June 6, 1844

June 6, 1844 U.S. Sen. Benjamin Tappan of Ohio, from the Joint Library Committee, reports bill S. 188 to establish the Smithsonian Institution. This version of the bill provides for a 12-member Board of Managers from different states or territories to conduct business; construction of a building to house all objects of natural history received by the government, as well as a library, chemical laboratory, and lecture rooms; appointment of professors to lecture in natural history, chemistry and astronomy, and a professor of agriculture and horticulture to carry out experiments on cultivars new to the country. The bill is passed to a second reading, but does not become law.

The image shows Tappan (1773-1857) in an by P.H. Reason from a daguerreotype by Edwards.

Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Archives

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