ENDOWMENTS: ing a society-"Friends of the Library of Congress whose object shall be the enrichment of our collections by gift and bequest. The additional endowments have been two: From Mr. William Evarts Benjamin of New York City, $75,000 for a "chair of American history." From the Carnegie Corporation, $75,000 for a "chair of the fine arts." That is to say, gifts of the above sums (in the first case in securities, in the second case in cash) to the Library of Congress Trust Fund Board, as a fund, the income of which is to be payable to the chief of our division of manuscripts and the chief of our division of prints (fine arts), respectively, as an honorarium in addition to their salaries from the Government under the classification act.1 The idea of such "chairs" had been suggested in the brochure issued in 1926, descriptive of the Trust Fund Board and the whole system of endowment; and they had in effect been initiated by Mrs. Frederic Coolidge's endowment for the division of music. In connection with the announcement of these later endowments a fuller explanation of them was given to the press, which is quoted below (as Appendix IV of this report). As emphasized therein, the endowments are not a subsidy to the Government for the work of the Library-the ordinary administrative work—which it is the duty of the Government to provide for, but to enable the Library to secure for the three positions specialists competent to render to the public an additional service of a different species which the donor deems important for the general welfare in the field indicated-the interpretation of the collections, aid to the study of them and research in them, and promotion of a sound understanding and appreciation of the subject matter itself. The promptness of the action upon these two gifts exemplifies the efficiency of the procedure provided for under the trust fund act. The letters of gift, in their 1 In the case of the manuscripts the limit of the honorarium is $3,200 per annum, any surplus beyond that being applicable within the discretion of the librarian to material in American history or the service of it. final form, reached me on April 9 (1927). Within 10 days thereafter I was able to announce that the gifts had been accepted by the Trust Fund Board, the acceptance approved by the Joint Committee on the Library, and the securities constituting the first of them actually delivered to the Secretary of the Treasury. [The cash constituting the second was to be payable, and was paid over, on July 1, 1927.] John D. Rocke Two other gifts of very great moment indeed are in GIFTS: the promotion of projects—the first for the acquisition feller, jr. (in copies and facsimiles) of source material for American history, the second for the development of the bibliographic apparatus which forms the basis of our service as a bureau of information in the aid of research. They are from Mr. John D. Rockefeller, jr., whose interest in libraries and the service which they perform had already been evidenced by large contributions, among them of $3,000,000 to the New York Public Library; of $1,600,000 for the. rebuilding of the library of the University of Tokyo, destroyed by earthquake; and, more recently, of $2,000,000 to be used for building, equipping, and endowing a library for the League of Nations in Geneva. The gifts to us are in the form of an assurance that during the next five years we may draw upon him within each year up to a certain limit in the interest of each project. In the case of American history the limit is $50,000 for the first year and $100,000 during each of the succeeding four years. For the enlargement of the bibliographic apparatus the limit is $50,000 for each of the five years. The formal letter of assurance from his representative in such matters is dated May 25, 1927. The period was initiated September 1, and the operations involved are now under way. [As, however, they come within the present fiscal year and not the past one, they are beyond the scope of the present report.] Constituting, not an endowment, but sums of money available in installments for "immediate application," these gifts are not a concern of the Trust Fund Board, but under section 4 of the act are deposited with the Treasurer of 68025-27-2 GIFTS: John D. Rockefeller, jr. the United States, subject to disbursement by me for the purposes specified. The significance of the purposes will be especially apparent to those who will benefit by the results-in the case of American history, the historian and student of history; in the case of the "apparatus," the librarian, the bibliographer, and the research investigator. Mr. Rockefeller does not give merely upon impulse; and his decision for these gifts was reached only after an investigation by his experts extending over a year-an investigation which disclosed (1) that in the case of each project work had already been initiated here which sufficed as a demonstration, but also (2) that only by the application of resources more substantial than could be expected from the Public Treasury could this work expand into a dimension of large general utility. In each case, therefore, the contribution might effect results different not merely in degree but in kind from those in prospect through governmental resources alone. The original sources-in our manuscript division-for the study of American history surpass those in any other single collection. For years past we have been supplementing these by the acquisition of copies (transcript or facsimile) of originals in other libraries and archive. offices. But the amounts that could be assigned to the purpose, out of our appropriation for the general increase of the Library, were negligible in comparison with the huge mass of the material desirable. Mr. Wilbur's endowment is applicable; but of the income from it only a fraction is as yet available. The resources provided by Mr. Rockefeller will enable us so to expand the organization and equipment as to assure the presence here, at the end of five years, of a collection of substantive sources for American history such as has its parallel only in the collections at Ottawa for the history of Canada. The five years will, of course, not complete the work—the mass to be sought is too prodigious; but it should provide rich quarry for the immediate generation of historians. 1 1 Until recently the fraction was one-seventh ($1,000) of the annual income. In October (1927) Mr. Wilbur announced that beginning Jan. 1, 1928, it will be three-sevenths. |