Research priorities

Even with the Detroit funding renewed, however, Little and his staff were now facing massive budget cuts, and it was this practical realization that forced them to rethink Jackson Lab's institutional priorities. At the time of Cloudman's departure [in 1932], Little approached the remaining staff scientists and requested their feedback on the latest budget-cutting woes. Minutes of this meeting note that the group unanimously agreed to use the small amount of cash on hand to secure the future of the inbred mice: they bought enough food for existing animals to ensure their continuation [...] for a year. In providing for themselves they were much less generous: the researchers voted to cut their own salaries back to $100 a month -- a reduction of more than half their original level. To further reduce living expenses, and thus create some spare funds for research, they also decided to combine households whenever possible and to grow a large community garden [114].

Rader, Karen A. Making Mice : Standardizing Animals for American Biomedical Research, 1900-1955. Princeton University Press, 2004. ISBN 0691016364.