The Boston Globe breaks the story that the Smithsonian is negotiating with the Boston Athenaeum for the purchase of the Gilbert Stuart portraits of George and Martha Washington. The portraits are on display at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston where they had been on loan since 1876. With this news story, a country-wide campaign to keep the paintings in Boston ensued and propelled the SI and the Athenaeum to suspend negotiations until the end of the year.
