Strangers – Highlighted

Ainsworth Rand Spofford, September 12, 1825 – August 11, 1908

Ainsworth Rand Spofford was a journalist, publisher, and the sixth Librarian of Congress. Spofford started his career as a bookseller and publisher in Cincinnati, Ohio. There, he helped to found the Literary Club of Cincinnati and began to comingle with influential literary, scholarly, and political figures of the day. In 1861, Spofford was sent to Washington, D.C. to report on the inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln, a trip which led to him being offered and accepting the position of Assistant Librarian of Congress. It was during his time as Assistant Librarian of Congress that Spofford visited the Athenaeum. Spofford gathered support from members of Congress and was appointed Librarian of Congress by President Lincoln on New Year's Eve, 1864. Spofford believed that as the national library, the Library of Congress should serve both American citizens and elected representatives. He is responsible for transferring the Smithsonian Institution's library collections to the Library of Congress, and further expanding the institution to become the largest library in the United States, both in its collection and its structure, as he pushed strongly for the construction of a new, world-class building to house the collections that was completed in 1897.

Portrait courtesy of the Library of Congress

John Shaw Billings, April 12, 1838 — March 11, 1913

John Shaw Billings was an American physician, healthcare administrator, and librarian. He studied medicine and worked at the Union Hospital in Georgetown at the outbreak of the Civil War before transferring to Satterlee General Hospital in West Philadelphia in 1862. Following the war, Billings oversaw and greatly expanded the Army Surgeon General's library, which eventually became the National Library of Medicine. In the 1870s and 1880s, he worked with Johns Hopkins University to design and construct the university's hospital, as well as design the Medical School's curriculum. The final chapter of Billing's professional life was spent as the first director of the New York Public Library, during which time he oversaw the construction of the flagship Main Branch building in Manhattan. The Record of Strangers indicates that Billings visited on this occasion with fellow physician and explorer Israel Isaac Hayes.

Portrait courtesy of Smithsonian Open Access — Source — Source — Source — Source

Charles Dexter Cleveland, December 3, 1802 — August 18, 1869

Charles Dexter Cleveland was an American educator and diplomat. He began his career in 1830 at Dickinson College, where he was a professor of Greek and Latin, later adding history and literature to his classes. He also served as the College's librarian. The Record of Strangers indicates that Cleveland visited the Athenaeum multiple times while at Dickinson. He resigned in 1832, taking a position at the University of New York before relocating to Philadelphia where he served as principal of a young ladies' school from 1834 until 1861. In 1861, Cleveland was appointed United States Consul at Cardiff, Wales by President Lincoln. Athenaeum records indicate that Cleveland became a shareholder in 1837 and gave up his share when he was appointed U.S. Consul, but purchased another share in 1865, which he held until his death. He was also a lifelong abolitionist and member of the American Philosophical Society.

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Alpheus Spring Packard, December 23, 1798 — July 13, 1884

Alpheus Spring Packard was an American educator and administrator. He studied at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine before later beginning a lifelong professional relationship with the school. He served first as a tutor, and then as professor of classical literature, where his students included Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Packard served at Bowdoin for his entire career, including as a librarian after decades of teaching, and as its acting president in the final two years of his life. He was also a member of the Maine Historical Society, and acted as its librarian.

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