Smithson's Gift Endures
What would James Smithson think if he saw today's Smithsonian
Institution—the world's largest museum and research complex?
The activities of the Smithsonian Institution 150 years after
its founding embody "the increase and diffusion of knowledge"
in virtually all the modern interpretations of those words.
Millions of sightseers each year enjoy Smithsonian museum exhibitions in
Washington and New York, and at the annual Festival of American Folklife
on the National Mall in Washington. Now visitors throughout the world have
access to the Institution's programs through traveling and online
exhibitions. Less visible but just as significant are the Smithsonian's
behind-the-scenes studies and investigations at its research institutes,
16 museums, and the National Zoo.
Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, 1995, on the National
Mall in Washington, D.C. with the Smithsonian Building (Castle) at right and
the United States Capitol Building in background.
Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife, 1995
Enlargement
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In all of its activities, the Smithsonian strives to
serve the nation and the world in ways that James Smithson could
only have imagined.
Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife, 1995
Enlargement
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