smithsonian institution
Smithsonian Institution. An independent trust of the United States responsible for conducting scientific and scholarly research; publishing its results; maintaining over 140 million artifacts, works of art, and scientific specimens for study, display, and circulation throughout the nation; and engaging in educational programming and international cooperative research. • It was created in 1846 to give effect to the terms of the will of a British scientist, James Smithson, who left his entire estate to the United States.
