Attendance 45 



REPORTS OF THE DIRECTOR AND OF THE 

 CURATORS 



REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR 

 Frederic A. Lucas 



In spite of the restrictions imposed by crowded halls and 

 store-rooms and the increased cost of everything, the 

 Director is able to report progress in the acquisition of 

 material, in research, publication, installation and attend- 

 ance, as well as important gains in membership. Some of 

 rhe progress has been in indirect lines, like a ship beating 

 to windward ; there have been shifts and makeshifts ; much 

 of the installation is temporary, and many changes will be 

 necessary when more room is available, but much that has 

 been done will be ready for exhibition when the time arrives. 



There is no better maxim for the Museum Curator than 

 that found in the words of Theodore Roosevelt, "Do what 

 you can, where you are, with what you have," and for the 

 past five years or so the Museum staff has been working 

 on that principle. 



Notwithstanding the shortening of the hours during 

 which the Museum was open to the public and the fact 

 that many of the halls have been closed half 

 the time, the attendance has been very good, 

 especially during the last half of the year. Part of the 

 attendance during the first part of the year was probably 

 due to the presence in and near New York of soldiers await- 

 ing their discharge and to their relatives and friends who 

 came to meet them. 



The number of visitors in the last six months is, the 

 Director feels, largely due to improvements in the exhibition 

 halls, which are better arranged and more fully labeled than 

 ever before, though unfortunately some halls are still in- 



