0.5 Chapter three: professionalization and postwar expansion, 192  (Page 5/13)

The story of Alexander Wall's tenure and its successes would not be complete without mention of George Zabriskie, who served as treasurer of the Society (1929-1939) and then president of its Board of Trustees (1939-1946). As treasurer from 1929 to 1939, Zabriskie oversaw a period of enormous highs and lows in the Society's finances. During his tenure, he managed to hold the Society's real estate investments together during the Great Depression and then prudently invested the Thompson bequest. As noted earlier, the Thompson bequest was used both to pay for the construction of the new building and to establish the Society's endowment.

During Zabriskie's tenure as board president, the Society accomplished a great deal in a short period of time. Within approximately two years, the build­ing was finished and renovated; the by-laws were changed, establishing a self-perpetuating board of trustees; and a distinct museum department was es­tablished. In addition, the Society's endowment, which had grown to $4.3 mil­lion, comfortably supported its operating budget. By 1943, investment income had grown to $201,000, an amount far in excess of the Society's total operating expenditures of $168,000.

The closeness of Zabriskie and Wall's working relationship was evident when, after the Society closed for construction in 1937, the two men embarked on a European trip (at Zabriskie's expense) to research the best uses of natural lighting in gallery spaces. They visited fifty European museums and returned with many ideas that were implemented in the new building. When the building's new sky­lights were installed, they were considered the best in the country, and museum executives frequently came to the Society to study them.

On April 15, 1944, Alexander Wall died at the age of fifty-nine. The progress made at the Society during his tenure, particularly after the Thompson bequest, had established the Society as a leader among historical societies. The signifi­cant income from the endowment had made it possible for the Society to ex­pand its operations; between 1935 and 1943, total operating expenditures increased 163 percent, from $64,000 to $168,000.