January
Aug 19 Second SI Secretary Spencer Baird Dies
Year:
1887
Month:
august
Day:
19
Date:
Fri, 1887-08-19
SIA Image reference:
Second Smithsonian Secretary Spencer F. Baird (1823-1887) dies at the age of sixty-four, at the headquarters of the United States Fish Commission at Wood's Hole, Massachusetts, on August 19, 1887. An ornithologist, Baird was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian in charge of the United States National Museum in 1850 and succeeded the first Secretary, Joseph Henry, in 1878. Baird devoted his career to the establishment of the United States National Museum at the Smithsonian.