The U.S. experienced a shortage of nurses long before its entry into World War II; this shortage worsened with the prewar buildup of the military and industrial upturn that this caused. Professional nursing groups were unprepared to deal with the problem. On 10 July 1940, however, the situation changed when Isabel M. Stewart, professor of nursing at Columbia University and a member of the National League for Nursing, wrote to its president: "I believe we should have a committee or board that is representative of the nursing profession as a whole and it should be at work now ...". Within three weeks, on 29 July 1940, representatives of the national nursing community gathered in New York City under the umbrella of the American Nurses Association, where they formed the Nursing Council on National Defense. In its first order of business, the council concentrated on surveying nursing resources and securing federal funding to expand nursing educational opportunities.