Smithsonian Institution history

In 1826, British scientist James Smithson drew up his last will and testament, naming his nephew as beneficiary.

Smithson stipulated that, should the nephew die without heirs (as he would in 1835), the 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.”

The United States government was soon notified of this extraordinary bequest, and President Andrew Jackson announced the bequest to Congress, which accepted the legacy bequeathed to the nation and pledged the faith of the United States to the charitable trust July 1, 1836.

In September 1838, Smithson’s legacy, which amounted to more than 100,000 gold sovereigns, was delivered to the mint at Philadelphia.

The cornerstone for the Smithsonian Institution Building was laid the following year on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The building—inspired by Norman architecture and designed by James Renwick—was completed in 1855.

In 1865, only a decade after the completion of the Smithsonian’s first building, the “Castle,” the building’s top floor was destroyed in a fire; among the losses were Smithson’s diaries and papers, his mineral collection and other personal possessions.

The collections were originally housed in the Smithsonian Institution Building or “Castle.” In 1881, they were moved to the first United States National Museum building, now known as the Arts and Industries Building.

By 1882, however, Museum Director G. Brown Goode was already pleading for more space, and the Smithsonian Board of Regents resolved to expand the overcrowded Smithsonian facilities with a third building.

When in 1901 the institution was alerted to the imminent disturbance of his grave in Italy because of mining in the area, regent Alexander Graham Bell began advocating for the remains to be shipped to the United States.

On January 30, 1903, the United States Congress appropriated funds to the Smithsonian Institution for a new museum, based upon an initial study by William Henry Holmes, Curator of Anthropology at the National Museum.

In 1904, when the burial ground was to be displaced by the enlargement of a quarry, the Smithsonian Board of Regents voted to bring Smithson’s tomb and remains to the institution he founded.

In 1905, during the construction of the building, Smithsonian Secretary Samuel P. Langley halted the work to alter the Hornblower and Marshall design of the central domed rotunda.

By August 11, 1909, the staff had begun to occupy the building and move the national collections which now totaled c.

When the “new” United States National Museum building, now known as the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), opened its doors on March 17, 1910, it housed art, culture, history, and natural history collections.

In 1957, the United States National Museum created two administrative subdivisions: the Museum of Natural History (MNH) and the Museum of History and Technology.

The history collections were moved to a new building that opened in January of 1964 and is now known as the National Museum of American History.

Thinking about the open road with Robert M. Pirsig’s 1966 Honda Super Hawk motorcycle.

The United States National Museum was eliminated as an administrative entity in 1967, and MNH became a separate administrative unit.

The art and portrait collections were moved to the new American Art and Portrait Galleries that opened in 1968.

On March 24, 1969, the Museum was renamed the National Museum of Natural History to reflect its focus on the anthropology and natural history collections.

During a 1973 restoration of the Castle’s crypt room, a team of Smithsonian anthropologists examined James Smithson’s bones.

Their telling observations were recorded in an article in the Smithsonian magazine January 1976.

Smithsonian Networks, a television channel featuring documentaries and shows related to Smithsonian holdings, was launched in 2007.