Agency history, 1855-1933

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Subject

  • Rhees, William Jones 1830-1907
  • Goode, G. Brown (George Brown) 1851-1896
  • Rathbun, Richard 1852-1918
  • Langley, S. P (Samuel Pierpont) 1834-1906
  • Winlock, William Crawford
  • Hodge, Frederick Webb 1864-1956
  • Dorsey, Harry W
  • Smithsonian Institution Assistant in charge of Office and Exchanges
  • Smithsonian Institution Assistant Secretary in Charge of Office and Exchanges
  • Smithsonian Institution Administration

Category

Agency History

Notes

  • This is an agency history. It does not describe actual records. The Smithsonian Institution Archives uses these histories as brief accounts of the origin, development, and functions of an office or administrative unit to set that unit in its historical context. To find information on record holdings, please double-click the highlighted field "Creator/Author", which will open on a brief view of relevant records.
  • Business Arrangements of the Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, XVII, 1879
  • Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution, 1891-1905
  • Samuel P. Langley to George Brown Goode, Assistant Secretary in charge of the United States National Museum, Correspondence and Memoranda, 1877-1896 (Record Unit 54), September 26, 1891
  • General Order, Assistant Secretary in charge of the United States National Museum, Correspondence and Memoranda, 1877-1896 (Record Unit 54), September 26, 1891
  • Under the Secretary, the Chief Clerk exercised substantial power over Smithsonian administration, supervising the work of numerous staff. On occasion the Chief Clerk even served as Acting Secretary. However, in 1891 Secretary Samuel P. Langley decided to assign the Chief Clerk's duties to others, and the office ceased to exist until it was revived in 1907.
  • William Jones Rhees served from 1855 to 1891. The office's functions were then performed by other officials: William Crawford Winlock, Assistant for Office and Exchanges, 1891-1896; Richard Rathbun, Assistant Secretary in charge of Office and Exchanges, 1896-1901; and Frederick Webb Hodge, Assistant for Office and Exchanges, 1901-1907. Harry W. Dorsey served as Chief Clerk from 1907 until 1933, when the office was again abolished.
  • For a history of the larger creating unit, refer to "Forms part of " above.

Repository Loc.

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Capital Gallery, Suite 3000, MRC 507; 600 Maryland Avenue, SW; Washington, DC 20024-2520

Date

  • 1855
  • 1855-1933

Topic

  • Museums
  • Museums--Administration

Form/Genre

Mixed archival materials

Local number

SIA AH00270

Full Record

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