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Notes on Museums, the Smithsonian, and Early Anthropology

The Smithsonian Institution: Founding and the 1846 Act

  • The Smithsonian Institution established in 1846 after a long public debate.
  • President James K. Polk signed the An Act to Establish the Smithsonian Institution after 8 years of debate.
  • The Act to Establish The Smithsonian Institution (1846) comprises 11 sections (Section 1 through Section 11).

Early Smithsonian Leadership: Henry, Baird, and Goode

  • Joseph Henry (1846–1878)
    • First Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
    • Born in 1797 in Albany, NY.
    • Profession: Physicist.
    • First Smithsonian Building: The Castle (completed in 1855).
    • Focus: research, publications, and international exchanges of research.
  • Spencer Fullerton Baird (1878–1887)
    • Second Secretary.
    • Born 1823; died 1887.
    • American naturalist, ornithologist, and museum curator.
    • Under his leadership, the Smithsonian’s specimen count grew dramatically from 6{,}000 (earlier) to over 2{,}000{,}000 by the period 1850–1878.
    • Oversaw the building of the new U.S. National Museum (opened in 1881).
  • George Brown Goode (1881–1896)
    • Ichthyologist (study of fish); Curator of the U.S. National Museum.
    • Proponent of “The New Museum Idea.”
    • Emphasized a social mission for museums: to reach and teach all citizens.
    • Systematic Geology Hall (in the U.S. National Museum) completed in 1903; Goode used glass cases to create “visual sentences” and promoted object-based epistemology.

The New Museum Idea: Epistemology and Public Reach

  • The New Museum Idea argued that museums have a social obligation to educate all citizens, not only specialists.
  • Visual organization using object-centric displays to convey meanings (often referred to as object-based epistemology).
  • Systematic Geology Hall (1903) as an example of these approaches.
  • The Milwaukee Style (1890) challenged object-based displays and pushed new display strategies.

The Milwaukee Style and The Muskrat Group

  • Carl Akeley, a taxidermist and advocate of The New Museum Idea, contributed to the Milwaukee Public Museum.
  • The “Muskrat Group” display became a notable example of challenging traditional object-centric displays and pushing more contextualized exhibits.

Life Groups, Anthropologists, and The Tehuelehe Life Group

  • Tehuelehe Life Group, exhibition created by W. H. Holmes at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, exemplifies the New Museum Idea in practice.
  • Franz Boas (Franz Boaz in some sources) integrated anthropological aims with museum displays.
  • Life groups: Boas introduced life groups—mannequin-based scenes showing how items were used, to convey cultural context rather than simple artifact presentation.
  • Example: life group that demonstrates the uses of cedar; the case was later disassembled, but elements remain on display near the theater entrance in the National Museum of Natural History.
  • Image credit reference: AMNH Library 338764 for the cedar life group.

Franz Boas: Anthropology and Museum Display Innovation

  • Franz Boas (often misspelled as Boaz in some sources): major innovator in museum display and anthropology.
  • 1896: Became assistant curator at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH).
  • 1896: Established the first department of anthropology in the United States at Columbia University.
  • 1899: Exhibit on Indigenous cultures of the Northwest Coast of North America for AMNH.
    • Goal: Present Indigenous cultures on their own terms, not in relation to or comparison with Western cultures.
  • Boas helped popularize life groups as a way to show context of artifacts and daily life.
  • The 214A:10 and related notes illustrate ongoing documentation of Boas’s innovations and their display impact.

Indigenous Material, Peale, and Early Collections

  • By 1819, collections included about 800 “Indian costumes and artifacts.”
    • Some items were from contemporary Indigenous peoples; others were from ancient times.
  • Franklin Peale collected tools, many from the Delaware Water Gap and other prominent collectors, reflecting early collecting practices.
  • Caroline Peale (Franklin Peale’s wife) posthumously published his collections catalogue and donated the objects to the Society.
  • The entry “Peale’s Museum and Indigenous Material” emphasizes the influence of Peale’s collection on subsequent museum thinking and indigenous material representation.

Peale’s Museum, the Smithsonian, and Collections

  • Considerations of: Collections, Preservation, Display, and Use—aspects often discussed in relation to Peale’s Museum and the developing Smithsonian.

The Castle: The First Smithsonian Building

  • The Castle (completed in 1855) served as the first Smithsonian Building, hosting early activities and exhibitions.

The Smithsonian Bureau of Ethnology and Powell’s Mission

  • The Smithsonian’s Bureau of Ethnology established in 1878 by Congress.
  • Responsibility: Transfer materials related to Indigenous peoples of North America from the Department of the Interior to the Smithsonian.
  • Director John Wesley Powell expanded the mission to promote anthropological research in America.

Summary of Key Institutions and Transitions

  • The Smithsonian Institution’s founding act and its administrative structure: Sections 1–11 in the 1846 Act.
  • A sequence of leadership shaping collections, exhibitions, and research emphasis: Henry → Baird → Goode.
  • The shift toward public education and contextualized exhibits (The New Museum Idea) and the development of life groups by Boas.
  • The integration of ethnology and anthropology as central scholarly activities supported by Smithsonian leadership and policy changes.

Connections to Larger Themes

  • Public museums as educational institutions with social responsibilities beyond preserving artifacts.
  • The tension between object-based displays and contextual, life-world representations of cultures.
  • The role of individual curators and directors in steering institutional priorities, from preservation and cataloging toward active public education and anthropological inquiry.
  • The ethical implications of presenting Indigenous cultures: moving toward representations that emphasize Indigenous voices and contexts rather than external comparisons.

Notable Dates and Figures (Quick Reference)

  • 1846: Smithsonian Institution founded; Act signed after 8 years of debate.
  • 1855: The Castle, first Smithsonian Building, completed.
  • 1881: Opening of the new U.S. National Museum; overseen by Spencer Fullerton Baird.
  • 1887: End of Baird’s tenure as Secretary.
  • 1890: Milwaukee Style era and the Muskrat Group display.
  • 1896: Goode’s tenure as Secretary begins; Boas’s influential work begins in American museums.
  • 1903: Systematic Geology Hall opened in the United States National Museum.
  • 1878: Establishment of the Smithsonian Bureau of Ethnology; Powell as director expands anthropology-related research.
  • 1899: Boas exhibit on Indigenous cultures of the Northwest Coast (AMNH).
  • 6{,}000 to 2{,}000{,}000 specimens growth during 1850–1878 under Baird.
  • 1797–1887: Joseph Henry’s life span (1797–1878 as Secretary; 1887 is Baird’s death year).
  • 1823: Spencer Fullerton Baird’s birth year.
  • 1851: Goode’s birth year; 1896: Goode’s death year.
  • 1680s–1700s (contextual reference): Indigenous cultures as subjects of display implemented by Boas and colleagues (timeline situating late 19th century shifts).