On June 27, 1829, English scientist James Smithson died, leaving an endowment "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." Some Englishmen regarded his bequest as a trifle eccentric, considering Smithson had never traveled to America. A fellow of the venerable Royal Society of London from the age of twenty-two, Smithson published numerous scientific papers on mineral composition, geology, and chemistry. He discovered the substance zinc carbonate, named "smithsonite" in his honor.
An act of Congress established the Smithsonian Institution on June 27, 1846. After considering a series of recommendations, which included the creation of a national university, a public library, or an astronomical observatory, Congress agreed that the bequest would support the creation of a museum, a library, and a program of active research, publication, educational outreach, and collection in the natural and applied sciences, arts, and history.
The collections and libraries of the Smithsonian have continued to grow through donations and purchases. Today, the Institution comprises sixteen museums and galleries and numerous research facilities throughout the United States and the world. In addition to the original Smithsonian Institution Building, popularly known as the "Castle," visitors to Washington, D.C. tour the National Museum of Natural History, which houses the natural science collections, the National Zoological Park, and the National Portrait Gallery.
The National Museum of American History houses the popular First Ladies' Gowns Exhibit, the original Star-Spangled Banner, and other artifacts of our nation's history.
The National Air & Space Museum, which exhibits marvels of aviation history such as the Wright brothers' 1903 Flyer and Charles Lindbergh's airplane, the Spirit of St. Louis, has the distinction of being the most visited museum in the world.
- Visit the Smithsonian Institution Web site to learn more about this American treasure trove and to find a complete listing of all Smithsonian museums and research centers. To see highlighted items from the Smithsonian collection linked to historical themes visit HistoryWired. Search on the term museum in American Landscape and Architectural Design, 1850-1920 to see images of a wide variety institutions. See, for example, an exterior view of the Old Art Museum in Boston, Massachusetts or the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois; or see an interior view of the Albright Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York or a perspective drawing of New York's Natural History Museum.
- Search on Smithsonian in Washington as It Was, 1923-1959 for more photographs of the museum buildings and exhibits. See, for example, the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum.
- In 1877 Frederick Douglass delivered an address entitled "Lecture on Our National Capital." That address was reprinted in 1978 by the Smithsonian Institution's Anacostia Neighborhood Museum. Search on the keyterm Frederick Douglass in the collection The Capital and the Bay, ca. 1600-1925 to locate that item as well as Douglass's autobiography.
- Alexander Graham Bell was elected a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution in 1898. Search on the keywords Smithsonian or museum in the collection Alexander Graham Bell Papers, 1862-1939 to find a number of items related to Bell's involvement with the institution. See, for example, the "Proceedings of [the] Regents Meeting" held in January 1892, which highlighted Bell's donation to the Smithsonian's Astrophysical Observatory.
- Search on the term museum in the Thomas Jefferson Papers, 1606-1827 to learn more about Jefferson's concern for the preservation of artifacts both cultural and natural. See, for example, Jefferson's copy of the 1786 pamphlet by Mademoiselle Leroux du Cloteau, Plan for a Women's Museum; or Jefferson's 1825 letter to General William Clark, requesting a donation to the new University of Virginia, "not of money . . . but for chrystals minerals small Indian worthy and other curiosities which might be easily transported and preserved."
- Search across all of the American Memory, after choosing Photos and Prints, on the term museum to see a wide variety of additional images.
