Joseph Henry
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Joseph Henry was an American scientist who served as the first secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. He was the secretary for the National Institute for the Promotion of Science, a precursor of the Smithsonian Institution. He also served as president of the National Academy of Sciences from 1868 to 1878.
Historical marker in Academy Park in Albany commemorating Henry's work with electricity
A portrait of Henry dated 1879
Henry's letter at the beginning of the 1876 annual report of Smithsonian Institution, showing the operations, expenditures, and condition of the institution that year
Samuel Morse
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Samuel Finley Breese Morse was an American inventor and painter. After having established his reputation as a portrait painter, in his middle age Morse contributed to the invention of a single-wire telegraph system based on European telegraphs. He was a co-developer of Morse code in 1837 and helped to develop the commercial use of telegraphy.
Birthplace of Morse, Charlestown, Massachusetts, c. 1898 photo
Self-portrait of Morse in 1812 (National Portrait Gallery)
Jonas Platt, New York politician, by Morse. Oil on canvas, 1828, Brooklyn Museum.