DOI article:
Wetmore, Alexander: The Smithsonian Institution
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.57254#0554
THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
By
Dr. ALEXANDER WETMORE
Assistant secretary of the National Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
THE Smithsonian Institution, located in Washington, D. C., U. S. A., was created
by Act of Congress in 1846 under the bequest of the fortune of James Smithson,
an Englishman who died in 1829 in Genoa, leaving his entire estate 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”. The acceptance of this gift and theform that the proposed 1. c. Institution should
take to carry out the intention of Smithson were matters of prolonged consideration
that resulted in an establishment under which the Smithson bequest was to be put
into effect, this establishment consisting of the President of the United States, the
Vice President, the Chief Justice of the United States, and the members of the
President’s cabinet. These form the institution whose affairs are governed by a
Board of Regents composed of the Vice President and Chief Justice of the United
States, three Senators to be appointed by the President of the Senate, three Represen-
tatives to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and six
citizens of the United States to be designated by joint resolution of Congress, two
to be from the city of Washington, and the remaining four from elsewhere, with
the Stipulation that not more than two may come from the same state. The Secretary
of the Smithsonian is chosen by this board and designated as executive officer of the
Organization.
The first Board of Regents, meeting in the fall of 1846, selected Joseph Henry,
a professor at Princeton University, well known for his work in physics, as its
Secretary under whose direction the plan of procedure for the Smithsonian Institu-
tion developed. The work of the new Organization at first consisted in the main of
the publication of original memoirs containing contributions to knowledge, and the
free distribution of these papers to important libraries throughout the world, the
giving of populär lectures in the city of Washington with their subsequent publi-
cation, the Stimulation of scientific investigation through providing competent
workers with needed apparatus and through grants of money, and Cooperation with
various departments of the United States government in the advancement of scien-
tific investigations. Spencer Fullerton Baird, appointed assistent secretary under
Henry in 1850, hecame Secretary in 1878, continuing until his death in 1887, deve-
loping particularly investigations in various branches of biology. Baird was followed
by Samuel Pierpont Langley, a physicist who initiated investigations in astro-
physics and carried on extended studies in aviation, his work being preparatory to
many modern developments in that important subject. Langley’s death came in
1906 and in the following year Charles Doolittle Walcott was appointed to
the post of Secretary which he held until his death in 1927. As a paleontologist
Dr. Walcott made many important personal contributions to Science and in ad-
dition was instrumental in developments in aviation, art and general Science.
Charles Greeley Abbot, the present Secretary, appointed in 1928, well known
536
By
Dr. ALEXANDER WETMORE
Assistant secretary of the National Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
THE Smithsonian Institution, located in Washington, D. C., U. S. A., was created
by Act of Congress in 1846 under the bequest of the fortune of James Smithson,
an Englishman who died in 1829 in Genoa, leaving his entire estate 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”. The acceptance of this gift and theform that the proposed 1. c. Institution should
take to carry out the intention of Smithson were matters of prolonged consideration
that resulted in an establishment under which the Smithson bequest was to be put
into effect, this establishment consisting of the President of the United States, the
Vice President, the Chief Justice of the United States, and the members of the
President’s cabinet. These form the institution whose affairs are governed by a
Board of Regents composed of the Vice President and Chief Justice of the United
States, three Senators to be appointed by the President of the Senate, three Represen-
tatives to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and six
citizens of the United States to be designated by joint resolution of Congress, two
to be from the city of Washington, and the remaining four from elsewhere, with
the Stipulation that not more than two may come from the same state. The Secretary
of the Smithsonian is chosen by this board and designated as executive officer of the
Organization.
The first Board of Regents, meeting in the fall of 1846, selected Joseph Henry,
a professor at Princeton University, well known for his work in physics, as its
Secretary under whose direction the plan of procedure for the Smithsonian Institu-
tion developed. The work of the new Organization at first consisted in the main of
the publication of original memoirs containing contributions to knowledge, and the
free distribution of these papers to important libraries throughout the world, the
giving of populär lectures in the city of Washington with their subsequent publi-
cation, the Stimulation of scientific investigation through providing competent
workers with needed apparatus and through grants of money, and Cooperation with
various departments of the United States government in the advancement of scien-
tific investigations. Spencer Fullerton Baird, appointed assistent secretary under
Henry in 1850, hecame Secretary in 1878, continuing until his death in 1887, deve-
loping particularly investigations in various branches of biology. Baird was followed
by Samuel Pierpont Langley, a physicist who initiated investigations in astro-
physics and carried on extended studies in aviation, his work being preparatory to
many modern developments in that important subject. Langley’s death came in
1906 and in the following year Charles Doolittle Walcott was appointed to
the post of Secretary which he held until his death in 1927. As a paleontologist
Dr. Walcott made many important personal contributions to Science and in ad-
dition was instrumental in developments in aviation, art and general Science.
Charles Greeley Abbot, the present Secretary, appointed in 1928, well known
536