LECTURE PROGRAMS FOR ADULTS 



During the year the Museum presented its 107th and 108th Free 

 Lecture Series in James Simpson Theatre of the Museum. These 

 lectures were booked, as usual, on Saturday afternoons in March, 

 April, October, and November under the auspices of the Edward E. 

 Ayer Lecture Foundation. Attendance increased by about 900, total 

 attendance being 16,557, an average of 920 at each lecture. 



MEMBERSHIP 



At the close of the year the total number of Members of the Museum 

 was 5,503, this being a net gain of 81 for the year. Membership rolls 

 are listed at the end of this Report according to the various member- 

 ship classifications. Totals by categories are as follows: lAJe — 124; 

 N on-Resident Life — 26; Associate — 2,140; Non-Resident Associate — 

 18; Sustaining — 50; Annual — 3,056; Benefactor, Honorary, Patron, 

 Corporate, and Corresponding (Members in these classes who are not 

 Members in any other class) — 23; Contributor (Members in this class 

 who are not Members in any other class) — 66 (Contributors elected 

 during the year are listed on page 30) . The Museum desires to record 

 its sincere appreciation to its Members who, throughout the years, 

 have built up substantially the endowments of the Museum and have 

 contributed generously to its operating funds. 



TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS 



At the January meeting of the Board of Trustees, Stanley Field was 

 re-elected president of the Museum to serve his forty-ninth con- 

 secutive term in that office. Hughston M. McBain was elected first 

 vice-president succeeding the late Marshall Field, whose death in 

 November, 1956, was recorded last year (Annual Report 1956, pages 

 23-24 and frontispiece). Walther Buchen was elected second vice- 

 president succeeding Mr. McBain. All other officers were re-elected. 

 At the September meeting of the Board, George A. Richardson sub- 

 mitted his resignation as a Trustee because his residence in California 

 makes it impossible for him to render to the Museum the service that 

 he considers adequate. He had been a member of the Board since 

 January, 1930, and had served as member or as chairman of the 

 Auditing Committee during most of his tenure. In accepting his 

 resignation the members of the Board expressed their gratitude for 

 his long and faithful service to the Museum. 



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