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Instructions Issued for Polaris Expedition

Smithsonian Libraries and Archives
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Object Details

Subject
Hall, Charles Francis 1821-1871
Henry, Joseph 1797-1878
Bessels, Emil 1847-1888
Robeson, George M (George Maxwell) 1829-1897
National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
Polaris Expedition
United States Dept. of the Navy
United States Congress
Category
Chronology of Smithsonian History
Image of Dr. Emil Bessels, 1871. Smithsonian Institution Archives, negative number SIA2008-6153.
The natural history collections and scientific records from the Polaris Expedition were deposited in the United States National Museum at the Smithsonian. The expedition was hampered by the death of Captain Charles F. Hall and damage to the vessel by ice, and only a small number of the specimens collected were brought back by Dr. Emil Bessels, chief of the scientific corps. In 1874, Dr. Bessels prepared publications based on this material, in Scientific Results of the United States Arctic Expedition.
For Henry's scientific instructions, see http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7918247.
Guide to Smithsonian Archives. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1983. Archives and Special Collections of the Smithsonian Institution Number 4, p. 176.
Joseph Henry Letter to George Maxwell Robeson, June 9, 1871, document 165 in The Papers of Joseph Henry, Volume 11, The Smithsonian Years: January 1866-May 1878, Marc Rothenberg , et al, eds., (Smithsonian Institution in association with Science History Publications/USA, 2007), pp. 351-356.
Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution for the year 1871, p. 35, 361-387.
Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution for the year 1873, p. 37-38.
Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution for the year 1874, p. 46-47.
Summary
Smithsonian Secretary Joseph Henry, acting in his role as the President of the National Academy of Sciences, and George M. Robeson, Secretary of the Navy, transmit instructions to Captain Charles F. Hall for the scientific operations of the Polaris Expedition (1871-1873) toward the North Pole, which is authorized by Congress and carried out under the direction of the U.S. Navy. The Smithsonian is especially involved in meteorological observations. Henry provides twenty-one pages of instructions contributed by specialists in astronomy, magnetism, geology, and other subjects to Hall and his director of scientific operations, Emil Bessels. Although they succeed in reaching "the most northerly point ever attained by civilized man," Henry later writes, relatively few specimens are brought back to Washington, D.C., because the crew ultimately has to abandon its ship, which is damaged by ice. After his return from the Arctic, Emil Bessels is given space in the Smithsonian Building for compiling the Polaris Expedition's scientific results.
Contact information
Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
June 9, 1871
Place
North Pole
Polar regions
Smithsonian Archives - History Div
Topic
Accidents
Interagency Relations
Meteorology
National Collections
Natural history
Museum publications
Scientific expeditions
Arctic regions--Research
Secretaries
Collectors and collecting
Astronomy
Shipwrecks
Geology
Record ID
siris_sic_78
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