The History of the Smithsonian Institution
The story of the Smithsonian Institution is fascinating. The Smithsonian exists because James Smithson, a wealthy English scientist, thought the principles of our nation and the scientific discoveries that were being produced here in the nineteenth century were so amazing that he wanted to found “an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men” in the United States.
Upon his death in Italy in 1829, he willed his fortune to his nephew and stipulated that should his nephew die without heirs, the entire Smithson fortune, which was worth about half a million dollars (an enormous amount of money in those days, which eventually came to the United States in bags of gold sovereigns) would be given to the United States to fund such an institution.
James Smithson was born Lewis Macie in France in 1765, but later learned that his father was Hugh Smithson, duke of North Cumberland. He changed his name to Smithson while a student at Oxford, where he studied science, and later became a noted mineralogist. He discovered a zinc carbonite, smithsonite, which was named after him.
It took eight years of discussion in Congress before the Smithson gift was accepted and then another nine years before the Smithsonian Institution became a reality, with President Andrew Polk signing an act of Congress that established the Smithsonian Institution.
Since then, a trust has been established to oversee the Institution; this trust receives private funds and donations as well as more than $620 million in government funding a year. This funding is how the museums are able to function without charging entrance fees.
