Letter from Roger B. Taney to Joseph Henry

Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney writes Professor Joseph Henry, the first Smithsonian Secretary, to explain that he cannot meet with the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. As the Supreme Court Justices are meeting to decide cases, Taney explains that "every one of us must therefore be present." Taney notes that there might be an opportunity the following week "to leave the court" for a meeting at the Smithsonian. Transcript included.