April 20, 1880

April 20, 1880 The Berlin International Fishery Exhibition opens.  After receiving $20,000 in appropriations from the United States Congress, Secretary Spencer F. Baird appoints Assistant Secretary George Brown Goode as commissioner in charge of the exhibition displays. Given the short time for preparation, most of the exhibition comes from components of the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, plus a display of improved apparatus for fish culture. Though scheduled to close on June 1, the popularity of the display keeps it open until July 1. The U.S. exhibit wins the grand prize for the best display, a large vase beautifully worked in silver and gold.

The photograph shows John H. Richard’s studio in the East Range of the Smithsonian Institution Building. Richard was a French-born scientific illustrator and is seen here, approximately a year before his death, painting casts for the Berlin International Fishery Exhibition.

Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Archives

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