THE MUSEUM With each passing year, the Society continues to expand its already impressive museum collection. Each new acquisition adds to our knowledge of the nation's cultural, social, and political past and gives us a glimpse of a bygone time, of its rural and urban life, its grand buildings and humble dwellings, and its art and artifacts. We are justly proud of our excellent silver collection, and in 1978 it was enhanced by gifts representing the work of New York and Albany silversmiths. From Hugh P Brinton we received a set of coin-silver spoons made by Frederick Marquand in 1822 for the Van Wyck family. Mrs. Crawford Campbell gave us a spoon, ca. 1805, made by Robert Shepherd, which is engraved with the initials of Peter Douw Beekman and his wife Hannah Hilton. Through the generosity of Robert G. Goelet we received a tablespoon, ca. 1769, crafted by Abraham Gerritze Forbes; a sugar vase, ca. 1787, by Thomas Underhill and John Vernon; and a creamer, ca. 1797-98, by George Alexander and Peter Riker. From Townsend M. McAlpin we received a Tiffany loving cup presented by the officers of the Seventh Regiment of the New York National Guard to Major-General Edwin A. McAlpin on his twenty-fifth wedding anniversary in 1895. Robert and Sandra A. Trump, Quail Call, and Cathcart and Morris Roads gave us a patch box, ca. 1800, with an armorial device engraved by Isaac Hutton. Our decorative arts collection was further expanded in 1978 through a set of nineteenth-century Federal-style dining chairs presented by Mr. Benny Goodman. Misses Jane C. Meyer and Helen L. Meyer gave us an early nineteenth-century mirror; and, in memory of her mother, Iola S. Haverstick gave us a set of fifteen pieces of Chinese Export porcelain, ca. 1796-1810, from a service made for DeWitt and Mary Clinton. The Society's collection of American portraits has long been considered one of the finest in the country. Our holdings include the likenesses of many of the nation's prominent figures, from the earliest days of the republic to the present. Our collection is an indispensable historical resource for scholars, students, and the general public. [28]