Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian redirects here. For other meanings, see Smithsonian (disambiguation).

The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institution and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its shops and its magazine. . Most of its facilities are located in Washington, D.C., but its 19 museums and seven research centers includes sites in New York City, Panama, and elsewhere. It has 142 million items in its collections.

A monthly magazine published by the Smithsonian Institution is also named Smithsonian.

History

The Smithsonian Institution was founded for the promotion and dissemination of knowledge by a bequest to the United States by the British scientist James Smithson (1765–1829), who had never visted the United States himself. In Smithson's will, he stated that should his nephew, Henry James Hungerford, die without heirs, the Smithson estate would go to the United States of America for creating an "Establishment for the increase & diffusion of Knowledge among men". After the nephew died without heirs in 1835, President Andrew Jackson informed Congress of the bequest, which amounted to 100,000 gold sovereigns, or $500,000 U.S. dollars ($9,235,277 in 2005 U.S. dollars after inflation).

Act of Congress: Eight years later, Congress passed an act establishing the Smithsonian Institution, a typically American hybrid public/private partnership, and the act was signed into law on August 10, 1846 by James Polk. (See (Ch. 178, Sec. 1, 9 Stat. 102).) The bill was drafted by Indiana Democratic Congressman Robert Dale Owen, a Socialist and son of Robert Owen, the father of the cooperative movement.

The castellated architecture of the Smithsonian Institution Building on the National Mall has made it known informally as "The Castle". It was built by architect James Renwick, Jr. and completed in 1855. Many of the other buildings are also historical and architectural landmarks.

Though the Smithsonian's first secretary, Joseph Henry, wanted the Institution to be a center for scientific research, before long it became the depository for varous Washington and U.S. government collections.

The voyage of the US Navy circumnavigated the globe between 1838 and 1842. The United States Exploring Expedition amassed thousands of animal specimens, an herbarium of 50,000 examples, shells and minerals, tropical birds, jars of seawater and ethnographic specimens from the South Pacific.

The military and civilian surveys in the American West assembled many Native American artifacts as well as natural history specimens.

The Institution became a magnet for natural scientists from 1857 to 1866, who formed a group called the Megatherium Club.

The asteroid 3773 Smithsonian is named in honor of the Institution.

Administration

The Smithsonian Institution is established as a trust by act of Congress, and it is functionally and legally a body of the federal government. More than two-thirds of the Smithsonian's workforce of some 6,300 persons are employees of the federal government. The Smithsonian is represented by attorneys from the United States Department of Justice in litigation, and money judgments against the Smithsonian are also paid out of the federal treasury.

Federal courts have furthermore concluded that the Smithsonian is part of the United States government within the meaning of such statutes as the Tucker Act and the Federal Tort Claims Act. It is also treated as part of the United States government when defending against copyright infringement claims, which means that such actions must be brought before the United States Court of Federal Claims..

The nominal head of the Institution is the Chancellor, an office which has always been held by the current Chief Justice of the United States. The affairs of the Smithsonian are conducted by its 17-member board of regents, eight members of which constitute a quorum for the conduct of business. Eight of the regents are United States officials: the Vice President (one of his few official legal duties) and the Chief Justice of the United States, three United States Senators appointed by the Vice President in his capacity as President of the Senate, and three Members of the U.S. House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House. The remaining nine regents are "persons other than Members of Congress," who are appointed by joint resolution of Congress. Regents are allowed reimbursement for their expenses in connection with attendance at meetings, but their service as regents is uncompensated. The day-to-day operations of the Smithsonian are supervised by a salaried "Secretary" chosen by the board of regents.

Secretaries of the Smithsonian

See The Secretaries of the Smithsonian Institution.

Smithsonian museums

Smithsonian research centers

The following is a list of Smithsonian research centers, with their affiliated museum in parentheses.

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Carrie-Bow Marine Field Station (Natural History Museum)
Center For Earth and Planetary Studies (Air and Space Museum)
Conservation and Research Center (National Zoo)
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
Marine Station at Fort Pierce (Natural History Museum)
Migratory Bird Center (National Zoo)
Museum Conservation Institute
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Smithsonian Institution Libraries
Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

Notes

* O'Rourke v. Smithsonian Inst. Press, 399 F.3d 113 (2nd Cir. 2005), cert. denied, No. 04-1481, 2005 U.S. LEXIS 5550 (U.S. Oct. 3, 2005) (holding that Smithsonian Institution included in definition of "the United States" for purposes of copyright infringement claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1498(b)). This court decision also summarizes the history of the Institution, the composition of the Board of Regents, its interrelationship with the federal government, and prior court rulings regarding the Institution's treatment as a body of the government under various federal laws.

External links

The University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center presents The Smithsonian Scientific Series, a publically accessible digital resource intended to enlighten and interest the general reader. It does not represent an attempt to summarize all science, or even all branches of science on which the Smithsonian can speak with authority. It will, however, acquaint the reader with the organization, history, and activities of the scientific institution which has grown up with the nation and fostered the nation's scientific activities. It is an introduction to the workings and achievements of the scientific method over a large field, and may open doors to some branches of science.
Commercial Alert's page on the Smithsonian

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