Smithsonian Institution historian Pam Henson says that the mint would have had to reimburse the Smithson bequest if it had removed the coins. Rush, says Henson, "turned every single coin in at Philadelphia, down to the shilling.
Even before the gold eagles were minted, all sorts of people had ideas about what to do with them. The Secretary of the Treasury, Levi Woodbury, won out. He decided to invest the lot in high-return bonds being offered by two new states, one-year-old Michigan and two-year-old Arkansas.
No sooner did the eagles arrive in Washington than the equivalent amount was laid out for thousand-dollar, 6 percent bonds — for Arkansas and 8 for Michigan. Both states quickly defaulted. Many Congressmen were just as glad. This was a time when refinement, wealth and, particularly, imported culture were politically incorrect.
When Andrew Jackson became President in , he inspired a rush to the nation's capital of tobacco-chewing, gallus-snapping rustics from the southern and western frontiers. Book learning was not high on their list of national priorities, and they figured the gift might be a sign that the Brits were patronizing us. After leaving the White House, he returned to Congress as a Massachusetts Representative "accountable to no one but the Nation. Adams succeeded in forcing Congress to vote for full replacement of the money lost by Woodbury's bad investments.
Once the money was in hand, battles began again about exactly what sort of institution Smithson's gift should be put to. Adams wanted a national observatory. Other Congressmen favored shoring up the capital's Columbian College now George Washington University , creating an agricultural college, a lyceum for uplifting lectures or, perhaps inevitably, a greatly expanded national library. Indiana's Robert Owen doubted that there were "a hundred thousand volumes in the world worth reading" and pushed for a teachers college.
Adams replied that he would rather throw all the money "into the Potomac" than vote for such a thing. The year was in all sorts of ways a fateful moment in America's history. Polk at last signed the Smithsonian Institution bill into law.
Congress had still not given firm orders on what kind of place it would be. But it was agreed that a building would go up on what is now the Mall with suitable rooms for "objects of natural history, a chemical laboratory. Let him worry about how to increase and diffuse knowledge. Princeton's Joseph Henry, a world-famous scientist, got the nod, though not too cheerfully.
Gradually the Institution took shape around it, evolving and expanding over the years until it fulfilled James Smithson's vague wish. X-rays of the ends of longer bones show no growth arrest, so health in later childhood was probably sound Other bone analysis suggests an active and vigorous man, sometimes climbing, sometimes using his hands for hard work, sometimes bending over a desk.
And certain peculiarities of the right little finger suggest that he may have played the harpsichord, piano or a stringed instrument such as a violin. A Brief History of the Smithsonian Institution. April 14, Media Fact Sheet. James Smithson Shortly after his birth in France in , Smithson was taken to England for his education. He had bad teeth generally—17 had been lost while he was alive and five had abscesses when he died… Bone studies indicate there may have been a minor shoulder injury in early childhood.
Search Newsdesk. Related Content. Back to Top. There have been 13 secretaries who have led the Smithsonian since Joseph Henry — , served to Spencer Fullerton Baird — , served to Samuel Pierpont Langley — , served to Charles Doolittle Walcott — , served to Charles Greeley Abbot , served to Alexander Wetmore — , served to Leonard Carmichael — , served to Dillon Ripley — , served to Robert McCormick Adams — , served to Michael Heyman — , served to Lawrence M.
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