Smithsonian Institution
Dates
- Existence: 1846 (date of establishment)
Biography
The Smithsonian Institution, founded on August 10, 1846 "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge," comprises a group of museums and research centers administered as an independent federal trust instrumentality of the United States. Its nineteen museums and nine research centers are governed by a board of regents consisting of the Chief Justice of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, three members of the United States Senate, three members of the United States House of Representatives, and nine citizens.
In 1962, staff of the Smithsonian Institution joined with staff of The Corning Museum of Glass and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's archaeologist, Ivor Noël Hume, to participate in the excavation of the New Bremen Glass Manufactory, also known as the Amelung Glass Manufactory, near present-day Frederick, Maryland.