, 1876-11-25
TILE ATHEN EUM.
Annual Meeting Of the Members
and Contributors.
What 1t Has Accomplished DUR
Ing tho Five Yours Of Its
Existcnce.
Speeches by Q. @. Bonney, Henry
Strong, Dr.. Sullivan, and Others.

Strong, Dr.. Sullivan, and Others.
Last evening tho annual meeting Of tho con-
trlbutors and members OF tho Athcnmum was
held in tho 1ccturu room OF that Institution, No.
65 Washington street. About 900 ladies' and
gentlemen wcso present. Upon tho staEo wcro
seated Judge Booth, Aid. Throopt c. G. Bonncy,
Murry Nelson, and Horny Strong.
Judge Booth occupied the chn1s, and briefly
summarized tho flvo yearn' labors Of the Atllcn-
eum, which aro more elaborately alluded to In
the report Of the Doard Of Government, written
by the Superintendent, and given below. Judge
Booth said that tho At'lcnmum had, assorted Its
rightto exist by tho work 1t llas done. 1Ic pre-
dEctcd great SUCCESS fur tho institution In tho
future.
THs ANNUAL REPORT.
Bupt. 7. B. Fotbish then read the annual re-
port OF tho Board OF Government, which de-
tails tho history Of the Athonmuu, and says
that tho Chicago Young Mems Christian Uniot,
came into ox!stouec In 1871. Itspraug up among
tho disturbed financial md social conditions
which followed ths great Orc. 1tsobicets at the
Of relief, which was then 50 urgent. It formcd
q soctal centre for those whose homes haa bccn
destroyed, aud whose society relations Lad
been broken up. And It gave especial attention
W A14ll3 yQuuk ptCple i'll LAGg GltOrL4 10 ODtnaH
work, a1lueemcnt. Or ortmprovomctt. The Chris
t!an Union has slowly grown into the Chicago
AkhenNum. with tts large educational appliances
and iniinenee. Tho rsport gocs on to Jay that
t'neo lsl tho work TO be done haf changed.
ceased and 1t was Abandoned. As The broken
ranks Of society rcuuttel, the valuo OF the
Atlcnmum as u social centre grew less and now
H. ,,t ehisi Isason 70 be Is the work which ii is
Bat even this work ls changing. The eociai
part receives less attention, while the eduea-
ttonal Erows constantly in scope and in,por-
tanec. There Is less entertainment, but tlore
study. And BY devotins itself 10 n'entaI and
physical culture the AtllcMrum Ia lnying
foundation for wide aud permanent intiuchec.
A. Arst the educational work was very limited.
It consisted matnly, Of lectures by various
irregular classes. But tho detunnd for tuition
stoadliy Increased, aud. IN entlcavoring to sup
ply It, we have been led step by step to our
present extensive course Of study. No experl-
adeuanl, aud very few have fal1ol. When It
has made few ,nore improvements. tho Athc-
nrum tnay fairly take It's place among the great
educational institutions OF the city,.
The present course uf instruction Ia quite cx-
tcnsivc, there being some forty classce per wcrk
III different branches. Tho evening work con-
tinues to bo the most prominent and Important.
There are now in operation two large clnsscs in
arithmetic classes IN algebra, geometry, read
Ing, spelling, grammar, photography, buox-
keepilE, Latin, two classes IN clocuttul,, two in
Yoyal music, two in French, two In Gefman-
English, three In pcnmanship, three In drawing,
and four In Gvrnn,
Many Of tllcsc c,asscs arc full to ovcr!1owIng.
Almost every ono is tn satisfactory condition.
1t ts very difficult TO convey M accurate tlnprcs-
sion OF tho lntorcst and value OF tho night
work. It eau only be thoroughly appreciated
BY these who acc It In actual progress.
Soon after o'clock on busy nignta, the read
inK-roon begins to Allwith boys and girls who