moi'i'ssDi! Ai.Hi.iiT s. uicKMoiu: L>;;i 



sliclU ill I he (I HI III i\ , Mr. I ). .I;i(ks(Hi Slew ard, w I lose collect ioii w ;is siiiiillcr 

 lull \cry clioicc, iiiid Mr. Ivolx'iM L. Sliiaii, who liad many rare books, a 

 ^•o()(l collection of .slicll.s and an excellent .series of ininera,loj;ic;il specimens, 

 with other |)iil)lic-si)iritcd men, ha.d striven in ISd") to raise funds for the 

 proper sn])])ort of the Kyceiim of Natural History of the (ity of New ^ oi'k 

 (now known us the New \ ork Academy of Sciences) und the erection of a 

 l)iiildiiii;' for the hoiisinu,' of its hiryc and \'aliial)Ie collections. The elfort 

 had lieeii iiiisnceessfiil, in s|)ite of the fa.et that fi>r neafly fifty yeafs the 

 Lyceiiiii had maintainetl in this city a na.tiiral history museum of much 

 merit and roiisiderahle reputa.tion. The following' year, IS(i(i, the l)iiildin<;- 

 of the 1 ni\t'rsity Medical ( Olle^'c in I'\)urteenth Sti("et, in which the 

 Lyceum collections were stored, was l)tu'ned and its contents destroyed. 

 The field therefore was clear for the estal)lishment of a new museum which 

 should ha\(> no comieetion with any e.xistinj;' society and slioiild he devoted 

 wholly to the promotion of natural history hy means of research and the 

 display of specimens. What was imperative was the advent of a man of 

 science possessinu' the ins])irati()n and eiierjiy re(|uire(l foi' hrin.ninti,- together 

 the men interested in the subject and organizing the whole i)roject. 



The op|)ortimity fell to .Vlhert S. Bickmore, who while on his journey 

 in the Mast had corresi)onded acti\'ely with Mr. William Iv Dodge, "_M., 

 with constant reference to the ultimate establishment of a natiu'al history 

 nuiseum, Mr. Dodge and Mr. Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. being ])articularly 

 interested in such a. ])roject. When Mr. Hickmore returne<l the war was 

 over; the North had entered on a period of great prosperity; men of affairs 

 had l)ecome used to the thought of large enterprises involving the expendi- 

 ture of great sums of money, and the yoinig naturalist himself was better 

 ('([iiipped than before for de\-elopiiig and pushing plans for a really great 

 museum. He had the boundless enthusiasm of youth and the buoyancy 

 of a wonderfully sanguine disi)osition. He was full of his subject and by 

 reason of his \ery enthusiasm New York's men of means were forced to 

 listen to the ])oor young man from Maine. In season and out of season 

 the iiiiiscuiii ])rojec1 was brought foiwafd, until in the autumn of iSliS were 

 held the first informal conferences at the residences of Mr. W . A. Haines, 

 Mr. Henjaiuiu H. Field and Mr. Robert Colgate, that led to the sending 

 of a letter' to the ( 'omniissioners of ('eiitral I'ai'k ofrci'iiig to procure a 

 certain rare and \"alual)le collection as the micleus of a museum of natural 

 history if the ( "ommissioners would provide for its reception and (le\-elo])- 

 ment. This offer was accepted ox'cr the signature of .\ndrew 11. (ire<'n, 



' Tlii.s letttT wa.s sij<ned by Mes.srs. .lames Brown, A. T. Stewart, B. 11. I'"ii'l(l. .\(lii:in 

 Iscliii. K. L. Stuart, M. O. Roberts, Theodore Hoo.sevelt. Cleorgo Bliss. M. K. .fesiip. W . I'. 

 BlodKCtt. J. D. Wolfe, Kobert ColKate, I. N. Phelps. L. P. Morton. W . .\. Haines. .1. P. 

 Morgan, A. G. P. Dodge, D. .1. Steward and Howard Potter. 



