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Portrait of James Smithson, courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Archives

On this day, 182 years ago, James Smithson passed away in Genoa, Italy after a long illness at the age of 64. His will, which contained a puzzling provision, set in motion a series of circuitous events that would eventually lead to the creation of the Smithsonian Institution.

Smithson’s considerable wealth was left to his nephew Henry James Hungerford. But the will indicated that if Hungerford should die leaving no heirs—legitimate or illegitimate— the money was to go to the people of the United States of America to create something he called the Smithsonian Institution for the “increase and diffusion of knowledge” among men. The will was so extraordinary that it was published by the Times of London. While Smithson’s reasons and exact intentions are still unknown, the journey “from Smithson to Smithsonian” is intriguing.

“Nobody thought it would ever some to pass because his nephew was young and healthy and by all accounts quite good at spending money,” says Pamela Henson, director of the Smithsonian’s Institutional History Division. “It was very unlikely that this money would ever come to the United States.”

Born in France in 1765, James Lewis Macie was the illegitimate son of Hugh Smithson, who would later become the first Duke of Northumberland, and Elizabeth Keate Hungerford Macie. Upon the death of his mother, a widow of royal blood, Smithson inherited a considerable amount of money and adopted his father’s surname. A wealthy man, Smithson studied at Oxford and devoted his life to science, increasing his wealth through wise investments.

But in 1835, Smithson’s nephew died while living in Pisa, Italy without heirs. The executor of the estate contacted the American Chargé d’Affaires in London to set in motion the transfer of funds and eventually President Andrew Jackson was notified of the bequest. Unsure of whether or not he had the authority to accept the gift, President Jackson sent the issue over to Congress where a spirited debate ensued.

“This is pre-Civil War, 1830s, and states rights versus federalism is a hugely hot issue,” Henson says. “Southerners vehemently oppose this because they believe it’s a violation of states’ rights to create such a nation entity but John Quincy Adams, [the former president, now back in the House of Representatives] really takes this on as his case and pushes it through and he eventually triumphs.” Congress authorized the U.S. to accept the bequest on July 1, 1836.

If agreeing to accept the money was complicated, deciding what to do with it was almost impossible. Smithson, who had never set foot in the United States while living, apparently never discussed the provision in his will or his plans for the Institution with anyone. So, for ten years, Congress debated what “increase and diffusion of knowledge” meant and what such an establishment would look like. Several ideas were suggested, including: a scientific institute, a teacher’s training institute, a school of natural history, a university for the classics, a national observatory, a national library and a national museum. Eventually, a political compromise was reached, which provided for many of the different ideas suggested, and the Smithsonian Institution was founded, signed into law by President James K. Polk on August 10, 1846, and funded.

Not much is known about the life of James Smithson, whose papers, diaries and correspondence were lost in a massive 1865 fire in the Castle building. But a recent biography by Heather Ewing, who traveled throughout Europe looking in various archives for Smithson’s correspondence with others, does shed some additional light onto his life and scientific thinking. The mystery of why he decided to gift the equivalent of $508,318.46 to the United States and what his true intentions were may never be solved. “But it’s sort of fascinating what, by chance, that sentence at the end of his will turned out to be,” Henson says.

James Smithson’s remains, brought to the U.S. by Smithsonian Regent Alexander Graham Bell 75 years after his death, are interred in a tomb in the Castle Building. Learn more about his life and the founding of the Institution online.

Guess who is buried here? James Smithson, of course. Take a tour of the Castle on Friday at 9:30. Photo courtesy of Smithsonian Archives

Friday June 24 Soak Up the History

Come see where it all began this Friday with a trip to the Smithsonian Castle. At 9:30 AM meet at the Information Desk of the Castle to find a friendly docent who will take you on a tour that hits all the highlights of the Smithsonian’s first building and museum. Visitors can learn how the Smithsonian Institution was founded and the discover the unique architecture of the building. Be sure not to miss James Smithson‘s crypt, the Great Hall or the West Wing. (Yes, the real James Smithson is in the building.) This free event is open to the whole family but is only offered once a day.

Saturday June 25 Story Time

Cuddle up with your young one today for a good start to your morning. Join the staff of the Air and Space Museum for Flights of Fancy—Stories for Children. Saturday’s story will be  Mommy’s Little Star, by Janet Bingham, a book about the beauty of the natural world and the warmth of family love. In this story a little fox and his mother explore the night sky together. After the story, visitors are invited to join in an art activity. The program begins at 11, but be sure to ask the museum’s Welcome Center in the South Lobby for the location of the event.

Sunday June 26 Exploration Portrait Gallery

Give traditional museum viewing a rest for the day and join the National Portrait Gallery as they offer up a new, and free, way to explore the museum. From 1 to 4, families and children (ages 5 and up) are invited to borrow a Portrait Discovery Kit. The kit includes a self-guided, interactive and imaginative way to learn about the subjects of the paintings and the roles they played in shaping American history. Explore the museum using seek-and-find cards. Play a sleuth with your portrait detective and historian guides. Follow your inspiration by drawing with your self-portrait pads. Then try the compare-and-contrast activity. Museum educators will explain how to use the kit before exploration begins. Kits are available on a first-come, first-served basis. To borrow a kit, all you need to do is leave a cell phone number and an email address at the Education Center (Room E151) located on the South side of the 1st floor.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian Museum events and exhibits go to the GoSmithsonian Visitors Guide.

Friday, May 6 Garden Fest!

Family-friendly celebration of plants, gardens and gardening. Add to a garden mural, build a puppet, make a miniature Japanese garden and take home seeds for your garden. Saturday will include live music and a stilt walker. Location: Enid A. Haupt Garden, south of the Castle. In the event of rain, activities will move to the Ripley Center. Free. Friday, 11:00 AM-1:00 PM. Saturday, 11:00 AM-3:00 PM. http://gardens.si.edu/gardenfest/

Saturday, May 7 Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

Make a family storybook or create fortune cookies in clay, play a game with chopsticks or participate in video interviews. Watch the film “The Killing of a Chinese Cookie,” which answers the question “Who really invented the fortune cookie?” at 1:00 PM, followed by a Q&A with director Derek Shimoda. Cedric Yeh, curator, will give a personal look at the exhibition, Sweet and Sour: A Look at the History of Chinese Food in America. Free. 11:00 AM to 4 PM. American History Museum, sponsored by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program.

Sunday, May 8 Celebrate Mother’s Day with the Mendelssohn Piano Trio

A musical performance sure to tickle the fancy of any mother. Pianist Ya-Ting Chang, violinist Peter Sirotin, and cellist Fiona Thompson will perform works by J. Haydn and C. Saint-Saëns, as well as the celebrated Dumky trio by A. Dvořák. Free. 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. American Art Museum.

Spring time at the Smithsonian. Learn from the gardeners themselves. Photo by Eric Long

April showers bring May flowers. Or maybe, just mosquitoes. But the horticulture folks who bring you the Smithsonian gardens want you front and center tomorrow and Saturday (May 6 and 7). Bring your wellies and gloves to this year’s Garden Fest for tips and techniques to make your flowers and veggies grow like they were planted by an expert.

Established in 1972, the Smithsonian Gardens’ crew and staff like to think themselves as the “outdoor museum” of the Institution. The gorgeous landscaping and gardens are the equivalent of horticultural exhibitions, designed to compliment the museums that they border. For example, Natural History museum’s nearby butterfly garden tells the story of host plants and habitats like wetlands and meadows and woodland edges where the insects thrive. Garden Fest, started in 2006, is a two-day, free event that allows visitors to talk with Smithsonian horticulturists about the work they do and the places and spaces that they create.

“The Smithsonian Gardens themselves are an asset, not only to the visitors of the Smithsonian, but also to the residents of DC as a place of respite from the urban environment,” says Smithsonian horticulturist Shelley Gaskins. “Garden Fest seeks to educate the public about gardens, gardening and all things related.”

Visitors will learn about the benefits of adding certain insects into their gardens at Beneficial Insects in the Garden and how to increase biodiversity by growing heirloom vegetable plants at What is Old is New Again: Heirloom Tomato Pot-a-Plant.

Smithsonian Gardens chose “Celebrating the American Garden Experience” as the theme of this year’s Garden Fest.  Many of the activities at the festival have been developed from American gardening traditions and highlight uniquely American flowers and plants.

Some of the activities include creating sunflower seed packets, coloring garden gnome plant stakes, and learning about the roles that trees have played in American history.

This year’s Garden Fest also starts on National Public Gardens Day. “Garden Fest celebrates National Public Garden Day by inviting local public gardens to join in our celebration,” said Gaskins. The information and activities available at Garden Fest help support the goals of National Public Gardens Day such as conservation, education and environmental stewardship.

Garden Fest will take place on Friday, May 6 from 11 AM to 1 PM and Saturday, May 7 from 11 AM to 3 PM in the Enip A. Haupt Garden, which is located between the Smithsonian Castle and Independence Ave. In the event of rain, all activities will move to the S. Dillon Ripley Center.

During the Civil War, the nine towers in the Smithsonian Castle (in 1858), the Institution's original home, offered views of city, the Potomac River and Virginia. Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

By now you know that this year marks the sesquicentennial of the beginning of the Civil War. And you’re probably aware of the variety of events, exhibitions and programs taking place across the Smithsonian Institution commemorating that pivotal time in United States history. But what you may not know is that the Smithsonian Institution itself, not yet 15 years old when the war began in 1861, has its own chapter in Civil war history. So, this week, the ATM blog team has compiled a list of the most interesting (and little known facts) about the Smithsonian during wartime.

1. In 1861, the entire Smithsonian Institution was housed in one red sandstone building, designed by James Renwick Jr. to look like a castle.  To the east of the building was what would become the Capitol and to the west, lay the foundation for what would become  the George Washington Monument. A mere mile from the White House, views from the Smithsonian overlooked the Patent Office, the Potomac River, and the rooftops of neighboring Alexandria, Virginia, the hometown of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

2. Joseph Henry, the first secretary of the Institution, was in a tricky situation. Born and bred in the North, Henry opposed both slavery and the war and “favored colonization in Africa over abolition.” More than anything, though, he wanted to keep the Institution apolitical, and protect its collections, even as it was sandwiched between two different realities—secession flags waving over parts of Virginia and war waging in nearby Baltimore. Secretary Henry, despite his reservations about the war, began aiding the Union cause. He introduced balloonist T.S.C. Lowe to the Secretary of War Simon Cameron, and later to President Lincoln. Henry believed that Lowe’s balloons could help the government with its reconnaissance missions. Lowe tested the feasibility of communicating between the balloons and the ground from what is now the Air and Space Museum. Lowe went on to head the tactically successful balloon corps, which, unfortunately imploded due to a series of inner turmoil.

3. One night, someone saw lights flashing from the Smithsonian tower and reported to President Lincoln that Secretary Henry was a traitor, signaling the enemy. President Lincoln reportedly replied that the previous night, he and a few others went with Henry to the tower to experiment with new army signals, or so one story goes; there are several versions. But Secretary Henry was indeed accused of treason, a claim of which he defended himself.

4. In 1861, the Washington Lecture Association, a group of prominent Washingtonians opposed to slavery, wanted to use the Smithsonian lecture room for a forum. At the time, there were restrictions placed on its use and when Henry learned that the forum was about the abolition of slavery, he requested they read a disclaimer. According to Carl Sandburg’s biography of Abraham Lincoln, “the chairman of the lecture series would open each lecture by saying: ‘Ladies and gentlemen: I am requested by Professor Henry to announce that the Smithsonian Institution is not in any way responsible for this course of lectures. I do so with pleasure, and desire to add that the Washington Lecture Association is in no way responsible for the Smithsonian Institution.’ The hall would rock with laughter at Henry’s expense.” Afterwards, the use of the hall was restricted to student awards ceremonies.

5. During the Civil War, the Old Patent Office Building was used as a hospital for wounded soldiers, temporary barracks and a morgue. President Lincoln also held his second inaugural ball there. It was given to the Smithsonian in 1962 and is now the site of the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

For more on the Smithsonian during the Civil War, check out the CivilWar@Smithsonian site.