WASHINGTON, DC.- Visitors to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History can learn more about two of the Smithsonian leaders who championed the museum’s creation when a case exhibit goes on display in December. Their life’s work also offers a history of the Smithsonian Institution and the National Museum of American History (originally known as Museum of History and Technology). Leonard Carmichael (1898–1973) was Smithsonian Secretary between 1953 and 1964; previously he was president of Tufts University. During his tenure as Secretary, he was instrumental in the modernization and expansion of the national collections, securing funding for the National Museum of American History, the National Portrait Gallery and two new wings in the Natural History building. He said, “The Smithsonian has the world’s largest collection of gems, fossils and airplanes, it was stupid not to sort it and show it off.” Frank Taylor