HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM 
the museum project found a strong friend and energetic supporter. 
Through Mr. Roosevelt and through Messrs. William A. Haines, 
Benjamin H. Field, and Robert Colgate, a remarkable group of men 
was brought together which ultimately resulted in the establishment 
of the first Board of Trustees. Mr. William A. Haines was both a 
merchant and a student; he had brought together a large collection of 
shells; he had in conversation and in correspondence emphasized his 
hope of seeing a museum of natural history erected in New York, and 
his talent as an organizer led to his taking a prominent part in the 
movement and being elected chairman of the Executive Committee. 
The Founders, or original Board, included the following: 
The steps in the organization of the Museum were as follows : The 
first letter to the Commissioners of Central Park, dated December 
30, 1868, with nineteen signers, received favorable response from 
Mr. Andrew H. Green, as Comptroller of Central Park, dated January 
13, 1869. The signers of the letter then took immediate steps to raise 
a fund for the purchase of important collections which were then offered 
for sale. 
The Special Committee appointed to perfect the organization con- 
sisted of 
John David Wolfe, 
Robert L. Stuart, 
Robert Colgate, 
William T. Blodgett, 
Andrew H. Green, 
Morris K. Jesup, 
D. Jackson Steward, 
J. Pierpont Morgan, 
Moses H. Grinnell, 
A. G. Phelps Dodge, 
Charles A. Dana, 
Joseph H. Choate, 
Henry Parish, 
Benjamin H. Field, 
Richard M. Blatchford, 
Adrian Iselin, 
Benjamin B. Sherman, 
William A. Haines, 
Theodore Roosevelt, 
Henry G. Stebbins, 
Howard Potter. 
William A. Haines, 
Howard Potter, 
