99 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1909. 
Mr. Ravenel was also appointed by the President as a member of 
the United States Government board of managers of the exposition. 
LANGLEY MEDAL AND MEMORIAL TABLET. 
As a tribute to the memory of the late Secretary Samuel Pierpont 
Langley and his contributions to the science of aerodromics, the 
Regents on December 15, 1908, adopted the following resolution: 
Resolved, That the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution establish 
a medal to be known as the Langley medal; to be awarded for specially meri- 
torious investigations in connection with the science of aerodromics and its 
application to aviation. 
Following the establishment of this medal a committee on award, 
composed of the following gentlemen of recognized attainments in 
the science of aerodromics, was appointed by the Secretary: 
Mr. Octave Chanute, of Chicago, chairman. 
Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, Washington, D. C. 
Maj. George O. Squier, U. S. Army. 
Mr. John A. Brashear, Allegheny, Pa. 
Mr. James Means, formerly editor of the Aeronautical Annual, 
Boston, Mass. 
The obverse of the medal is the same as in the Hodgkins medal 
and was designed by M. J. C. Chaplain, of Paris, a member of the 
French Academy. It represents a female figure, seated on the globe, 
carrying a torch in her left hand and in her right a scroll emblematic 
of knowledge, and the words “ Per Orbem.” The reverse is adapted 
from the seal of the Institution as designed by Augustus St. Gaudens, 
the special inscription being inserted in the center instead of the map 
of the world. The medal is about 3 inches in diameter. 
The committee recommended that the first medal be bestowed on 
Wilbur and Orville Wright, and the medal was awardeu to these 
gentlemen under the following Tesolubion, adopted by the Board of 
Regents on February 10, 1909: 
Resolved, That the Langley medal be awarded to Wilbur and Orville Wright 
for advancing the science of aerodromics in its application to aviation by their 
successful investigations and demonstrations of the practicability of mechanical 
flight by man. 
At the meeting of the Board of Regents on December 15, 1908, the 
following resolution was adopted: 
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution be requested to 
report to the Board of Regents as soon as practicable upon the erection in 
the Institution building of a tablet to the memory of Secretary Langley, setting 
forth his services in connection with the subject of aerial navigation. 
Designs for this tablet are now being prepared by a well-known 
architect of this city, whose advice I have requested. 
