R 



PRESIDENCY OF 

 ROBERT L. STUART 



1872-1881 



OBERT L. STUART was unanimously elected to succeed 

 Mr. Wolfe. His identification with the Museum had been 

 close from the start; he had been one of the first contributors 

 and his sympathies were thoroughly enlisted in its success. He was a 

 deeply interested observer of the beauties of nature, and his succes- 

 sion, influenced doubtless by considerations of his age and standing in 

 the community and his financial responsibilities, was natural. 



Trustees. The Board of Trustees at that time included two men of some 



scientific training, William A. Haines and D. Jackson Steward; the 

 former prominent as a collector, the latter skilful as a critic. A 

 few changes in the personnel of the Board occurred in 1872: five 

 of the Founders, Messrs. Blatchford, Grinnell, Dodge, Dana, and 

 Parish retired and to their places succeeded five Trustees who became 

 strong supporters of the Museum, namely, Messrs. Percy R. Pyne, 

 John B. Trevor, James M. Constable, William E. Dodge, 2d, and Joseph 

 W. Drexel. 



site. The plans of the new building, the purchase of new collections 



and the financial interests of the Museum principally engaged the at- 

 tention of the Trustees. Manhattan Square on the west side of the 

 Park, comprising eighteen acres of very rough land, quite inaccessible 

 from the lower part of the City, was assigned. It had been proposed 

 to make a Zoological Garden of this square, and extravagant plans 

 had been prepared. These plans, however, were pronounced immature 

 by the Park Department, and when the Museum proposition arose, 

 somewhat against the deliberate judgment of the Trustees, Manhattan 

 Square was chosen as its site. 



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