Description: Joseph Henry - First Smithsonian Secretary, 1846-1878"A new impulse will thus be given to investigation in every department of science; and learned men will know that through you they will be able to make their discoveries available to their brethren throughout the civilized world." —Letter from Francis Wayland to Secretary Joseph Henry, December 19, 1848 Perhaps the country's
Description: A file in the Smithsonian Institution Archives’ accession records tells the story of an historic piece of Lincoln memorabilia that didn't wind up in the Smithsonian’s collections.