May
11

May 10, 1876

centennialThe Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia officially opens to the public and has 186,672 visitors the first day alone. When Congress originally appropriated money for the government exhibits at the Centennial Exhibition, it considered the appropriateion a loan, and suggested if income from the exhibition was sufficient to repay the loan, some of those funds might be then used to construct a National Museum Building. The exhibition did well financially and on March 3, 1879, $250,000 was appropriated for the National Museum, what is now the Arts and Industries Building. At the close of the Centennial Exhibition, Smithsonian Secretary Spencer F. Baird convinced many exhibitors to donate their artifacts and specimens to the National Museum. The museum acquired some 62 boxcars of materials in 4000 cartons.

Related posts:

Museum facade lit with colored lightsICYMI: Highlights from the week that was June 2 – June 8, 2019 Blue and gold suffrage bannerThe right to vote is guaranteed only by our resolve to fight for it Resized photo of Reynolds Center“Forward Into Light” Photo Gallery Backroom Stories: The graphic (art) tale of the U.S. Exploring Expedition’s report

Posted: 11 May 2010
About the Author:

Alex di Giovanni is primarily responsible for "other duties as assigned" in the Office of Communications and External Affairs. She has been with the Smithsonian since 2006 and plans to be interred in the Smithson crypt.