G2 | THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 
they continued to be kept, until in 1877 the first new building in the center 
of Manhattan Square was completed. 
‘Those earhest days were full of struggle and full of hope, sometimes 
even against hope itself; and despair sometimes stalked among us as threaten- 
ing and terrible as if the carnivorous dinosaur had come to life again and 
showed his terrible teeth; but the fidelity of the president and the never- 
failing generosity of the more wealthy among the trustees kept the tottering 
infant alive. Year after year they put their hands in their pockets to make 
up the inevitable annual deficit, that ever recurring terror and inspiration of 
all philanthropic institutions. And the boundless enthusiasm of such true 
lovers of nature and of nature’s handiwork as William A. Haines and D. 
Jackson Steward, constantly breathed new life and spirit into our ambitious 
purpose to make it a true museum of natural history worthy of the name 
and of New York. 
From the outset we met with the usual fate of all, whether individuals or 
corporations, who become known as collectors. Miscellaneous collections 
of every description crowded in upon us much faster than our narrow 
quarters and limited means could possibly provide for them. Nobody can 
testify from personal experience more truly than Mr. Morgan of the unhappy 
predicament of a recognized collector. He does not have to seek collections, 
but collections seek him from all quarters of the world with voracious appe- 
tites and open maw, and would bury even him out of sight, if he had not 
learned to say No. So it was with our young museum, which would have 
been bankrupt from the start, if it had not denied itself many tempting 
offers and learned to say No. 
Our first object was to attract public attention and gain public confidence 
by a well-ordered exhibition of our most attractive collections, while the rest 
were stored away to await future developments. The trustees and their 
friends raised forty-four thousand dollars the first year, less than one-tenth 
of what some of the individual trustees have since given, and five thousand 
visitors rewarded their efforts as against the million who now throng these 
spacious halls. 
The brief administration of our first president did lay the foundations 
of the superstructure that was soon to rise. ‘The prestige given to the new 
enterprise by his high character and his unbounded generosity, followed 
by that of bis daughter, Miss Catherine L. Wolfe, must ever be held in 
grateful remembrance. 
Then came the awful panic of 1873, which threatened to swallow us up 
as if the earth had opened beneath us. Our hearts melted and our spirits 
gave way;— but even that calamity was tided over by renewed efforts and 
redoubled gifts of the richer trustees, by means of which the institution not 
only held its own, but made steady progress. 
