"...the chief exponent of the scientific thought of the people of the United States...": How to Research the History of the Smithsonian Institution

Posted on 12/31/2025

A vintage black-and-white illustration of the Smithsonian Building, also known as the “Castle,” showing its towers and Gothic-style architecture surrounded by trees and open lawns. The caption below reads “The Smithsonian Building.” — *American Pamphlets, Series I, 1820-1922* (1895)

The Smithsonian Institution and its twenty museums and galleries have been in the news recently. There is controversy. If you would like to know more, we encourage you to do your own research and urge you to start with the institution's history. We suggest two possible, and complementary, approaches.

Subscribers to Early American Imprints can conduct an Advanced Search by entering Smithsonian in the Citation field, which yields 45 results, sorted oldest to newest. Results may vary depending on the collections your institution offers.

The 43rd result, "An account of the Smithsonian Institution its origin, history, objects and achievements [by G. Brown Goode]" provides a useful guide to the founding and early development of the institution. Goode was a scientist and early administrator of the Smithsonian who died in 1896 before completing the history for that year's 50th anniversary celebration. Samuel Pierpont Langley, who succeeded Goode, finished it.

Title page of an 1895 pamphlet titled An Account of the Smithsonian Institution: Its Origin, History, Objects and Achievements, published in Washington for distribution at the Atlanta Exposition. The page includes quotes from George Washington, James Smithson, and John Quincy Adams about the importance of knowledge and enlightenment. — *American Pamphlets, Series I, 1820-1922* (1895)

The 12th result in our search, "The Smithsonian Institution an article from the North American Review, October, 1854." The author provides a somewhat jaundiced review of the same topic as Goode. Aspects of his argument include arcane information, but he merits attention.

Before moving on to our second possibility, pause a moment to peruse "Vocabulary of the jargon or trade language of Oregon." [number 11 in our results] Examples:

A scanned page titled “Vocabulary” showing a trilingual word list under the letter “A,” with French words in the left column, English translations in the middle, and Chinook Jargon equivalents in the right column. The list includes words like “acheter” (to buy) and “aimer” (to love). The document appears historical, with serif type and aged paper. — *American Pamphlets, Series I, 1820-1922* (1853)

Or click on "Catalogue of the Berlandier manuscripts deposited in the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C." [number 9 in our results]

Jean-Louis Berlandier was a French Mexican scientist who concentrated on biology and botany. His catalogue is one of thousands collected by the Smithsonian.

A historical document page titled “Catalogue of Berlandier’s Historical and Geographical MSS.” It lists manuscripts about travels in Mexico and Texas from 1826 to 1834, including notes on geography, Indian tribes, and early settlements. The catalog enumerates multiple volumes covering topics like Indian vocabularies, revolts, and history of tribes near the Rio Grande. — *American Pamphlets, Series I, 1820-1922* (1853)

Our second approach is to conduct a search in the Readex U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1994. A simple search on the term Smithsonian yields almost 9,500 results.

Screenshot of the Readex U.S. Congressional Serial Set webpage, featuring a blue-tinted historical image of the U.S. Capitol building with its dome under construction. The page title reads “U.S. Congressional Serial Set” with a search bar below for exploring congressional reports and documents. — *U.S. Congressional Serial Set*, Search page

Researchers can navigate to Related Topics and other tools for narrowing their searches.

Screenshot of search results from the U.S. Congressional Serial Set database. The page lists government documents including the “Bequest of James Smithson” and journals from the House and Senate of the United States, dated between 1835 and 1836. Filters and related topics such as subjects, geographic names, and organizations appear on the right side. — *U.S. Congressional Serial Set*, Results page

Look for the institution's annual reports. The first few are relatively concise, but they soon became expansive, often running to more than 1,000 pages including illustrations, maps, and photographs. Table of Contents and indices began to appear. Time spent exploring these extraordinary documents promises the researcher the joy of discovery.

A printed page titled “The Smithsonian Institution” by G. Brown Goode. The text describes the Smithsonian as a leading symbol of American scientific thought, recognized both nationally and internationally. It emphasizes the institution’s broad scope, encompassing all branches of human knowledge. Decorative floral border appears at the top of the page. — *American Pamphlets, Series I, 1820-1922* (1895)

To conclude we return to Goode's history and quote his first two paragraphs:

The name of the Smithsonian Institution is a household word in America, while in every center of intellectual activity abroad, it is regarded as the chief exponent of the scientific thought of the people of the United States, thus representing that which is deemed in other lands to be the chief glory of our nation; for, whatever may be thought of American art and literature, or of American institutions in general, the science of America is everywhere accepted as sound, vigorous and progressive.
Its activities are, however, not limited to science, but embrace every branch of human knowledge.