22 ANNUAL EEPORT 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 

 Langie} T 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 awarded to these 

 gentlemen under the following resolution, 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. 



