50 Report of the President 



expansion cannot be undertaken without a larger staff and 

 further appropriations. 



The teachers' program of routine work is so full that the 



opportunities the Museum offers are apt to be overlooked. 



During the past year, special efforts have been 



Cooperation made to show the teachers how they may use 

 with Teachers 



the Museum. The annual meeting of the Na- 

 tional Education Association was held in New York City, 

 July i to 8, 1 91 6, and the Department of Public Education 

 took an active part in the entertainment of this organization. 

 This was done in two ways: First, a Teachers' Handbook to 

 the Exhibitions and Collections in The American Museum of 

 Natural History was begun by the publication of Part I, which 

 treats of "The North American Indian Collections, Their Use 

 in Elementary English, History and Geography and in High 

 School History and Economics." This is a forty-eight-page 

 booklet written by Miss Ann E. Thomas of this department. 

 Secondly, a special exhibit in the foyer of the Museum was 

 prepared, illustrating all the phases of our extension work 

 with the Public Schools, the Public Libraries and the Blind. 



On account of the epidemic of poliomyelitis during the sum- 

 mer and autumn of 1916, it was decided not to open the public 

 schools on September 11, the date originally set, and, instead 

 of regular school work during the two weeks following this 

 date, there was conducted a Teachers' Institute, organized un- 

 der the direction of the Board of Education. Daily meetings 

 were held in centers scattered over Greater New York, and by 

 request the department took part in a number of these. In this 

 connection eight lectures were given, at which nearly 5,000 

 teachers were present. Besides these lectures, several confer- 

 ences were held with delegations of teachers who came to the 

 Museum to examine material available for class-room use. 

 The Teachers' Institute gave the department an excellent op- 

 portunity to come into closer contact with the teachers of the 

 public schools. 



Free docent service is offered by the department to teachers 

 and classes from private schools as well as from the public 



