REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD OF 

 REGENTS ON THE HENRY STATUE. 



To the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution : 



Gentlemen : Aii act of Congress (No. 71), approved by the Presi- 

 dent June 1, 1880, authorized "the Regents of the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution to contract with W. W. Story, sculptor, for a statue in bronze of 

 Joseph Heney, late Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, to be 

 erected upon the grounds of said Institution ; and for this purpose, and 

 for the entire expense of the foundation and pedestal of the monument, 

 the sum of $15,000" was appropriated. 



In accordance with the authority conferred in the above act, the 

 Regents of the Institution executed a contract with Mr. Story on the 

 8th of December, 1880, for the statue. At Mr. Story's request a num- 

 ber of photographs of Professor Henry were sent to him to be used in 

 preparing the model of the statue, and also a cast of the face and bust 

 executed by Mr. Clark Mills, together with an academic gown similar 

 to the one used by the professor when a member of the faculty of 

 Princeton College. A contract was made with the Maine Red Granite 

 Company and the Quincy Granite Polishing Works for a pedestal ac- 

 cording to a design furnished by Mr. Story — the die of Red-Beach 

 granite finely polished, octagonal in shape, 4 feet in diameter, 4 feet 

 high, and the cap and bases of Quincy gray granite, fine-axed, the 

 whole pedestal being 7 feet 3 inches in height. The statue itself is nine 

 feet high. 



Owing to certain imperfections found in the statue after it had been 

 cast, it became necessary to reproduce it, and it was not until Novem- 

 ber, 1882, that it was actually completed and shipped from Pome. The 

 statue was received in Washington in December, but, owing to the late- 

 ness of the season, it was decided to defer its erection until the follow- 

 ing spring, and the date selected was the 19th of April, 1883, that being 

 the time when the National Academy of Sciences (of which Professor 

 Henry had been president at the time of his death) would hold its semi- 

 annual meeting in Washington. For the site of the statue a triangular 

 plot on the Smithsonian grounds, about 150 feet to the northwest of the 

 building, was chosen by the Regents, and the selection met the full ap- 

 proval of Mr. Story, who visited Washington in the winter. 



The Chancellor of the Institution was requested by the Regents to 

 perform the ceremony of unveiling it. 



H. Mis. 69 ii xvii 



