How James Smithson Came To Rest in the Institution He Never Knew
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Author writes the story of the successful efforts made in the early 1900's by his grandfather, Smithsonian Regent Alexander Graham Bell, and his father, Gilbert H. Grosvenor (his own predecessor at the National Geographic Society), to bring the remains of Smithsonian Institution founder James Smithson to Washington, D.C., from Genoa, Italy, where Smithson was buried after his death in 1829. This action was taken after it was learned that Genoa planned city improvements which would eventually necessitate removing bodies from the cemetery where Smithson was interred. His remains were exhumed and transported to the United States in January 1904, and now rest in the Smithsonian Institution's Castle Building.
Smithsonian Institution History Bibliography
Photographs, including two taken by Mrs. Alexander Graham Bell and one of the Smithsonian mace, accompany the article.
Smithsonian Vol. 6, No. 10 (Journal)
Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
January 1976
Genoa (Italy)
p. 30-37