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Finding Aids to Official Records of the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Record Unit 57

Smithsonian Institution. Assistant Secretary in charge of the United States National Museum

Records, circa 1854-1890

Repository:Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator:Smithsonian Institution. Assistant Secretary in charge of the United States National Museum
Title:Records
Dates:circa 1854-1890
Quantity:1.50 cu. ft. (3 document boxes)
Collection:Record Unit 57
Language of Materials:English
Summary:

These records document the tenures of Assistant Secretaries Spencer Fullerton Baird, 1850-1881; and G. Brown Goode, 1881-1896, including the years 1881-1887 when he served as Assistant Director of the Museum without the title of Assistant Secretary.

Historical Note

Spencer Fullerton Baird was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in 1850, with primary responsibility for the direction of the United States National Museum. The title "Assistant Secretary" was not reserved for the administrator of the museum; and throughout the history of the Institution there have been officials known as Assistant Secretaries who had other duties. During the 1940s the title, Assistant Secretary was permanently attached to other duties, and the responsibility for the museum fell to an official known as Director, United States National Museum.

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Descriptive Entry

These records document the tenures of Assistant Secretaries Spencer Fullerton Baird, 1850-1881; and G. Brown Goode, 1881-1896, including the years 1881-1887 when he served as Assistant Director of the Museum without the title of Assistant Secretary.

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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 57, Smithsonian Institution, Assistant Secretary in charge of the United States National Museum, Records

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Container List

Box 1

Folders 1-4 Secretary, outgoing registers, circa 1860-1890

Box 1 of 3

Folder 5 Assistant Secretary, outgoing registers, January-September 1854

Box 1 of 3

Box 2

Folders 1-4 Assistant Secretary, incoming and outgoing registers, October 1854-July 1861

Box 2 of 3

Box 3

Folders 1-3 Assistant Secretary, incoming and outgoing registers, January 1862-June 1872

Box 3 of 3

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