G56 EEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1801. 



'■^An efficient educaUonal museum may he described as a colleeiion of 

 instructive labels, each illustrated by a irell-selected specimen.''''* 



Tlie same principle, with obviously necessary modiflcations, may be 

 said to be ap])lical)le in the administration of exhibitions. 



.4 live exhibition is one in Avhi<;h each group of objects is made intel- 

 ligible and instructive by the constant presence of a staff of experts 

 to explain the teachings <»f the objects on view, and by an effective sys- 

 tem of labels and explanatory placards. 



The exhibition of the future will be an exhibition of ideas rather than 

 of objects^ and nothivf/ will be deemed u-orthy (f admission to its halls 

 which has not some lirimjy inspiring thought behind it, and which is not 

 capable of teaching some raluable lessonA 



A leader in the educational work of Americai writes to me iu the fol- 

 lowing words: 



In tlit) liiwtoi'y of uo jiiitioii bt-forc lias there been siuli a thiist for knowledge on 

 the part of the great masses of the people, such a, high ap]ireeiation of its value, and 

 such ability and readiness to acquire and use it. No other peo})le get so much of 

 education from what they read and see. No other nation has so large a body of cit- 

 izens of high intelligence; never before has the jjublic T)een so willing, and indeed, 

 so anxious to receive with respect and use with intelligence the information which 

 the thought and experience of the age are furnishing; never before have that 

 thought and experience had so much to give. Let the Exposition be a disjday not 

 merely of material products, but of the teachings of science and experience as re- 

 gards their value, importance, aiul use. 



. The Exposition should he not merely a show, a fair, or a collossal shop, but also 

 and i)reeminently, an exposition of the i)rinciples which underlie our national and 

 individual welfare, of our material, intellectual, and moral status; of the elements 

 of our weakness and our strength, of the progress we have made, the plane on which 

 we live, and the ways in which we shall rise higher. It should be an exposition of 

 knowledge, illustrated by the material objects shown. It should teach not only to 

 our people, but to the world, what a young republic, with all the crudeness of youth, 

 but heir to the experience of the ages, has done in its brief past, is doing in the 

 present, and hopes to do in the greater future for its people ami for mankind. 



These are lofty i«leals, l)ut I believe that those of the principal pro- 

 moters of the Chicago Ex])osition, and of the members of the World's 

 Columbian Commission, are not less comprehensive. 



The occasion is an inspiring one, ami it nuiy well be that the world 

 will witness iu Chicago the greatest of international exhibitions. 

 Very respectfully, 



G. Brown Goode. 



* Smithsonian Report, 1S81, ]». 85. 



t The lal)or and thought required will be very great, and the exi)en8e will be not 

 inconsiderable. Not only the advice but the active cooperation of the best talent of 

 the country will be necessary. Services of this character will be reciuired, not only 

 in bringing the material together, but still more in its installation, .-md in the prepa- 

 ration of adequate labels, handbooks and catalogues. 



Should a system of salaried Jurymen, such as that recommended l)y Mr. Porter, 

 be adopted, some of these men will doubtless be jvble t<> rcmder professional aud 

 expert service of other kinds to the Exhibition, 



