Smithsonian Collection Opens Virtual Door On America's First Scientific Expedition

Access to Data from Pacific Voyages Fosters Research and Burnishes Smithsonian's Image

Challenge

The U.S. Exploring Expedition of the Pacific, led by Captain Charles Wilkes from 1838 to 1842, produced a veritable ocean of data. The leading scientists and artists of the day sailed on a mission to collect, preserve and document anything of value to natural historians throughout the Pacific Ocean. They logged volumes of notes and drawings, collecting nearly 2,400 anthropological artifacts and 50,000 plant specimens.

Crisscrossing the Pacific, Wilkes's expedition established that Antarctica is a continent, mapped South America's coast and the Columbia River basin, charted several Pacific Island groups and researched Hawaii volcanoes. The accuracy of the maps helped guide U.S. forces in the Pacific to victory during World War II.

Although the expedition has been largely forgotten, the volume of data was staggering – five volumes of narrative descriptions, 15 volumes of published scientific and anthropological documents, plus four additional volumes that had never been published. In all, the Smithsonian received 1,600 pieces in 1858. Now, the Smithsonian wanted to make these 160-year-old records of flora, fauna, geography and meteorology available to modern researchers through its Galaxy of Knowledge portal...