The Brooklyn Museum Annual 1968-1969 [antikvár]

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL July 1, 1969 The Honorable John V. Lindsay Mayor of the City of New York Dear Mr. Mayor: It is an honor and a pleasure to submit herewith the Sixty-fourth Annual Report of The Brooklyn Museum, a Department of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. Since this will be my last report as Chairman of this institution, it is especially gratifying to me to be able to transmit a document which marks such an unusual as well as such a productive year in the history of one of the nation's seven most important establishments of its kind. The threatened closing of the Museum and its rescue from potential disaster, with your understanding assistance and that of others in your administration, is well summarized in the report of our Director, Thomas S. Buechner. Among the important activities which made 1968—1969 so unusual and so productive, I should like to cite the following: We have accepted the challenge of a changing community. The Community Gallery, installed last summer, has indeed focused attention on the creativity of our neighbors. A committee of representatives of the black community has been formed and is functioning. Generous gifts, both monetary and for the Museum's collections, have enabled us to continue to make a contribution to the cultural enrichment of the area and the larger art world. We are particularly grateful to the Hagop Kevorkian Foundation, which has made it possible for the Museum to establish its first new curatorial department in nearly fifty years. It will contain the Ancient and Islamic Middle East collections. Aided by able and dedicated staff, all of the Museum's departments have developed new and imaginative programs.