and others. After three years of existence, the conservatory petitioned the US congress for $200,000 to support the institution, saying that "... hundreds of candidates have had to be rejected from lack of room to accommodate them and of funds to increase the staff of Professors which would be required by their admittance. ... " The petition failed. Thurber changed strategy and then began lobbying for federal government support and funding of a national conservatory to be based in Washington DC. A bill "to incorporate the National Conservatory of Music of America" was passed in congress and signed into law by President Benjamin Harrison on March 3, 1891. It read (in part):"Said corporation is hereby empowered to found, establish, and maintain a national conservatory of music within the District of Columbia for the education of citizens of the United States and such other persons as the trustees may deem proper in all the branches of music. The said corporation shall have the power to grant and confer diplomas and degree of doctor of music or other honorary degrees"The next year, Dvořák began his three year post as director. In 1893, Virginia senator Eppa Hunton introduced Senate bill 1148 "To provide a building site for the National Conservatory of Music of America", but the bill failed and was indefinitely postponed. The school continued to function in New York City, existing solely from philanthropy. The school awarded substantial prizes to four composers after their works were judged at a March 30, 1893 concert at Madison Square Garden. In that year Dvořák and Thurber insisted that the Conservatory be "thrown open free of charge" to black students. "In the negro melodies of America I discover all that is needed for a great and noble school of music," Dvořák wrote. Decline By 1900, the school had educated about 3,000 students. After that date and after a rapidly changing series of directors, the National Conservatory of Music of America started to fade, not from a single catastrophic failure such as bankruptcy, but more through the declining energies of its driving force, Mrs. Thurber, herself. Additionally, there was increasing competition from other institutions in the area, including The Institute of Musical Art of the City of New York, which was founded in 1904 and became the Juilliard School of Music in 1924. There were also concerns from many private institutions that a federally funded national conservatory