0.4 Chapter two: the formative years, 1804-1920  (Page 8/8)

But the promise of public service would not soon be realized, at least not dur­ing the tenure of Robert Kelby. Despite some improvements, Kelby seemed to have little interest in having the Society play an active public service role. For example, although funds had been made available by the executive committee to hire two additional staff members at the library, there is no evidence that Kelby hired anyone. During the period between 1903 and 1912, the Society added more than sixty thousand volumes to its library and one hundred fifty paintings to its museum collections. Attempting to process this great influx of material was a staff of four: Kelby; his assistants, Alexander J. Wall and William Hildebrand; and the janitor, Charles Washbourn.

There are several reasons why the Society accomplished little in the way of public service under Robert Kelby. First, Kelby had been with the Society for more than forty years and was in declining health. Even when he was healthy, he did not encourage widespread use of the library. When asked by users if, like the New York Public Library, the Society library might open on Sundays, Kelby's cus­tomary response was "No, we go to Church on Sundays."

Kelby's lack of demonstrated interest in serving the public finally caught up with the Society in the latter part of his tenure. In January 1917, May Van Rens­selaer stood up at a Society meeting and declared that the Society was nothing more than an "old men's club" and that instead of being in the front rank of American historical societies and libraries, it was "dead and moribund." Though Van Rensselaer's motives were somewhat suspect,

The Society's leadership was shaken by the accusations and moved to control the damage. John Abeel Weekes, president of the Society, assured the press that "the most careful consideration is being given to Mrs. Van Rensselaer's sugges­tions for educational work and in making the collections more available for strangers."

The report of the special committee was completed in less than a month, and its recommendations were released to the membership in a circular dated Feb­ruary 5, 1917. The conclusions of the committee contained only one significant criticism: that the Society had not done an adequate job of publicizing its hold­ings, facilities, and activities to the membership, the press, and the public. Other than that failing, the report stated that the Society's officers were doing the best job that could be expected considering the Society's lack of funds. Brigham, of the American Antiquarian Society, stated that "if certain work has not been done ... it is because the officers have not been provided with the necessary means to fulfill these obligations."

Even though the report was generally uncritical of Society management, the publicity surrounding the Van Rensselaer incident did have an impact. In April 1917, the Society began publishing the Quarterly Bulletin (after 1946, it was called The New-York Historical Society Quarterly), its first effort to publicize its collections. In addition, the Society hired three new staff members by year-end. Most significant, the latter part of the decade saw the gradual handing over of leadership of the Society library to Alexander J. Wall, a man who would take a far more active role in presiding over the Society than his predecessors.