Call Number:

C0086

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 1 box
• 0.4 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Joseph Henry Collection, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1834-1878 (inclusive)

Creator:

Princeton University. Library. Special Collections and Henry, Joseph, 1797-1878

Form:

Correspondence -- 19th century and Documents -- 19th century.

Abstract:

Consists of selected correspondence and documents of Joseph Henry (1797-1878), the American physicist, inventor, and first secretary and director of the Smithsonian Institution.

Joseph Henry was born in 1797 in Albany, New York. A graduate of Albany Academy, he worked as a schoolteacher, private tutor, and surveyor before appointment as professor of mathematics at Albany Academy in 1826. Henry then took up research in the new field of electromagnetism; his first notable success was the improvement of William Sturgeon's electromagnet. In 1832, he joined the faculty of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) as a professor of natural philosophy (physics), but in 1846 he left to become the first secretary and director of the Smithsonian Institution. As director of the Smithsonian, he helped organize the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Henry was also a trustee of the College of New Jersey (1864), an original member of the National Academy of Sciences, and the organization's president for ten years from 1868 to 1878. He died in Washington, D.C., in 1878.

The collection consists primarily of correspondence by Henry, including original letters and numerous photostats of Henry's letters housed in institutions other than Princeton, such as the Smithsonian Institution. Also included are several documents signed by Henry, and one letter each by George M. Dallas, Theodore Sedgwick, and Reverdy Johnson.

The following standard abbreviations, or their variations, are used to identify materials in this collection: ALS = autograph letter signed, TLS = typed letter signed, AMs = autograph manuscript, and DS = document signed.

The collection has been arranged as follows: Correspondence, Photostats. The correspondence is organized by accession number, and the photostats are organized alphabetically by source.