THE MUSEUM'S RELATIONS TO THE 

 PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 



"The rise of the museum as a new force in town, city, 

 state and nation IS THE LATEST PHASE OF EDU- 

 CATIONAL EVOLUTION. The school, the college, 

 the university and the library have gone in advance; the 

 museum follows and is winning its own place and influence 

 because it supplies a demand which none of its sister institu- 

 tions fills. 



The very fact of this independent development is a 

 proof that the museum is not one of the luxuries of our 

 metropolis, but an essential and vital force in the enlighten- 

 ment of our people. Every community, small or large, 

 needs its museum as it needs its schools and its churches.- 



The old museum idea was that of a sanctuary or refuge, 

 a safe deposit vault for curious, rare or beautiful objects 

 which might be lost or destroyed; the child or the ignorant 

 visitor was tolerated rather than attracted, the curator was 

 a keeper, not a teacher. 



The new spirit within the natural history museum is 

 the educational spirit, and this is animated by what may be 

 called its ethical sense, its sense of public duty, its realiza- 

 tion that the general intelligence and welfare of the people 

 are the prime reasons for its existence, that exploration, re- 

 search, exhibition and publication should all contribute to 

 this, that to serve a community the museum must reach out 

 to all parts of nature and must master what nature has to 

 show and to teach. The museum will flourish if the high 

 educational service of the state is inscribed over its portal and 

 instilled in the mind of every member of the staff from the 

 highest to the lowest. 



The growing museum influence, which during the past 

 quarter century has been especially remarkable in certain 

 cities of Germany and Austria, throughout Great Britain and 

 above all in the United States, is largely due to what may be 



