Archives Puzzles: Smithsonian’s First Paid Employee

Each Monday, sit back, relax, and ease into the work week with puzzles created from images in our collections that have been designated as open access. Anyone can now download, transform, share, and reuse these images as part of Smithsonian Open Access, launched in 2020.

Tomorrow marks the Smithsonian’s 175th anniversary, so we’re highlighting the Institution’s first paid employee William McPeak. At the first meeting of the Board of Regents on September 7, 1846,  president George M. Dallas appointed McPeak as doorkeeper and messenger. McPeak later became the Institution’s first janitor and worked for the Smithsonian until his death in 1862 at a salary of one dollar per day.

The Original 

The Puzzle