SI Records
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 54, Smithsonian Institution, Assistant Secretary in charge of the United States National Museum, Correspondence and Memoranda
The history of the office of Assistant Secretary can be traced to January 26, 1847 when the Smithsonian Board of Regents approved the nomination of Charles C. Jewett, of Brown University, for the position of Assistant Secretary, acting as Librarian. On July 5, 1850 the Board resolved ". . . that the Secretary be authorized to appoint an assistant secretary in the department of natural history, to take charge of the museum, and to render such other assistance as the Secretary may require . . ." Shortly thereafter, Spencer F. Baird was appointed to the position. During various periods of time, the Assistant Secretary was also in charge of publications, exchanges, and other areas.
George Brown Goode's (1851-1896) association with the Smithsonian Institution began in 1872 when Spencer F. Baird invited him to work as a volunteer collector for the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. Goode accepted and became Baird's chief pupil and assistant. In 1873, he was appointed Assistant Curator in the United States National Museum (USNM), a position he retained until 1877 when his title was changed to Curator. In 1881, when the new museum building was completed and the USNM really organized, Goode was appointed Assistant Director. In that year he prepared his famous Circular No. 1 of the National Museum, which proposed a comprehensive scheme of administration for the museum. On January 12, 1887, Goode was appointed Assistant Secretary, in charge of the National Museum and until his death in 1896 he remained the head administrative officer of the museum. After receiving appointment in the USNM, Goode continued to serve the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries (USCFF) in various capacities. He acted as statistical expert for the Halifax Fishery Arbitration Commission, 1877-1878; chief of the Fisheries Division of the Tenth Census, 1879-1880; and U. S. Commissioner at the Fishery Exhibition in Berlin, 1880 and in London, 1883. On the death of Spencer F. Baird in 1887, Goode assumed the position of Fish Commissioner until January, 1888.
This record unit consists of incoming and outgoing correspondence compiled by George Brown Goode and concerns both the USNM and USCFF. Descriptions of the records are included as part of the series descriptions.
For other records of George Brown Goode see Record Units 70, 189, 201, and 7050.
This record series is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.
This series consists mostly of incoming correspondence from the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution (Spencer F. Baird, 1883-1887 and Samuel P. Langley, 1887-1896) to the Assistant Secretary (or Acting Assistant Secretary), in charge of the United States National Museum. Most of the correspondence is routine, and deals with administrative policy, USNM staff, museum publications, and exhibits. Materials of special interest include reports on SI involvement at expositions, data on. important accessions, and plans for museum reorganization. Most of the correspondence from Baird is directed to the Acting Assistant Director of the USNM (Frederick William True), who assumed administrative responsibility while George Brown Goode was absent from the museum. The Langley correspondence is directed exclusively to Goode, and is both official and confidential in nature. The records in this series are chronologically arranged.
This series consists of bound letterpress books containing copies of outgoing correspondence mostly from the Assistant Secretary (or Acting Assistant Secretary), in charge of the United States National Museum to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. The bulk of the material is directed to Samuel P. Langley, with lesser amounts to various museum officials and other correspondents. Again, as in Series 1, much of the correspondence is routine and administrative in nature, and in many cases is in response to letters found in the incoming file. Materials of special interest are similar to those of Series 1 and include a voluminous amount of correspondence regarding a controversy between the USNM and Edward Drinker Cope over a projected manuscript on the Reptilia of North America. Since the dates of the letterpress books overlap, a strict chronological arrangement can not be achieved. Each volume is indexed alphabetically.
This series consists of incoming correspondence mostly concerning the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, and to a lesser degree the United States National Museum. Most of the correspondence is directed to George Brown Goode, with smaller amounts to Spencer F. Baird. The letters addressed to Baird are usually referred to Goode for response.
Materials of special interest include correspondence from Fish Commission staff members and collectors, ichthyological reports and observations, and accounts of USCFF and SI involvement at expositions. A small amount of confidential correspondence is contained in this series, particularly with George P. Merrill and Richard Rathbun. The records in this series are arranged alphabetically.