1 8 Report of the President 



BUILDING AND EQUIPMENT 



There has been no provision for the extension of the build- 

 ing since 1905, excepting the excavation for the Southeast Wing 



_ ., ,. - and Court Building, whereas in the mean- 



Building and . _ , Ayr . , 



_ . time the I rustees and Members of the mstitu- 



Equipment . .. . _ , 



tion have expended $ 1,300,000 in the develop- 

 ment of the collections and $500,000 toward the maintenance 

 of the Museum. The exhibition halls are already overcrowded ; 

 surperb collections which have cost great sums of money are 

 now in storage cases, invisible to the public and difficult of 

 access even to students. The illumination of the exhibition 

 halls is so defective as to cause the constant and well-merited 

 complaint of visitors. At least one very large collection has 

 been offered to the Museum, the acceptance of which cannot 

 even be considered for want of space. The matter of building 

 and also of equipment, that is, the casing and exhibition of 

 collections, has now reached a very critical point. It must 

 soon appear whether this is to remain a Museum of the people, 

 built and maintained by the people in the spirit of the original 

 Contract of 1878 with the City, or whether it is to develop as 

 a Museum on private foundation chiefly. 



This year the municipal appropriation for maintenance falls 

 short to the extent of $95,000 of the amount required and the 



__ . entire income of the Museum from its Endow- 



Maintenance , . . r , , 



ment (with the exception of the restricted 



income from the Jesup Fund) and personal contributions of 



$46,000 from the Trustees have been necessary to maintain 



the Museum. 



It is not optional with the City to maintain the institution, 



but morally and legally obligatory, for the language in various 



chapters of the Laws of the State and the spirit and intention of 



the Contract are very definite, as the following citations show: 



Chapter 290 of the laws of 1871 authorizes the Board of Commissioners 

 of the Department of Public Parks " to construct, erect and maintain in * * * 

 Manhattan Square * * * a suitable fireproof building for the purpose of estab- 

 lishing and maintaining therein * * * a Museum of Natural History, by the 

 American Museum of Natural History, * * * " 



Chapter 351 of the laws of 1875 directs the Board of Commissioners of 

 the Department of Public Parks "to establish and equip the building now 

 erected * * * in Manhattan Square, under the provisions of section two, 

 chapter two hundred and ninety of the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy- 



