Description: AcknowledgementsThe web version of From Smithson to Smithsonian: The Birth of an Institution was adapted from an exhibition that appeared from July 1996 to January 1997 in the Smithsonian Libraries Exhibition Gallery in the National Museum of American History. It was one of the official projects that celebrated the 150th anniversary of the 1846 founding of the Smithsonian
Description: [view in Spanish]As a young artist living in Washington, William H. Holmes began sketching specimens for scientists at the U.S. National Museum. Based on that experience, he was invited to join the U.S. GeologicalSurvey of the Territories under the command of Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden in 1872.During his early years in the western territories, Holmes refined his skills as an