Robber Barons and Humbuggers: The Rise of Philanthropic Museums in Nineteenth-Century New York
type: CreativeWork
description: New York City's most recognizable museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History came to prominence in the second half of the nineteenth century thanks to the support of wealthy benefactors. At the same time, social reformers, mostly Protestant and middle or upper-class, were combating the vice and poverty that they saw in the diversifying city with a moralizing rhetoric of character building. This paper will show that these two movements, the rise of Philanthropic Museums and the Social Reform movement were connected and that the large temple-like museums that thrive to this day were viewed as a way to improve the moral character of the poor by imposing the standards of the wealthy.
abstract: New York City's most recognizable museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History came to prominence in the second half of the nineteenth century thanks to the support of wealthy benefactors. At the same time, social reformers, mostly Protestant and middle or upper-class, were combating the vice and poverty that they saw in the diversifying city with a moralizing rhetoric of character building. This paper will show that these two movements, the rise of Philanthropic Museums and the Social Reform movement were connected and that the large temple-like museums that thrive to this day were viewed as a way to improve the moral character of the poor by imposing the standards of the wealthy.
author: O'Connor, Meaghan
keywords: P.T. Barnum, Reform, Dime Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, American Museum of Natural History, New York Historical Society, philanthropy, American Art and Architecture, American Material Culture, Inequality and Stratification, Other Arts and Humanities, Social History, Social Work, United States History
date published: 2014-08-19T07:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T04:32:52Z
provider: Seton Hall University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Seton Hall University