ORIGIN OF THE MUSEUM 



This Committee nominated the Trustees of the new Museum. Mr. 

 John D. Wolfe was elected Chairman, and Mr. Howard Potter, Treasurer 

 pro tern. The next meeting of the Trustees was held at the residence 

 of Mr. Haines, and Theodore Roosevelt was made Secretary. A plan 

 for subscriptions was then considered and this eventful meeting, the 

 results of which actually installed the first great museum devoted to 

 natural science in New York City, adjourned. 



The conception of the Museum, its original purposes and its future 

 may be gathered from passages in the First Annual Report of President 

 Wolfe: "That, recognizing the necessity of such a Museum as a means 

 of education and recreation, and desiring its establishment upon a 

 scale commensurate with the wealth and importance of our great 

 city ... we have, if properly supported and aided with funds by 

 our fellow citizens, a guarantee of a prosperous future in the formation 

 of a Museum of Natural History that will be second to none, and which, 

 while affording amusement and instruction to the public, will be the 

 means of teaching our youth to appreciate the wonderful works of the 

 Creator." 



The original officers were the following : 



President 

 John David Wolfe 



Vice-Presidents 

 Robert L. Stuart William A. Haines 



Secretary 

 A. G. Phelps Dodge 



Treasurer 

 Howard Potter 



Chairman of the Executive Committee 

 William A. Haines 



The original letter of application was sent to the Commissioners of 

 Central Park on December 30, 1868. The commissioners accepted 

 on January 13, 1869, the responsibility of "the establishment of a 



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