Smithsonian Institution

[smith-soh-nee-uhn]

noun

1. an institution in Washington, D.C., founded 1846 with a grant left by James Smithson, for the increase and diffusion of knowledge: U.S. national museum and repository.

Smithsonian Institution

/ smɪθˈsəʊnɪən /

noun

1. a national museum and institution in Washington, D.C., founded in 1846 from a bequest by James Smithson, primarily concerned with ethnology, zoology, and astrophysics

Smithsonian Institution

1. A group of over a dozen museums and research and publication facilities, such as the National Air and Space Museum, the Museum of Natural History, the Museum of History and Technology, the National Zoo, and the National Gallery of Art. Many of the Smithsonian's buildings are on the Washington Mall. The institution is named after James Smithson, an Englishman whose bequest enabled its founding in the nineteenth century.

Example Sentences

Just as he has attacked colleges and universities, Big Law, public broadcasters, and diversity initiatives, the president is now fixated on the Smithsonian Institution.

From Slate

A March executive order railed against “improper ideology” and “divisive narratives,” targeting the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture for a historical purging.

From Salon

According to the the president’s order, “the Smithsonian Institution has, in recent years, come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology,” and the policy would seek “to remove improper ideology from such properties.”

From Salon

News of the 2026 budget proposal came after he issued a March executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” which alleges a “divisive, race-centered ideology” at the core of the Smithsonian Institution.

From Los Angeles Times

“It has been the honor of a lifetime to lead the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. This was not an easy decision, but I believe it is the right one,” Sajet wrote in a note to staff shared in an email by the Smithsonian Institution’s leader, Lonnie Bunch.

From Los Angeles Times