3 I BUILDINGS AND BUDGETS 



IL 71 



A painting of benefactor Charles R. Crane, which 

 han^ in Lillie Auditorium. MBL Archives. 



'S^^r^ 



<r4«i||?'i 



During the building years of the 1920s, Crane wrote to Rockefeller to 

 express his pleasure at being involved and his satisfaction with the results, 

 emphasizing the important spirit of the place: "These scientists were strug- 

 gling and accomplishing marvelous things wdth most meager equipment, 

 making many sacrifices — It seems to me that the precious thing to preserve 

 was the spirit of the organization, a spirit everywhere recognized although 

 hard to seize or to imitate." His generosity and the great successes with 

 fund-raising helped to stimulate the General Education Board to add its 

 contribution, giving substantial funds to help the library purchase back 

 series of journals and to provide an endowment. They also gave another 

 $250,000 to support the dormitory and apartment house projects, which 

 provided the first MBL housing facilities with winter heating and with 

 housekeeping facilities for families. The 1920s proved an active time of 

 strengthening finances and resources at the MBL as in much of the rest of 

 the United States. Further financial relief came only well after World War II, 

 as building grants have allowed the MBL to expand physically and to gain 

 security. 



