RELATIONS BETWEEN THE 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION AND THE 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



BY AINSWORTH RAND SPOFFORD 



Librarian of Congress 



|T was a signal good fortune which preserved the 

 valuable library of the Smithsonian Institution 

 from destruction by the fire of 1865, which so 

 seriously damaged the building, and destroyed 

 the Stanley Indian Gallery. Immediately fol- 

 lowing that event, Professor Henry, then at the head of the 

 Institution, impressed by the peril which the collection of 

 books had just escaped, sought a conference with the joint 

 committee on the Library of Congress, in conjunction with 

 the librarian. He developed to them a plan for securing 

 the library from any future danger, while it might be 

 brought at the same time to enrich the great library of 

 the government. In the view of Professor Henry, several 

 highly desirable objects would be accomplished by the 

 union of the two libraries at the Capitol. As two spacious 

 and fire-proof wings, constructed of solid iron, had just 

 been added to the Congressional Library, there was then 

 ample room for the orderly arrangement of the Smithsonian 

 collection there, instead of attempting to continue it in the 



