Records of the Smithsonian Institution, 1831-1906.

ArchivalResource

Records of the Smithsonian Institution, 1831-1906.

The collection comprises papers, mostly correspondence, documenting routine activities of the Smithsonian Institution; materials relating to the first Smithsonian secretaries -- Joseph Henry (1797-1878) and Spencer Fullerton Baird (1823-1887), and miscellaneous items relating to the National Museum, Library, and encouragement of research. Reports and other publications of the Smithsonian Institution, meetings of the Regents and Executive Committee, and visits to the Institution. Included are materials related to John Henry's administration of the Smithsonian Institution, research in physics, his work at Princeton Unitesity, the United States Lighthouse Board (1852-1878), and the National Academy of Sciences. Correspondents include Louis Agassiz, Alexander Dallas Bache, and Francis Lieber. Also included are Spencer Fullerton Baird's administrative duties at the Smithsonian Institution and his work with the United States Bureau of Fisheries.

1,624 pieces.20 boxes.

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6692504

Related Entities

There are 10 Entities related to this resource.

Baird, Spencer Fullerton, 1823-1887

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6nm4583 (person)

At only 27, the ornithologist Spencer Fullerton Baird (1823-1887) was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, a precocious appointment that suited a precocious scientist. Born into a well to do family in Reading, Pa., and raised in Carlisle, Baird acquired an interest in natural history even prior to enrolling at Dickinson College at age 13. Although he was not an outstanding student, he was unusually committed to his course in life, keeping meticulous notes of ...

Bache, A. D. (Alexander Dallas), 1806-1867

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6p08ztd (person)

Alexander Dallas Bache (1806-1867) was an important scientific reformer during the early nineteenth century. From his position as superintendent of the United States Coast Survey, and through leadership roles in the scientific institutions of the time, Bache helped bring American science into alignment with the professional nature of its European counterpart. In addition, Bache fostered the reform of public education in America. On July 19, 1806 Alexander Dalla...

Agassiz, Louis, 1807-1873

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68h99sx (person)

Swiss-American zoologist and geologist. Professor of zoology and geology at Harvard University. Louis Agassiz was born in Môtier-en-Vuly, Switzerland. He studied at the universities of Zürich, Erlangen (Ph.D., 1829), Heidelberg, and Munich (M.D., 1830). Agassiz studied medicine briefly but turned to zoology, with a special interest in fishes and fossils, while studying under the French naturalist Cuvier. In 1832 he became professor of natural history at the University of Neuchâtel, Sw...

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69d0r9w (corporateBody)

The National Academy of Sciences, founded in Washington, D. C., in 1863, grew out of a desire for a body of scientists to give advice on scientific matters to the federal government. Joseph Henry, first Secretary of the Smithsonian, was a force behind its creation. From the description of National Academy of Sciences, 1863-1887 Records. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 78403445 ...

United States. Bureau of Fisheries

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6b3241t (corporateBody)

Smithsonian Institution

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rc7tp0 (corporateBody)

The Smithsonian Institution was established on August 10, 1846, is a group of museums and research centers administered by the United States government. The institution is named after its founding donor, British scientist James Smithson. Originally organized as the United States National Museum.James Smithson (1765-1829), a British scientist, left his estate to the United States to found “at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusio...

Princeton University

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63z1x39 (corporateBody)

The collection documents the physical expansion of the University from its earliest period through the acquisition of large tracts of land in the 20th century, including the properties around Carnegie Lake and numerous farms. Early records document transactions with such Princeton University notables as Nathaniel Fitz Randolph, John Witherspoon, Walter Minto, John and Richard Stockton, and John Maclean. For the most part, the papers consist of standard legal documents with detailed descriptions ...

Lieber, Francis, 1800-1872

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6mp52rw (person)

Political scientist and author; born in Berlin, settled in U.S. 1827. From the description of ALsS : to George Mifflin Dallas, 1846. (Rosenbach Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122365122 Political scientist and educator. From the description of Letter, 1865 July 28, New York, to Dr. C[harles?] D[aniel?] Drake, St. Louis, Missouri [manuscript]. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 647806353 Francis Lieber: German American political phil...

Henry, Joseph, 1797-1878

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6x16x2w (person)

Joseph Henry (1797-1878, APS 1835), a physicist, was the first secretary and director of the Smithsonian Institution, a post he retained for over three decades. Henry was a leading experimental scientist whose contributions include several discoveries in the field of electromagnetics. He has been credited with the invention of the electromagnet and the telegraph, among other things. Henry was born in 1797 in Albany, New York, the son of William Henry, a teamster, and his wife An...

United States. Light-House Board

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65764vx (corporateBody)

The United States Light-House Board* was originally known as the United States Light-House Establishment, a body created in 1789 to manage the twelve colonial lighthouses that were then in existence along the eastern seaboard, as well as to oversee construction of new structures. The first half of the nineteenth century was a particularly prolific period in the construction of new lighthouses -- forty were built in the period from 1789 to 1820, and another three hund...