﻿FOURTH 
  REPORT 
  OF 
  THE 
  DIRECTOR 
  I907 
  II3 
  

  

  value 
  of 
  such 
  demonstrative 
  collections 
  would 
  be 
  of 
  high 
  quality 
  

   and 
  an 
  essential 
  supplement 
  to 
  the 
  training 
  of 
  the 
  schools. 
  

  

  New 
  York 
  need 
  not, 
  because 
  of 
  its 
  relative 
  youth, 
  invite 
  the 
  diffi- 
  

   culties 
  which 
  have 
  confronted 
  other 
  countries 
  with 
  longer 
  histories, 
  

   in 
  the 
  formation 
  of 
  historical 
  museums. 
  The 
  making 
  of 
  such 
  col- 
  

   lections 
  has 
  always 
  been 
  too 
  long 
  deferred. 
  But 
  New 
  York 
  may 
  

   well 
  follow 
  the 
  example 
  and 
  hope 
  for 
  the 
  results 
  which 
  other 
  nations 
  

   have 
  achieved 
  in 
  this 
  direction, 
  for 
  in 
  all 
  the 
  countries 
  of 
  Europe 
  

   are 
  no 
  collections 
  of 
  whatever 
  character 
  of 
  so 
  general 
  interest 
  and 
  

   instructiveness 
  to 
  the 
  public 
  as 
  the 
  Historical 
  Museums 
  such 
  as 
  

   those 
  of 
  Amsterdam, 
  Hamburg, 
  Berlin, 
  Nuremberg, 
  Zurich 
  and 
  

   Basel. 
  

  

  Plan 
  for 
  a 
  State 
  historical 
  museum 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  a 
  vast 
  difference 
  between 
  a 
  miscellaneous 
  assortment 
  of 
  

   historical 
  objects, 
  each 
  out 
  of 
  its 
  proper 
  association 
  with 
  only 
  its 
  

   individual 
  story 
  to 
  tell 
  or 
  its 
  personal 
  associations 
  to 
  invite 
  atten- 
  

   tion, 
  and 
  an 
  historical 
  museum 
  scientifically 
  arranged 
  with 
  its 
  

   objects 
  all 
  brought 
  into 
  their 
  proper 
  historic 
  perspective. 
  There 
  

   are 
  thousands 
  of 
  valuable 
  historic 
  relics 
  in 
  local 
  collections 
  of 
  the 
  

   State, 
  which 
  must 
  by 
  the 
  very 
  nature 
  of 
  the 
  conditions 
  under 
  which 
  

   they 
  are 
  brought 
  together 
  be 
  left 
  to 
  tell 
  their 
  story 
  as 
  best 
  they 
  can 
  

   by 
  themselves. 
  There 
  is 
  but 
  one 
  method 
  however 
  in 
  which 
  such 
  

   objects 
  can 
  be 
  made 
  adequately 
  to 
  present 
  their 
  full 
  signficance 
  and 
  

   that 
  is 
  the 
  method 
  of 
  proper 
  association. 
  As 
  an 
  outline 
  of 
  what 
  

   a 
  State 
  historical 
  collection 
  might 
  be 
  the 
  following 
  suggestions 
  are 
  

   made. 
  

  

  In 
  general, 
  a 
  portrayal 
  of 
  the 
  successive 
  or 
  contemporaneous 
  

   cultures 
  in 
  this 
  State 
  by 
  a 
  reproduction 
  of 
  the 
  mode 
  of 
  life 
  and 
  

   dress 
  in 
  the 
  various 
  phases 
  of 
  our 
  civilization. 
  For 
  such 
  purposes 
  

   a 
  series 
  of 
  rooms 
  assigned 
  to 
  the 
  various 
  cultures 
  would 
  display 
  

  

  1 
  The 
  domestic 
  life 
  of 
  the 
  aborigines: 
  an 
  Indian 
  lodge 
  appro- 
  

   priately 
  equipped 
  with 
  the 
  daily 
  utensils 
  of 
  the 
  aborigines, 
  the 
  squaw 
  

   at 
  the 
  hand-mill 
  ; 
  the 
  potter 
  molding 
  clay 
  vessels 
  and 
  pipes, 
  the 
  

   brooch 
  maker 
  and 
  the 
  arrow 
  maker 
  with 
  their 
  equipments. 
  It 
  

   would 
  be 
  vastly 
  to 
  the 
  credit 
  of 
  a 
  State 
  like 
  New 
  York, 
  the 
  home 
  

   of 
  the 
  Iroquois 
  Confederacy, 
  the 
  earliest 
  and 
  mightiest 
  of 
  all 
  aborig- 
  

   inal 
  leagues, 
  the 
  seat 
  of 
  momentous 
  events 
  in 
  Indian 
  and 
  frontier 
  

   history, 
  the 
  founder 
  and 
  supporter 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  Museum 
  which 
  is 
  

   the 
  possessor 
  of 
  priceless 
  and 
  unexampled 
  collections 
  of 
  Iroquois 
  

   culture 
  relics 
  and 
  the 
  official 
  custodian 
  of 
  the 
  archives 
  of 
  the 
  Six 
  

   Nations, 
  to 
  go 
  still 
  further 
  into 
  the 
  realistic 
  portrayal 
  of 
  Indian 
  life 
  

  

  