Wealthy English scientist James Smithson (1765-1829), the illegitimate son of the duke of Northumberland, never explained why he willed his vast fortune to the United States, a country he had never visited. Speculation is that he felt the new nation, lacking established cultural institutions, most needed his bequest. Smithson died in Genoa, Italy, in 1829. Congress accepted his gift in 1836; 2 years later, half a million dollars' worth of gold sovereigns (a considerable sum in the 19th century) arrived at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. For the next 8 years, Congress debated the best possible use for these funds. Finally, in 1846, James Polk signed an act into law establishing the Smithsonian Institution and authorizing a board to receive "all objects of art and of foreign and curious research, and all objects of natural history, plants, and geological and mineralogical specimens . . . for research and museum purposes."
Since then, private donations have swelled Smithson's original legacy many times over. Although the Smithsonian acquires approximately 70% of its yearly budget from congressional allocations, the institution depends quite heavily on these monies from private donors, especially since many of the museums are in need of renovation. In a sign of the times, and due to the need of the Smithsonian for larger contributions, the institution has imposed an admission fee for the first time ever (for one museum's exhibit only): $5 to enter the Butterfly Pavilion at the National Museum of Natural History. General admission to the rest of the museum, and to all other Smithsonian museums, remains free. Of the 16 Smithsonian museums in the Washington, D.C., area, 10 are on the Mall. The National Zoological Park is also a Smithsonian property, as are two additional museums in New York City. The institution is planning to open at least one more Smithsonian museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, adjacent to the Washington Monument, bounded by Constitution Avenue NW, Madison Drive NW, and 14th and 15th streets NW; completion of the museum is a long way off.
The Smithsonian's collection of nearly 137 million objects spans the entire world and all of its history, its peoples and animals (past and present), and our attempts to probe into the future. So vast is the collection that Smithsonian museums display only about 1% or 2% of the collection's holdings at any given time. Its holdings, in every area of human interest, range from a 3.5-billion-year-old fossil to inaugural gowns worn by the first ladies. Thousands of scientific expeditions sponsored by the Smithsonian have pushed into remote frontiers in the deserts, mountains, polar regions, and jungles.
To find out information about any of the Smithsonian museums, call tel. 202/633-1000 or TTY 202/357-1729. The information specialists who answer are very professional and always helpful. The Smithsonian museums also share a website, www.si.edu, which helps get you to their individual home pages.
