
These records concern the operation of the Office of the Secretary from 1972 to the end of S. Dillon Ripley's tenure as Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
The records document the Smithsonian's on-going operations -- internal, with other government Offices and departments, and with foundations, universities, and other outside organizations. Among the events that are documented are the formation of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; renovations at the National Zoological Park; the opening of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; creation of the Scientific Event Alert Network; April 18, 2011 opening of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Decorative Arts and Design in New York City; opening of the National Air and Space Museum; opening of a restored Arts and Industries Building; addition of the National Museum of African Art to the Smithsonian; first use of the Multiple-Mirror Telescope, Mount Hopkins, Arizona; donation of the Arthur M. Sackler Collection of Oriental Art to the Smithsonian; opening of the Museum Support Center; and the beginning of construction of the Center for African, Near Eastern, and Asian Cultures.
This record series is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.
Secretary S. Dillon Ripley at the 1974 Festival of American Folklife riding a scooter. Ripley is in the Mississippi section of the festival with the quarter-acre cotton field planted for the festival, background. Farther in the background the Washington Monument is visible. [Image no. 74-6461-7]
Artist's rendition painted by Paul Takacs of the "1876: A Centennial Exhibition" as it would be installed in the Arts and Industries Building. The exhibit opened May 10, 1976. [Image no. 2004-63042]
Eighth Secretary of the Smithsonian (1964-1984) S. Dillon Ripley (1913-2001) and Salim Ali (1896-1987) standing on a high hill. Ripley is holding a gun in his right hand and both men have binoculars around their necks. Ali is holding a camera in his right hand. Ripley went to India to do research with Ali for their book "Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan." [Image nos. SIA2007-0154 and 2005-7934]
From left to right in the first row: Unidentified person, Salim Ali (1896-1987), Mary Livingston Ripley (d. 1996), and ornithologist and eighth Smithsonian Secretary, 1964-1984, S. Dillon Ripley (1913-2001) sit on a hillside in India. Mr. P. B. Shekar, former collections specialist at the Bombay Natural History Society and a regular camp member of many expeditions by Dr. Ripley in India, is in the top, back right. [Image nos. 2005-7933 and SIA2007-0155]
Ornithologist and eighth Smithsonian Secretary (1964-1984) S. Dillon Ripley (1913-2001) and Mary Livingston Ripley (d. 1996) are standing in front of four elephants with their drivers seated on each. [Image no. 2005-7935]
Phillip S. Hughes' Study of the Relationship of the Smithsonian Institution to Congress. When the Comptroller General of the United States published its report entitled "Need to Strengthen Financial Accountability to the Congress, Smithsonian Institution," the Board of Regents formed the Audit and Review Committee and asked Phillip S. Hughes to conduct and independent study of the Smithsonian's relationship to the Federal Government, 1977. [Image nos. SIA2013-05511 to SIA2013-05565]