Description: As World War II raged throughout the world, many feared the threat of another attack on American soil. Washington, D.C., and the National Mall were obvious targets for the Axis countries which put the Smithsonian buildings and collections located there in danger. In order to protect the Smithsonian’s collections, staff took action and moved many materials off of the National
Description: AcknowledgementsThe web version of From Smithson to Smithsonian: The Birth of an Institution was adapted from an exhibition that appeared from July 1996 to January 1997 in the Smithsonian Libraries Exhibition Gallery in the National Museum of American History. It was one of the official projects that celebrated the 150th anniversary of the 1846 founding of the Smithsonian