A Bill to provide for the disposal and management of the Smithson fund

Summary

Mr. Adams from the Select Committee reported the bill which was read twice and committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union. The bill establishes the Vice President, the Chief Justice, the Secretaries of War, State, Treasury and Navy, the mayor of Washington, three members of the Senate and four members of the House as the Trustees of the Smithsonian. It pledges the faith of the United States for the preservation of the fund. It asserts that no part of the fund should go toward a school of any kind. Congress shall make appropriations only from the interest on the fund. It establishes that there should be an astronomical observatory. All expenditures make by the board are subject to the approval of the President of the United States. It establishes a board of visitors whose job will be to inspect the condition of the observatory and the Smithsonian Institution generally.

Subject

• Smithson, James 1765-1829
• United States Congress
• Board of Regents

Category

Smithsonian Legal Documents

Legal document information

• H. R. 1
• Title 20, Education
• Bill

Notes

for other bills relating to the act establishing the Smithsonian Institution see S. 18, S. 245, S. 293, S. 292, H. R. 5, H.R. 863, H.R. 386, H.R. 418, H.R. 259, H.R. 1160, H.R. 1161

Contained within

(Documents)

Contact information

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

Date

03/05/1840

Topic

• Trusts and trustees
• Smithson Bequest
• Observatories
• Act to establish the "Smithsonian Institution," for the Increase and Diffusion of Knowledge Among Men
• SI, Early History
• Museums
• Management
• Schools
• Astronomy
• Management--Museums

Form/Genre

Bill

Physical description

Number of pages: 7; Page Numbers: 1-7

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