is 
Part V. 1918-1941: Years Of 
Retrenchment, Reorganization And 
Revitalization 
The years between the world wars were critical ones for the 
Academy. The members who remained active from 1918 until 1929 
struggled to keep their organization afloat. Ironically, the Great Depres- 
sion ushered in a period of reorganization and revitalization that car- 
ried through those lean years up to the beginning of World War II. 
The Roaring Twenties, that decade of impetuous abandon for most 
of America, was a period of conservative retrenchment for the 
Academy—a time to cut down on expenses and activities. After the 
Academy decided to vacate the building on Olive Street, it acted swift- 
ly to reduce expenditures by having the Engineers’ Club, which wanted 
to stay, assume the costs of janitor service, heat, lighting, and other 
building maintenance expenses. 
n another economy measure, the Academy made arrangements 
with the St. Louis Library to house its books and periodicals. It also 
made provisions to store its museum collections with the Washington 
University Department of Geology, the School of Medicine of 
Washington University, and the Missouri Historical Society. 
When the Engineers’ Club moved out of the Olive Street building 
after a few years, the Academy gave a lease to the Theosophical Socie- 
, which took over the maintenance costs of the structure and paid a 
rental of $500. This arrangement was terminated in 1928, and other 
tenants took over the next year. 
The Academy had intended to sell the Olive Street building. 
However in 1925, after consulting with several real estate brokers, it 
decided to keep the property since it seemed likely that the value of 
the land, if not the building, would escalate. ! 
After the Academy put its policy of economy into effect in 1918, 
the organization’s financial situation began gradually to stabilize. By 
1922, the association’s fiscal State had improved to the point where it 
could reduce the annual dues from Six to three dollars in the hope of 
attracting new members. Few new members joined, though, and the 
Academy’s activities remained curtailed. 
The Academy’s regular meetings were eliminated after Worid 
War I. George T. Moore, Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 
who served as Academy President from 1918 until 1928, explained why 
the meetings were suspended. He wrote: 
Conditions in the scientific world have changed rapidly and the increase 
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