Smithsonian Institution

Of or pertaining to the Englishman J. L. M. Smithson, or to the national institution of learning which he endowed at Washington, D. C.; as, the Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian Reports. -- n. The Smithsonian Institution.

Type: Private - Not-for-Profit
On the web: http://www.si.edu
Employees: 6,300
Employee growth: 0.0%

The Smithsonian Institution wears many hats, from the one worn by Harrison Ford in the Indiana Jones movies to the one worn by Abraham Lincoln the night he was assassinated. One of the world's leading cultural institutions, the Smithsonian houses more than 136 million pieces in 19 museums and galleries, most of which are on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Some 24 million people every year view the Smithsonian's exhibits on art, music, TV and film, science, history, and other subjects. Admission to all but one of the Smithsonian's facilities is free; only the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York charges admission. The Smithsonian receives about 80% of its funding from the federal government.

Key numbers for fiscal year ending September, 2007:
Sales: $989.0M
One year growth: 1.0%
Net income: $220.0M
Income growth: 50.7%

Officers:
Chairman Board of Regents: Patricia Q. (Patty) Stonesifer
Secretary: G. Wayne Clough
CFO: Alice Collier Maroni

Founded: 1846

The Smithsonian Institution is the largest museum, education, and research system in the world, with 16 museums and galleries, the National Zoological Park, and ten research centers, all with free admittance. It is the home of the Hope Diamond, the Wright brothers' airplane, the original Star Spangled Banner, and some 140 million other items, and it attracts more than 28 million visitors a year. The Smithsonian also produces records and tapes through Smithsonian Folkways Recordings; publishes books and magazines; produces television documentaries, home videos, and radio shows; operates 16 museum stores and mail order and on-line catalogs; conducts numerous educational activities through its membership programs; and annually sponsors a juried craft show and the Festival of American Folklife. In fiscal 1998, 72 percent of the Smithsonian's revenues came from its annual federal appropriation. The remainder came from gifts and grants, contracts, investments, membership programs, and sales.

The man who endowed the Smithsonian Institution was born in France in 1765, the illegitimate son of Hugh Smithson, the first Duke of Northumberland, and Elizabeth Keate Hungerford Macie, a widow connected to the royal family. Named James Lewis Macie, he took his father's name after his mother's death in 1800.

A graduate of Oxford and an avid scientist, James Smithson traveled throughout Europe studying chemistry, mineralogy, and geology. He wrote 27 articles for scientific journals dealing with topics ranging from a better way to make coffee to the chemical makeup of a woman's teardrop. His personal library contained 213 volumes, and a type of zinc carbonate was renamed smithsonite in his honor.

When Smithson died in 1829, he left the bulk of his estate to his nephew, Henry Hungerford. A clause in his will, however, stated that should Hungerford die without heirs (legitimate or illegitimate), the estate would go to "the United States of America to found at Washington, under the name of Smithsonian Institution, an Establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge ..."

Smithson's provision was newsworthy in both Europe and the United States when it first became known, and newspapers tried to figure out why this man, who had never visited the United States, might leave the nation his estate. Although he may have had other reasons, one purpose was revenge: "My name," Smithson wrote, "shall live in the memory of man when the titles of the Northumberlands and Percys are extinct and forgotten."

When Henry Hungerford died childless in 1835, the country, or at least those governing it, had to decide whether to accept the estate. President Andrew Jackson thought it was a good idea, but was not sure it was constitutional to accept the bequest. When he asked Congress to pass legislation making that possible, he ran into opposition from those who believed, as the Smithsonian accounted, that "acceptance of the Smithson bequest ... on behalf of the entire nation would abridge states' rights." The two senators from South Carolina were among the strongest opponents. Senator John C. Calhoun believed Congress had no authority to accept the gift, and Senator William Campbell Preston, while also questioning the constitutionality, complained that "[E]very whippersnapper vagabond ... might think it proper to have his name distinguished in the same way."

Despite such concerns, Congress authorized the acceptance of the bequest on July 1, 1836 and established a select committee to decide what to do with the estate, then worth $515,169. The nation spent the next ten years debating what this new institution should be. The first proposals were for a national university--to train teachers, to teach natural history, to teach the classics, to improve social conditions through applied sciences. Over the years, the debate broadened to create a national museum, an institute to promote science, a national library, an institute to support basic scientific research, or a national observatory.

Finally, on August 10, 1846, legislation containing many of these ideas, but eliminating the national university, was signed by President James K. Polk. The "Act To Establish the Smithsonian Institution" created a charitable trust, with its administration, independent of the government, the responsibility of the Institution's Secretary and Board of Regents, consisting of three members of the House of Representatives, three Senators, and nine private citizens appointed by a joint resolution of Congress. The vice-president of the United States and the chief justice of the Supreme Court served as ex officio members.

The Board of Regents selected Joseph Henry, a prominent physicist, as the first Secretary, or chief executive. Henry envisioned the Smithsonian as a scientific research institute and undertook such activities as organizing volunteer weather observers who telegraphed weather information from around the country to the Smithsonian where scientists collected and recorded the data. Henry also initiated the research report series Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge to overcome the high cost of scientific publication. In 1850 he created the International Exchange Service, a low-cost system whereby American scientists could gain access to scholarly publications from Europe and elsewhere.

The legislation that created the Institution required that the public have access to the Institution. Henry himself conducted public lectures, along with "a number of distinguished gentlemen ... whose character will tend to give due importance to the communications."

In 1855 Henry moved his family into the second floor of the newly completed Smithsonian Building. Designed by James Renwick, Jr., it resembled a 12th century Italian Romanesque castle and housed offices, laboratories, art gallery, science museum, and lecture hall, with living space for resident scientists in the tower. The red brick building quickly became known as "The Castle," and when Henry's meteorologists received word of impending storms, they signaled nearby ports from the tower. Henry worked hard to keep his Institution separate from politics so as not to endanger support in Congress. He took no position on Darwin's theory of evolution and made sure no flag of any sort flew over the Smithsonian Building during the Civil War.

In 1879 Congress established the Smithsonian's Bureau of Ethnology, and its head, Civil War veteran and scientist John Wesley Powell, initiated wide-ranging research in archeology, linguistics, and physical anthropology. Powell was also a director of the U.S. Geological Survey, and according to Ken Ringle in a Washington Post article, "The linkage would become something of a model in future years for the Smithsonian. It put science to work for the U.S. government while the quasi-independence of the institution and its strong-willed leaders served to insulate scholars and scientists from the political pressures of the day."

When Henry died in 1878, he was succeeded by his assistant of 28 years, Spencer Fullerton Baird. An avid naturalist and collector, Baird had received the first grant from the Institution for scientific exploration and field research in 1848. Two years later he arrived at the Smithsonian with two railroad cars full of natural specimens, considerably augmenting the Institution's few boxes of minerals and plants.

As Assistant Secretary, he was in charge of the Department of Exploration, and his efforts included teaching a generation of naturalists how to prepare specimens for museum collections. He instructed and supplied naturalists attached to just about any expedition heading west, making the Smithsonian a center for information about the natural history of North America. In 1858 the Congress designated the Smithsonian The National Museum of the United States.

In 1876 the United States celebrated its Centennial with an exposition in Philadelphia. When the exposition closed, 42 boxcars of artifacts were donated to the Smithsonian, ranging from an 1876 locomotive from California to Samuel F.B. Morse's original telegraph to military uniforms to 19th century household items. Needing more space for all of these artifacts, the Smithsonian erected the U.S. National Museum (now the Arts and Industries Building), which opened in 1881.

In 1883 the Smithsonian accepted from the National Institute museum at the Patent Office a collection that included George Washington memorabilia. By the end of Baird's tenure as Secretary in 1887, the Smithsonian was far more than an institute for scientific research. The National Museum had more than 2.5 million artifacts and specimens, organized into collections that concentrated on the natural history and people of North America and on the country's national identity.

Samuel Langley, a physician, astronomer, and aircraft inventor, succeeded Baird and served until 1906. One of his first actions was to create the Children's Room at the Castle, claiming "Knowledge begins in wonder." During his tenure, the Institution established the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (1890) and the National Zoological Park (1891), the first zoo created with a mission of breeding native wildlife.

Langley left one legacy that was less enriching. For nearly 40 years, the Smithsonian claimed that Langley built the "first man carrying plane capable of sustained flight," beating the Wright brothers. Not until 1942, when the Institution corrected its records, did Orville Wright agree to place the original Flyer in the Smithsonian.

In 1910 the third Smithsonian building opened, the National Museum of Natural History, with nearly 11 acres of floor space that also housed offices and art works and was the first Smithsonian museum to be open on Sunday. Charles Freer's donation of his priceless collection of American and Oriental art greatly enhanced the Smithsonian's reputation and added significantly to its art holdings. The Freer Gallery, built especially for the collection, opened in 1923. The construction was paid for with an additional $1 million Freer contributed for that purpose.

After World War I, tanks, uniforms, and gas masks were placed on exhibit, an indication of the continuing relationship between Smithsonian scientists and the government, with an increasing emphasis on research useful to the military. The scientists' investigations over the years ranged from recoilless gun design to rocketry and shark repellent, and their research on tropical islands provided information for the military during the war in the Pacific.

In 1946 Barro Colorado Island in Panama, the first biological reserve in the Americas, became part of the Smithsonian. The reserve had been established in 1923, on an island created when the Panama Canal was built. Scientists conducted long-term studies in tropical biology on the Isthmus and established a marine science program.

The 20 years in which Sidney Dillon Ripley was Secretary was a period of tremendous growth for the Smithsonian. An ornithologist, Ripley believed that museums should be "points of contact" with all people, not just some place to visit on a Sunday afternoon or a high school field trip. He also wanted the Smithsonian to be a center of ideas and a "company of scholars."

The National Museum of History and Technology (now the Museum of American History) opened in 1964, and Ripley set out to make the Mall between the Smithsonian's buildings more inviting to people. At his urging, roads were closed to traffic and replaced with broad paths lined with benches. Ripley also installed a carousel in front of the Castle and, in 1965, held the first Festival of American Folklife, filling the Mall for 12 weeks with exhibits, dancers, food, and music from all over the United States and 35 other countries.

Ripley also pushed the Smithsonian's museum offerings beyond the Mall, and outside Washington, DC. In 1967-68 four new Smithsonian museums opened. The Anacostia Museum brought a museum to the people of the southeastern section of the city and examined the African American experience in Washington, DC. The Old Patent Office, a few blocks north of the Mall and once the site of the National Institute museum, became the home of the National Museum of American Art and the National Portrait Gallery. In New York City, Ripley leased the Fifth Avenue Carnegie mansion to house the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, which became part of the Smithsonian.

Ripley also enhanced the Institution's research activities. He established the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center on Chesapeake Bay in 1965 and, in 1996, renamed Barro Colorado Institute the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI).

The decade of the 1970s saw the fruition of several of Ripley's dreams and efforts. He had worked hard to convince Joseph Hirshhorn to donate his massive collection of modern art to the Smithsonian and to gain support and money to build a museum for the works. At the same time he persuaded President Lyndon Johnson to save the abandoned Renwick Gallery from being torn down and make it once again a public museum. In 1972 the Smithsonian opened the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden on the Mall and the Renwick Gallery a block from the White House. Many people laughed at the Hirshhorn's bagel-like shape or questioned whether crafts (the focus of the Renwick) were art, but both additions proved to be popular.

Broadening the reach of (and the support for) the Smithsonian, Ripley began publishing the monthly Smithsonian magazine and instituted Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), sending wide varieties of exhibits to communities around the country. He also added the Archives of American Art to the Smithsonian and made appropriations for the National Zoo part of the overall Smithsonian requests to Congress. This latter step increased and stabilized funds for the zoo and made it possible to renovate and add facilities there.

Even as he broadened the scope of the Smithsonian, Ripley did not forget its scientific purposes. In the early 1970s STRI began expanding its work to conduct tropical research throughout Latin America, Asia, and Africa. He also increased research at the National Zoo and, in conjunction with Harvard University, established an astrophysical observatory in Arizona.

One of Ripley's major contributions, and the most visited museum in the world, the National Air and Space Museum, opened in 1976. Two years later the Smithsonian took over an existing collection, establishing the National Museum of African Art. Ripley also began the Smithsonian's first inventory, an undertaking that would take five years and cost $8 million. The result: fully indexed and cross-referenced computer files identifying some 100 million items, including 114,429 bird's eggs, 20 pipe organs, and 14 million postage stamps.

Ripley made a significant impact on the Smithsonian, on Washington, DC, and on the field of museums. During his two decades as Secretary, eight new museums and seven new research or conservation and storage facilities opened, outreach efforts proved successful, the number of visitors more than doubled, and the annual budget grew to more than $300 million, with half coming from Congress.

Robert McCormick Adams, an archeologist, served as Secretary from 1984 to 1994 and continued to make the Smithsonian an open, inviting place. In 1987 the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Asian Art opened, and the Anacostia Museum, which had expanded to include the Center for African American History and Culture, moved to a new building. In 1989 Congress established the National Museum of the American Indian and a year later the National Postal Museum. In 1993 the Postal Museum's collection of postal history and philatelic items moved to its new home in the historic City Post Office, a Beaux Arts building a few blocks north of the Mall. In 1994 the George Gustav Heye Center of the National Museum of the American Indian opened in lower Manhattan, in the historic Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House.

During the 1990s museums across the country faced service cuts and staff reductions as federal money for the arts decreased. Although its federal appropriation actually increased, the money did not keep up with inflation, and the Smithsonian was forced to eliminate extended summer hours, offer buyouts to staff, leave some vacancies unfilled, and change exhibitions less often. Many museums, including the Smithsonian, turned to corporate sponsors for projects and exhibits.

The ability to raise money and extensive management skills were critical considerations in the selection of Ira Michael Heyman as the tenth Secretary of the Smithsonian in 1994. The retired chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley and a lawyer, Heyman's selection broke the tradition of the Secretary being a scientist.

Heyman spent five years as Secretary, successfully steering the institution through financial difficulties, unifying its management structure, and improving relationships with Congress. He generated several very large gifts and initiated a capital campaign. He also promoted the Smithsonian through extensive exchange programs and an exceedingly popular web site. But it was a less than tranquil period, as controversies erupted over various exhibitions ranging from the Enola Gay, the airplane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, to a forum at the 50th anniversary of Israel.

The issues of what and how things were displayed at a museum was not new, nor was it limited to the Smithsonian Institution. At its core were differences about the role of public museums: to present one or different viewpoints, to display revered objects or explain (interpret) history. Pressure for the Smithsonian and other public institutions to present noncontroversial exhibits was seen by some as appropriate and others as censorship. The growing dependence on corporate funding only served to expand the voices influencing such decisions. Finances and politics had been intertwined in the Smithsonian's role since the institution was established. Heyman's successors each would make their mark on that relationship and on "The Nation's Attic" itself.

Further Reading

Arnett, Elsa C., "150 Years at the Smithsonian," News & Record (Greensboro, N.C.), August 10, 1996, p. D1.

Bonner, Alice, "Smithsonian Finds Its Attic Full of Treasure," Washington Post, August 27, 1981, p. A1.

Davis, Lou, "Who Was on First, First?," Air Transport World, January 1993, p. 85.

Forgey, Benjamin, "Ripley's Believe It and Build," Washington Post, September 15, 1984, p. C1.

"From Smithson to Smithsonian: The Birth of an Institution," http://www.sil.si.edu/exhibits/smithson, 1998.

Goldberger, Paul, "Historical Shows on Trial: Who Judges?," New York Times, February 11, 1996, p. B1.

Goode, George Brown, "Biographical Sketch of Spencer Fullerton Baird," Marine Fisheries Review (U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC), January 1, 1996, p. 40.

Mulligan, Kate, "Nation's Venerable Institution," Washington Times, April 25, 1996, p. M4.

Page, Jake, "From Back-Lot Menagerie to Nascent BioPark in Only a Hundred Years," Smithsonian, July 1989, p. 26.

Parks, Edward, "Secretary S. Dillon Ripley Retires After Twenty Years of Innovation," Smithsonian, September 1984, p. 76.

Ringle, Ken, "Smithsonian: The Greatest of the Mall," Washington Post, August 10, 1996, p. A1.

"The Smithsonian Institution Fact Sheet," Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, March 1998.

Trescott, Jacqueline, "Heyman To Leave Smithsonian," Washington Post, January 23, 1999, p. A1.

Van Dyne, Larry, "Storming the Castle," Washingtonian, August 1994.

Wellborn, Stanley N., "New Guard for Treasures at Smithsonian," U.S. News & World Report, September 24, 1984, p. 68.

Wiencek, Henry, "Smithsonian Institution," in The Smithsonian Guide to Historic America: Virginia and the Capital Region, New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1989, p. 47.

— Ellen D. Wernick

Part of the Museum of American History, Washington, dc, with a large collection of musical instruments which is used in

concerts sponsored by the Institution; some are in the Hall of Musical Instruments (cap. 300) or Baird Auditorium (cap. 850) at the American Museum of Natural History.

For more information on Smithsonian Institution, visit Britannica.com.

Smithsonian Institution, an establishment dedicated to research, education, and national service to science, the arts, and humanities. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., it was chartered by Congress in 1846 pursuant to the will of the Englishman James Smithson (1765–1829). In 1826, Smithson, who was the illegitimate son of Sir Hugh Smithson, Duke of Northumberland, and Elizabeth Keate Macie, descended from Henry VII, bequeathed his fortune, amounting to about $550,000 (a considerable sum for those days), 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." Smith-son's motivations for this unusual bequest are conjectural, but several influences may have been involved: disillusionment due to the circumstances of his birth, which, in Britain, barred him from certain privileges and inheritances; his keen interest in science (he was an Oxford graduate, a competent chemist, and a member of the Royal Society); his faith in America, generated perhaps from his friendship with Americans traveling in Europe, although he himself never visited the United States; and perhaps the general revolutionary temper of the times, which impelled him to do something original for the benefit of humankind and make his name remembered long after, as he said, "the names of the Northumberlands and Percys are extinct and forgotten."

When, after much debate, Congress accepted the gift, there began a long argument as to what form the institution should take in order to conform most clearly with Smithson's broad prescription. The format that finally evolved and was enacted on 10 August 1846 was due in large part to John Quincy Adams, who was then back in Congress following his presidency and whose articulate championing of science and education was most effective.

The Smithsonian derives its support both from appropriations from Congress and from private endowments, of which Smithson's gift was the nucleus. It is considered an independent establishment in the role of a ward of the U.S. government, the trustee. It is governed by a board of regents made up of the vice-president and chief justice of the United States (ex officio) and three U.S. senators, three representatives, and six citizens named by Congress. The regents elect one of their number as chancellor and choose a secretary, who is the executive officer, or director, of the institution. Since its founding the Smithsonian has had eleven secretaries: Joseph Henry, professor and physicist at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton), noted for his research in electromagnetism, who served from 1846 until his death in 1878; Spencer Fullerton Baird, biologist, secretary from 1878 until his death in 1887; Samuel Pierpont Langley, astronomer and aviation pioneer, from 1887 to 1906; Charles Doolittle Walcott, from 1907 to 1927; Charles Greeley Abbot, astrophysicist, from 1928 to 1944; Alexander Wetmore, biologist, from 1945 to 1952; Leonard Carmichael, psychologist, from 1953 to 1964; S. Dillon Ripley, zoologist, from 1964 to 1984; Robert McCormick Adams from 1984 to 1994; Michael Heyman from 1994 to 1999; and Lawrence Small beginning in 2000.

Henry's original program for the Smithsonian and its plan of organization were based on his interpretation of how best to "increase" and "diffuse" knowledge in order "to carry out the design of the testator." To increase knowledge he proposed to "stimulate men of talent to make original researches, by offering rewards for memoirs containing new truths" and "to appropriate a portion of income for particular researches, under the direction of suitable persons." To diffuse knowledge it was proposed to "publish a series of periodical reports on the progress of different branches of knowledge" and "to publish occasionally separate treatises on subjects of general interest." These objectives have continued to guide the activities of the institution. But this simplicity of design did not last long, and the institution proliferated as Congress began assigning the institution jobs to do and "bureaus" to administer. In 1879, a large rambling structure adjoining the Smithsonian was begun to house exhibits for the National Museum, an outgrowth of the Centennial Exposition of 1876 at Philadelphia. Eventually, the National Museum came under the administration of the Smithsonian. Over the years, the Smithsonian has assembled under its wings yet more Museums, art galleries, and other branches, making it perhaps the largest museum and cultural complex in the world. The Smithsonian occupies several buildings flanking the Mall between Fifth and Fourteenth streets and other buildings in several other parts of the city and in a number of places outside Washington, including New York City; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Panama.

The Smithsonian includes sixteen museums. Nine of these are located on the National Mall. They are: the Smithsonian Institution Building, known as the Castle; the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the Freer Gallery of Art, both dedicated to Asian art; the Arts and Industries Building; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; the National Air and Space Museum; the National Museum of African Art; the National Museum of American History; and the National Museum of Natural History, the oldest of the Smithsonian's branches. The National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum have, since 1968, occupied the Old Patent Office Building. The Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture, the National Zoological Park, the National Postal Museum, and the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum are located elsewhere in Washington, D.C. The Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum and the National Museum of the American Indian are located in New York City. A National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., is due to open on the Mall in the early twenty-first century. The Smithsonian also oversees eight research centers: the Archives of American Art, the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, the Conservation and Research Center, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, the Center for Materials Research and Education, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, the Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. The International Exchange Service was initiated in 1850 by Baird and Henry to facilitate the international exchange of scientific and other scholarly publications. There are also three agencies technically under the aegis of the Smithsonian but administered by separate boards of trustees: the National Gallery of Art (established 1941), the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (opened 1971), and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (1968).

The Smithsonian museums, embracing all fields of science, technology, and the arts, are famous for their many unique objects on display. In addition to such showpieces as Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, the First Ladies' inaugural ball gowns, the Hope Diamond, Benjamin Franklin's printing press, the original "star-spangled banner," and the giant model of the blue whale, the dozens of exhibit halls throughout the museums display much of humanity's knowledge of the earth and human civilization and culture. There are also vast study collections, numbering in the millions of objects and specimens, that form the basis of the research conducted not only by the large staff of Smithsonian scientists but also by students and researchers in history, technology, and the physical and natural sciences. The institution is equally famous for its worldwide exploration programs, which were initiated by Henry and Baird.

The first Smithsonian publication, Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, was issued in 1848, and since that time there have appeared under the Smithsonian imprint (now called the Smithsonian Press) thousands of books, pamphlets, catalogs, bulletins, and periodicals in all branches of science, art, and technology. Most of them are scholarly publications, but a few are popular in nature. Smithsonian publications—some financed by government funds and some by the institution's private funds—are widely distributed to libraries, research institutions, and students. Since 1970, in conjunction with a subsidiary organization, the Smithsonian Associates, the institution has published a popular magazine, Smithsonian.

Since the early 1960s, the Smithsonian has expanded its activities, particularly in the field of public education, in an effort to identify the institution more closely with the academic world and with modern educational and research trends. Each of the museums and research centers now includes an Education Department, and, through a program dubbed Smithsonian Affiliates, the Smithsonian has arranged cooperative agreements with museums across the country. Smithsonian Productions creates and manages electronic media for the institution, and ongoing programs of lectures, films, workshops, tours, demonstrations, and performances allow daily access to the "nation's attic."

Bibliography

Bello, Mark. The Smithsonian Institution, a World of Discovery: An Exploration of Behind-the-Scenes Research in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993.

Goode, G. Brown, ed. The Smithsonian Institution, 1846–1896. The History of Its First Half Century. Washington, D.C., 1897; New York: Arno Press, 1980.

Oehser, Paul Henry. Sons of Science: The Story of the Smithsonian Institution and Its Leaders. New York: H. Schuman, 1949.

———. The Smithsonian Institution. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1983.

The Smithsonian Institution, an independent trust instrumentality of the United States, is a center for research dedicated to public education, national service, and scholarship in the arts, science, and history. Its collections hold more than 140 million artifacts and specimens. The Smithsonian was established in 1846 with funds bequeathed to the United States by James Smithson, a British scientist. This bequest to establish in Washington, D.C., an institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge is responsible for establishing the world's largest museum complex. The U.S. Congress provided that the institution be administered by a board of regents - consisting of the vice president of the United States, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, three congressmen, three senators, and six private citizens chosen by Congress - and a secretary.

The Smithsonian is composed of sixteen museums and galleries, the National Zoological Park, and research facilities in the United States and abroad. Nine Smithsonian museums are located on the National Mall between the Washington Monument and the Capitol. Five other museums and the zoo are elsewhere in Washington, D.C.; the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and the National Museum of the American Indian Heye Center are in New York City. Smithsonian education programs in these facilities demonstrate how museums can be powerful learning environments. Smithsonian research and outreach units also provide significant educational programming. These units include the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts; the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama; the National Science Resource Center; the Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies; and The Smithsonian Associates (TSA). More information on Smithsonian museums, research, and outreach units can be found at the institution's website.

The Smithsonian is committed to serving as the most extensive provider of authoritative experiences that connect the American people to their history and their cultural and scientific heritages. A major objective of the institution is to bring Smithsonian education resources to the nation through a comprehensive education program that focuses on the kindergarten through college student population, teachers at all levels, and lifelong learners. A wide variety of educational offerings take place every day and many evenings throughout the institution to meet this objective. These include formal programs for elementary and secondary students both in the galleries of Smithsonian museums and over the World Wide Web; internships and fellowships open to qualified undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students; and programming for the general public, in the galleries during the day and in evening and weekend courses, lectures, and study tours. Smithsonian staff members teach courses at nearby institutions and around the country, conduct seminars and lectures, and act as supervisors and mentors for undergraduate and graduate students and visiting associates. Each year the breadth and scope of Smithsonian education programs has an impact on millions of students and learners of all ages.

Elementary and Secondary Education Programs

Each Smithsonian museum, research, and outreach unit has an education department with responsibility for planning and implementing programs for students. These programs are interactive and encourage students to use analytical and deductive reasoning skills as they experience exhibitions, demonstrations, and other activities. All museums offer previsit materials such as activity sheets, museum guides, and teachers' guides that provide hands-on lessons for use in the classroom and at home. The museums also offer curriculum packets developed by classroom educators working with museum curators and scientists, which provide multidisciplinary activities. Teaching materials include reproductions of objects, specimens, or artwork; lesson plans with examples of student work; resource lists; and reference information. The Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center introduces preschool-age children to the arts and sciences through objects and exhibits in Smithsonian museums. The center has developed a comprehensive, theoretical framework regarding museum-based education for the youngest audience of museum visitors and communicates these concepts in training seminars for teachers around the country.

More than 6.5 million school children visit the institution each year. Smithsonian education is not, however, limited by physical space or geographic location. The institution is working to dramatically enlarge its audiences and its degrees of engagement with the public throughout the country. Millions more students nationwide can access a wealth of on-line resources made available by all Smithsonian units and can attend the many programs and exhibitions that the Smithsonian's Office of National Programs sponsors in local museums and schools across the country. Smithsonian museums create comprehensive educational websites with activities for families, teachers, and students. Many of these sites offer interdisciplinary lesson plans that emphasize inquiry-based learning with primary sources and museum collections. Provided are photographs of objects, guidelines for working with them, and links to other online resources. The Smithsonian's central education website lists standards in science, U.S. history, world history, and visual arts, and it identifies specific collections and online resources from Smithsonian museums that can be used to help address those standards. Initiatives from the Office of National Programs include traveling exhibitions, Scholar in the School programs, teacher development programs, and affiliations with other museums throughout the United States.

Higher Education Programs

The Smithsonian Institution offers a variety of internship and fellowship programs for undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students. An internship at the Smithsonian Institution is a prearranged, structured learning experience scheduled within a specific time frame. The experience must be relevant to the intern's academic and professional goals and to research and museum activities of the institution. An internship is performed under the direct supervision of Smithsonian staff. Internships are arranged by contacting the appropriate internship coordinator at a Smithsonian museum, office, or research institute, or through the Internship Central Referral Service offered by the Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies. Stipends are available to qualified students for several of the institution's internship programs.

Pre-and postdoctoral fellowships at the Smithsonian Institution provide students and scholars with opportunities to pursue independent research projects in association with members of the Smithsonian professional research staff. The Office of Fellowships has the central management and administrative responsibility for the institution's programs of research grants, fellowships, and other scholarly appointments. One of its primary objectives is the facilitation of the Smithsonian's scholarly interactions with students and scholars at universities, museums, and other research institutions around the world. The office administers institution-wide research support programs, and encourages and assists other Smithsonian museums, research institutes, and research offices in the development of additional fellowships and visiting appointments. Applicants are evaluated on their academic standing, scholarly qualifications, experiences, the quality of the research project or study proposed, and its suitability to Smithsonian collections, facilities, and programs. Stipends and additional allowances are available for most appointments. Scholars and students with outside sources of funding are also encouraged to use the institution's resources and facilities. The Office of Fellowships can facilitate visiting appointments in such cases provided that the investigator obtains approval from the staff member with whom he or she would consult.

Professional Development

The Smithsonian works with teachers in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and throughout the nation. Through special events, for-credit courses, and long-term partnerships, teachers discover innovative ways to meet their teaching objectives using museum resources. These programs support local and national standards and many are approved for in-service credit or recertification points in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. The institution also collaborates or partners with various educational, professional, and service organizations, such as the College Board, the International Literacy Network, the National Writers Project, and the U.S. Department of Education to establish models that demonstrate how the use of museum resources and research methodologies can strengthen teaching and instruction at the elementary, secondary, and college level. The Smithsonian is also a leader in providing professional development opportunities for museum professionals in the United States and abroad. The institution sponsors an annual series of training programs in collections care, museum management, and education topics in Washington, D.C., and in museums around the country.

Family and Continuing Education Programs

Lifelong learning takes many shapes at the Smithsonian. Visitors, whether individuals or with family and friends, can participate in educational programming on most weekends at every Smithsonian museum and, in the summer, at special evening events at the institution's international art museums. The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage organizes the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall each summer, featuring demonstrations, storytelling, and narrative sessions for discussing cultural issues. The Smithsonian Associates (TSA) offers programming for lifelong learners that highlights and complements the work done across the Smithsonian. TSA's Resident Associate program offers more than 120 programs each month in the Washington D.C., area and also provides educational and cultural programs to audiences outside the Washington, D.C., area, through the Scholar in the School and Smithsonian Voices of Discovery programs, and the Study Tour program, which organizes more than 300 trips each year to locations around the world.

Internet Resource

Smithsonian Institution. 2002. www.si.edu..

— BRUCE C. CRAIG

A group of over a dozen museums and research and publication facilities, such as the National Air and Space Museum, the Museum of Natural History, the Museum of History and Technology, the National Zoo, and the National Gallery of Art. Many of the Smithsonian's buildings are on the Washington Mall. The institution is named after James Smithson, an Englishman whose bequest enabled its founding in the nineteenth century.

"Smithsonian" redirects here. For other uses, see Smithsonian (disambiguation).

Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution Building or on the National Mall serves as the Institution's headquarters.
Established	August 10, 1846
Location	Washington, D.C.
Director	G. Wayne Clough
Public transit access	Smithsonian, L'Enfant Plaza Maryland Avenue exit.
Website	http://www.si.edu/

The Smithsonian Institution (pronounced /smɪθˈsoʊnɪən/) 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 endowment, contributions, and profits from its shops and its magazines. Most of its facilities are located in Washington, D.C., but its 19 museums, zoo, and nine research centers include sites in New York City, Virginia, Panama, and elsewhere (see below). It has over 136 million items in its collections,^[1] publishes two magazines named Smithsonian (monthly) and Air & Space (bimonthly), and employs the Smithsonian Police to protect visitors, staff, and the property of the museums. The Institution's current logo is a stylized sun.

Contents 1 History 2 Administration 2.1 Secretaries of the Smithsonian 3 Office of Protection Services (OPS) 4 Smithsonian museums 4.1 Washington, D.C. 4.2 New York, NY 4.3 Chantilly, VA 4.4 Leesburg, VA 5 Smithsonian research centers 6 Controversies 6.1 Enola Gay Display 6.2 Censorship of "Seasons of Life and Land" 6.3 Strong Copyright Restrictions 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External links

History

The Smithsonian Institution was founded for the "increase and diffusion" of knowledge from a bequest to the United States by the British 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 government of 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 Congress of the bequest, which amounted to 104,960 gold sovereigns, or US$500,000 ($10,100,997 in 2008 U.S. dollars after inflation). After heated debate as to whether the federal government had the authority to accept the gift, Congress accepted the legacy bequeathed to the nation and pledged the faith of the United States to the charitable trust July 1, 1836.^[2]

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 Polk. (See 20 U.S.C. § 41 (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 crenellated 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 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 United States Exploring Expedition by the U.S. Navy circumnavigated the globe between 1838 and 1842. The voyage 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 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.

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

The asteroid 3773 Smithsonian, discovered in 1984, is named in honor of the Institution.

A 2009 motion picture, (Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian), was given rights to use the Smithsonian Institution's name for the first time in its history.

Administration

The Smithsonian Castle doorway

The Smithsonian Institution is established as a trust 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 legislation that created the Smithsonian Institution (approved by Congress Aug. 10, 1846) called for the creation of a Board of Regents to govern and administer the organization. This 17-member board meets at least four times a year and includes as ex officio members the Chief Justice of the United States and the Vice President of the United States. The nominal head of the Institution is the Chancellor, an office which has traditionally been held by the Chief Justice. In September 2007, the Board created the position of Chair of the Board of the Board of Regents, a position currently occupied by Patricia Q. Stonesifer of Washington State.^[3]

Other members of the Board of Regents are three members of the U.S. House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House; three members of the Senate, appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate; and nine citizen members, nominated by the Board and approved by the Congress in a joint resolution signed by the President of the United States.^[4] Regents who are representatives and senators serve for the duration of their elected term. Citizen Regents serve a maximum of two six-year terms. Regents are compensated on a part-time basis. The chief executive officer of the Smithsonian is the Secretary, who is appointed by the Board of Regents. There have been 12 Secretaries since the Smithsonian was established. The Secretary also serves as secretary to the Board of Regents but is not a voting member of that body. The Secretary of the Smithsonian has the privilege of the floor at the United States Senate.

Secretaries of the Smithsonian

1. Joseph Henry, 1846–1878
2. Spencer Fullerton Baird, 1878–1887
3. Samuel Pierpont Langley, 1887–1906
4. Charles Doolittle Walcott, 1907–1927
5. Charles Greeley Abbot, 1928–1944
6. Alexander Souris, 1944–1952
7. Leonard Carmichael, 1953–1964
8. Sidney Dillon Ripley, 1964–1984
9. Robert McCormick Adams, 1984–1994
10. Ira Michael Heyman, 1994–1999
11. Lawrence M. Small, 2000–2007
12. Cristián Samper (Acting Secretary), 2007–2008
13. G. Wayne Clough, 2008-

The Colombian biologist Cristián Samper was the first Latin American to hold the position. Born in Costa Rica, he was raised in Colombia, the country of his father, Armando Samper, from one year of age. He received his Bachelor's degree in Biology from the Universidad de los Andes 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 had been the director of the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C..^[5]

Office of Protection Services (OPS)

The Smithsonian Office Of Protection Services oversees security at the Smithsonian Facilities. The Secretary of the Smithsonian may designate employees to have Special Police Status to enforce regulations within the Smithsonian facilities and grounds as well as areas of the National Capital Parks in D.C.

According to 40 U.S.C. § 6306, Smithsonian staff who are designated as Special police "may, within the specified buildings and grounds, enforce, and make arrests for violations of, sections 6302 and 6303 of this title, any regulation prescribed under section 6304 of this title, federal or state law, or any regulation prescribed under federal or state law; and (2) may enforce concurrently with the United States Park Police the laws and regulations applicable to the National Capital Parks, and may make arrests for violations of sections 6302 and 6303 of this title, within the several areas located within the exterior boundaries of the face of the curb lines of the squares within which the specified buildings and grounds are located."

The Office of Protection Services has three Main positions within the division, all of which are U.S. Government Positions:

• Smithsonian Museum Protection Officers/Guards undergo three weeks of specialized training which includes firearm use, arrest procedures, handcuffing and OC Spray use and are assigned to one of 19 Smithsonian Museum or Research sites in New York City or the District of Columbia
• Smithsonian Museum Physical Security Specialists and Supervisory Physical Security Specialists assist in overseeing the daily protection operations of the various Museum Sites. Each Specialist is assigned to a central division of OPS and has responsibilities for all Smithsonian sites.
• Smithsonian Zoological Police Officers are assigned to the 163-acre (0.66 km²) National Zoo owned by the Smithsonian in the District Of Columbia. Zoological officers receive specialized Police Officer training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC)

Smithsonian museums

See also: List of Smithsonian Museums

A variety of aircraft displayed at the National Air and Space Museum. Most notable: Ford Trimotor and Douglas DC-3 (top and second from top)

Washington, D.C.

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

New York, NY

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

Chantilly, VA

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

Leesburg, VA

• Smithsonian Naturalist Center

In addition, there are 156 museums that are Smithsonian affiliates.^[1]

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

Controversies

Enola Gay Display

See also: Enola Gay: Recent Developments

In 1994, the display of the Enola Gay, the Superfortress which executed the first atomic bombing in World War Two, at the National Air and Space Museum became a controversy. The American Legion and Air Force Association were concerned that the display unfairly put forward one side of the debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, emphasizing the death and destruction of the bombing without the context of the war. In order to take a neutral stance on this politically sensitive topic, the aircraft was placed on display with merely technical data and without discussion of its historic role.

Censorship of "Seasons of Life and Land"

In 2003, a National Museum of Natural History exhibit, Subhankar Banerjee's "Seasons of Life and Land," featuring photographs of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was censored and moved to the basement by Smithsonian officials because they feared that its subject matter was too politically controversial.^[6]

In November 2007 the Washington Post reported that internal criticism has been raised regarding the institution's handling of an exhibit on the Arctic. According to documents and e-mails, the exhibit and its associated presentation were edited at high levels to add "scientific uncertainty" regarding the nature and impact of global warming on the Arctic. Acting Secretary of the Smithsonian Cristián Samper was interviewed by the Post and claimed that the exhibit was edited because it contained conclusions that went beyond what could be proven by contemporary climatology.^[7]

Strong Copyright Restrictions

The Smithsonian Institution provides access to its image collections for educational, scholarly and non-profit uses. Commercial uses are generally restricted unless permission is obtained. Smithsonian images fall into different copyright categories; some are protected by copyright, many are subject to license agreements or other contractual conditions, and some fall into the public domain, such as those prepared by Smithsonian employees as part of their official duties. The Smithsonian’s terms of use for its digital content, including images, are set forth at on the Smithsonian Web site.^[8][9]

The Smithsonian Institution has been criticized^[who?] for overly restrictive copyright policies for its image collections, which overwhelmingly consist of public domain content dating from the 19th century. An image without a Smithsonian watermark and at a resolution suitable for publication requires a 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,^{[citation needed]} expressed in a 2005 memo, "The Smithsonian cannot own copyright in works prepared by Smithsonian employees paid from federal funds".^[10]

In April 2006, the institution entered into an agreement of "first refusal" rights for its vast silent 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 from the network to use extensive amounts of film footage from the Smithsonian archives.^[11]

When the formation of Smithsonian Networks was announced, a common misconception was that the agreement would limit access to Smithsonian collections, archives and staff for independent producers because it gave Showtime exclusive rights to this material. In fact, independent producers still have the same access to the Smithsonian and its collections as they had prior to the agreement^{[citation needed]} and the process to film at the Smithsonian remains the same. Since January 2006, more than 500 requests from independent producers have come into the Smithsonian for filming in the museums and collections, archival footage and photos.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "About the Smithsonian". http://www.si.edu/about/. 
2. ^ James Smithson Biographical Information
3. ^ Smithsonian Regents Fact Sheet.
4. ^ Smithsonian Press Kit
5. ^ The Secretaries of the Smithsonian Institution
6. ^ Smithsonian's Arctic Refuge Exhibit Draws Senate Scrutiny (washingtonpost.com)
7. ^ "Scientists Fault Climate Exhibit Changes". Washington Post: pp. 4. 2007-11-16. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/15/AR2007111502550.html?hpid=topnews. Retrieved 2007-11-18. 
8. ^ Terms of use of this website.
9. ^ Smithsonian Images-Copyright
10. ^ Smithsonian Institution-Office of General Counsel
11. ^ ""Smithsonian Agreement Angers Filmmakers," New York Times, April 1, 2006". http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/01/arts/television/01smit.html?ex=1301547600&en=8293d567dfc155d7&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss. 

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
• Heather Ewing (2007). The Lost World of James Smithson: Science, Revolution, and the Birth of the Smithsonian. Bloomsbury. ISBN 9780747576532. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Smithsonian Institution

• Smithsonian Institution webpage
• Smithsonian Education webpage
  • Map of the museums from the Smithsonian Institution
• Smithsonian Institution Archives
• Smithsonian Institution Libraries
• 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.
• To the Smithsonian or Bust: The Scientific Legacy of Nikola Tesla from Yale Scientific Magazine
• Smithsonian Gem & Mineral CollectionThe Smithsonian Rocks
• Smithsonian Science Lecture Series Dr. David L. Evans, Smithsonian Under Secretary for Science speaks

v • d • e Secretaries of the Smithsonian Institution Joseph Henry (1846) · Spencer Fullerton Baird (1878) · Samuel Pierpont Langley (1887) · Charles Doolittle Walcott (1907) · Charles Greeley Abbot (1928) · Alexander Wetmore (1944) · Leonard Carmichael (1953) · Sidney Dillon Ripley (1964) · Robert McCormick Adams, Jr. (1984) · Ira Michael Heyman (1994) · Lawrence M. Small (2000) · Cristián Samper (2007) · G. Wayne Clough (2008)

v • d • e Smithsonian Museums List of Smithsonian Museums Anacostia Community Museum · Arthur M. Sackler Gallery · Arts and Industries Building · Cooper-Hewitt · Freer Gallery of Art · Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden · National Air and Space Museum · National Museum of African American History and Culture (Future) · 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 · S. Dillon Ripley Center · Smithsonian American Art Museum · Smithsonian Institution Building · Smithsonian National Zoological Park (National Zoo)

v • d • e Landmarks of Washington, D.C. Memorials Adams Memorial · African American Civil War Memorial · Albert Einstein Memorial · Daniel Webster Memorial · District of Columbia War Memorial · Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial · George Mason Memorial · James A. Garfield Monument · Jefferson Memorial · John Ericsson National Memorial · John Paul Jones Memorial · Korean War Veterans Memorial · Lincoln Memorial · Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac · National Japanese American Memorial To Patriotism During World War II · National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial · National World War II Memorial · Navy-Marine Memorial · Oscar Straus Memorial · Peace Monument · Robert A. Taft Memorial · The Extra Mile · The Three Soldiers · Theodore Roosevelt Island · Titanic Memorial · Ulysses S. Grant Memorial · United States Navy Memorial · Victims of Communism Memorial · Vietnam Veterans Memorial · Vietnam Women's Memorial · Washington Monument Planned Memorials Adams Memorial · Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial · Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Other Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception · Healy Hall · Islamic Center of Washington · Jefferson Pier · John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts · Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool · Outdoor sculpture in Washington, D.C. · President Lincoln's Cottage at the Soldiers' Home · Smithsonian Institution · United States Capitol · United States Supreme Court Building · Washington National Cathedral · White House · Zero Milestone

Coordinates: 38°53′20″N 77°01′34″W / 38.8888°N 77.026°W / 38.8888; -77.026

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