Joseph Henry's first major project for the Smithsonian Institution was his plan to obtain weather reports from a countrywide network of voluntary observers; his plan
is detailed in the 1848 annual report of the Institution. Voluminous reports, maps, tables, and charts were prepared and published on all phases of the work--rainfall, snowfall,
temperatures, barometric pressure, storms, meteors, auroras, and other phenomena. In 1869, when Congress established the Weather Bureau of the United States Signal Service,
the Smithsonian system of meteorological reports was turned over to the new bureau. The Smithsonian continued to work on the material collected up to the time of transfer,
however, and over the next few years issued reports, tables and maps. A part of this record unit was published in the 1873 annual report, pages 84-131, "Classified Record
of Monthly Meteorological Reports Preserved in the Smithsonian Institution," and other segments of this unit were published elsewhere. Completely unpublished, however, is
meteorological incoming and outgoing correspondence. These records were created after 1850, but contain meteorological information dating back to 1820.
This record unit consists of papers and records regarding the Smithsonian's meteorological observation projects in the eighteen-fifties and analysis and publication of
meteorological data in the eighteen-seventies; incoming correspondence to the Smithsonian, circa 1852-1873, from observers and others working on meteorology; another series
of correspondence, reports and notes, 1853-1875, and undated; outgoing correspondence, 1853-1854, of Lorin Blodget, an assistant at the Smithsonian for meteorological affairs;
a manuscript copy of part of the 1873 Smithsonian Annual Report on meteorological data preserved at the Smithsonian; data on mean temperatures, annual rainfall, and barometric
pressures in the United States and other countries of the Americas, mostly for the years 1850 through 1873, and prepared for publication; a small and uneven collection of
clippings on meteorology, 1856-1873; records of meteorological observations and loan of instruments, 1856-1873; and miscellaneous and fragmentary original records of meteorological
observations.
Restrictions:
Microfilm copies of incoming correspondence, 1852-1861, 1868, are available.
Correspondence received by the Smithsonian on meteorological matters, filed chronologically. The following persons important in meteorological work are included
among the correspondents: James Henry Coffin, James Pollard Espy, Arnold Guyot, Joseph Henry, Elias Loomis, and Charles Anthony Schott. Each volume is indexed separately.
The records are related to records in the National Archives.
Collection Restrictions:
Microfilm copies of incoming correspondence, 1852-1861, 1868, are available.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 60, Smithsonian Institution, Meteorological Project, Records
