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Identical letter to the following Regents: The Vice President, Sens. Jackson, Goldwater and Garn; Messrs. Mineta, Conte and Boland; Mrs. Armstrong; and Messrs/ Acjeson, Austin, Bowen, Burden, Gell-Mann, Higginbotham, and Webb. 

(Separate letter to the Chief Justice and Mr. Humelsine).

15 June 1982




In January, 1978, the Board of Regents approved establishment of a Collections Acquisition Program, supported by unrestricted trust funds, to permit purchase of major acquisitions by Smithsonian museums. Part of a larger program,, which also includes funding for Scholarly Studies and Educational Outreach, the Collections Acquisition Program has provided $1,000,000 per year over the five-year period (FY 1978-FY 1982) for seven museums, allowing purchases of major objects for which federal program was provided to the Regents in may, 1980. As concluded at the time, and as confirmed by acquisitions since that date, the program has been highly successful in enhancing the collections and in stimulating matching gifts. While continuation of the program has been contemplated in the Five-Year Prospectus at a modest increase in funding, budget authority for such a continuation will not be formally approved by the Regents until the Board meeting in September.

In the meantime, however, a unique opportunity has been presented to the National Portrait Gallery which would require commitment against these future year allocations. Gilbert Stuart's important "Edgehill" portrait of Thomas Jefferson has been offered for sale by its owner, and an agreement for a proposed joint purchase by the gallery (approved by its Commission) and Jefferson's Monticello, where the portrait once hung, has been reached, at a cost of $500,000 to each institutions, similar to the arrangement between the Gallery and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston for display of the Stuart portraits of George and Martha