Cromwell: Opening Address 117 



realty are: In this form of education, if I am not mistaken, Dr. 

 Hollick was a pioneer, and he was, I think, one of the original 

 founders of this association and is today one of its most active 

 and valuable members. And not only Dr. Hollick, who is a pro- 

 fessional educator, but you, Mr. President, as you have told us 

 with natural enthusiasm, and I, and all the men who have the 

 welfare and progress of our race at heart, realize the inestimable 

 boon of having collections like these of this association near at 

 hand and easy to consult. 



It seems to me that the gentlemen who composed the Associa- 

 tion of Arts and Sciences in its original form and under its 

 original title, deserve the gratitude of all Staten Island. They 

 pursued a steady course of research, they got together and pre- 

 served numerous specimens of all sorts, they produced papers 

 which must be accepted as part of the permanent educational 

 literature of the island, and they gave money as well as labor and 

 thought to the building up of what cannot fail to be one day a 

 distinctly important feature among the institutions of this great 

 city — a society which preserves for all time the complete natural 

 and scientific and art history of the most beautiful borough of the 

 city and destined to become a most important one commercially. 



The old members of this association, as the importance and 

 volume of their achievements increased, began an active propa- 

 ganda which enlisted the interest of Staten Islanders far and near, 

 and resulted, for one thing, in a largely increased membership. 

 This brought in money, in small annual dues for the most part, 

 and not much, but enough to help. After we had arranged quar- 

 ters for the Association in the borough hall, we were able to 

 obtain from the municipal authorities an appropriation for the 

 furnishing of this room. I may be pardoned for rehearsing these 

 facts, because they lead up to a subject which, as you know, is a 

 lively and pressing one in the minds of the gentlemen who form 

 the working nucleus of the association — namely, the possibility of 

 obtaining from the city an annual appropriation of subvention to 

 help support and advance the society and its work. 



