Part IV. New Quarters, New 
Disappointments: 1903-1918 
In 1903 the Academy’s prospects looked good: it owned its own 
building; the membership appeared active and growing; and its revenues, 
totalling for the year over $12,000, seemed adequate. The members 
rejoiced in their good fortune and looked forward to improving their 
new headquarters, adding to the library and collections, and enhancing 
their organization’s finances. They also felt confident that in the new 
century “‘scientific results of merit’’ would be offered for publication 
in the Transactions in increasing number. Furthermore, the members 
believed that their meetings would continue to stimulate ever-growing 
public interest while at the same time maintaining the scholarly tradi- 
tions of the past.! 
he optimism of 1903 carried through to 1906 when the Academy 
celebrated its fiftieth birthday. The organization observed its semi- 
centennial with a lavish banquet at which members and delegates repre- 
senting other science societies gave speeches praising past accomplish- 
ments and expressing confidence in future successes. Among the distin- 
guished delegates present were William Lochhead, Entomological 
Society of Ontario; Oliver C. Farrington, Field Columbian Museum; 
E.A. Birge, Dean of the University of Wisconsin; T. C. Chamberlain, 
Academy of Science of Chicago; C.H. Pammel, Iowa Academy of 
Science; and W.J. McGee, representing both the Philosophical Socie- 
ty of Washington and the National Geographic Society. The highlight 
of the evening came when a medal, emblazoned on one side with the 
image of George Engelmann and with the Academy’s seal on the reverse, 
was given to all present under the auspices of Academy President Adolph 
Alt.? 
In 1909 the Academy’s condition appeared, in some ways, even 
healthier than it had been in 1906. For example, the membership in- 
creased 40 percent in 1909, placing it at its highest point (380) in the 
organization’s history. In addition, by 1909 the Academy controlled 
a substantial endowment and could boast of a surplus in its annual fund.* 
Nevertheless, clouds seemed to be gathering on the horizon. 
President William Trelease’s address for the year 1909 lacked the 
sanguinity of addresses for recent past years. He seemed most concerned 
with the Academy’s financial state, particularly with the incessant need 
to find large sums to pay for maintaining the Academy’s building on 
Olive Street. He reported that this constant drain on the Academy’s 
resources had strained the publication budget, causing the articles in 
the 1909 volume of the Transactions to be “‘neither long nor 
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