CHARTER OF THE ACADEMY 
An Act to incorporate the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and 
Letters. 
The people 0/ the state of Wisconsin , represented in . senate and assem ¬ 
bly , do enact as follows : 
Section 1. Lucius Fairchild, Nelson Dewey, John W. Hoyt, Increase 
A. Lapham, Alexander Mitchell, Wm. Pitt Lynde, Joseph Hobbins, E. B. 
Wolcott, Solon Marks, R. Z. Mason, G. M. Steele, T. C. Chamberlin, James 
H. Eaton, A. L. Chapin, Samuel Fallows, Charles Preusser, Wm. E. 
Smith, J. C. Foye, Wm. Dudley, P. Engelmann, A. ,S. McDill, John Mur- 
rish, Geo. P. Delaplaine, J. G. Knapp, S. V. Shipman, Edward D. Holton, 
P. R. Hoy, Thaddeus C. Pound, Charles E. Bross, Lyman C. Draper, John 
A. Byrne, 0. B. Smith, J. M. Bingham, Henry Bsetz, LI. Breese, Thos. S. 
Allen, S. S. Barlow, Chas. R. Gill, C. L. Harris, J. C. Squires, George Reed, 
J. G. Thorp, William Wilson, Samuel D. Hastings, and D. A. Baldwin, 
at present being members and officers of an association known as “The 
Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters,” located at the city 
of Madison, together with their future associates and successors forever, 
are hereby created a body corporate by the name and style of the “Wis¬ 
consin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters,” and by that name shall 
have perpetual succession; shall be capable in law of contracting and being 
contracted with, of suing and being sued, of pleading and being impleaded 
in all courts of competent jurisdiction; and may do and perform such 
acts as are usually performed by like corporate bodies. 
Section 2. The general objects of the Academy shall be to encourage 
investigation and disseminate correct views in the various departments 
of science, literature, and the Arts. Among the specific objects of the 
Academy shall be embraced the following; 
1. Researches and investigations in the various departments of the 
material, metaphysical, ethical, ethnological, and social sciences. 
2. A progressive and thorough scientific survey of the state with a 
view of determining its mineral, agricultural, and other resources. 
3. The advancement of the usual arts, through the applications of 
science, and by the encouragement of original invention. 
4. The encouragement of the fine arts, by means of honors and prizes 
awarded to artists for original works of superior merit. 
5. The formation of scientific, economic, and art museums. 
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