Joseph Henry's Letter to Alexander Dallas Bache (June 25 - July 9, 1852), June 25 - July 9, 1852, Smithsonian Archives - History Div, Letter from Joseph Henry, first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, to Alexander Dallas Bache, a physicist, head of the United States Coast Survey, and Smithsonian Institution Regent, June 25 - July 9, 1852. In the letter, Henry informs Bache of the events at the Smithsonian Institution and in Washington, DC, during Bache's absence. He mentions the preparation of scientific publications by the Smithsonian and a meeting of the United States Congress in which it was proposed the the Smithsonian Institution be converted into an agricultural society, which Henry opposed. He also talks about planning a series of scientific lectures at the Smithsonian, and business related to the United States Lighthouse Board, of which both he and Bache were members., Joseph Henry, first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, was appointed to the newly-established United States Light-House Board on September 25, 1852, serving as one of two civilian scientists. Alexander Dallas Bache, a physicist, head of the United States Coast Survey and Smithsonian Institution Regent, was the other civilian appointment. Henry would become Chairman of the Light-House Board in 1871, and would serve until is death in 1878..