Page:The museum, (Jackson, Marget Talbot, 1917).djvu/270

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
240
THE MUSEUM

may not be directly connected with an art museum, but they are directly connected with the interests of the city, and what is more logical than that the museum should be the centre from which radiates civic improvement? We are living in a different age from that of our fathers, and it is only right that the museum should make use of the different agencies open to us in this generation.

In this connection, a rough table showing the percentage of art museum visitors to the popula-tion in seven cities may be of interest. The population is figured in all cases from the census of 1910, the attendance figures are in some cases for 1915, and in some cases for 1914, according to the data available.

Toledo, 68% St. Louis, 24%
Chicago, 40% Minneapolis, 19%
Boston, 32% Indianapolis, 15%
New York, 14%

It is interesting to note in this connection that Toledo does more advertising than any other of these museums, and the result is obvious. There is hardly a street urchin in the city who does not know and love the museum. Whatever the prejudices in favor of the dignity of a museum, all directors are trying to bring cultural influences into the lives of the people, and in order to do