Description: Olga F. Linares Smithsonian Institution Archives Oral History Collection, SIA009624Olga Francesca Linares (1936 -2014) was an anthropologist with a thirty-five-year tenure at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). Born in Panama, Linares moved to the United States to attend boarding school and then received a B.A. in anthropology from Vassar College in 1958 and a
Description: During debates about the Smithsonian’s founding, the idea of using James Smithson’s bequest for a botanic garden was included in several drafts of the bill considered by Congress. In 1850, President Millard Fillmore commissioned America’s preeminent landscape designer Andrew Jackson Downing to design plans for the National Mall, including grounds around the Smithsonian Castle,