32 



FIFTY YEARS OF MUSEUM WORK 



man of wealth can give cash, the man without money his presence, and 

 both are helpful and keenly appreciated. 



That I did not start out with a definite idea of following a "museum 

 career," of passing my life in a museum or in museum work is hardly to 

 be wondered at. For one thing, there were very few museums in my 

 younger days and little reason why one should think of a "museum 

 career" for the occupation of a lifetime. Fifty years ago the number of 

 museums in this country could almost have been counted on the fingers of 

 one hand and they were all attached to some scientific society, but the 

 idea of a popular museum, a museum for the people, was held by few. 

 Within the last half century, the greater number of museums in the 

 United States have come into existence and the general policy of mu- 

 seums changed. From being largely storehouses of material for the use 

 of a few men of science, they have become great institutions for the educa- 

 tion and "rational amusement" of the public at large; the exhibition of 

 specimens, instead of being, so to speak, a side branch of museum work, 

 has become one of the most important functions of a museum; in some 

 cases even, exhibition is the main function or object, research and publica- 

 tion being secondary considerations, and in the larger museums, the 

 greater part of the space is devoted to the exhibition of specimens for 

 the benefit of the public. Such great edifices as those that house the 

 collections of the U. S. National Museum, the American Museum of 

 Natural History and the Field Museum would not be needed were it not 

 for the carrying out of their work for the benefit of the public. 



Today the opportunities for a museum career are better than ever 

 and the inducements for a young man to enter upon museum work as a 

 profession, correspondingly attractive. Therefore, I frequently tell 

 applicants for positions, or young men about to enter upon their life's 

 work, that the pecuniary rewards, with few exceptions, are not great 

 but usually one has the pleasure of interesting work and congenial 

 associates. 



