Thomas William Smillie (April 15, 1843 – March 7, 1917) was a British-American photographer and archivist.

[1] Smillie was born in Edinburgh, but moved to the United States with his family at age five.

[3] In 1890, Louisa Bernie Gallaher was transferred to his photographic department after Smillie had noticed her photography skills.

After assuming his curatorial duties, he decided that, "an effort will be made hereafter, especially in connection with the future expositions of amateur photography, to secure such works as are necessary to make the collection in the National Museum a reference and record collection, which shall not only be a matter of interest and pleasure to the public, but of practical value to the photographers themselves.

"[3] His initial purchases for the Section of Photography included a camera and equipment owned by Samuel Morse.