0.6 Chapter four: the turning tide, 1960-1982  (Page 3/14)

While the development drive was under way, Adams underscored the Soci­ety's need for assistance: "I used to hear it said, by the Society's members as well as by outsiders, that we were a rich institution with never a worry about budgets. I am glad that this is not true; such affluence would make us complacent." He noted that the response to the Society's campaign "had not been overwhelming" but that "the state of the Society is healthy in that we are aware of our short­comings and are prepared to do something about them."

Adams also showed strong leadership in other ways. In an effort to expand and diversify the Society's sources of revenue, he encouraged the board of trustees to revise its by-laws to provide, "among other things, for new classes of member­ship, with higher rates of contribution over the regular annual dues of $10." Al­though such steps did not necessarily bring in significant income, they sent a signal to the Society's supporters that more revenue was needed. In addition, he moved to simplify the administrative structure of the board by reducing the number of committees from eleven to eight by dissolving two committees and merging two others. Adams pointed out that the committees, though there were fewer of them, had become considerably more active. Under Adams's guidance, the Society's board was more active than it had been since the days of George Zabriskie.

The Society began the renovation in 1966, closing most of the galleries and parts of the library for much of the year. Although a substantial sum had been raised during the capital campaign—approximately $574,000 by the end of 1966—the money did not cover all construction expenses. Fortunately, aware of the scale of the project, Adams and the board had anticipated this possibility and had redesignated the accumulated surplus fund as a "reserve for equipment, build­ing replacement, and major repair." Approximately $316,000 of the money used to fund the improvements came from these reserves.

In early 1967, Frank Streeter, the Society's treasurer, reminded the board of the more than $300,000 that had been drawn from reserves to fund the capital renovations. He encouraged the Society to mount a campaign to replace those funds.