James Smithson (c. 1765 – 27 June 1829) was an English
chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...
and
mineralogist
Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proce ...
. He published numerous scientific papers for the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
during the late 1700s as well as assisting in the development of
calamine
Calamine, also known as calamine lotion, is a medication used to treat mild itchiness. This includes from sunburn, insect bites, poison ivy, poison oak, and other mild skin conditions. It may also help dry out skin irritation. It is applie ...
, which would eventually be renamed after him as "
smithsonite
Smithsonite, also known as zinc spar, is the mineral form of zinc carbonate ( Zn CO3). Historically, smithsonite was identified with hemimorphite before it was realized that they were two different minerals. The two minerals are very similar in a ...
". He was the founding donor of the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
, which also bears his name.
Born in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, France, as the illegitimate child of Elizabeth Hungerford Keate Macie and
Hugh Percy, the 1st Duke of Northumberland, he was given the French name Jacques-Louis Macie. His birth date was not recorded and the exact location of his birth is unknown; it is possibly in the
Pentemont Abbey
Pentemont Abbey (french: Abbaye de Penthemont, ''Pentemont'', ''Panthemont'' or ''Pantemont'') is a set of 18th and 19th century buildings at the corner of Rue de Grenelle and Rue de Bellechasse in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. The abbey was ...
. Shortly after his birth he
naturalized to Britain where his name was
anglicized
Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...
to James Louis Macie. He adopted his father's original surname of Smithson in 1800, following his mother's death. He attended university at
Pembroke College, Oxford in 1782, eventually graduating with a Master of Arts in 1786. As a student he participated in a geological expedition to Scotland and studied chemistry and
mineralogy
Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proces ...
. Highly regarded for his
blowpipe analysis and his ability to work in miniature, Smithson spent much of his life traveling extensively throughout
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
; he published some 27 papers in his life.
Smithson never married and had no children; therefore, when he wrote his will, he left his estate to his nephew, or his nephew's family if his nephew died before Smithson. If his nephew were to die without heirs, however, Smithson's will stipulated that his estate be used "to found in Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men". He died in
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
, Italy, on 27 June 1829, aged 64. Six years later, in 1835, his nephew died without heir, setting in motion the bequest to the United States. In this way Smithson became the patron of the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
in Washington, D.C. despite having never visited the United States.
Early life
James Smithson was born in c. 1765 to
Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland
Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland, (c. 17146 June 1786), was an English peer, landowner, and art patron.
Origins
He was born Hugh Smithson, the son of Lansdale Smithson (b. 1682) of Langdale and Philadelphia Revely. He was a grandson of ...
and Elizabeth Hungerford Keate Macie.
[ His mother was the widow of John Macie, a wealthy man from ]Weston, Bath
Weston is a suburb and electoral ward of Bath in Bath and North East Somerset, South West England, located in the northwest of the city. Originally a separate village, Weston has become part of Bath as the city has grown, first through the deve ...
. An illegitimate child
Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as '' ...
, Smithson was born in secret in Paris, resulting in his birth name being the Francophone Jacques-Louis Macie (later altered to James Louis Macie). In 1801 when he was about 36, after the death of his again-widowed mother, he changed his last name to Smithson, the original surname of his biological father. (Baronet Hugh Smithson had changed his surname to Percy when he married Lady Elizabeth Seymour, already a baroness and indirect heiress of the Percy family, one of the leading landowning families of England).
James was educated and eventually naturalised
Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...
in England.[ He enrolled at Pembroke College, Oxford in 1782 and graduated in 1786 with an MA.] The poet George Keate
George Keate (1729–1797) was an English poet and writer. He was a versatile author, also known as an artist, who travelled and became a friend of Voltaire.
Life
He was son of George Keate of Isleworth, Middlesex, who married Rachel Kawolski ...
was a first cousin once removed, on his mother's side.
Smithson was nomadic
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...
in his lifestyle, travelling throughout Europe.[ As a student, in 1784, he participated in a geological expedition with ]Barthélemy Faujas de Saint-Fond
Barthélemy Faujas de Saint-Fond (17 May 174118 July 1819) was a French geologist, volcanologist and traveller.
Life
He was born at Montélimar. He was educated at the Jesuit's College at Lyon and afterwards at Grenoble where he studied law and ...
, William Thornton
William Thornton (May 20, 1759 – March 28, 1828) was a British-American physician, inventor, painter and architect who designed the United States Capitol. He also served as the first Architect of the Capitol and first Superintendent of the Uni ...
and Paolo Andreani
Paolo Andreani (27 May 1763 – 11 May 1823) was an Italian who made the first balloon flight over Italian soil. He also made an exploration around the Great Lakes in North America.
Life
Andreani was born in Milan on 27 May 1763. His father was ...
to Scotland and especially the Hebrides
The Hebrides (; gd, Innse Gall, ; non, Suðreyjar, "southern isles") are an archipelago off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner and Outer Hebrid ...
. He was in Paris during the French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
.[ In August 1807 Smithson became a prisoner of war while in ]Tönning
Tönning (German; Low German ''Tünn'', ''Tönn'' or ''Tönnen''; Danish: ''Tønning''; North Frisian: ''Taning'') is a town in the district of Nordfriesland in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein.
History
Tönning was destroyed in the Bu ...
during the Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
. He arranged a transfer to Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
, where he was again imprisoned, now by the French. The following year, Smithson wrote to Sir Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences.
Banks made his name on the 1766 natural-history expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. He took part in Captain James C ...
and asked him to use his influence to gain release; Banks succeeded and Smithson returned to England. He never married or had children.
In 1766, his mother had inherited from the Hungerford
Hungerford is a historic market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, west of Newbury, east of Marlborough, northeast of Salisbury and 60 miles (97 km) west of London. The Kennet and Avon Canal passes through the town alongside the ...
family of Studley, where her brother had lived up until his death. His controversial legal step-father John Marshe Dickinson (aka Dickenson) of Dunstable died in 1771. Smithson's wealth stemmed from the splitting of his mother's estate with his half-brother, Col. Henry Louis Dickenson.[
]
Scientific work
Smithson's research work was eclectic. He studied subjects ranging from coffee making to the use of calamine
Calamine, also known as calamine lotion, is a medication used to treat mild itchiness. This includes from sunburn, insect bites, poison ivy, poison oak, and other mild skin conditions. It may also help dry out skin irritation. It is applie ...
, eventually renamed smithsonite
Smithsonite, also known as zinc spar, is the mineral form of zinc carbonate ( Zn CO3). Historically, smithsonite was identified with hemimorphite before it was realized that they were two different minerals. The two minerals are very similar in a ...
, in making brass
Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...
. He also studied the chemistry of human tears
Tears are a clear liquid secreted by the lacrimal glands (tear gland) found in the eyes of all land mammals. Tears are made up of water, electrolytes, proteins, lipids, and mucins that form layers on the surface of eyes. The different types of ...
, snake venom and other natural occurrences. Smithson would publish twenty-seven papers.[ He was nominated to the ]Royal Society of London
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
by Henry Cavendish
Henry Cavendish ( ; 10 October 1731 – 24 February 1810) was an English natural philosopher and scientist who was an important experimental and theoretical chemist and physicist. He is noted for his discovery of hydrogen, which he termed "infl ...
and was made a fellow on 26 April 1787. Smithson socialised and worked with scientists Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator, and liberal political theorist. He published over 150 works, and conducted exp ...
, Sir Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences.
Banks made his name on the 1766 natural-history expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. He took part in Captain James C ...
, Antoine Lavoisier
Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier ( , ; ; 26 August 17438 May 1794), When reduced without charcoal, it gave off an air which supported respiration and combustion in an enhanced way. He concluded that this was just a pure form of common air and th ...
, and Richard Kirwan
Richard Kirwan, LL.D, FRS, FRSE MRIA (1 August 1733 – 22 June 1812) was an Irish geologist and chemist. He was one of the last supporters of the theory of phlogiston.
Kirwan was active in the fields of chemistry, meteorology, and geol ...
.[
His first paper was presented at the Royal Society on 7 July 1791, "An Account of Some Chemical Experiments on ]Tabasheer Tabasheer ( Hindustani: तबाशीर or طباشیر) or ''Banslochan'' (बंसलोचन, بنسلوچن), also spelt as Tabachir or Tabashir, is a translucent white substance, composed mainly of silica and water with traces of lime and ...
".[ Tabasheer is a substance used in traditional Indian medicine and derived from material collected inside bamboo culms. The samples that Macie analysed had been sent by Patrick Russell, physician-naturalist in India. In 1802 he read his second paper, "A Chemical Analysis of Some Calamines," at the Royal Society. It was published in the '']Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London
''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society'' is a scientific journal published by the Royal Society. In its earliest days, it was a private venture of the Royal Society's secretary. It was established in 1665, making it the first journa ...
'' and was the documented instance of his new name, James Smithson. In the paper, Smithson challenges the idea that the mineral calamine
Calamine, also known as calamine lotion, is a medication used to treat mild itchiness. This includes from sunburn, insect bites, poison ivy, poison oak, and other mild skin conditions. It may also help dry out skin irritation. It is applie ...
is an oxide
An oxide () is a chemical compound that contains at least one oxygen atom and one other element in its chemical formula. "Oxide" itself is the dianion of oxygen, an O2– (molecular) ion. with oxygen in the oxidation state of −2. Most of the E ...
of zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
. His discoveries made calamine a "true mineral". He explored and examined Kirkdale Cave
Kirkdale Cave is a cave and fossil site located in Kirkdale near Kirkbymoorside in the Vale of Pickering, North Yorkshire, England. The cave was discovered by workmen in 1821, and was found to contain fossilized bones of a variety of mammals ...
; his findings, published in 1824, successfully challenged previous beliefs that the fossils within the formations at the cave were from the Great Flood
A flood myth or a deluge myth is a myth in which a great flood, usually sent by a deity or deities, destroys civilization, often in an act of divine retribution. Parallels are often drawn between the flood waters of these myths and the primaeval ...
. Smithson is credited with first using the word "silicates
In chemistry, a silicate is any member of a family of polyatomic anions consisting of silicon and oxygen, usually with the general formula , where . The family includes orthosilicate (), metasilicate (), and pyrosilicate (, ). The name i ...
".[ Smithson's bank records at C. Hoare & Co show extensive and regular income derived from Apsley Pellatt, which suggests that Smithson had a strong financial or scientific relationship with the Blackfriars glass maker.
]
Later life and death
Smithson died in Genoa, Italy
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...
on 27 June 1829. He was buried in Sampierdarena
Sampierdarena (also San Pier d'Arena; Ligurian: San Pè d'ænn-a) is a major port and industrial area of Genoa, in northwest Italy. With San Teodoro it forms the West Central (Centro Ovest) ''municipio''.
Geography
Sampierdarena lies on t ...
in a Protestant cemetery.[ In his ]will
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will
...
written in 1826, Smithson left his fortune to the son of his brother – that is, his nephew, Henry James Dickenson.[ Dickenson had to change his surname to Hungerford as a condition of receiving the inheritance. In the will Smithson stated that Henry James Hungerford, or Hungerford's children, would receive his inheritance, and that if his nephew did not live, and had no children to receive the fortune, it would be donated to the United States to establish an educational institution to be called the ]Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
.[
Henry Hungerford died on 5 June 1835, unmarried and leaving behind no children, and the United States was the recipient.] In his will, Smithson explained the Smithsonian mission:
I then bequeath the whole of my property, . . . to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an Establishment for the increase & diffusion of knowledge among men.
Legacy and the Smithsonian
Later in the year of his death the United States government was informed about the bequest when Aaron Vail
Aaron Vail (1796–1878) was an American diplomat who served as ''chargé d'affaires'' in the United Kingdom and Spain in the 1830s and 1840s.
Biography
He was born in Lorient, France, where his father, Aaron Vail (1758–1813), a prominent b ...
wrote to Secretary of State John Forsyth. This information was then passed onto President Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
who then informed Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
; a committee was organized, and after much debate the Smithsonian Institution was established by legislation. In 1836 President Jackson sent Richard Rush, former Treasury Secretary, to England as Commissioner to proceed in Chancery Court to secure the funds. In 1838 he was successful and returned, accompanied by 104,960 gold sovereign
The sovereign is a British gold coin with a nominal value of one pound sterling (£1) and contains 0.2354 troy oz of pure gold. Struck since 1817, it was originally a circulating coin that was accepted in Britain and elsewhere in the wor ...
s (in eleven crates) and Smithson's personal items, scientific notes, minerals, and library. The gold was transferred to the treasury in Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
and was reminted into $508,318.46.[ The final funds from Smithson were received in 1864 from Marie de la Batut, Smithson's nephew's mother. This final amount totalled $54,165.38.]
On 24 February 1847 the Board of Regents, which oversaw the creation of the Smithsonian, approved the seal for the institution. The seal, based on an engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...
by Pierre Joseph Tiolier, was manufactured by Edward Stabler and designed by Robert Dale Owen
Robert Dale Owen (7 November 1801 – 24 June 1877) was a Scottish-born Welsh social reformer who immigrated to the United States in 1825, became a U.S. citizen, and was active in Indiana politics as member of the Democratic Party in the Ind ...
. Although Smithson's papers and collection of minerals were destroyed in a fire in 1865, his collection of 213 books remains intact at the Smithsonian. The Board of Regents acquired a portrait of Smithson dressed in Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
student attire, painted by James Roberts, that is now on display in the crypt at the Smithsonian Castle
The Smithsonian Institution Building, located near the National Mall in Washington, D.C. behind the National Museum of African Art and the Sackler Gallery, houses the Smithsonian Institution's administrative offices and information center. The ...
. An additional portrait, a miniature, and the original draft of Smithson's will were acquired in 1877; they now reside in the National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian Institution Archives
Smithsonian Libraries and Archives is an institutional archives and library system comprising 21 branch libraries serving the various Smithsonian Institution museums and research centers. The Libraries and Archives serve Smithsonian Institution ...
, respectively. Additional items were acquired from Smithson's relatives in 1878.
The circumstances of his birth seem to have created on him a desire for posthumous fame, although he had established quite a reputation in the scientific community and lived proud of his descent. Smithson once wrote:
The best blood of England flows in my veins. On my father's side I am a Northumberland, on my mother's I am related to kings; but this avails me not. My name shall live in the memory of man when the titles of the Northumberlands and the Percys are extinct and forgotten.[Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. LIII, Pag. 173. Edited by Sidney Lee. Smith, Elder & CO, London 1898, The Macmillan CO.]
Relocation of Smithson's remains to Washington
Smithson was buried in Sampierdarena, Italy. The United States consul in Genoa was asked to maintain the grave site, with sponsorship for its maintenance coming from the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Secretary Samuel P. Langley
Samuel Pierpont Langley (August 22, 1834 – February 27, 1906) was an American aviation pioneer, astronomer and physicist who Invention, invented the bolometer. He was the third secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and a professor of a ...
visited the site, contributing further money to maintain it and requested a plaque be designed for the grave site. Three plaques were created by William Ordway Partridge
William Ordway Partridge (April 11, 1861 – May 22, 1930) was an American sculptor, teacher and author. Among his best-known works are the Shakespeare Monument in Chicago, the equestrian statue of General Grant in Brooklyn, the ''Pietà'' at S ...
. One was placed at the grave site, a second at a Protestant chapel in Genoa, and the last was gifted to Pembroke College, Oxford. Only one of the plaques exists today. The plaque at the grave site was stolen and then replaced with a marble version. During World War II, the Protestant chapel was destroyed and the plaque was looted. A copy was eventually placed at the site in 1963.[ The cemetery in was going to be moved in 1905 for the expansion of an adjacent quarry. In response, ]Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell (, born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born inventor, scientist and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and Te ...
, then a regent of the Smithsonian, proposed that Smithson's remains be moved to the Smithsonian Institution Building
The Smithsonian Institution Building, located near the National Mall in Washington, D.C. behind the National Museum of African Art and the Sackler Gallery, houses the Smithsonian Institution's administrative offices and information center. Th ...
; in 1903, he and his wife, Mabel Gardiner Hubbard
Mabel Gardiner Hubbard (November 25, 1857 – January 3, 1923) was an American businesswoman, and the daughter of Boston lawyer Gardiner Green Hubbard. As the wife of Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the first practical telephone, she took t ...
, traveled to Genoa to exhume the body. A steamship departed Genoa on 7 January 1904 with the remains and arrived in Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 i ...
on 20 January, where they were transferred to the for the trip to Washington. On 25 January a ceremony was held in Washington, D.C. and the body was escorted by the United States Cavalry
The United States Cavalry, or U.S. Cavalry, was the designation of the mounted force of the United States Army by an act of Congress on 3 August 1861.Price (1883) p. 103, 104 This act converted the U.S. Army's two regiments of dragoons, one ...
to the Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
. When handing over the remains to the Smithsonian, Bell stated: "And now... my mission is ended and I deliver into your hands ... the remains of this great benefactor of the United States.” The coffin then lay in state in the Board of Regents' room, where objects from Smithson's personal collection were on display.
Memorial
After the arrival of Smithson's remains, the Board of Regents asked Congress to fund a memorial. Artists and architects were solicited to create proposals for the monument. Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. From a French-Irish family, Saint-Gaudens was raised in New York City, he trave ...
, Louis Saint-Gaudens
Louis Saint-Gaudens (January 1, 1854 – March 8, 1913) was a significant American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation. He was the brother of renowned sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens; Louis later changed the spelling of his name to St. Gau ...
, Gutzon Borglum
John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum (March 25, 1867 – March 6, 1941) was an American sculptor best known for his work on Mount Rushmore. He is also associated with various other public works of art across the U.S., including Stone Mountain in Geo ...
, Totten & Rogers, Henry Bacon
Henry Bacon (November 28, 1866February 16, 1924) was an American Beaux-Arts architect who is best remembered for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. (built 1915–1922), which was his final project.
Education and early career
Henr ...
, and Hornblower & Marshall
Hornblower & Marshall was a Washington, D.C.-based architectural firm that was a partnership between Joseph Coerten Hornblower (1848-1908) and James Rush Marshall (1851-1927). The firm designed numerous substantial government and other building ...
were some of the many artists and architectural firms who submitted proposals. The proposals varied in design, from elaborate monumental tombs that, if built, would have been bigger than the Lincoln Memorial, to smaller monuments just outside the Smithsonian Castle. Congress decided not to fund the memorial. To accommodate the fact that the Smithsonian would have to fund the memorial, they used the design of Gutzon Borglum
John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum (March 25, 1867 – March 6, 1941) was an American sculptor best known for his work on Mount Rushmore. He is also associated with various other public works of art across the U.S., including Stone Mountain in Geo ...
, which suggested a remodel of the south tower room of the Smithsonian Castle to house the memorial surrounded by four Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to:
*Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible:
**First Epistle to the Corinthians
**Second Epistle to the Corinthians
**Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox)
*A demonym relating to ...
columns and a vaulted ceiling. Instead of the tower room, a smaller room (at the time it was the janitor's closet) at the north entrance would house an Italian-style sarcophagus
A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...
.
On 8 December 1904 the Italian crypt was shipped, in sixteen crates from Italy. It travelled on the same ship that the remains of Smithson travelled on. Architecture firm Hornblower & Marshall designed the mortuary chapel, which included marble laurel wreath
A laurel wreath is a round wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen, or later from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cherry laurel (''Prunus laurocerasus''). It is a s ...
s and a neo-classical design. Smithson was entombed on 6 March 1905. His casket, which had been held in the Regent's Room, was placed into the ground underneath the crypt. This chapel was to serve as a temporary space for Smithson's remains until Congress approved a larger memorial. However, that never happened, and the remains of Smithson still lie there today.
References
Further reading
;Works by James Smithson
*
A Chemical Analysis of some Calamines
'. 1802.
;Works about James Smithson
The Philanthropy Hall of Fame, James Smithson
Articles
* Bird Jr., William L.
William L. Bird, Jr. "A Suggestion Concerning James Smithson's Concept of 'Increase and Diffusion.'" ''Technology and Culture'' Vol. 24 No. 2 (April 1983): 246–255.
*
* CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
,
*
Books
*
*
*
*
* Reprinted as
*
*
*
* Reprinted as
External links
Smithson's story and will
Smithsonian Institution
Smithson's biographical details from the
Royal Society of London
Smithson's Library
at the Smithsonian Institution Libraries
James Smithson at LibraryThing
by the Smithsonian Institution Libraries
Smithsonian Libraries and Archives is an institutional archives and library system comprising 21 branch libraries serving the various Smithsonian Institution museums and research centers. The Libraries and Archives serve Smithsonian Institution ...
Remembering James Smithson
from ''Around the Mall''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smithson, James
1765 births
1829 deaths
Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford
English chemists
English mineralogists
Fellows of the Royal Society
James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguati ...
Smithsonian Institution people