Smithsonian Institution

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or "Castle" on the National Mall serves as the Institution's headquarters.The Smithsonian Institution (pronounced ) is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its Financial endowment, contributions, and profits from its shops and its magazine. Most of its facilities are located in Washington, D.C., but its 19 museums, zoo, and eight research centers include sites in New York City, Virginia, Panama, and elsewhere. It has over 142 million items in its collections.

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

Smithsonian Networks is a new multiplatform network that uses Smithsonian archives and resources to create original HD programming.

History The Smithsonian Institution was founded for the "increase and diffusion" of knowledge by a bequest to the United States by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland scientist James Smithson (1765–1829), who had never visited 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 for creating an "Establishment for the increase & diffusion of Knowledge among men". After the nephew died without heirs in 1835, President Andrew Jackson informed United States Congress of the bequest, which amounted to 104,960 gold sovereigns, or United States dollar500,000 ($9,235,277 in 2005 U.S. dollars after inflation).

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

The Crenellation 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 Institution's other buildings are historical and architectural landmarks. Detroit, Michigan philanthropist Charles Lang Freer's donation of his private collection for Freer Gallery, and funds to build the museum, was among the Smithsonian's first major donations from a private individual.

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 various Washington and U.S. government collections.

The voyage of the United States 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. These specimens and artifacts became part of the Smithsonian collections, as did those collected by the military and civilian surveys in the American West, such as the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey and Pacific Railroad Surveys, which assembled many Native Americans in the United States 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 (property) instrumentality 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.

The nominal head of the Institution is the Chancellor (education), 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 of the United States (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 United States House of Representatives. 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

Joseph Henry,1846–1878

Spencer Fullerton Baird, 1878–1887

Samuel Pierpont Langley, 1887–1906

Charles Doolittle Walcott, 1907–1927

Charles Greeley Abbot, 1928–1944

Alexander Wetmore, 1944–1952

Leonard Carmichael, 1953–1964

Sidney Dillon Ripley, 1964–1984

Robert McCormick Adams, 1984–1994

Ira Michael Heyman, 1994–1999

Lawrence M. Small, 2000–2007

Cristián Samper (Acting Secretary), 2007–

Cristián Samper is the first Latin American to hold the position. Born in Costa Rica, he was raised in Colombia from the age of one. He received his Bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of the Andes, Colombia in Bogotá and his Ph.D. from Harvard University. He is one of the founders of the Von Humboldt Institute in Colombia, and since 2003 has been the director of the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

See The Secretaries of the Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian museums and Douglas DC-3 (top and second from top) Washington, DC

Anacostia Museum
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Arts and Industries Building
Freer Gallery of Art
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
National Air and Space Museum (Mall Museum)
National Museum of African American History and Culture (not yet built)
National Museum of African Art
National Museum of American History (Mall Museum)
National Museum of the American Indian (Mall Museum)
National Museum of Natural History (Mall Museum)
National Portrait Gallery (United States)
National Postal Museum
S. Dillon Ripley Center
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Smithsonian Institution Building
Smithsonian National Zoological Park (National Zoo)
The National Gallery of Art is affiliated with the Smithsonian, but it is run by a separate charter.

New York, New York

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
National Museum of the American Indian's The George Gustav Heye Center

Chantilly, Virginia

National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

In addition, there are many museums that are Smithsonian affiliates.

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

Archives of American Art
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the associated Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Carrie Bow Marine Field Station (Natural History Museum)
Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
Center For Earth and Planetary Studies (Air and Space Museum)
Conservation and Research Center (National Zoo)
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

In popular culture

The Jeffersonian Institute in the television show Bones (TV series) is based on the Smithsonian Institution.
It is also mentioned in the eighth Star Trek movie, Star Trek: First Contact, where Captain Jean-Luc Picard says he has seen the Phoenix (Star Trek), humanity's first faster-than-light spaceship, in the Smithsonian (the institution presumably having survived to the twenty-fourth century).

Criticism The Smithsonian Institution has been criticised for strong copyright restrictions Smithsonian Images-Copyright Use of Content from Smithsonian Website imposed on its image collections which overwhelmingly consist of public domain content dating to the 19th century. An image without a Smithsonian watermark and at a resolution suitable for publication requires an expensive licensing fee (unless covered under Fair Use provisions), manual approval by the Smithsonian staff, and the restriction of any further use without permission.

This conflicts with the institution's own policy in a 2005 memo, in which it asserted, "The Smithsonian cannot own copyright in works prepared by Smithsonian employees paid from federal funds", Smithsonian Institution-Office of General Counsel as well as the institution's own charter by the U.S. Congress to "increase and diffuse knowledge."

In April of 2006, the Institution entered into an agreement of "first refusal" rights for its vast silent film and public domain film archives with Showtime Networks. Critics contend this agreement effectively gives Showtime control over the film archives, as it requires filmmakers to obtain permission fron the network to use extensive amounts of film footage from the Smithsonian archives.

References Further reading

Nina Burleigh, Stranger and the Statesman: James Smithson, John Quincy Adams, and the Making of America's Greatest Museum, The Smithsonian, HarperCollins, September 2003, hardcover, 288 pages, ISBN 0-06-000241-7
{{cite book

Smithsonian Institution webpage
Smithsonian Education webpage

Map of the museums from the Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Institution Archives
The University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center presents The Smithsonian Scientific Series, a publicly 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.
Smithsonian Networks webpage
Smithsonian Student Travel, an educational travel partnership.
The Yale Scientific Magazine's view on Smithsonian Institution's misrepresentation of the important historical facts
Smithsonian Gem & Mineral Collection

The Smithsonian Rocks

Smithsonian Institution
Composed of sixteen museums and galleries, the National Zoo, and numerous research facilities in the United States and abroad.

Office of Research Training and Services start
The Office of Research Training and Services (ORTS) has the central management and administrative responsibility for the Institution's programs of research grants ...

Smithsonian Education - Welcome
Education resources and information, lesson plans, field trips, and interactive activities based on Smithsonian museum collections and research.

Smithsonian Institution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Smithsonian Institution (pronounced /smɪθˈsəʊniən/) is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of ...

Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History NMNH
Offers a collection of over 124 million objects, displayed on two floors of the museum. Offers a virtual tour, a calendar of events, educational resources, and a directory. Located ...

Flickr: Smithsonian Institution
Welcome to the Smithsonian Institution! The Smithsonian is happy to join the Flickr community. With our initial posting of 900 photographs, we look forward to your tags, comments ...

Flickr: Smithsonian Institution's Photostream
Guest Passes let you share your photos that aren't public. Anyone can see your public photos anytime, whether they're a Flickr member or not. But!

Smithsonian National Museum of American History
The National Museum of American History is one of the Smithsonian Institution museums located on The Mall in Washington DC.

SIRIS | Smithsonian Institution Research Information System
SIRIS offers an interactive, integrated system applying established national standards to manage, describe, and provide access to research resources held primarily by the ...

Smithsonian Institution Libraries: Make the Dirt Fly!
Title from title screen. Electronic version of an exhibition to commemorate the building of the Panama Canal (1904-1914), the engineers and the people who accomplished the ...