Joel Roberts Poinsett, by Longacre, James Barton, 1850, Smithsonian Archives - History Div, 2002-32266 or 2004-10331.
Friday, May 15, 1840
The National Institution for the Promotion of Science is organized "to promote science and the useful arts, and to establish a national museum of natural history. . ." Its organizers, including Joel R. Poinsett, hope to secure control of the James Smithson bequest. The National Institution later changes its name to the National Institute. Their collections are transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in the 1850s.
