Great Depression

In the 1930s, as the nation struggled through the Great Depression, membership and representation were major challenges for the Massachusetts Bar Association.

Membership had been "static" since the 1920s, and then the Depression took its toll. In 1938, MBA President Henry R. Mayo lamented that there were an estimated 8,000 to 9,000 lawyers in the state, but only 700 MBA members, having dropped from 1,250 before the Depression.

The MBA, which was formed, in part, to represent lawyers statewide and include the input of regional and specialized bar associations, had not garnered much participation from those groups.

The MBA's bylaws, which said that each county, city or local bar association "may" appoint a delegate, were changed in December 1932 so that every affiliated bar association president (or their designee) was automatically made a delegate to the MBA's Executive Committee.