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[[underlined]]Museum of African Art[[/underlined]]

In May, 1977, the [[underlined]]ad hoc[[/underlined]] Committee of the Board of Regents unanimously recommended acquisition of the Museum of African Art with four stated conditions:

(1) That appropriate Congressional approval, either in the form of authorizing legislation or some other expression of concurrence, be secured;

(2) That the assumption of responsibility by the Smithsonian be made contingent upon receipt of adequate appropriations;

(3) That the policies and administration of the Museum be under the Regents and Secretary with, at most, an advisory board representing the present trustees; and

(4) That the Regents and Secretary be free in the future to make whatever use they deem appropriate of the collections, real estate and other assets of the Museum.

After considerable discussion at its May 13 meeting, the Board approved the following motion:

VOTED that the Board of Regents expresses its strong continuing interest in acquiring the Museum of African Art and remands to the [[underlined]]ad hoc[[/underlined]] Committee studying this matter under the Chairmanship of Dr. Haskins, authority to continue discussions with the officials of the Museum of African Art and interested Members of Congress which could lead to possible authorizing legislation for this purpose at an appropriate time.

At the time, the Board was particularly concerned about the possible Congressional response to the proposed acquisition and felt that it would be prudent to await the results of the Hughes study and the report of the Audit and Review Committee.