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Minutes of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science

Catalog Data

Issuing body:
National Institute for the Promotion of Science  Search this
Associated name:
Force, Peter 1790-1868  Search this
Gale, Leonard D (Leonard Dunnell) 1800-1883  Search this
Kennedy, J. C. G (Joseph Camp Griffith) 1813-1887  Search this
Blodget, Lorin 1823-1901  Search this
Stansbury, Charles F (Charles Frederick) -1882  Search this
Turner, William W (William Wadden) 1810-1859  Search this
Subject:
National Institute for the Promotion of Science  Search this
Smithsonian Institution History  Search this
Physical description:
1 volume (approximately 160 pages) ; 35 cm
Type:
Catalogs
Sources
Place:
Washington (D.C.)
Date:
1850
1850-1854
Notes:
Title supplied by cataloger
Manuscript document handwritten in brown ink on lined paper
The earliest entry is for the annual meeting dated 7 January 1850, and the final entry is for an ordinary meeting dated 20 November 1854
"May 1840," stamped on the cover label, represents the date when the National Institute for the Promotion of Science was established
Peter Force served as president of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science during the years covered in this volume. Various men served as secretary, including Leonard D. Gale, Chas. F. Stansbury, Joseph C.G. Kennedy, W.W. Turner, and Lorin Blodget.. Other members prominently named in the volume include Charles Coffin Jewett, Joseph Henry, Joseph Gilbert Totten, John James Abert, M.F. Maury, A.D. Bache, Ezra C. Seaman, Charles Whittlesey, James A. Pearce, Charles Wilkes, William W. Seaton, Jefferson Davis, Millard Fillmore, James Greenough, John Russell Bartlett, Thomas H. Webb, Alexandre Vattemare, J.R. Peale, Spencer Baird, J.H.C. Coffin, and C.J. Nourse, Jr.
The National Institution for the Promotion of Science organization was established in Washington, D.C. in May, 1840, and was heir to the mantle of the earlier Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences. The National Institution for the Promotion of Science was later renamed the National Institute and eventually became a part of the Smithsonian Institution. The National Institute was the initial repository for collections of artifacts brought to the United States by the United States Exploring Expedition, as well as various other objects accumulated by the government, such as items owned by early American politicians, patent models, and natural objects. Housed in the Patent Office Building, these artifacts were the precursor to the Smithsonian Institution's collections. The National Institute (1840-1862) was first organized as the National Institution for the Promotion of Science at Washington, D.C., in 1840 as a voluntary society interested in promoting study of diverse subjects, particularly natural history and the physical sciences. In 1842 Congress granted the body a federal charter, and it was known as the National Institute for the Promotion of Science thereafter until its dissolution in 1862. In fact, the National Institute could trace its origins to two earlier organizations. The Columbian Institute, founded in 1816, lost its federal charter in 1838 and joined the Institute in 1841, and the American Historical Society, created in 1835, attached itself to the Institute in 1840. Finally, in 1862 the Institute transferred its remaining collections to the Smithsonian Institution and quietly expired
Kelly, John. "Junk in the attic to some, ephemera to others." The Washington Post, Wednesday, 20 February 2019, page B3. (The article erroneously states that "the book covers the years from 1850 to 1857," but the last entry is dated 20 November 1854)
SCNHRB copy 39088019970680 has bookplate: Smithsonian Libraries. Purchased with funds from the Special Collections Endowment
SCNHRB copy has a contemporary gilt- and blind-stamped full leather binding (spine cover wanting), with a gilt-lettered red leather cover label, and pink endpapers. Approximately 200 blank leaves are bound in at the end of the volume
SCNHRB copy includes an additional 27 contemporary handwritten documents in loose sheets, housed together with the volume. These include items such as copies of letters to or from the National Institution, drafts of petitions and amendments, nominations, lists of donated artifacts and library volumes, voting tallies, resolutions, and other miscellaneous materials, dating from 1851-1854. One document is a printed form in French, completed by hand, regarding the Academie royale des sciences de Stockholm; the remainder are all in English. An itemized list of the items is available in the Cullman Library
Summary:
Contains minutes of annual and ordinary meetings of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science, including reports of officers, description of activities, election results for officers, lists of books added to the library and lists of specimens (geological, ethnological, zoological, historical and other) added to the collections
Topic:
Learned institutions and societies  Search this
Museums--Acquisitions  Search this
Library catalogs  Search this
Science--Societies, etc  Search this
Call number:
MSS 001902 B
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_1103945