The American Museum Journal 



Volume XH' 



OCTOBER-NOVEMBER, 1914 



Numbers 6-7 



THE MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 



THE MORRIS K. JESUP ENDOWMENT FUND OF FIVE MILLION DOLLARS, A 

 RECENT BEQUEST OF MRS. JESUP, RESTRICTED TO EDUCATIONAL AND 

 SCIENTIFIC WORK.— MAINTENANCE AND BUILDING OF THE INSTITUTION 

 STILL IN THE HANDS OF THE CITIZENS OF NEW YORK CITY ACCORDING TO 

 THE ORIGINAL PURPOSE OF FOUNDATION 



By Henry Fairfield Osborn 



THE Morris K. Jesup Endowment 

 Fund, which comes to the Mu- 

 seum through the bequest of 

 Mrs. Jesup, marks another turning point 

 in the history of the institution, and 

 places the educational and scientific work 

 on a firm foundation for all future time. 

 In amount this is the largest gift which 

 has ever been made to scientific educa- 

 tion in the great City of New York, and if 

 administered, as it will be, in an intelli- 

 gent and patriotic spirit, it wall doubtless 

 exert a lasting influence upon the people 

 not onl}' of this municipality, but also of 

 the entire country and even upon the 

 peoples of all other countries. 



The American Museum has long 

 ceased to be a civic institution and like its 

 noble sister, the National Museum of 

 Washington, has outgrown the bounds 

 even of a national institution through 

 close cooperation and cordial relations 

 wdth similar organizations in all parts of 

 the world. The Jesup Fund will streng- 

 then and extend this spirit of enlighten- 

 ment around the globe. Recalling the 

 broad purpose of Mr. Jesup's adminis- 

 tration, we wish it were possible for him 

 to \vitness the results which "v\all flow 

 from his benefaction. 



This endowment has been welcomed 

 by our own Museum and by all other 



institutions of the country because of the 

 example and the standard set to public- 

 spirited citizens in other municipalities. 



A very wise restriction which sur- 

 rounded Mr. Jesup's original bequest 

 and which also obtains in this, is that 

 no part of the interest shall he used for 

 maintenance or for building. Mr. Jesup 

 intended that the responsibility for the 

 upkeep and construction of the Museum 

 should rest upon the people of the City 

 of New York, according to the original 

 purpose of its foundation. He desired 

 it alwaj's to remain a public institution — 

 one which the people of our great muni- 

 cipality can feel is in part their own, be- 

 cause they build and maintain it. 



This, we believe, is an expression of the 

 finest civic judgment. Indeed, the men 

 who become known as great citizens 

 through their personality or through 

 their generosity, should not assume the 

 duties and responsibilities of all citizen- 

 ship. This is not the true American 

 spirit and it is not the spirit which ani- 

 mates an institution rightly known as 

 "American." 



It is necessary to lay emphasis upon 

 this important feature of our charter at 

 the present time. We believe that the 

 people of the City of New York have 

 learned to love the Museum and to feel 



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