These records of special projects in NMHT as well as throughout the Smithsonian focus on several major activities including the Computer History Project in cooperation with the American Federation of Information Processing Societies (AFIPS); the bicentennial celebration of James Smithson's birth; acquisition of a flag from each of the fifty states; and a proposed historical studies center. Records for the Computer History Project include press releases, audit reports, minutes of its Advisory Committee and memoranda and correspondence relating to a computer history exhibit, an oral history project on computer history, and the role of the principal investigators in the AFIPS project. For the Smithson Bicentennial, records include newspaper and magazine articles, photographs, and correspondence with speakers, foreign and domestic invitees, charitable foundations, and the International Council of Museums. The states' flags project produced correspondence with governors and other state executive officials concerning the states' flags, while the proposal for a historical studies center yielded proposed budgets, correspondence, and copies of federal legislation.

This record unit also contains correspondence and memoranda concerning the Atoms for Peace exhibit by the Atomic Energy Commission; correspondence, memoranda, magazine articles, and photographs relating to a McGraw-Hill publication editorial advocating a proposed national museum of engineering and industry; a speech by Leonard Carmichael, news releases, correspondence, and memoranda concerning a National Conference of Business Paper Editors; and correspondence and teachers' guidebooks to various Smithsonian exhibit halls for the Washington Area School Study Council.