Congress also passes an act, with help…

Congress also passes an act, with help from Louis Agassiz, the most prominent scientist in the United States to oppose Darwin’s theory of evolution, that establishes the National Academy of Science and names fifty charter members; the act is signed by President Lincoln on March 3, 1863.

Many of the original NAS members come from the so-called "Scientific Lazzaroni", an informal network of mostly physical scientists working in the vicinity of Cambridge, Massachusetts around 1850.