Jan
03

Today in Smithsonian History: January 3, 1905

Portrait photograph of Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919), industrialist, art collector, and founding donor of the Freer Gallery of Art, probably by Edward Steichen, c. 1916.

Portrait photograph of Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919), industrialist, art collector, and founding donor of the Freer Gallery of Art, probably by Edward Steichen, c. 1916.

January 3, 1905 Charles Lang Freer first offers his art collection to the Smithsonian Institution. President Theodore Roosevelt has to convince the Board of Regents to accept the gift, and the formal deed of gift is signed May 5, 1906.

Courtesy Smithsonian Institution Archives

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Posted: 3 January 2020
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