WOW! Really OLD! Find out about “Our Nation’s Attic.”

The Smithsonian Turns 174 Today

On this very auspicious day--August 10, 2020--we at MOTAL invite you to join us as the nation wishes a very Happy Birthday to the museums (yes, museums with an S) we call “Our Nation’s Attic.” The Smithsonian is an INSTITUTION that is composed of NINETEEN museums (!) plus twenty-one libraries, nine research centers, and one zoo. Hold onto your hats—there may be more to come if the pandemic ever loses its grip on our lives and our culture.


Funny you should ask (You did, didn’t you?). The most prominent founding donor was not an American, but was a British scientist James Smithson. As happens with people of great wealth who do not have children, he bequeathed large amounts of money to his nephew who was to provide the legacy upon HIS death. Why would he leave it to an 18-year-old and why would America be the recipient? See the link to read about the mystery of Smithson’s legacy. He wanted the Smithsonian Institution “for the increase & diffusion of knowledge among men.” Not the sort of language we would choose to use today, right?


James Smithson
Also, the Smithsonian Institution is led, not by a Director or CEO, but by the SECRETARY, a position now held by Lonnie G. Bunch III who took over in June of 2019 after leading the amazing establishment of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. He is an educator and the first historian among the 14 secretaries. Funding for the various Smithsonian entities comes from combined public and private sources. The combined number of employees is 6,375 and the combined number of artifacts is now well in excess of 156 million and growing.
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Lonnie Bunch profile

As a specialty museum, we at The Museum of Teaching and Learning enjoy communicating with colleagues at the Smithsonian. Although all of the museums are educational, not all of them focus upon education as a key topic. A particularly kindred spirit is the Curator of the Division of Cultural and Community Life, Debbie Schaefer-Jacobs, who serves at NMAH, The National Museum of American History.  Her domain includes Education and she oversees the care and display of an extensive collection of artifacts, many of which must be stored in distant warehouses. Whereas we at MOTAL may have one object of a certain sort, NMAH has many!

Curator of the Division of Cultural and Community Life, Debbie Schaefer-Jacobs, with Greta Nagel, PhD President and CEO of the
Museum of Teaching and Learning

We also know that we have commonalities with many exhibits at NMAAHC, the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Education has always been highly sought after as Black families escaped the bonds of slavery and created new lives across our nation. Indeed, the success of our democracy will be linked to the realization of values set forth for us in our founding documents upon the birth of our nation.

Since your travel is limited by pandemic safety precautions these days, we hope you will find the time on this special day to explore the Smithsonian via the internet. There are many, many sites that will lead you to many other sites. Have a good time celebrating the birthday of our “Attic.” It is indeed a treasure that belongs to us ALL.


Submitted by Greta Nagel, PhD
President/CEO


Reference:
Smithsonian National Museum of American History