Smithsonian Institute

The Smithsonian Institution is a museum complex with most of its facilities in Washington D.C.. It consists of 16 museums, 7 research centers and 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 James Smithson (1765-1829). In James 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 establishing an institution "for the increase and 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 ($8,790,303 in current 2004 U.S. dollars after inflation). Eight years later, Congress passed an act establishing the Smithsonian Institution and the act was signed into law on August 10, 1846 by James Polk. The Smithsonian Institution is established as a trust administered by a secretary and board of regents. The nominal head of the institute is the Chancellor, an office which has always been held by the current Chief Justice of the United States. Serving as a member of the board of regents is one of the very few official legal duties of the Vice President of the United States.

The Information Center in the central complex has architecture reminiscent of a castle and is known informally as "The Castle". Many of the other buildings are landmarks and feature other distinctive architectural styles.

The asteroid 3773 Smithsonian is named in honor of the institution

Secretaries of the Smithsonian

• 1846 – 1878 Joseph Henry
• 1878 – 1887 Spencer Fullerton Baird
• 1887 – 1906 Samuel Pierpont Langley
• 1907 – 1927 Charles Doolittle Walcott
• 1928 – 1944 Charles Greeley Abbot
• 1944 – 1952 Alexander Wetmore
• 1953 – 1964 Leonard Carmichael
• 1964 – 1984 Sidney Dillon Ripley
• 1984 – 1994 Robert McCormick Adams
• 1994 – 1999 I. Michael Heyman
• 2000 – curr American Art Museum
• Anacostia Museum
• Arts and Industries Building
• The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
• Freer Gallery of Art
• Hirshhorn Museum
• National Air and Space Museum
• National Gallery of Art (affiliated, though under a separate charter)
• National Museum of African Art
• National Museum of American History
• National Museum of the American Indian
• National Museum of Natural History
• National Portrait Gallery
• National Postal Museum
• National Zoological Park
• Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
• Smithsonian Institution Building

Research centers

• Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
• Carrie-Bow Marine Field Station
• Center For Earth and Planetary Studies
• Environmental Research Center
• Marine Station at Fort Pierce
• Migratory Bird Center