Smithsonian a Co-partner in Mercer Trust

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Summary

Upon the death of the Rev. Dr. Alexander G. Mercer, of Newport, Rhode Island, the Smithsonian Institution is made a co-partner in the administration of a beneficiary trust of a million dollars, set up to take effect after the decease of Mercer's immediate beneficiaries. Together with Harvard and Yale colleges and three individual board members, the Institution is to cooperate in the administration of one third of the remaining property to establish scholarships in selected colleges for the education of poor students. Secretary Spencer F. Baird points out that it is not likely that any occasion for administering the trust will arise for probably a quarter century to come (AR 1882, p. 40).

Subject

  • Mercer, Alexander G (Alexander Gardiner) 1817-1882
  • Harvard University
  • Yale University

Category

Chronology of Smithsonian History

Notes

  • Goode, George Brown, ed. The Smithsonian Institution, 1846-1896, The History of Its First Half Century. Washington, D.C.: De Vinne Press, 1897, p. 839.
  • Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution for the year 1882. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1884, p. 40.

Contact information

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

Date

November 3, 1882

Topic

  • Benefactors
  • Education
  • Cooperation
  • Gifts

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