Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 February 2014
When well directed, science is the greatest agency for the welfare of mankind. John Wesley Powell, the director of the United States Geological Survey (USGS), delivered this message to Congress in 1884. The purpose of Powell's testimony to Congress was not to argue for the erection of an organizational framework for American science, but to defend the one that had been put in place decades earlier. At the time of Powell's testimony, the United States had already begun to assume the mantle of the greatest scientific nation on the planet. “I have studied the question closely,” declared W. H. Smyth, the president of the Royal Geographical Society of London, “and do not hesitate to pronounce the conviction that though the Americans were last in the field, they have, per saltum, leaped into the very front of the rank.” The organizational structure at the heart of America's rapid scientific rise was initially constructed by scientists serving in the nineteenth-century American bureaucracy—by men like John W. Powell. Often seen as a source of state incapacity, in this instance, the federal bureaucracy was the most important force in American scientific development.
I am grateful to James Mahoney, Daniel Galvin, Monica Prasad, Jesse Dillon Savage, Gerald Berk, Eric Schickler, Danny Schneider, the participants of the Miller Center National Fellowship Conference (Spring 2012), and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. I would also like to thank the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Scholars in Health Policy Research Program for their generous support.
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35. During the 36th Congress in 1859, the Coast Survey was supporting during debates by five Democrats (Representatives Cochrane (NY), Miles (SC), Nichols (TN), Adrain (NJ), and Underwood (GA)) and five Republicans (Representatives Comins (MA), Stanton (OH), Morse (ME), Howard (MI) and Stewart (PA)). Those speaking in opposition to the Survey in 1859 were also evenly split between Republicans (Washburn (WI), Blair (MO), and Washburne (IL)) and Democrats (Burnett (KY), Phelps (MO), and Garnett (VA)). Congressional Globe, 35th Congress, 2nd Sess., 1859, 28, 1469–77.
36. Bensel, Yankee Leviathan, 74. Washburn's amendment attempted to cut $250,000 for the Survey of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. This included the salary for the superintendent and his assistants.
37. Similar levels of bipartisan support and opposition are also clear in the Coast Survey debates of 1861. Speaking in support of the Survey in 1861 were representatives Eliot (R-MA), Stanton (R-OH), Cochrane (D-NY), Stevens (D-WA), and Florence (D-PA). Taking positions against the Survey were representatives Maynard (R-TN), Phelps (D-MO), and Quarles (I-TN). Congressional Globe, 36th Congress, 2nd Sess., 1861, 30, 297–301.
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54. George Becker to University of California, Berkeley, Board of Regents, 24 June 1879, George Becker Papers, Box 15, Library of Congress. Once in the bureaucracy, scientists enjoyed uncharacteristically long tenures for the time period. Becker, for example, served from 1879 until his death in 1919. The men who rose to the position of director of the USGS were career officials who were largely promoted from the lower ranks. The directors of the Geological Survey who served between 1881–1943 were all promoted up from the lower ranks of the scientific bureau. John W. Powell was in charge of Paleontology before assuming the directorship; Charles Walcott began as an assistant geologist; Otis Smith joined the bureau directly from his graduate studies at John Hopkins; and Walter Mendenhall came straight from the Ohio Normal University and rose through the ranks over the course of thirty-six years before being named director.
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96. Stephens, “Astronomy as a Public Utility,” 21; Musto, “A Survey of the American Observatory Movement, 1800–1850,” 90; Stachurski, Longitude By Wire, 126; Hogan, Of the Human Heart, 114.
97. William C. Bond, “Report to the Committee for visiting the Observatory,” History and Description of the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard College (4 Dec. 1851): cliv.
98. A Report of the Superintendent of the Coast Survey showing the Progress of the Survey for the Year 1845, 6.
99. Congressional Globe, 30th Congress, 2nd Sess., 1849, 18, 208.
100. Report on the Coast Survey, American Association for the Advancement of Science 13 (1860): 138.
101. James, Mary Ann, Elites in Conflict: The Antebellum Clash Over the Dudley Observatory (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987)Google Scholar, provides a comprehensive history of the Dudley Observatory.
102. Benjamin A. Gould, “Report to the Superintendent of the Coast Survey,” 1 Oct. 1857, in A Report of the Superintendent of the Coast Survey showing the Progress of the Survey for the Year 1857, Appendix 27, 310.
103. C.H.F. Peters, “Report to the Superintendent of the Coast Survey,” A Report of the Superintendent of the Coast Survey showing the Progress of the Survey for the Year 1856, Appendix no. 25, 198.
104. Goldfarb, Stephen, “Science and Democracy: A History of the Cincinnati Observatory, 1842–1872,” Ohio History 78 (1969)Google Scholar: 176.
105. Ibid.; Slotten, Patronage, Practice, and the Culture of American Science, 120; Elias Loomis, “Astronomical Observatories in the United States,” Harper's New Monthly Magazine 13 (1856): 38.
106. The Longitude Division was later transferred to Harvard University and placed under the guidance of Benjamin Peirce and then Benjamin Gould.
107. A Report of the Superintendent of the Coast Survey showing the Progress of the Survey for the Year 1856, 46.
108. See A Report of the Superintendent of the Coast Survey showing the Progress of the Survey for the Year 1857, 42.
109. Stephens, Lester D., Science, Race, and Religion in the American South: John Bachman and the Charleston Circle of Naturalists (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000)Google Scholar, 108.
110. Ibid.
111. Loomis, “Astronomical Observatories in the United States,” 44; Stephens, Science, Race, and Religion in the American South, 108; Slotten, Patronage, Practice, and the Culture of American Science, 119; Report of the Superintendent showing the Progress of the Survey during the Year 1849, 44.
112. Report of the Secretary of the Treasury, Ex. Doc. No. 36, 31st Congress, 2nd Session, 35.
113. Chamber of Commerce of Charleston to the United States Congress, Alexander Dallas Bache Papers, Box 5, Smithsonian Institute Archives. The letter is undated but likely from Feb. 1849, given its location in the archives and the adjacent letters in Box 5.
114. Worster, Donald, A River Running West (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001)Google Scholar, 417.
115. John W. Powell, testimony before the Allison Commission, 196.
116. Schuchert and LeVene, O.C. Marsh, 272, 280–81; Beecher, Charles E., “Othniel Charles Marsh,” The American Journal of Science, Fourth Series, VII (June 1899)CrossRefGoogle Scholar: 411.
117. Charles Schuchert and C. M. LeVene, O.C. Marsh, 326.
118. Charles D. Walcott to Smithsonian Secretary Langley, 9 Dec. 1899, quoted in Schuchert and LeVene, O.C. Marsh, 287.
119. Beecher, “Othniel Charles Marsh,” 414.
120. Schuchert and LeVene, O.C. Marsh, 302.
121. Ibid.
122. Ibid.
123. Walcott, Charles D., “Relations of the National Government to Higher Education and Research,” Science 13 (28 June 1901)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed: 1007.
124. Charles D. Walcott to Henry S. Williams, June 16, 1890, Charles D. Walcott Papers, Smithsonian Institute Archives.
125. Mining and Scientific Press, quoted in, Spence, Mining Engineers and the American West, 60.
126. Shaler, “Geology,” 286.
127. Seventh Annual Report of the Director of the United States Geological Survey, Ex. Doc. 1, Part 5, 49th Congress, 2nd Sess., 1886, 64. On page 84 of the report, the names of these assistants are given: T.W. Harris, A.S. Haskell, R. Hayward, J.P. Johnson, and C.S. Thompson. Graduate students were paid at most $100 per month, and at times their work was uncompensated except for research expenses such as travel, food, and lodging.
128. Thirteenth Annual Report of the Director of the United States Geological Survey, Ex. Doc. 1, Part 5, 52nd Congress, 2nd Sess., 1892, Report of Chief Disbursement Clerk, Jonathan D. McChesney, 200–12. The employment of Whittle is also discussed in a letter between Davis and Chamberlin on 1 Sept. 1885, quoted in J.Chorley, Richard et al. , ed., The History of the Study of Landforms Or the Development of Geomorphology Volume 2, the Life and Work of William Morris Davis (London: Methuen, 1974)Google Scholar 141.
129. Davis and Chamberlin on 1 Sept. 1885, quoted in Chorley et al., The History of the Study of Landforms, 141.
130. Charles Walcott to Alpheus Hyatt, 26 Jan. 1891, Charles Walcott Papers, Box 26, Smithsonian Institute Archives.
131. Charles D. Walcott to O. C. Marsh, 8 Mar. 1891, Othniel Charles Marsh Papers (MS343), Box 33, Folder 1427, Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.
132. Sixth Annual Report of the Director of the United States Geological Survey, Ex. Doc. 1, Part 5, 49th Congress, 1st Sess., 1885, 45.
133. Fourth Annual Report of the Director of the United States Geological Survey, Ex. Doc. 1, Part 5, 48th Congress, 1st Sess., 1883, 32.
134. Bailey, Sturges W., ed., The History of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison 1848–1980 (Madison: University of Wisconsin-Madison Press, 1981)Google Scholar 14.
135. Third Annual Report of the Director of the United States Geological Survey, Ex. Doc. 1, Part 5, 47th Congress, 2nd Sess., 1882, 14.
136. Sixth Annual Report of the Director of the United States Geological Survey, Ex. Doc. 1, Part 5, 49th Congress, 1st Sess., 1885, 52.
137. The list of nongovernment partners of the USGS was compiled from the Annual Reports of the Director of the United States Geological Survey for the years 1882–1902.
138. Thirteenth Annual Report of the Director of the United States Geological Survey, Ex. Doc. 1, Part 5, 52nd Congress, 2nd Sess., 1892, part 1, 89.
139. John W. Powell, testimony before the Allison Commission, 77.
140. Ibid., 178.
141. Thirteenth Annual Report of the Director of the United States Geological Survey, Ex. Doc. 1, Part 5, 52nd Congress, 2nd Sess., 1892, part 1, 89.
142. Twelfth Annual Report of the Director of the United States Geological Survey, Ex. Doc. 1, Part 5, 52nd Congress, 1st Sess., 1891, 71.
143. Fifth Annual Report of the Director of the United States Geological Survey, Ex. Doc. 1, Part 5, 48th Congress, 2nd Sess., 1884, XXVII; Seventeenth Annual Report of the Director of the United States Geological Survey, Ex. Doc. 1, Part 5, 54th Congress, 2nd Sess., 1896, 68, 548; Twenty-Fourth Annual Report of the Director of the United States Geological Survey, Ex. Doc. No. 5, 58th Congress, 2nd Sess., 1903, 75.
144. John W. Powell to O. C. Marsh, 13 May 1887, Othniel Charles Marsh Papers (MS 343), Box 26, Folder 1096, Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.
145. Ibid.
146. At the beginning of the reports of the APS and the AAAS, it is stated that the reports are in response to a request by Superintendent Bache. The report of the Franklin Institute does not make mention of a request directly from Bache, but we can safely assume that a similar request was made of all three associations. Copies of the reports of the APS, AAAS, and the Franklin Institute are found in the Alexander Dallas Bache Papers, Box 5, Smithsonian Institute.
147. Congressional Globe, 30th Congress, 2nd Sess., Appendix, 1849, 18, 201.
148. Congressional Globe, 35th Congress, 2nd Sess., 1859, 28, 1473
149. Joseph Henry, “The Coast Survey,” Princeton Review (Apr. 1845).
150. Alexander Dallas Bache to Joseph Henry, 27 May 27 1845, Joseph Henry Papers, Vol. 6: 279–80; Joseph Henry to Alexander Dallas Bache, 15 Mar. 1845, Alexander Dallas Bache Papers, Box 3, Smithsonian Institute Archives; additional letters were written to Bache on 6 May 1845, and 10 July 1846, Alexander Dallas Bache Papers, Box 3, Smithsonian Institute Archives. In the letter from 1846, Henry discusses a public lecture made on the topic of the Princeton Review article; Joseph Henry to Lewis R. Gibbes, 31 May 1845, Joseph Henry Papers, Vol. 6: 284.
151. Hunt's Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review (Feb. 1849), 132.
152. University of Virginia Professor to Bache, 11–17 Jan. 1849. Alexander Dallas Bache Papers, Box 4, Smithsonian Institute. The sender's signature is illegible, and the date is not clear. The correspondences on either side of this letter in the chronologically organized folder were from 10 Jan. 1849 and 17 Jan. 1849.
153. University of Virginia to the United States Senate, 31 Jan. 1849, Alexander Dallas Bache Papers, Box 5, The Smithsonian Institute.
154. Congressional Globe, 30th Congress, 2nd Sess., 1849, Appendix, 18, 203; Congressional Globe, 35th Congress, 2nd Sess., 159, 28, 1470–71.
155. Charles D. Walcott to Professor Henry S. Williams, 17 July 1890, Charles D. Walcott Papers, Box 26, Smithsonian Institute Archives.
156. Charles D. Walcott to Professor S. H. Scudder, 9 Mar. 1892, Charles D. Walcott Papers, Box 27, Smithsonian Institute Archive.
157. O.C. Marsh to Orville Platt, 31 May 1892, Othniel Charles Marsh Papers (MS343), Box 33, Folder 1427, Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.
158. O.C. Marsh to Joseph Hawley, 11 July 1892, Othniel Charles Marsh Papers (MS343), Box 33, Folder 1427, Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.
159. Congressional Record, 52nd Congress, 1st Sess., 1892, 23, 5887.
160. Congressional Globe, 35th Congress, 2nd Sess., 1859, 28, 1476.
161. Congressional Globe, 35th Congress, 2nd Sess., 1859, 28, 1473.
162. “Survey of the Coast of the United States,” Hunt's Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review, Feb. 1849, 131.
163. B.B., “The Coast Survey,” New York Times, Nov. 18, 1858.
164. Congressional Globe, 36th Congress, 2nd Sess., 1861, 30, 299.
165. Congressional Globe, 36th Congress, 2nd Sess., 1861, 30, 299.
166. Congressional Record, 49 th Congress, 1st Sess., 1886, 17, 6297–98.
167. Congressional Record, 52nd Congresss, 1st Sess., 1892, 23, 5888
168. Congressional Record, 52nd Congresss, 1st Sess., 1892, 23, 6155.
169. Pierson, Paul, Dismantling the Welfare State?: Reagan, Thatcher and the Politics of Retrenchment (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
170. Ibid, Mahoney, James, “Path dependence in historical sociology,” Theory and Society 29 (2000)CrossRefGoogle Scholar: 512.
171. Congressional Globe, 30th Congress, 2nd Sess., 1849, 18, 196; Congressional Globe, 30th Congress, 2nd Sess., 1849, 18, 212.
172. Congressional Globe, 30th Congress, 2nd Sess., 1849, 18, 198.
173. Congressional Globe, 35th Congress, 2nd Sess., 1859, 28, 1470.
174. B.B., “The Coast Survey,” New York Times, 18 Nov. 1858.
175. Congressional Globe, 35th Congress, 2nd Sess., 1859, 28, 1473–74.
176. Congressional Globe, 36th Congress, 2nd Sess., 1861, 30, 300.
177. Congressional Record, 49 th Congress, 1st Sess., 1886, 17, 6300.
178. Congressional Globe, 30th Congress, 2nd Sess., 1849, Appendix, 18, 197.