58 DIRECTORY OF AMERICAN MUSEUMS 



lections are arranged in sets in wooden transportation boxes of varying 

 sizes. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. Organized in 1857, incorporated in 1859, 

 charter secured by the state legislature in 1865 . A small museum was 

 first started in a room on the corner of Clarke and Lake Streets. In 

 1864, more commodious quarters were secured in the Metropolitan 

 block. Two years later the exhibits were seriously damaged by fire, 

 and in 1868 a fireproof museum building was erected at 265 Wabash 

 Avenue. In 1871, the museum building, with its contents, was totally 

 consumed in the conflagration which destroyed the greater portion 

 of Chicago. It is estimated that not less than 300,000 specimens were 

 stored in the building, many of them being priceless in value. The 

 following notable collections were destroyed : The Bishoff and Western 

 Union Telegraph Expedition Alaskan material; the Smithsonian 

 collection of Crustacea, 10,000 jars containing types of Dana, Stimpson, 

 and others; the invertebrates of the United States North Pacific 

 Exploring Expedition, containing many undescribed types; the Stimp- 

 son collection of marine shells, numbering about 8000 specimens; and 

 the United States Coast Survey collection of deep sea Crustacea and 

 mollusks, dredged in the Gulf Stream by M. Pourtales, arid loaned for 

 description. In addition, the library, the manuscripts of Dr. Stimpson, 

 and almost the entire edition of the early transactions were destroyed. 

 A new set of buildings was promptly erected on the burned site, and 

 the lenders of the funds were secured by a mortgage on the property. 

 The financial depression following the year 1873 reduced the income of 

 the academy to such an extent that it was not able to meet its obliga- 

 tions, and in 1886 the property was transferred to the holder of the 

 mortgage. Until 1892 the collections were provided with exhibition 

 and storage rooms at the Inter-state Exposition, but when that building 

 was taken down the collections were placed in storage until the present 

 building was erected in Lincoln Park and opened to the public on 

 October 31, 1894. 



FINANCIAL SUPPORT. The museum possessed the following 

 sources of income in 1909: from endowment, $6000; city, $5000 (this 

 amount is paid annually and is fixed by mutual contract with the park 

 board); membership, $400; sale of publications, etc., $60. In addi- 

 tion to the annual income, amounts varying from a few dollars to $5000 

 have been donated at various times for specific purposes. The park 

 commissioners heat, light, and clean the building without expense to 

 the academy. 



