HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM 



Museum of Natural History, costing ere its final completion, 

 not less than $6,000,000, and embracing a collection of objects 

 of scientific interest second to none other in the world. . . . 

 What nobler exhibitions could be given of the crowning 

 achievements of this municipality than those which this 

 Museum and its sister institution, the Art Gallery, will 

 afford!" 



Equipment. 



Study 

 Collections. 



From June 2, 1874, to December 22, 1877, was occupied in the 

 building and equipping of this section, the City having appropriated 

 $200,000 for the purpose. The new building was opened to the pub- 

 lic on December 22, 1877, and at this time a contract of great 

 importance was concluded between the Trustees of the Museum and 

 the Department of Parks. This contract, or it might be called 

 Charter of the institution, was drawn by Messrs. Andrew H. Green 

 and Joseph H. Choate. It was entitled "Contract with the Depart- 

 ment of Public Parks for the Occupation of the New Building." It 

 recited the previous correspondence and legislation relating to the 

 respective rights and obligations of the Museum and of the City, and 

 embodied all the previous provisions in a new and comprehensive 

 document. It was adopted by the Park Commissioners January 30, 

 1878. 



The Museum's collections had now greatly increased in all depart- 

 ments of natural history. A generous donation by Miss Catherine 

 L. Wolfe, in memoty of her father, had established the Library, 

 in March, 1874. 



The building up of the study collections, as distinguished from 

 the exhibition collections, had begun in 1873, and from this time on 

 the Museum as a center of study and research became increasingly 

 prominent. The great collection of fossils of the State of New York, 

 brought together b}^ Professor James Hall, was acquired. It had been 

 said by Louis Agassiz that "whoever gets Hall's collection gets the 

 Geological Collection of America." The Trustees acquired it for 

 $65,000, a sum which put a severe strain upon the finances of the 

 Museum for several years. 



[28] 



