In Defense of the Deal: A Rebuttal to S. Dillon Ripley's and Wilcomb Washburn's "Response"
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Smithsonian Institution History Bibliography
This is the third article in a debate over an episode in the history of the Smithsonian. In Orosz's original article, "Disloyalty, Dismissal, and a Deal: The Development of the National Museum at the Smithsonian Institution, 1845-1855," Museum Studies Journal 2 (1986): 22-33, he argued that after Secretary Joseph Henry dismissed the Librarian, Charles Coffin Jewett, in order to devote fewer resources to the Library, Henry made a deal with Spencer Baird, Assistant Secretary in charge of the United States National Museum, in which Baird was allowed to develop the National Museum in return for his loyalty during the Jewett crisis. This point of view was critiqued in S. Dillon Ripley and Wilcomb E. Washburn, "The Development of the National Museum at the Smithsonian Institution, 1846-1855: A Response to Joel J. Orosz's Article," Museum Studies Journal 2 (1987): 6-11. Orosz offers additional support for his original article in this response.
Museum Studies Journal Vol. 3 (Journal)
Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
1987
pp. 7-12