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Finding Aids to Official Records of the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Record Unit 43

Smithsonian Institution. Office of the Secretary

Administrative Records, 1835, 1838, 1846-1865

Repository:Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator:Smithsonian Institution. Office of the Secretary
Title:Administrative Records
Dates:1835, 1838, 1846-1865
Quantity:0.5 cu. ft. (1 document box)
Collection:Record Unit 43
Language of Materials:English
Summary:

These records document aspects of Smithsonian history, most notably the 1854-1855 debate over allocation of the Smithsonian's endowment income. The materials document the tenure of Joseph Henry.

Historical Note

When the Smithsonian Institution Building burned in 1865 nearly all its records up to that time were destroyed. A very few were saved, however, and are assembled here. It is impossible to say how all the fragments came to be preserved.

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Descriptive Entry

These records document aspects of Smithsonian history, most notably the 1854-1855 debate over allocation of the Smithsonian's endowment income. The materials document the tenure of Joseph Henry.

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This collection is indexed under the following access terms. These are links to collections with related topics, persons or places.

Name

Subject

Physical Characteristics of Materials in the Collection

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Preferred Citation

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 43, Smithsonian Institution, Office of the Secretary, Administrative Records

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Container List

Series 1

CORRESPONDENCE, 1835-1865.

Box 1

Folder 1 Photocopy of a letter from [Aaron Vail], American charge d'affaires in London, to Secretary of State John Forsythe, July 28, 1835, announcing the Smithson bequest. Presented by Solon J. Buck, 1955

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Folder 2 Secretary of State Forsythe to President Van Buren, December 6, 1838, on the Smithson bequest. Gift of James Waldo Fawcett, 1952

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Folder 3 Charles C. Jewett to Mons. Poore, July 13, 1844.

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Folder 4 Letters, 1865, from the Smithsonian's records. One is a gift of Edna S. Harrington, 1944. Provenance of the others is not known

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Folder 5 Notes by John Haviland on his proposed plan for the Smithsonian Building, 1846

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Folder 6 Draft of a bill to create the Smithsonian, 1846

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Folder 7 Specifications for construction of the Smithsonian Building, 1846

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Folder 8 Programme of organization, 1847

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Folder 9 Record of magnetic declinations, 1852, saved from the 1865 fire

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Folder 10 Debate on the uses of Smithsonian income, 1853-1854

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