A MEMORIAL TO 

 FRANK COLLINS BAKER 



(1867 to 1942) 



FRANK COLLINS BAKER became Curator of the Museum of 

 Natural History in the University of IlUnois on January 1, 

 1918. From that date onward until his death on May 7, 1942, 

 his chief interests centered around his work and his associations on 

 the L'rbana campus. Though he carried on extensive field studies 

 during these years, they were chiefly summer vacation employment, 

 and Urbana remained the focal point of his attention and activity. 

 His appointment as Curator of the L'niversity ]^Iuseum gave him 

 the opportunity to cooperate in the development of a museum de- 

 voted primarily to teaching. To this work he brought a broad back- 

 ground of professional experience in every aspect of museum work 

 and at the same time drew freely from his research experiences to 

 create on the L'rbana campus a series of collections and exhibits the 

 prime purpose of which was ever that of aiding in student instruc- 

 tion. As in all good teaching one of the first requisites is that of 

 enlisting responsive interest by attractive presentation of fact or 

 material, so likewise in his displays interest was always sought 

 though it was never purchased by cheapening spectacular showman- 

 ship. In his synoptic display of the animal series, the dry framework 

 of classification became clothed by artistic and balanced organization 

 of his materials. Groups represented only by fossil remains were 

 treated as integrated with modern expressions of life, not as isolated 

 representations of a dead past. 



For one whose career never placed him before classes for deliver- 

 ing formal instruction, he gave evidence of keen appreciation of the 

 museum as a supplement to laboratory and classroom teaching, and 

 at all times offered hearty cooperation to the teaching faculty in 

 creating habitat groups and other exhibits embodying both specific 

 detail and broad principle. Under his curatorship the Museum of 

 Natural History became utilized by diverse student groups. Biology, 

 geology, and geography students found the displays meaningful; 

 students in agriculture came to study the well-organized habitat 

 groups of pests of farm crops, and art students frequented the exhi- 

 bition halls for sketching. 



^Ir. Baker's concept of the functions of a museum combined not 

 alone the aspects of display and instruction but a third objective as 

 well, namely, that of research. Throughout his curatorship. he la- 

 bored to establish and organize research collections. Naturally, the 

 fields of his own interests were most emphasized and these included 

 such diverse interests as the ]\Iollusca. archeology, and paleontology. 



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