n many ways, the origin of the Smithsonian Institution can be traced to a group of Washington

citizens who, being "impressed with the importance of forming an association for promoting useful
knowledge," met on June 28, 1816, to establish the Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and
Sciences. Officers were elected in October 1816, and the organization was granted a charter by
Congress on April 20, 1818 (this charter expired in 1838). Benjamin Latrobe, who was architect for
the US Capitol after the War of 1812, and William Thornton, the architect who designed the Octagon
House and Tudor Place, would serve as officers. Other prominent members, who numbered from 30
to 70 during the Institute's existence, included John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay,
Judge William Cranch, and James Hoban. Honorary members included James Madison, James
Monroe, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and the Marquis de Lafayette. Operating expenses were
covered from the $5 yearly dues collected from each member.
The Institute proposed a number of undertakings. These included the study of plant life and the
creation of a botanical garden on the Capitol Mall, an examination of the country's mineral
production, improvement in the management and care of livestock, and the writing of a topographical
and statistical history of the United States. Reports were to be published periodically to share this
knowledge with the greater public, but due to a lack of funds, this initially did not occur. The Institute
first met in Blodget's Hotel, later in the Treasury Department and City Hall, before being assigned a
permanent home in 1824 in the Capitol building.
Beginning in 1825, weekly sittings were arranged during sessions of Congress for the reading of
scientific and literary productions, but this was continued for only a short time, as the number
attending declined rapidly. Eighty-five communications by 26 people were made to Congress during
the entire life of the society, with more than a half relating to astronomy or mathematics. Among all
the activities planned by the Institute, only a few were actually implemented. Two were the
establishment of a botanical garden, and a museum that was designed to have a national and
permanent status. The former occupied space where the present Botanic Garden sits.
The museum contained specimens of zoology, botany, archeology, fossils, etc., some of which were
passed on to the Smithsonian Institution after its formation. The Institute's charter expired in 1838,
but its spirit lived on in the National Institution, founded in 1840. With the mission to "promote
science and the useful arts, and to establish a national museum of natural history," this organization
continued to press Congress to establish a museum that would be structured in terms that were very
similar to those finally incorporated into the founding of the Smithsonian Institution. Its work helped
to develop an underlying philosophy that pushed for the pursuit and development of scientific
knowledge that would benefit the nation, and edify its citizens at the same time. [14]
The British scientist James Smithson (1765–1829) left most of his wealth to his nephew Henry
James Hungerford. When Hungerford died childless in 1835, [15] the estate passed "to the United
States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an
Establishment for the increase & diffusion of knowledge among men", in accordance with Smithson's
will.[16] Congress officially accepted the legacy bequeathed to the nation and pledged the faith of the
United States to the charitable trust on July 1, 1836. [17] The American diplomat Richard Rush was
dispatched to England by President Andrew Jackson to collect the bequest. Rush returned in August
1838 with 105 sacks containing 104,960 gold sovereigns. This is approximately $500,000 at the
time, which is equivalent to $12,152,000 in 2020 or equivalent to £9,520,034 in 2019. However,
when considering the GDP at the time it may be more comparable to $220 million in the year 2007.[18]
[19]

Once the money was in hand, eight years of Congressional haggling ensued over how to interpret
Smithson's rather vague mandate "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". [17][19] Unfortunately,
the money was invested by the US Treasury in bonds issued by the state of Arkansas, which soon
defaulted. After heated debate, Massachusetts representative (and former president) John Quincy
Adams persuaded Congress to restore the lost funds with interest [20] and, despite designs on the
money for other purposes, convinced his colleagues to preserve it for an institution of science and
learning.[21] Finally, on August 10, 1846, President James K. Polk signed the legislation that
established the Smithsonian Institution as a trust instrumentality of the United States, to be
administered by a Board of Regents and a secretary of the Smithsonian. [17][22]

Development[edit]
Though the Smithsonian's first secretary, Joseph Henry, wanted the institution to be a center for
scientific research,[23] it also became the depository for various Washington and U.S. government
collections.[24] The United States Exploring Expedition by the U.S. Navy circumnavigated the globe
between 1838 and 1842.[25] The voyage amassed thousands of animal specimens, an herbarium of
50,000 plant specimens, and diverse shells and minerals, tropical birds, jars of seawater,
and ethnographic artifacts from the South Pacific Ocean.[25] These specimens and artifacts became
part of the Smithsonian collections,[26] as did those collected by several military and civilian surveys of
the American West, including the Mexican Boundary Survey and Pacific Railroad Surveys, which
assembled many Native American artifacts and natural history specimens.[27]
In 1846, the regents developed a plan for weather observation; in 1847, money was appropriated for
meteorological research.[28] The Institution became a magnet for young scientists from 1857 to 1866,
who formed a group called the Megatherium Club.[29] The Smithsonian played a critical role as the
U.S. partner institution in early bilateral scientific exchanges with the Academy of Sciences of Cuba.
[30]

Museums and buildings[edit]

Construction began on the Smithsonian Institution Building ("the Castle") in 1849. Designed by
architect James Renwick Jr., its interiors were completed by general contractor Gilbert Cameron.
The building opened in 1855.[31]
The Smithsonian's first expansion came with the construction of the Arts and Industries Building in
1881. Congress had promised to build a new structure for the museum if the 1876 Philadelphia
Centennial Exposition generated enough income. It did, and the building was designed by
architects Adolf Cluss and Paul Schulze, based on original plans developed by Major
General Montgomery C. Meigs of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. It opened in 1881.[32]
The National Zoological Park opened in 1889 to accommodate the Smithsonian's Department of
Living Animals.[33] The park was designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.[33]
The National Museum of Natural History opened in June 1911 to similarly accommodate the
Smithsonian's United States National Museum, which had previously been housed in the Castle and
then the Arts and Industries Building. [34] This structure was designed by the D.C. architectural firm
of Hornblower & Marshall.[35]
When Detroit philanthropist Charles Lang Freer donated his private collection to the Smithsonian
and funds to build the museum to hold it (which was named the Freer Gallery), it was among the
Smithsonian's first major donations from a private individual. [36] The gallery opened in 1923.[37]
More than 40 years would pass before the next museum, the Museum of History and Technology
(renamed the National Museum of American History in 1980), opened in 1964. It was designed by
the world-renowned firm of McKim, Mead & White.[38] The Anacostia Community Museum, an
"experimental store-front" museum created at the initiative of Smithsonian Secretary S. Dillon Ripley,
opened in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in 1967.[39][40][41] That same year, the
Smithsonian signed an agreement to take over the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration
(now the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum).[42] The National Portrait Gallery and
the Smithsonian American Art Museum opened in the Old Patent Office Building (built in 1867) on
October 7, 1968.[43] The reuse of an older building continued with the opening of the Renwick
Gallery in 1972 in the 1874 Renwick-designed art gallery originally built by local
philanthropist William Wilson Corcoran to house the Corcoran Gallery of Art.[44]