Public Law 89–124

JOINT RESOLUTION

Authorizing the President to proclaim the occasion of the bicentennial celebration of the birth of James Smithson.

Whereas James Smithson, of London, England, by his last will and testament gave the whole of his property to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the “Smithsonian Institution”, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men; and

Whereas the United States by Acts of Congress received that property and accepted such trust; and

20 USC 41 et seq.

Whereas the United States, for the faithful execution of such trust, by an Act of Congress approved August 10, 1846, formed an establishment, consisting of the President, the Vice President, the Chief Justice, and the heads of executive departments, by the name of the Smithsonian Institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men; and

Whereas the Smithsonian Institution, in carrying out the provisions of the mandate placed upon it, has striven to serve as the cutting edge of original research in advancing the frontiers of knowledge beyond the limits of the practical, the profitable, and the obvious; and

Whereas James Smithson, in setting forth the ideal of the “increase and diffusion of knowledge among men”, ignored considerations of nationality, private interest, and narrow scholarly specialization; and

Whereas any institution dedicated to an ideal must constantly remember and rededicate itself to that ideal; and

Whereas the Board of Regents and the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution to celebrate the bicentennial of the birth of James Smithson have invited prominent scholars, scientists, and representatives of universities, museums, and learned societies of the world to Washington, District of Columbia, on September 17 and 18, 1965, for a program consisting of addresses, papers, and discussions concerning the broad problems of man and his relationship to his environment: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

Approved August 13, 1965.