Circulating Nature Study Collections 



II. SECOND PERIOD: 1904-1919 



A. Introduction of Circulating Nature Study Collections 

 — Circulating Loan Collections for Libraries — In- 

 auguration of Lectures for Pupils — Establish- 

 ment of Special Guide Service — Special 

 Provision for the Blind 



SUPPORTED BY CITY MAINTENANCE AND TRUSTEES' FUNDS 



The keynote of the first period of the Museum's educational 

 activities (1869-1904) was instruction for teachers; that of the 

 second period, instruction for pupils. During the first period, the 

 scope of the work included the schools of the entire State. In the 

 second, attention was focussed primarily on the schools: of New 

 York City. After 1904, the State withdrew its financial support, but 

 the City gradually increased its appropriation for maintenance. It 

 was proper, therefore, that the Museum should give its attention to 

 the needs of the City schools rather than to those of the State. 

 Moreover, the introduction of nature study into the curriculum, the 

 development of modern pedagogical methods, the growth of libraries, 

 the perfecting of projection apparatus which rendered illustrated 

 lectures more practicable, and the continued increase in the wealth 

 of the Museum's educational materials, all contributed to direct the 

 work into new fields. 



Nature study was introduced as a subject in the curriculum of 

 the New York public schools in 1902, and an elaborate Syllabus was 

 placed in the hands of the teachers. This 

 circulatlng Syllabus required the teacher to give instruction 



nature study in a great many subjects but made no provision 

 collections f or supplying the necessary material. The 



individual teacher was supposed to get her 

 material when and where she could. In their urgent need many 

 teachers appealed to the Museum for assistance. The Director of the 

 Museum realized that here was an opportunity for the Museum 

 to greatly extend its sphere of usefulness, and, following his recom- 

 mendation, the Trustees authorized the preparation of a series of 

 collections for use in the schools. These collections were prepared 

 with the object of placing in the hands of the teachers, so far as 

 practicable, the actual specimens referred to in the Syllabus of 

 Nature Study issued by the Board of Education. In many respects 

 the collections were similar to those deposited in the schools in 

 1884, but the new collections were sent out as loans, and not as 

 permanent deposits as was done with the first collections. This 



