A Hole in the Floor

Profile: Sublime Pack Rat

Baird enjoyed easy access to those with social and political influence; the Victorian precepts of the era, the attentions of a reigning matriarch -- his grandmother -- and the male distractions afforded by small-town America, including hunting and fishing, encouraged his inquisitiveness. He gathered the specimens that went into an extensive natural-history collection-his passion.

Enrolled in Dickinson College, in Carlisle, at age 13, the precocious Baird performed without distinction. He already knew what he wanted to be, and, at age 16, began a journal in which he detailed daily excursions - sometimes covering as much as 40 miles a day-and the skinning and preservation of his natural quarries. His meticulous observations included even the weight of his knapsack, but no personal reflections.

In an era in which there were few museums and no laws protecting wildlife, those interested in natural history often depended upon their own collections for study. Baird contacted noted collectors, and exchanged specimens with them. When he was 17 he wrote to John James Audubon, "I am but a boy and very inexperienced ". He went on to describe two species of flycatcher he could not identify, both of which proved to be new to science. This impressed Audubon and he began a collaboration with the enthusiastic young naturalist.

In 1840, Baird enrolled in medical school, because, as his brother pointed out, "There is no living in ornithology." The dissections interested him, but not enough to stay with medicine. He dropped out to pursue his real interests, and for four years continued his walks in the environs of Carlisle, collecting and teaching himself foreign languages so he could read natural history in French, German, Italian, and Danish.

He traveled to Philadelphia and Boston to meet other naturalists, among them the already famous, Swiss born Louis Agassiz. In Washington, Baird worked for geologist James Dwight Dana, helping identify crustacea from the Wilkes expedition.

Nearer to home, at Dickinson College, Baird was appointed professor of natural history and other science. At first unpaid, he was later given a salary sufficient to enable him to marry Mary Helen Churchill, who had an annuity of her own, in 1846, the year the Smithsonian was formally established. Baird was only 23. His enthusiasm and broad-ranging intelligence made him immensely popular with students, and also impressed adults. He soon received a letter from Dana, who had become a Regent of the Smithsonian, advising him to apply for the post of Assistant Secretary. Baird's application was seconded by Audubon, Agassiz, and George Perkins Marsh, another Regent.

Baird's natural-history collection, transported to Washington in boxcars, may not have pleased Joseph Henry, but the Secretary recognized Baird's dedication, ability, and connections. Baird's wife was the daughter of the Inspector General of the U.S. Army, a vital contributor to scientific research in the American West. With Henry's approval, Baird wrote a letter circulated among Army personnel requesting that specimens be sent to him as an agent of the Smithsonian. Through his father-in-law, he was able to send naturalists on Army exploring expeditions and to train a number of officers who had been assigned to the Smithsonian. By 1850, the Smithsonian possessed some 6,000 specimens from 26 Army expeditions and from naturalists working abroad. Shortly after becoming head of the National Museum, Baird described himself, in a rare bit of whims as "a rather lanky, angular specimen of humanity, with red beard, rough hair, crooked legs and the biggest feet in Washington, wearing a long white coat...."

A Hole in the Floor

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