William Jones Rhees Papers: Finding Aid
Related Materials in the Huntington Library
- Additional photographs related to the collection in the Photo Archives include: photPF 3490-3529; 3555-3577. These are from various sources, but related to the Smithsonian Institution and some of the photographs may have come with the Rhees papers.
- Agassiz, Louis (41 items)
- Alden, James (11 items)
- Alexander, John Henry (9 items)
- Alexander, Stephen (10 items)
- Bache, Alexander Dallas (61 items)
- Barnard, Frederick Augustus Peter (12 items)
- Cass, Lewis (12 items)
- Caswell, Alexis (7 items)
- Chase, Salmon Portland (10 items)
- Chauvenet, William (7 items)
- Cobb, Howell (9 items)
- Colfax, Schuyler (16 items)
- Craven, Tunis Augustus (7 items)
- Dana, Charles Anderson (6 items)
- Dana, James Dwight (39 items)
- Davis, Charles Henry (20 items)
- Dix, Dorothea Lynde (25 items)
- DuPont, Samuel Francis (11 items)
- Emory, William Hemsley (5 items)
- Fessenden, William Pitt (5 items)
- Field, Cyrus West (6 items)
- Force, Peter (13 items)
- Gibbs, Oliver Wolcott (28 items)
- Gilbert, Samuel Augustus (12 items)
- Gilliss, James Melville (36 items)
- Gould, Benjamin Apthorp (30 items)
- Gray, Asa (17 items)
- Guyot, Arnold (6 items)
- Hamlin, Hannibal (10 items)
- Hare, Robert (6 items)
- Hayes, Isaac Israel (6 items)
- Henry, Joseph (78 items)
- Hilgard, Julius Erasmus (13 items)
- Hill, Abrose Powell (6 items)
- Humphreys, Andrew Atkinson (15 items)
- Jenkins, Thornton Alexander (13 items)
- Kennedy, Joseph Camp Griffith (7 items)
- LeConte, John (5 items)
- LeConte, John Lawrence (7 items)
- LeFroy, Sir John Henry (11 items)
- Lesley, J. Peter (5 items)
- Lieber, Francis (32 items)
- Llody, Humphrey (7 items)
- McCosh, James (6 items)
- Maclean, John (40 items)
- Markoe, Francis (9 items)
- Meigs, Montgomery Cunningham (9 items)
- Mitchell, Henry (7 items)
- Newcomb, Simon (7 items)
- Patterson, Carlile Pollock (10 items)
- Pearce, James Alfred (24 items)
- Peirce, Benjamin (38 items)
- Phelps, Thomas Stowell (10 items)
- Poe, Orlando Metcalfe (5 items)
- Porter, David Dixon (10 items)
- Porter, Noah (10 items)
- Potter, Alonzo (8 items)
- Preble, George Henry (5 items)
- Quetelet, Lambert Adolphe Jacques (8 items)
- Rodgers, Christopher Raymond Perry (8 items)
- Rodgers, John (5 items)
- Rogers, Fairman (28 items)
- Sabine, Sir Edward (30 items)
- Seward, William Henry (7 items)
- Silliman, Benjamin, Jr. (31 items)
- Simpson, James Harvey (9 items)
- Stevens, Isaac Ingalls (18 items)
- Smith, Gerrit (7 items)
- Totten, Joseph Gilbert (26 items)
- Trenchard, Stephen Decatur (16 items)
- Trowbridge, William Petit (23 items)
- Tyndale, Hector (11 items)
- Tyndall, John (16 items)
- Waite, Morrison Remick (35 items)
- Wilkes, Charles (26 items)
- Miscellaneous correspondence (Boxes 1-2)
- Indian Affairs materials (Box 3)
- Pension Bureau materials, 1817-1885 (Box 4)
- Henry Rowe Schoolcraft correspondence, 1815-1874 (Box 5-6)
- National Institute materials, 1844-1859 (Boxes 7-11)
- Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence, 1822-1904 (Boxes 12-35)
- Smithsonian Institution materials 1831-1906 (Boxes 36-55)
- William Jones Rhees Correspondence, 1822-1904 (Boxes 56-59)
- Miscellaneous (boxes 60-64)
- Receipts for Smithsonian Publications, A-Z (Boxes 60-62)
- Miscellaneous fragments and ephemera (Box 63)
- Miscellaneous photographs (Box 64)
- Index to the autographs (RH 4596)
Collection Contents
Miscellaneous correspondence.
Miscellaneous Correspondence, A-L.
Miscellaneous Correspondence, M-Z.
Indian Affairs (RH 15-56). 1796-1858
Pension Bureau Correspondence (RH 57-151). 1817-approximately 1895
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft correspondence. 1815-1874
Schoolcraft Correspondence. 1815-1853
Schoolcraft Correspondence. 1854-1874
National Institute materials. 1816-1848
- The Institute's forerunners: The Metropolitan Association; The Columbian Institute; and the Washington Museum
- The organization of the National Institution for the Promotion of Science (later incorporated as the National Institute), including membership and the constitution, by-laws and rules for the Institute
- The Museum (housed in the United States Patent Office), including the acquisition of curiosities and the collections of the United States Exploring Expedition, commanded by Charles Wilkes, 1838-1842
- The Smithson bequest, including his interest and influence in the final disposition of the gift and the original custody of Smithson's collections of minerals, pamphlets and personal effects.
- The plan of organization for the Metropolitan Society or Association (June 15, 1816) in the handwriting of Edward Cutbush, with signatures of the original members
- A notebook kept by John Varden of subscribers to the Washington Museum, 1840-1841
- A note by Joel Roberts Poinsett, c. 1840, of the members to confer on the Smithson bequest
- An August 23, 1848, letter from Joseph Libbey Folsom sending a specimen of the gold found at Sutter's Mill and some other minerals from California.
National Institution. 1844-1847
National Institution. 1842-1843
National Institution. 1844-1847
National Institution. 1848-1850
National Institution. 1850-1858
Alexander Dallas Bache correspondence. 1827-1867
- A. Girard College (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
- 1. Bache's presidency, 1836-1842
- Bache's tour of Britain and the European continent preparatory to formulating a plan of organization for the college.
- B. The United States Coast Survey: Bache was appointed in 1843 as Superintendent of the Coast Survey to succeed the late Ferdinand R. Hassler, and continued to direct the Survey until his death. These letters, however, relate more to the personnel of the organization rather than to the work itself.
- C. Bache's interest in the development of science
- 1. Terrestrial magnetism research
- 2. Correspondence with contemporaries, chiefly in the fields of physics, mathematics, and astronomy
- 3. Interest in and support of scientific expeditions
- 4. The establishment of scientific institutions and departments of science
- D. The Civil War
- 1. The work of the Coast Survey
- Reports of events from former associates
- The Sanitary Commission, of which Bache was one of the vice presidents.
- A letter from Horace Binney offering Bache the chair of "Natural Philosophy" at the University of Pennsylvania (August 29, 1828)
- Notes by Whitley Stokes, Regius Professor of Medicine, Trinity College, Dublin, on a "Plan of organization for a College near Philadelphia" (November 22, 1836)
- 8 letters from Belgian astronomer Lamber Adolphe Jacques Quetelet (1836-1849)
- 29 letters from Sir Edward Sabine chiefly concerning their mutual interest in magnetic research (1839-1864)
- 7 letters from Humphrey Lloyd, provost of Trinity College, Dublin, dealing with magnetism (1840-1851)
- 36 letters from American physicist Benjamin Peirce, chiefly personal but with considerable mention of science and fellow scientists (1845-1863)
- 32 letters from Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz, both personal and relating to science (1847-1864)
- 2 letters from members of the Perry expedition, which opened relations with Japan: one from George Henry Preble (April 2, 1854) and one from John Rodgers Goldsborough (May 15, 1854)
- 2 letters from subsequent Admiral John Rodgers regarding a theory of tides (March 31 and April 2, 1855)
- 5 items from Elisha Kent Kane concerning Arctic expeditions (1852-1856)
- 6 letters from Isaac Israel Hayes concerning his polar expedition (1858-1862)
- 15 letters from Isaac Ingalls Stevens, highly critical of Union generalship, particularly in South Carolina (February 22-August 5, 1862)
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. 1827-1839
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. 1840-1844
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. 1845-1849
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. 1850-1852
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. 1853-1854
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. 1855-1856
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. 1857
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. 1858
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. 1859
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. 1860 January-June
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. 1860 July-August
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. 1860 September-October
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. 1860 November
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. 1861 January-February
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. 1861 March
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. 1861 April
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. 1861 May
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. 1861 June-1862
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. 1862 January-April
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. 1862 May
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. 1862 June
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. 1862 July-1863
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. 1863
Alexander Dallas Bache Correspondence. after 1864-1867
Smithsonian Institution materials. 1831-1906
- A. James Smithson (chiefly references to him and his bequest creating the Smithsonian Institution)
- Routine activities of the Smithsonian Institution
- 1. Preparation and circulation of reports and other publications, including replies to the plan of organization sent to scientists, educators, etc. in 1847 for their opinions
- 2. Meetings of the Regents and Executive Committee
- 3. Visits to the Institution.
- C. Joseph Henry (1797-1878), the first Secretary, including biography material, papers related to the administration of the Smithsonian Institution, and his other interests including research in physics, Princeton University, the United States Lighthouse Board, the National Academy of Sciences, and correspondence with noted contemporaries; and commemoration including a memorial service held on January 16, 1879 and a statute by William Wetmore Story erected in Washington in 1883
- D. Spencer Fullerton Baird (1823-1887), the second Secretary, related to his administrative duties and the United States Bureau of Fish and Fisheries
- E. Miscellaneous items related to the National Museum, the Library, and encouragement of research
- A copy of the receipt given by Charles Coffin Jewett for the books and pamphlets in the Smithson bequest (January 10, 1849)
- 6 letters from prominent historians, including George Bancroft, Washington Irving, and Jared Sparks, urging publication by the Smithsonian of some Spanish documents relating to the history of the Southwest.
- A letter from Joseph Henry to Professor Agassiz, giving details of the fire that destroyed part of the Smithsonian Institution on January 24th (January 31, 1865)
- A letter from George Catlin asking Professor Henry's aid for securing his Indian portraits for the benefit of science (March 21, 1870). There is also a memorial from the New York Historical Society, signed by several members, urging action to preserve this collection (January 1875)
- 3 letters from Sir John Henry Lefroy to Joseph Henry from Bermuda (1872-1873)
- A letter from Phineas Taylor Barnum to Joseph Henry regarding a proposed aerial navigation of the Atlantic in a balloon (September 19, 1873)
- A letter from Rear Admiral John Rodgers to Mrs. Henry notifying her of the action of Congress for the payment of $11,000 to the heirs of Professor Henry in recognition of his services to the Lighthouse Establishment (July 5, 1878)
- Draft of the address given by Samuel Sullivan Cox at the commemoration services for Joseph Henry (January 16, 1879)
- 10 letters from Frank Hamilton Cushing to William Jones Rhees from Zuni, New Mexico Territory (1880-1881)
Smithsonian Institution. 1831-1849 January
Smithsonian Institution. 1849 February-1850
Smithsonian Institution. 1851-1859
Smithsonian Institution. 1860-1867
Smithsonian Institution. 1868-1869
Smithsonian Institution. 1870-1871 June
Smithsonian Institution. 1871 July-1872 August
Smithsonian Institution. 1872 May-December
Smithsonian Institution. before 1872-1874 February
Smithsonian Institution. 1874 March-1875 June
Smithsonian Institution. 1875 July-after 1876
Smithsonian Institution. 1877-1878 May
Smithsonian Institution. 1878 June-1879
Smithsonian Institution. 1880
Smithsonian Institution. 1881-1882
Smithsonian Institution. 1883 January-August
Smithsonian Institution. 1883 September-after 1884
Smithsonian Institution. 1885-1886
Smithsonian Institution. 1887-1889
Smithsonian Institution. 1890-1906
William Jones Rhees correspondence. 1822-1904
Rhees correspondence. 1822-1873
Rhees correspondence. 1874-1884
Rhees correspondence. 1885-1896
Rhees correspondence. 1897-1904
Receipts for Smithsonian Publications, B-K.
Receipts for Smithsonian Publications, L-S.
Receipts for Smithsonian Publications, T-Z; miscellaneous requisitions, etc.; receipts from other institutions, etc.
Miscellaneous fragments, printed items, clippings, pictures, and facsimiles
Miscellaneous autographs (including some listed in the Rhees index (RH 4596), but removed from correspondence.
Index
Rhees, Wm. Jones: Index to Autographs.