Established by an Act of Congress in 1846 with the bequest of English scientist James Smithson, the Smithsonian Institution is a research center that holds some one hundred million artifacts and specimens in sixteen museums and galleries. The mission...

The Smithsonian Institution (pronounced [smɪθˈsoniən]) is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits...

In a March 30 Style story, Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) said he did not understand why an entry fee isn't charged by the Smithsonian Institution to help fund operations and upkeep. The Mall, its cherished monuments and its superb museums are...

The Smithsonian Institution's 41st annual Folklife Festival continues today on the Mall between Seventh and 14th streets NW. Admission is free. For more information, call 202-633-1000 or visit www.folklife.si.edu. All schedules subject to change. Family Learning Sala 11 a.m. Make a Han...

The recently retired director of the National Museum of the American Indian spent $48,500 in museum funds to commission a portrait of himself and selected a non-Indian artist to create it, a newspaper reported Friday.The portrait of W. Richard West Jr. by New York painter...

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced a project Wednesday that hopes to record at least 1,500 oral histories from black families over the next year.The recordings are to be placed at the Library of Congress and in the archives of the Smithsonian Institution's future National...