Walter Curran Mendenhall

Mendenhall joined the Survey in 1894, fresh from Ohio Normal University, and had mapped in the Appalachian coal fields. In 1898, he had been one of the pioneer geologists in Alaska, and in 1903, he had become one of the first groundwater specialists in the Water Resources Branch. An early member of the Land Classification Board, he became its chairman in 1911 and in 1912 the first Chief of the Land Classification Branch. For eight years before becoming Director, Mendenhall had been the Chief Geologist. Although more than half his Survey career had been in administrative work, he made notable contributions to the geology of Alaska, and his study of the principles in ground-water hydrology had helped to establish it as a field of scientific endeavor. Like King, Powell, and Walcott, Mendenhall became a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Mendenhall's leadership was pivotal in the history of the Geological Survey. In spite of the difficult times, the depression years, and the beginning of World War II, he encouraged the Survey, as he had the Geologic Branch, to emphasize the necessity of basic research and created an environment in which, in the words of the Engineering and Mining Journal, "scientific research, technical integrity, and practical skill could flourish."

A year after Mendenhall became Director, the Federal budget was sharply cut as the effects of the depression began to be felt. The appropriations were not restored to earlier levels until the late 1930s, shortly before the outbreak of World War II, but the Survey subsisted, even grew, on funds transferred from agencies formed to combat the depression by the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. The Tennessee Valley Authority, established in May 1933, turned to the Survey to meet its need for maps of the entire valley and for a much-expanded program of stream gaging throughout the basin. The Public Works Administration, established in June 1933, began allocating funds in August for topographic mapping, water-resources projects, and much needed safety work on the public lands that by November 1 amounted to more than $3.7 million, more than the total of all funds for the Survey's 50th year. By the end of the fiscal year, the funds from other Federal agencies and cooperative funds were four times the Federal appropriation. 

Topographic mapping of strategic areas in accordance with military priorities was begun in 1940. In 1940 also, the State Department allotted funds to the Geological Survey to begin investigations in cooperation with other American republics to identify mineral deposits of potential importance in hemisphere trade.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, abruptly ushered the United States from defense to war and united Americans in a determination to defeat the Axis powers. For the next several years, the Geological Survey bent all its energies to the war effort. The Geologic, Topographic, Water Resources, and Conservation Branches each made its own special contribution.