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LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN ' 507 F4-5 19G2-G8 CENTRAL CIRCULATION BOOKSTACKS The person charging this material is re- sponsible for its renewal or its return to the library from which it was borrowed on or before the Latest Date stamped below. You may be charged a minimum fee of $75.00 for eacii lost boolc. Theft, mutllatlen, and underlining of books are reasons for disciplinary action and may result In dismissal from the University. TO RENEW CALL TELEPHONE CENTER, 333-8400 UNIVERSITY OF ItllNOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN MAY 1 5 1995 When renewing by phMJc, write new due date below previous due date. LI 62 Field Museum of Natural History Report 1967-1968 Report 1967 - 1968 waeiHliMArv-aMiMW .»»«>r«j»>iTJat»«K- Field Museum of Natural History PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY FIELD MUSEUM PRESS The period 1967-1968 encompasses the 75th year of the history of Field Museum and the 75th Anniversary of its founding. Anni- versaries invite retrospection, indeed almost demand it. Retrospec- tion recalls the building of one of the world's great museimis in a relatively short period. Those who built did so energetically and well. Great scientific collections, a distinguished research record, exhibits of a scope and quality approached only by a handful of the natural history museums are not random achievements. Talent, dedication, money and a receptive community sometimes combine in a symbiotic relationship that produces greatness such as was built in Chicago. We of the 1960 's, whether staff, public, or the scientific world would do well to pause for a moment of appreciation and re- spect for those who have built and bequeathed Field Museum to us. But anniversaries, if they are suitably observed, and if they are to be anything other than a sterile exercise, also call for a look ahead. For Field Museum, one of the few private (non-public owned) great museums remaining in the world, the last quarter of its first century will largely determine its course for the second century. Institu- tions, like individuals, live their lives in cycles—cycles of growth, and consolidation, and again of growth. Today Field Museum is in a period of change and growth in its contributions to the lay com- munity and to the world of science. There are opportunities ahead. Whether we shall realize them rests on how the almost overwhelming problems that face any great private institution, be it university, hospital, library, orchestra, opera, or museum are solved now and in the next few years. Those who think about the position of the non- governmental, non-profit institution in our society today have found in them a unique vitality, worthy of preservation. Alan Pifer, the distinguished President of the Carnegie Corpor- ation of New York, recently spoke of the private, non-profit institu- tions: "They have the capacity to move swiftly, flexibly and imaginatively into a new area of critical need; the power to arrive at a disinterested, objective appraisal of a situation free of political influence; freedom to engage in controversial activities; the ability to experiment in an unfettered manner—and, if need be, fail; and finally the capacity for sympathetic personal attention to the variety of human problems that beset our increasingly dehumanized world." It is precisely the capacities that Mr. Pifer cites that Field Museum today is most energetically dedicated to strengthening. The Mu- seum is changing. It is trying new approaches to old problems. The Staff is hard at work reviewing such diverse matter as scientific policy, exhibition, the library, publication policies and procedures, education, personnel practices, and space planning and usage. Mis- takes will, no doubt, be made, but out of the whole process will come new flexibility and creativity. But with all the dynamics, the sweep of change, and the oppor- tunities available, hard cold financial reality is always before us. Finances are the problem that all administrators live with con- stantly, with a very real sense of time running out. Speaking further on the subject, Mr. Pifer said, "The real issue is beginning to emerge clearly. Is the non-governmental organization of the future to be simply an auxiliary to the state, a kind of willing but not very re- sourceful handmaiden? Or is it to be a strong independent adjunct that provides government with a type of capability it cannot provide for itself? If it is to be the latter, and for most Americans the ques- tion is one that is likely to admit of no other answer, then we must face up to the difficult problem of how we are to finance these organi- zations." In recent years, a good portion of the time of the Board of Trustees and administration of Field Museum has been dedicated to solving the vexing problem of operating finances. Since 1964, a broad new base of support has been built through the annual and consistent contributions of both individuals and corporations. Much has been accomplished-—much remains yet to be done. We are con- fident that financial support from the community will continue and grow. But the financing of institutions today has become more than a single-source matter. Government increasingly finds itself in partnership with private givers. In Chicago, government support for private museums has for 75 years flowed through a tax levy of the Chicago Park District. But a surprisingly small proportion of the Chicago museums' operating income is so derived^—far less than is enjoyed by the museums of almost any other city in the United States. It now seems time for Chicago to move progressively ahead in its tax support to more nearly match the support that has tradi- tionally, and today increasingly, come from the private sector. As noted above, individual and corporate giving to the Museum has increased markedly in recent years. Outstanding among the gifts of the two year period under review were those received from the following individuals-—Lester Armour, Joseph N. Field, Mrs. Anne Rickcords Gait, Henry P. Isham, John W. Leslie, H. Norris Love, William H. Mitchell, Mrs. Clarence C. Prentice, John A. & Zora Renn, Mrs. Clive Runnells, William L. Searle, John M. Simpson, Gerald A. Sivage, Hy Smoler, Herman Spertus, Joel Starrels, Mrs. David B. Stem, Jr., Mrs. David W. Stewart, Mr. & Mrs. William S. Street, Mr. & Mrs. Theodore Tieken, Mr. & Mrs. Chester Dudley Tripp, Mr. & Mrs. Philip K. Wrigley; corporations —Chicago Daily News, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune Company, Common- wealth Edison Company, Foote, Cone & Belding, Illinois Bell Tele- phone Company, International Harvester Company, Marshall Field & Co. Foundation, The Northern Trust Company, Peoples Gas Company, Sears, Roebuck and Company, Standard Oil Company (Indiana); and foundations and bequests—Chicago Community Trust: John G. & Frances C. Searle Fund and Maria A. Parks Memorial Fund, Estate of Clarissa Donnelley Haffner, William K. Fellows Trust, Field Foundation of Illinois, Inc., Illinois Arts Council, Racing for Charities, Inc., Stella M. Rowley Estate, The Service Club of Chicago, The Shinner Foundation, Ruth & Vernon Taylor Foundation, Wenner Gren Foundation, The Woods Charitable Fund, Inc. Critical and generous financial grants for the research and educational functions of the Museum were received from a number of federal agencies—the National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, National Institutes of Health, United States Army Med- ical Research and Development Command, National Foundation for the Humanities, and the Smithsonian Institution. A very gratifying increase in the number of Museum Members, from 11,500 to 15,300 occurred during the two year period. A full list of those who con- tributed in addition to membership funds during 1967-1968 is carried on pages 37 to 53. Any program of increased financial support such as that developed by Field Museum in recent years must result in large measure from the dedicated efforts of the head of the institution. Those who are familiar with the Museum know the great debt of gratitude that is owed Mr. James L. Palmer, who during the four years of his Presi- dency instituted, and in large measure personally developed, the fi- nancial support program that has meant so much to Field Museum. In late 1968 Mr. Palmer indicated his wish to retire from the Presi- dency. Accordingly the Board of Trustees at its annual meeting in January of 1969 elected Mr. Remick McDowell President, and with deep appreciation, elected Mr. Palmer an Honorary Trustee for life. Three new trustees were elected during 1968. Thomas E. Don- nelley II, Nicholas Galitzine and John Runnells. Two trustees, Joseph Nash Field and Louis Ware, resigned because of absence from Chicago and were elected Honorary Trustees in appreciation of their long service on the Board. Field Museum is strong and active. The pages that follow will testify to the diversity of its service to the community and the nation. It has the staff, the collections, the physical plant, and the vitality to use the last quarter of its first century well—if the necessary fi- nancial resources come to it. The answer rests with all those who care enough to invest in the future. — E. Leiand Webber Director Women's Board The Women's Board, founded in 1966, carried out an extremely active program during 1967-1968. The highlight was a dinner dance held in honor of the Museum's 75th Anniversary, at which four hundred guests dined and danced in Stanley Field Hall. Other major dinners were given as previews to the Tibetan Hall and the Masada exhibit. These events offer an opportunity for the steadily increasing number of Museum contributors to preview new ex- hibits that have been made possible in large measure by their gen- erosity and, simultaneously, to express the Museum's appreciation, through the hospitality of the Women's Board, for their help.

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