BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES 113 



and public holidays; on other days an entrance fee of 25 cents is 

 charged. In 1908 there were 18,849 P aid admissions and 218,025 

 free admissions. 



OLD SOUTH ASSOCIATION. Old South Meeting House. 



STAFF. Custodian, Mrs. S. C. Libby. 



COLLECTIONS. The Warren collection of relics relating to Dr. 

 Warren and Bunker Hill, lent by Dr. Warren's family; a considerable 

 number of relics of Washington of the highest importance and authen- 

 ticity, lent by the Augustus Hemenway trustees; a substantially 

 complete set of furniture and articles of domestic use of the colonial 

 period; and a large and varied collection of other objects of historical 

 interest. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. The Old South Association was incorporated 

 in 1876 for the permanent preservation of the historic building from 

 which it derives its name. The present collection was formed at 

 the time by a committee of ladies from various sources and the 

 admission fees were a portion of the resources from which the Old 

 South was saved and thereafter kept open. 



FINANCIAL SUPPORT. By admission fees, supplemented by other 

 revenues of the corporation. 



BUILDING. The site of the Old South Meeting House has bee*n 

 continuously occupied by a church building for a longer time than 

 any other ground in Boston. The present building was erected in 

 1729. After a long and intimate association with local historical 

 events it was sold in 1876 that the lot might be used for business 

 purposes. The Old South Association, organizetUit this time, rescued 

 it from destruction by purchasing the lot and building at a cost of 

 $400,000. The building occupies about 10,000 square feet of land. 



SCOPE. The primary purpose of the association is the preserva- 

 tion of the Old South Meeting House; the maintenance of the museum 

 is incidental to this. Under the name of "Directors of the Old South 

 Work," with the assistance of a trust fund from the estate of the 

 late Mary Hemenway, the corporation carries on a considerable 

 educational work in early American history, including summer lec- 

 tures for school children and the publications described below. 



PUBLICATIONS. A series of reprints of important original papers, 

 accompanied by useful historical and bibliographical notes, is issued 

 under the title Old South Leaflets, with the object of interesting 

 young people in American history and politics. Of these leaflets, 

 202 have been published up to June, 1910, consisting of about 16 



