The Assistant Secretary for Museum Programs directed the operations of the Conservation Analytical Laboratory, Office of Exhibits Central, Office of the Registrar, the Smithsonian Institution Archives, Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, and the Institution's functions under the National Museum Act of 1966 until its repeal in 1983. In addition, the office served as liaison with various regional, national, and international museum organizations.
In 1972 Paul N. Perrot became Assistant Secretary for Museum Programs, assuming the duties formerly discharged by the Director General of Museums. In 1983 William N. Richards, Jr., Acting Assistant Secretary for Museum Programs, succeeded Perrot. In 1986 the office was merged into a new office, the Assistant Secretary for Museums.
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Agency History. Record 227774
