8o Staten Island Association of Arts and Sciences 



1905. Amendments to the law of 1905 were passed in 1910 and 191 1, which 

 enlarged the scope and opportunities of the Association. 



By the cooperation of the president of the borough, Hon. Geo. Crom- 

 well, we then secured from the city not only quarters in the Borough Hall 

 at that time deemed commodious for our library collection, but also an 

 annual allowance of $4,000. The growth of the institution, and the need 

 of the borough for the space we occupied in the Borough Hall were such 

 that it became necessary for the city, in 191 1, to appropriate a separate 

 building for our purposes. And that, as you all know, we are still oc- 

 cupying. 



But the passage of time has rendered those accommodations utterly 

 inadequate, and hence greater and better facilities had to be provided for 

 the activities of the organization. The Board of Trustees authorized ap- 

 peals to be made for subscriptions to a building fund to erect a structure 

 suitable for the institution for some time to come. The city has granted 

 us this land upon which we stand today. Citizens of Staten Island, headed 

 by one of, our trustees, Mr. William G. Willcox, who has made us the 

 munificent gift of $10,000, nearly one half the estimated cost of the build- 

 ing which we are now about to erect, have provided the means of securing 

 for us something like an adequate structure within which to carry on the 

 work of the Association. And so we are here today to lay this founda- 

 tion for a building which I hope will prove a blessing to the community 

 in which we live. 



The president introduced Hon. Wm. A. Prendergast, comptroller of the 

 City of New York, whose remarks were impromptu, indicative of the 

 strong feeling of appreciation he entertained for the gratuitous labor of 

 the president and trustees of the Association and of the important gifts of 

 the donors to the building fund. He said in substance that while museums 

 might be included by some as " fads and fancies " they were in his estima- 

 tion evidences of the highest civilization, and it was therefore gratifying 

 to be able to congratulate the citizens of Staten Island on the support they 

 had given to the Association, which he hoped would continue to prosper. 



The president introduced Hon. George Cromwell, State Senator, who 

 also spoke impromptu, so that only the substance of his remarks can be 

 reproduced. They were to the effect that he took great pleasure and 

 some pride in assisting at a ceremony in which he felt that his personal 

 efforts to secure for the St. George approach to Staten Island from the 

 bay, a group of imposing buildings had been in some degree contributory. 

 The Borough Hall, the new Courthouse, the Library, the Staten Island 

 Academy and the Curtis High School were monuments to the civic and 

 educational features of Staten Island life. These were now to be supple- 

 mented in a worthy manner by the new Public Museum of Arts and Sci- 

 ences. The genius of Senator Bayne and the generosity of the donors to 

 the building fund should ever be remembered in connection with this latest 

 exposition of Staten Island intellectual progress. 



