PRESIDENCY OF 
ROBERT L. STUART 
1872-1881 
ROBERT 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 skillful 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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