Bicknell's grandson Edward Elhanan Berry, together with his wife Margaret, fought to keep the museum intact, and after five years, the municipality withdrew its plans to rehouse it.

Thus, in 1924, the museum was transformed into an independent institution and its collections, at the time essentially linked to botany and prehistory, were expanded to include local art, history, and traditions.

Margaret Berry, whose husband Edward had died in Rome in 1931, was one of the first members of the society, and in agreement with Professor Nino Lamboglia, she established the headquarters of the association at the Bicknell Museum.

In Italy, it is particularly active in Liguria, Piedmont, Lombardy, and northwestern Tuscany — these being the regions closely corresponding with the territories formerly populated by the Ligurians.

In France, the institute is particularly active in the Rhone Valley and in general in the south of the country, within the borders of ancient Gallia Narbonensis.