Smithsonian Institution

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, an establishment dedicated to research, education, and national service to science, the arts, and humanities. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., it was chartered by Congress in 1846 pursuant to the will of the Englishman James Smithson (1765–1829). In 1826, Smithson, who was the illegitimate son of Sir Hugh Smithson, Duke of Northumberland, and Elizabeth Keate Macie, descended from Henry VII, bequeathed his fortune, amounting to about $550,000 (a considerable sum for those days), to "the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an Establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." Smith-son's motivations for this unusual bequest are conjectural, but several influences may have been involved: disillusionment due to the circumstances of his birth, which, in Britain, barred him from certain privileges and inheritances; his keen interest in science (he was an Oxford graduate, a competent chemist, and a member of the Royal Society); his faith in America, generated perhaps from his friendship with Americans traveling in Europe, although he himself never visited the United States; and perhaps the general revolutionary temper of the times, which impelled him to do something original for the benefit of humankind and make his name remembered long after, as he said, "the names of the Northumberlands and Percys are extinct and forgotten."

When, after much debate, Congress accepted the gift, there began a long argument as to what form the institution should take in order to conform most clearly with Smithson's broad prescription. The format that finally evolved and was enacted on 10 August 1846 was due in large part to John Quincy Adams, who was then back in Congress following his presidency and whose articulate championing of science and education was most effective.

The Smithsonian derives its support both from appropriations from Congress and from private endowments, of which Smithson's gift was the nucleus. It is considered an independent establishment in the role of a ward of the U.S. government, the trustee. It is governed by a board of regents made up of the vice-president and chief justice of the United States (ex officio) and three U.S. senators, three representatives, and six citizens named by Congress. The regents elect one of their number as chancellor and choose a secretary, who is the executive officer, or director, of the institution. Since its founding the Smithsonian has had eleven secretaries: Joseph Henry, professor and physicist at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton), noted for his research in electromagnetism, who served from 1846 until his death in 1878; Spencer Fullerton Baird, biologist, secretary from 1878 until his death in 1887; Samuel Pierpont Langley, astronomer and aviation pioneer, from 1887 to 1906; Charles Doolittle Walcott, from 1907 to 1927; Charles Greeley Abbot, astrophysicist, from 1928 to 1944; Alexander Wetmore, biologist, from 1945 to 1952; Leonard Carmichael, psychologist, from 1953 to 1964; S. Dillon Ripley, zoologist, from 1964 to 1984; Robert McCormick Adams from 1984 to 1994; Michael Heyman from 1994 to 1999; and Lawrence Small beginning in 2000.

Henry's original program for the Smithsonian and its plan of organization were based on his interpretation of how best to "increase" and "diffuse" knowledge in order "to carry out the design of the testator." To increase knowledge he proposed to "stimulate men of talent to make original researches, by offering rewards for memoirs containing new truths" and "to appropriate a portion of income for particular researches, under the direction of suitable persons." To diffuse knowledge it was proposed to "publish a series of periodical reports on the progress of different branches of knowledge" and "to publish occasionally separate treatises on subjects of general interest." These objectives have continued to guide the activities of the institution. But this simplicity of design did not last long, and the institution proliferated as Congress began assigning the institution jobs to do and "bureaus" to administer. In 1879, a large rambling structure adjoining the Smithsonian was begun to house exhibits for the National Museum, an outgrowth of the Centennial Exposition of 1876 at Philadelphia. Eventually, the National Museum came under the administration of the Smithsonian. Over the years, the Smithsonian has assembled under its wings yet more museums, art galleries, and other branches, making it perhaps the largest museum and cultural complex in the world. The Smithsonian occupies several buildings flanking the Mall between Fifth and Fourteenth streets and other buildings in several other parts of the city and in a number of places outside Washington, including New York City; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Panama.

The Smithsonian includes sixteen museums. Nine of these are located on the National Mall. They are: the Smithsonian Institution Building, known as the Castle; the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the Freer Gallery of Art, both dedicated to Asian art; the Arts and Industries Building; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; the National Air and Space Museum; the National Museum of African Art; the National Museum of American History; and the National Museum of Natural History, the oldest of the Smithsonian's branches. The National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum have, since 1968, occupied the Old Patent Office Building. The Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture, the National Zoological Park, the National Postal Museum, and the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum are located elsewhere in Washington, D.C. The Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum and the National Museum of the American Indian are located in New York City. A National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., is due to open on the Mall in the early twenty-first century. The Smithsonian also oversees eight research centers: the Archives of American Art, the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, the Conservation and Research Center, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, the Center for Materials Research and Education, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, the Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. The International Exchange Service was initiated in 1850 by Baird and Henry to facilitate the international exchange of scientific and other scholarly publications. There are also three agencies technically under the aegis of the Smithsonian but administered by separate boards of trustees: the National Gallery of Art (established 1941), the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (opened 1971), and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (1968).

The Smithsonian museums, embracing all fields of science, technology, and the arts, are famous for their many unique objects on display. In addition to such showpieces as Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, the First Ladies' inaugural ball gowns, the Hope Diamond, Benjamin Franklin's printing press, the original "star-spangled banner," and the giant model of the blue whale, the dozens of exhibit halls throughout the museums display much of humanity's knowledge of the earth and human civilization and culture. There are also vast study collections, numbering in the millions of objects and specimens, that form the basis of the research conducted not only by the large staff of Smithsonian scientists but also by students and researchers in history, technology, and the physical and natural sciences. The institution is equally famous for its worldwide exploration programs, which were initiated by Henry and Baird.

The first Smithsonian publication, Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, was issued in 1848, and since that time there have appeared under the Smithsonian imprint (now called the Smithsonian Press) thousands of books, pamphlets, catalogs, bulletins, and periodicals in all branches of science, art, and technology. Most of them are scholarly publications, but a few are popular in nature. Smithsonian publications—some financed by government funds and some by the institution's private funds—are widely distributed to libraries, research institutions, and students. Since 1970, in conjunction with a subsidiary organization, the Smithsonian Associates, the institution has published a popular magazine, Smithsonian.

Since the early 1960s, the Smithsonian has expanded its activities, particularly in the field of public education, in an effort to identify the institution more closely with the academic world and with modern educational and research trends. Each of the museums and research centers now includes an Education Department, and, through a program dubbed Smithsonian Affiliates, the Smithsonian has arranged cooperative agreements with museums across the country. Smithsonian Productions creates and manages electronic media for the institution, and ongoing programs of lectures, films, workshops, tours, demonstrations, and performances allow daily access to the "nation's attic."

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bello, Mark. The Smithsonian Institution, a World of Discovery: An Exploration of Behind-the-Scenes Research in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993.

Goode, G. Brown, ed. The Smithsonian Institution, 1846–1896. The History of Its First Half Century. Washington, D.C., 1897; New York: Arno Press, 1980.

Oehser, Paul Henry. Sons of Science: The Story of the Smithsonian Institution and Its Leaders. New York: H. Schuman, 1949.

———. The Smithsonian Institution. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1983.

Paul H. Oehser / f. b.

See also American Association for the Advancement of Science ; Archives ; Federal Agencies ; Foundations, Endowed ; Observatories, Astronomical ; Science Museums .