These records are the official minutes of the Board. They are compiled at the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian, who is also secretary to the Board, after
approval by the Regents' Executive Committee and by the Regents themselves. The minutes are edited, not a verbatim account of proceedings. For reasons unknown, there are no
manuscript minutes for the period from 1857 through 1890; and researchers must rely on printed minutes published in the Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution instead.
Minutes are transferred regularly from the Secretary's Office to the Archives. Minutes less than 15 years old are closed to researchers. Indexes exist for the period from
1907 to 1946 and can be useful.
Historical Note:
The Smithsonian Institution was created by authority of an Act of Congress approved August 10, 1846. The Act entrusted direction of the Smithsonian to a body called
the Establishment, composed of the President; the Vice President; the Chief Justice of the United States; the secretaries of State, War, Navy, Interior, and Agriculture; the
Attorney General; and the Postmaster General. In fact, however, the Establishment last met in 1877, and control of the Smithsonian has always been exercised by its Board of
Regents. The membership of the Regents consists of the Vice President and the Chief Justice of the United States; three members each of the Senate and House of Representatives;
two citizens of the District of Columbia; and seven citizens of the several states, no two from the same state. (Prior to 1970 the category of Citizen Regents not residents
of Washington consisted of four members). By custom the Chief Justice is Chancellor. The office was at first held by the Vice President. However, when Millard Fillmore succeeded
to the presidency on the death of Zachary Taylor in 1851, Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney was chosen in his stead. The office has always been filled by the Chief Justice
since that time.
The Regents of the Smithsonian have included distinguished Americans from many walks of life. Ex officio members (Vice President) have been: Spiro T. Agnew, Chester A.
Arthur, Allen W. Barkley, John C. Breckenridge, George Bush, Schuyler Colfax, Calvin Coolidge, Charles Curtis, George M. Dallas, Charles G. Dawes, Charles W. Fairbanks, Millard
Fillmore, Gerald R. Ford, John N. Garner, Hannibal Hamlin, Thomas A. Hendricks, Garret A. Hobart, Hubert H. Humphrey, Andrew Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson, William R. King, Thomas
R. Marshall, Walter F. Mondale, Levi P. Morton, Richard M. Nixon, Nelson A. Rockefeller, Theodore Roosevelt, James S. Sherman, Adlai E. Stevenson, Harry S. Truman, Henry A.
Wallace, William A. Wheeler, Henry Wilson.
Ex officio members (Chief Justice) have been: Roger B. Taney, Salmon P. Chase, Nathan Clifford, Morrison R. Waite, Samuel F. Miller, Melville W. Fuller, Edward D. White,
William Howard Taft, Charles Evans Hughes, Harlan F. Stone, Fred M. Vinson, Earl Warren, Warren E. Burger.
Regents on the part of the Senate have been: Clinton P. Anderson, Newton Booth, Sidney Breese, Lewis Cass, Robert Milledge Charlton, Bennet Champ Clark, Francis M. Cockrell,
Shelby Moore Cullom, Garrett Davis, Jefferson Davis, George Franklin Edmunds, George Evans, Edwin J. Garn, Walter F. George, Barry Goldwater, George Gray, Hannibal Hamlin,
Nathaniel Peter Hill, George Frisbie Hoar, Henry French Hollis, Henry M. Jackson, William Lindsay, Henry Cabot Lodge, Medill McCormick, James Murray Mason, Samuel Bell Maxey,
Robert B. Morgan, Frank E. Moss, Claiborne Pell, George Wharton Pepper, David A. Reed, Leverett Saltonstall, Hugh Scott, Alexander H. Smith, Robert A. Taft, Lyman Trumbull,
Wallace H. White, Jr., Robert Enoch Withers.
Regents on the part of the House of Representatives have included: Edward P. Boland, Frank T. Bow, William Campbell Breckenridge, Overton Brooks, Benjamin Butterworth,
Clarence Cannon, Lucius Cartrell, Hiester Clymer, William Colcock, William P. Cole, Jr., Maurice Connolly, Silvio O. Conte, Edward E. Cox, Edward H. Crump, John Dalzell, Nathaniel
Deering, Hugh A. Dinsmore, William English, John Farnsworth, Scott Ferris, Graham Fitch, James Garfield, Charles L. Gifford, T. Alan Goldsborough, Frank L. Greene, Gerry Hazleton,
Benjamin Hill, Henry Hilliard, Ebenezer Hoar, William Hough, William M. Howard, Albert Johnson, Leroy Johnson, Joseph Johnston, Michael Kirwan, James T. Lloyd, Robert Luce,
Robert McClelland, Samuel K. McConnell, Jr., George H. Mahon, George McCrary, Edward McPherson, James R. Mann, George Perkins Marsh, Norman Y. Mineta, A. J. Monteague, R.
Walton Moore, Walter H. Newton, Robert Dale Owen, James Patterson, William Phelps, Luke Poland, John Van Schaick Lansing Pruyn, B. Carroll Reece, Ernest W. Roberts, Otho Robards
Singleton, Frank Thompson, Jr., John M. Vorys, Hiram Warner, Joseph Wheeler.
Citizen Regents have been: David C. Acheson, Louis Agassiz, James B. Angell, Anne L. Armstrong, William Backhouse Astor, J. Paul Austin, Alexander Dallas Bache, George
Edmund Badger, George Bancroft, Alexander Graham Bell, James Gabriel Berrett, John McPherson Berrien, Robert W. Bingham, Sayles Jenks Bowen, William G. Bowen, Robert S. Brookings,
John Nicholas Brown, William A. M. Burden, Vannevar Bush, Charles F. Choate, Jr., Rufus Choate, Arthur H. Compton, Henry David Cooke, Henry Coppee, Samuel Sullivan Cox, Edward
H. Crump, James Dwight Dana, Harvey N. Davis, William Lewis Dayton, Everette Lee Degolyer, Richard Delafield, Frederic A. Delano, Charles Devens, Matthew Gault Emery, Cornelius
Conway Felton, Robert V. Fleming, Murray Gell-Mann, Robert F. Goheen, Asa Gray, George Gray, Crawford Hallock Greenwalt, Nancy Hanks, Caryl Parker Haskins, Gideon Hawley,
John B. Henderson, John B. Henderson, Jr., A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., Gardner Greene Hubbard, Charles Evans Hughes, Carlisle H. Humelsine, Jerome C. Hunsaker, William Preston
Johnston, Irwin B. Laughlin, Walter Lenox, Augustus P. Loring, John Maclean, William Beans Magruder, John Walker Maury, Montgomery Cunningham Meigs, John C. Merriam, R. Walton
Moore, Roland S. Morris, Dwight W. Morrow, Richard Olney, Peter Parker, Noah Porter, William Campbell Preston, Owen Josephus Roberts, Richard Rush, William Winston Seaton,
Alexander Roby Shepherd, William Tecumseh Sherman, Otho Robards Singleton, Joseph Gilbert Totten, John Thomas Towers, Frederic C. Walcott, Richard Wallach, Thomas J. Watson,
Jr., James E. Webb, James Clarke Welling, Andrew Dickson White, Henry White, Theodore Dwight Woolsey.
Restrictions pertaining to the use of these materials may apply (based on contracts/copyright). Access restrictions may also apply if viewing/listening copies are not currently available. Viewing/listening copies can be made for a fee. Contact reference staff for details.
National Zoo : The Zoo Behind the Zoo (Video recording : 1989)
Smithsonian video collection
Extent:
1 cu. ft. (1 record storage box)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Videotapes
Place:
Front Royal (Va.)
Date:
1989-1991
Descriptive Entry:
This accession consists of audiovisual materials created during the production of "National Zoo: The Zoo Behind the Zoo." This production was part of the Smithsonian
Video Collection, a joint venture with Eastman Kodak Company to provide videos featuring Smithsonian Institution collections and research to the general public. A total of
six one-hour programs were produced in 1989. "National Zoo: The Zoo Behind the Zoo" provides a tour of the National Zoological Park and its Conservation and Research Center
in Front Royal, Virginia and visits experts who lead the fight to save species from extinction. Materials include camera originals, rough cuts, dubs, and music on a variety
of videotape formats.
Restrictions:
Restrictions pertaining to the use of these materials may apply (based on contracts/copyright). Access restrictions may also apply if viewing copies are not currently available. Viewing copies can be made for a fee. Contact reference staff for details.
Topic:
Video recordings -- Production and direction Search this
Insects: The Little Things that Run the World. Smithsonian Video Collection. Music Edit Master. 12/2/1988. 1/4" Audiotape
Container:
Box 8 of 8
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
Restrictions pertaining to the use of these materials may apply (based on contracts/copyright). Access restrictions may also apply if viewing/listening copies are not currently available. Viewing/listening copies can be made for a fee. Contact reference staff for details.
Dream Window: Reflections on the Japanese Garden (Documentary film : 1991)
The Haupt Garden (Video recording : 1994)
Smithsonian world
Smithsonian video collection
Search for the Tunguska Meteorite (Documentary film)
The Mississippi: River of Song (Television program : 1999)
Piano 300 (Video recording : 2000)
Extent:
6 cu. ft. (6 record storage boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Manuscripts
Clippings
Black-and-white photographs
Color transparencies
Black-and-white negatives
Date:
1984-2002
Descriptive Entry:
This accession includes the records of Laura T. Schneider, Audio-Visual Production Specialist, primarily documenting her work on "Dream Window: Reflections on the Japanese
Garden," an educational film to acquaint American audiences with the historical and cultural significance of Japanese Gardens and their importance to Japan's landscape; and
the production "The Haupt Garden," an orientation video about the Victorian garden to be shown in the Children's Room at the Smithsonian 'Castle' Building. The records also
include information about other productions such as "Smithsonian World," an educational television series that explored people, ideas, and events that shape world culture;
"Search for the Tunguska Meteorite," a documentary film about the 1908 explosion in Siberia of a large meteorite; "River of Song: Music Along the Mississippi," an educational
television program exploring music along the Mississippi River from Minnesota to New Orleans; "Piano 300," an exhibition video celebrating three centuries of people and pianos;
and the "Smithsonian Video Collection," an educational video series focusing on the Smithsonian Institution's collections and research.
Creatures Great and Small. Smithsonian Video Collection. Master. 6/21/1989. 1" Magnetic Videotape
Container:
Box 5 of 8
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
Restrictions pertaining to the use of these materials may apply (based on contracts/copyright). Access restrictions may also apply if viewing/listening copies are not currently available. Viewing/listening copies can be made for a fee. Contact reference staff for details.
Creatures Great and Small (Video recording : 1989)
A Star is Hatched (Motion picture : 1981)
Smithsonian video collection
Extent:
6.04 cu. ft. (4 record storage boxes) (1 document box) (2 tall document boxes) (1 film box)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Videotapes
Audiotapes
Motion pictures (visual works)
Date:
1981, 1987-1989, 1991
Descriptive Entry:
This accession consists of video and audiotapes documenting "Creatures Great and Small" (1988), a Smithsonian Video Collection educational production that includes
the programs "Dinosaurs" and "Insects: The Little Things that Run the World." Also includes film and audiotapes documenting the National Museum of Natural History exhibition
production "A Star is Hatched" (1981), which is a compilation of Hollywood film clips about dinosaurs.
Restrictions:
Restrictions pertaining to the use of these materials may apply (based on contracts/copyright). Access restrictions may also apply if viewing/listening copies are not currently available. Viewing/listening copies can be made for a fee. Contact reference staff for details.
Insects: The Little Things that Run the World. Smithsonian Video Collection. Original Camera Rolls 31-53, 57-61. 1988. Betacam Videotapes
Container:
Box 2 of 8
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
Restrictions pertaining to the use of these materials may apply (based on contracts/copyright). Access restrictions may also apply if viewing/listening copies are not currently available. Viewing/listening copies can be made for a fee. Contact reference staff for details.
Insects: The Little Things that Run the World. Smithsonian Video Collection. Narration Track. 11/7/1988. 1/4" Audiotape
Container:
Box 4 of 8
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
Restrictions pertaining to the use of these materials may apply (based on contracts/copyright). Access restrictions may also apply if viewing/listening copies are not currently available. Viewing/listening copies can be made for a fee. Contact reference staff for details.
Dream Window: Reflections on the Japanese Garden (Documentary film : 1991)
American Picture Palaces (Motion picture : 1983)
Flying Machines (Video recording : 1989)
Maine Coast (Documentary film : c. 1982)
Extent:
6.5 cu. ft. (6 record storage boxes) (1 document box)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Manuscripts
Clippings
Drawings
Black-and-white photographs
Black-and-white negatives
Color transparencies
Date:
1971-1998
Descriptive Entry:
This accession consists of records documenting Smithsonian Video Collection projects as well as film and television productions. Materials include the correspondence
and memoranda of Karen Loveland, Director of Special Projects; Lisa H. Kaiser, Production Researcher; Elizabeth Smith Brownstein, Media Project Development Specialist; and
Michele Turner, Associate Producer. Also includes production slides, photographs, edit logs, scripts, interviews, music selections, and end credits; press releases; budget
summaries; contracts; and research articles. Some productions documented in these records include "Dream Window: Reflections on the Japanese Garden," "The Flying Machines,"
"American Picture Palaces," and "Maine Coast."
Topic:
Video recordings -- Direction and production Search this
Smithsonian Video Collection, Opening, Dub, 0:25, 3 cuts, VHS
Collection Creator::
Smithsonian Institution. Office of Telecommunications Search this
Container:
Box 2 of 2
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
Restrictions pertaining to the use of these materials may apply (based on contracts/copyright). Access restrictions may also apply if viewing/listening copies are not currently available. Viewing/listening copies can be made for a fee. Contact reference staff for details.
Dinosaurs. Smithsonian Video Collection. RT: 1:07:46. Reference Copy. VHS Tape
Container:
Box 6 of 8
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
Restrictions pertaining to the use of these materials may apply (based on contracts/copyright). Access restrictions may also apply if viewing/listening copies are not currently available. Viewing/listening copies can be made for a fee. Contact reference staff for details.
Restrictions pertaining to the use of these materials may apply (based on contracts/copyright). Access restrictions may also apply if viewing/listening copies are not currently available. Viewing/listening copies can be made for a fee. Contact reference staff for details.
Insects: The Little Things that Run the World. Smithsonian Video Collection. Viewing Copies (2). 57:50. 3/4" U-matic Videotapes
Container:
Box 3 of 8
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
Restrictions pertaining to the use of these materials may apply (based on contracts/copyright). Access restrictions may also apply if viewing/listening copies are not currently available. Viewing/listening copies can be made for a fee. Contact reference staff for details.
