The memoir, Smithsonian Impresario, tells the story of the Smithsonian Institution at a critical juncture its history. Dillon Ripley, newly appointed Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, believed the venerable organization was "staid and stogy." His call for change was met with inertia and resistance. Historians, social scientists, researchers and curators were not natural change agents, yet change was desperately needed. Ripley believed the Smithsonian needed to become relevant to its public, and to congress. And unlike the 'nations attic" of old, the Smithsonian needed to create a new...
The memoir, Smithsonian Impresario, tells the story of the Smithsonian Institution at a critical juncture its history. Dillon Ripley, newly appointed ...
