The broad scope of the educational work of the Museum 



is indicated by the action of the Trustees in making special 



provision for instruction to the blind. This work was begun in 



1909 and has been in the immediate charge of Mrs. Agnes 



Laidlaw Vaughan of the Museum's staff. During the first year 



_ , , the work for the blind was experimental and 



Provision , ,. T , n , n . 



more or less spasmodic. In 1910, however, its 



development and extension were made possible 



through the bequest of Phebe Anna Thorne, and gifts from her 



estate by her executors, Jonathan and Samuel Thorne. This 



generous endowment, known as the Jonathan Thorne Memorial 



Fund, provides a fixed income, which enables the Museum to 



send loan collections to schools in the vicinity of New York, to 



give illustrated lectures in the Museum to school children and 



to the adult blind, and to supply transportation for the blind 



and their guides to and from the Museum. 



This year the plans for thorough organization have matured. 

 A census of all the blind in and near New York City has been 

 prepared with the assistance of the New York Association for 

 the Blind and the New Jersey State Commission. A letter was 

 sent to each person on this list, enclosing a card to be filled out 

 and returned. The data relate to the occupation and hours of 

 work, whether the person is able to attend afternoon or evening 

 lectures, topics of especial interest and ability to secure guidance. 

 This file enables us to communicate directly with the blind 

 people, and to get an idea of the topics that will be useful to 

 them. 



Two evening lectures were given, the first by Rear Admiral 

 Peary on December 18. The audience passed from his lecture 

 to an examination of relief charts, of the sledge that reached the 

 North Pole, of fur clothing, Eskimo implements and arctic 

 animals, including the Peary caribou, the most northern of the 

 deer family. The second talk was given on February 20 by 

 Mr. Louis Agassiz Fuertes, on Our Birds arid Their Music. 

 A collection of the birds mentioned in the lecture was arranged 

 for examination by the visitors. 



The objects lent to the schools for the blind include the 

 regular school collections and ethnographical specimens selected 

 according to the request of the teachers. Indian or Eskimo 



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