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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: SIV-SOU |
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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION , an American institution of learning in Washington, D.C., founded by the bequest of James Smithson (q.v.), who seems to have known of Joel Barlow's plan for a national institution of learning in the city of Washing-ton in accordance with George Washington's recommendation in his farewell address of 1796. His estate was left to a nephew, Henry James Hungerford, with the stipulation that should Hungerford die without issue the whole estate should go " 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." Hunger-ford died without issue in 1835. There was much opposition in America to the acceptance of Smithson's bequest, especially by John C. Calhoun and others who held that Congress had no power under the Constitution to accept such a gift, but the gift was accepted, largely through the efforts of John Quincy Adams; and Richard Rush, sent to England as agent for the United States, quickly obtained a verdict for the American claim to the estate. In September 1838 104,960 in gold sovereigns was delivered from the clipper " Mediator to the Philadelphia mint, where it was recoined into American money, $508,318-46; in 1867, after the death of Hungerford's mother, a residuary legacy of $26,210 was received and the fund thenAmounted to $65o,000. An act of the 7th of July 1838 (repealed in 1841) directed the investment of the money in state bonds, and $500,000 was invested in Arkansas bonds which proved worthless, but Congress, considering that it was a trustee of the fund, made an appropriation to cover the loss. By other gifts, notably that of $216,000 from Thomas George Hodgkins (d. 1892) of Setauket, Long Island, New York
interest
There were many different suggestions as to how the fund should be used. The character of the National Institute (called National Institution before 1843), which was organized in 184o " to promote science and the useful arts and to establish a national museum of history," had a great influence in shaping the act (approved on the loth of August 1846) establishing the Smithsonian Institution and providing for an " establishment " by this name composed of the president, vice-president, secretaries of state, treasury, war and navy, the postmaster-general, the attorney-general,' the chief
chief
The Regents met on the 7th of September 1846. Those appointed were: George Evans, Sidney Breese and Isaac S. Pennybacker, senators; Robert Dale Owen, William J. Hough and Henry W. Hilliard, members of the House of Representatives; Rufus Choate, Gideon Hawley, Richard Rush and William C. Preston, by joint resolution, from four different states; and Alexander Dallas Bache and General Joseph G. Totten, from the National Institute. They elected (Dee. 1846) as first secretary and director of the Institution, Joseph Henry, then professor of natural philosophy in the College of New Jersey
' The Secretary of the Interior was added in 1877 and the Secretary of Agriculture in 1894. t No honorary members have been chosen since 1873, and an amendment of 1894 omits the provision for their election. ' In January 1847 James D. Westcott objected to the constitutionality of the act because by it members of Congress were appointed (contrary to section 6, part ii. of the Constitution) to civil offices under the authority of the United States created during their term of office in Congress. In 1865 the actual granting of copyright was transferred from the Smithsonian Institution to the Library of Congress. ' Reprinted in Smithsonian Institution Miscellaneous Collections, vol. xYi. PP. 399-406. INSTITUTION suitable persons. To Diffuse Knowledge: It is proposed (z) to publish a series of periodical reports on the progress of different branches of knowledge; and (2) to publish occasionally separate treatises on subjects of general interest
Henry was executive head (secretary) of the Institution from 1846 until his death in 1878 and its organization is due largely to him. He opposed the scheme for the gradual formation of a general library under the charge of the Institution, and in 1855 committed the Board of Regents to a repeal of the previous practice of spending one-half of the annual income on the museum and library, and this action was approved by an investigating congressional committee.' Partly because of the prominence given to meteorological research when Henry was at the Albany Academy, and partly through the influence of James Pollard Espy (1785-186o), in 1846 a plan was presented for the unification and systematization of weather observation under the Institution, and in December 1847 an appropriation was made for such meteorological research ; in 1849 telegraphic transmission of meteorological intelligence collected by the Institution was begun; in 185o a standard " Smithsonian barometer " (Arnold Guyot's improvement of Ernst's improved Fortin " cistern barometer ") was first distributed; weather maps were successfully made in 1856; and in 187o the meteorological work of the Institution was incorporated as the Weather Bureau, independent of the Institution. After 1854 Henry's annual reports contained a " general appendix " with reports of lectures, such as were held under the auspices of the Institution until 1865, summaries of correspondence, special papers, &c. Before 187o meteorology bulked largely in these reports; after that year there was more North American archaeology and ethnology.Spencer
York
Secretary Baird planned an astrophysical observatory and in 1887 appointed as assistant secretary of the Institution, to take charge of the observatory, Samuel P. Langley (q.v.) who succeeded as secretary' upon Baird's death in the same year. In 1890 a small observatory was built in the Smithsonian Park; in 1891 an appropriation was made for astrophysical work and $soon was contributed by the executors of Dr J. H. Kidder (1842-1889). Langley's principal research in the observatory was on the nature of the infra-red portion of the spectrum. His name is also closely connected with his paper entitled Experiments in Aerodynamics (1891), and with the experiments and mathematical studies carried on under the Institution which proved that a machine other than a balloon could be made which would produce enough mechanical power to support itself and fly. Under the terms of the Hodgkins bequest prizes were Congress was long jealous of the power of the Board of Regents; and in Congress there was for many years open opposition notably on the part of Andrew Johnson, to the very existence of the Institution. In January 1907, after Langley's death, Charles Doolittle Walcott (b. 185o), a geologist, director of the U.S. Geological Survey in 1894-1907, became secretary of the Institution. offered in 1893 for research and investigation of atmospheric air in connexion with the welfare of mankind; in 1895 an award of $10,000 was made to Lord Rayleigh and Sir William Ramsay for their discovery of argon; and a medal was awarded to Sir James Dewar in 1899 and one to Sir J. J. Thomson in 1901. During Langley's administration the American Historical Association was incorporated in 1889 as a branch of the Institution, to whose secretary it makes its annual reports; and the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution was similarly incorporated in 1896. By acts of Congress of the 2nd of March 1889 and the 30th of April 1890 the National Zoological Park was established under the Institution; and in a park of 266 acres in the valley of Rock Creek a small collection was installed. In Langley's Annual Reports the summaries of the advance of science were omitted in 1889 and thereafter special papers of interest to professional students were published in their place. The Smithsonian Park occupies a square equivalent to nine city blocks, almost exactly the same size as the Capitol grounds. The oldest building, that of the Institution proper, was erected in 1847-1855; it is Seneca brown stone in a mingled Gothic and Romanesque style, designed by James Renwick, and occupies the S.W. corner of the grounds. E. of it is the building of the United States National Museum (330 ft. sq.), erected in 1881; and on the N. side of the park is the new building of the National Museum (1903). On the grounds is a bronze statue of Joseph Henry by W. W. Story. The Institution publishes: Annual Reports (1846 seq.), in which the Reports of the National Museum were included until 1884since then they appeared as " part ii." of that Report; The Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge (quarto, 1848 sqq.); The Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections (octavos, 1862 sqq.); Proceedings of the United States National Museum (1878 sqq.); Bulletin of the United States National Museum (1875 sqq.), containing larger monographs than those printed in the Proceedings; and occasional Special Bulletins; Annual Reports of the Bureau of American Ethnology (188o sqq.); Bulletin (1877 sqq.), including The Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico (1907), part i. being Bulletin 30; and Contributions to North American Ethnology (1877 sqq.) ; Annals of the Astrophysical Observatory (1900 sqq.); and Annual Reports of the American Historical Association (1890 sqq.). End of Article: SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
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