William and Christine Ragland Papers, 1857-1859, 1870

Summary

When the Smithsonian was founded on August 10, 1846, the legislation provided for a building to house a museum with geological and mineralogical cabinets, a chemical laboratory, a gallery of art, lecture rooms, and a library. The Smithsonian's enabling act provided that both the new Institution and the Library of Congress were given copyright deposit status. The Smithsonian Board of Regents selected American physicist Joseph Henry as the first Secretary of the Smithsonian, and directed Henry to hire Charles Coffin Jewett, a noted librarian at Brown University, as the first Assistant Secretary in charge of the library. In 1866, following two damaging fires in the Smithsonian Institution Building, The Castle, Henry negotiated with the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress to move the Smithsonian's library, by then one of the largest in the nation with forty thousand volumes. A decision was made to name the library holdings the "Smithsonian Deposit," and move them to the Library of Congress, with the Smithsonian retaining ownership of the books. As the collection grew to nearly six hundred thousand volumes by 1950, the Library of Congress found it increasingly difficult to maintain. In 1953, Smithsonian Secretary Leonard Carmichael agreed to Librarian of Congress Luther Evans's request to integrate the Smithsonian Deposit volumes into the Library of Congress's collections. Although the Smithsonian gave up control of the Deposit, it never officially relinquished ownership. Currently the Smithsonian regularly borrows volumes from the Deposit, as well as other books, at the Library of Congress. These papers consist of materials which document the work of the Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress. There are receipts of books deposited for copyright at the Library of Congress signed by the fourth Librarian of Congress, John Silva Meehan; and by Ainsworth Rand Spofford, sixth Librarian of Congress; and a receipt for a book deposited for copyright at the Smithsonian signed by Joseph Henry, first Secretary of the Smithsonian. Lastly, there is a Library of Congress Copyright Office form filled in regarding the assignment of copyright.

Subject

• Henry, Joseph 1797-1878
• Meehan, John Silva 1790-1863
• Spofford, Ainsworth Rand 1825-1908
• Jewett, Charles C (Charles Coffin) 1816-1868
• Library of Congress
• Smithsonian Institution

Notes

• Electronic List in accession file.
• Folder List in accession file.

Organization

Chronologic

Repository Loc.

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

Date

• 1857
• 1857-1870
• 1857-1859, 1870

Topic

• Copyright
• Museum libraries
• Legal deposit of books, etc
• Libraries

Form/Genre

• Manuscripts
• Collection descriptions

Local number

SIA Acc. 23-176

Physical description

0.25 cu. ft. (1 half document box)

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