[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 48 (Tuesday, April 16, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E550]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              PROF. JOHN HALL SAVES SMITHSONIAN ARTIFACTS

                                 ______


                            HON. NICK SMITH

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 16, 1996

  Mr. SMITH of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, the country owes a debt of 
gratitude to one of my constituents, Prof. John Hall of Albion College 
in Albion, MI. His story has been told on the CBS Evening News as well 
as on the front pages of America's most prominent newspapers.
  Professor Hall is an expert in, among other things, World War I 
fighter planes. He discovered that original pieces from a French World 
War I aircraft were for sale but which he knew to be the property of 
the Smithsonian. Inquiries led him to the seller--a Smithsonian 
curator, who even offered to authenticate the pieces he was selling on 
Smithsonian letterhead.
  Professor Hall contacted the FBI. At their request, he wore a hidden 
microphone when discussing various aircraft parts that were available 
for sale with the curator. As a result, the FBI was able to arrest him. 
Thanks to professor Hall's detective work, the Smithsonian is now 
undergoing an inventory to see what else might have been stolen and 
implementing a bar code system to ensure that such theft becomes much 
less likely in the future.