{"exhibit":{"title":"Why is there a botanic garden on the Mall?","description":"<p class=\"p1\">The first botanic garden on the Mall was established in 1820 by the Columbian Institute to be a living museum of plants and promote science and learning in the city. In the 1850s, the government took over the garden, expanding it with collections from around the world. Although Congress and local officials debated moving the Botanic Garden to a larger site in the early 1900s, they ultimately decided it should remain on the Mall; as a public museum of living plants, it is a logical neighbor to the Smithsonian Institution and National Gallery of Art.\u00a0<\/p>","credits":"","featured":0,"public":1,"theme":"","theme_options":null,"slug":"botanicgarden","added":"2013-07-26 02:11:47","modified":"2014-09-02 14:42:41","owner_id":5,"use_summary_page":1,"cover_image_file_id":null,"id":42},"item":{"item_type_id":1,"collection_id":null,"featured":0,"public":1,"added":"2013-07-29 10:19:29","modified":"2015-11-04 14:31:52","owner_id":5,"id":385}}