Universities around the world have been affected by the recent global economic crisis. Many are challenged by reduced resources, yet they also face greater demands to help spur recovery in their respective countries. This paper explores how colleges and universities in the United States were affected by, and subsequently responded to, several 20th century periods of economic and social turmoil. These included the Great Depression of the 1930s, World Wars I and II and economic dislocation in the early 1980s. For some of them, the ability to adapt to sudden constraints and new opportunities led to unprecedented strengths. The effects of longer-term trends also played a critical role. This paper offers some lessons from these earlier periods that may have relevance today.