AMNH RESEARCH LIBRARY DIGITAL SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, 42124 
32, Arnoldia 78/5-6 « October 2021 
the gentleman who caused it to be created.””*° It 
was a first step toward Jesup’s original ideal, still 
awaiting not only more species but examples of 
economic products and additional illustrations 
to fully represent the American forests. As far 
as Sargent’s objectives, there was also more to 
come, but scientific visitors had already found 
it as informative as it was popular. 
Worthily Housed 
In its first incarnation, the woods exhibit occu- 
pied the lower floor of the Museum, “in the 
space between the rows of side cases,” lead- 
ing to the observation on opening day that the 
space “is too contracted for this use, and the 
floor has a cluttered appearance which those 
who recall its original spaciousness and light 
will regret. Plainly the time has come when 
) is 
A large cross-section of a Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) appears among cases in the American Museum of Natural History’s 
Forestry Hall, shown in 1903. 
a new wing for the Museum is demanded, so 
that this collection, unique in its scientific and 
industrial importance, shall have the sweep of 
an entire floor.”*’ At the time, the logs shared 
the hall with the collection of mammals, whose 
curator was critical of the disruption to those 
displays.*® Sargent, naturally, weighed in, com- 
plaining that “nothing can be worse than the 
present mixture of mammals & woods.”*? 
While there were already long-term plans 
for additions to the museum’s building, Sar- 
gent proposed an alternative idea to Jesup: the 
museum should construct a separate one-story 
building for the purpose of housing the wood 
collection and associated forestry resources, 
including a library and herbarium, and call it 
the Jesup Building. He wrote to Jesup, “The 
whole thing could be put up in a couple of 
