Public Education in the Museum and Schools 47 



PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE MUSEUM AND IN 

 THE SCHOOLS* 



George H. Sherwood, Curator 



The work of the Department of Public Education in co- 

 operation with the Public Schools and other educational institu- 

 tions, which has grown up during the past years, has been 

 carried on with energy and efficiency, as the statistics for the 

 year show. This work, no matter how important it may be, 

 does not attract the attention it deserves in a report, simply 

 because it is the same work that has been done for years. While 

 this may be a natural result of the spirit of progress today, it 

 seems only fair to enter here a plea for the correct estimate of 

 the value of the work of the past years, which is being continued 

 into the present. It is these regular activities, which have be- 

 come fixed habits, that give stability to any institution. The 

 very fact that any particular work is still done after many years 

 in a live organization is proof of its value — otherwise it would 

 have been sloughed off. 



Our regular activities in which we have been cooperating 

 with the Schools for years, — such as Lending of Circulating Col- 

 lections of Natural History Specimens, Lending of Lantern 

 Slides, Lectures for School Children, — have been carried on 

 throughout the year. The following comparative summary of 

 the statistics for 1920 and 1921 tells the story graphically : 



1920 1921 



Circulating Nature Study Collections: 



Number of Collections in Use 887 869 



Number of Schools Served 453 477 



Number of Pupils Studying Collections 914,634 1,247,515 



Lectures : 



Number of Lectures to School Children 116 162 



Attendance of Pupils 73,766 74,240 



Total Number of Lectures, including those to 



School Children 149 186 



Total Attendance at All Lectures 88,873 93,459 



Lending of Lantern Slides: 



Number of Schools Served 154 182 



Number of Loans to Schools 1,933 3,187 



Number of Slides Circulated in Schools 116,342 175,272 



Total Number of Slides lent, including the 



Public Schools 138,133 209,451 



* Under the Department of Public Education (see also pages 200 and 201). 



