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American Association for the Advancement of Science, Pacific Division Records
BANC MSS 98/102 c
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Bancroft Library
Title: American Association for the Advancement of Science, Pacific Division records, 1909-[ongoing]
Creator:
American Association for the Advancement of Science. Pacific Division
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 98/102 c
Physical Description:
62.5 linear feet
(50 cartons, 1 oversize folder)
Date (inclusive): 1909-[ongoing]
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information
on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Language of Material:
English
.
Collection is open to researchers with the exception of some electronic files that are unprocessed. These files are noted
in the container listing.
Future additions are expected.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Pacific Division, 1997. Additions received in 2021.
In 1910, a group of West Coast scientific societies came together to form the Pacific Association of Scientific Societies
(PASS). Twenty-one organizations, mostly regional sections of national societies, became affiliates of this fledgling umbrella
organization. In late 1912, in preparation for the 1915 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science (AAAS), scheduled to be held in San Francisco, AAAS established the Pacific Coast Committee of AAAS to handle logistics
and program planning.
In late December of that year, the Council of AAAS decided to recognize the committee as the Pacific Division of AAAS and
on 21 April, 1914 it voted to amend the AAAS Constitution to accommodate the change and ratify the Division's new Constitution.
Within months, the Pacific Association of Scientific Societies, its membership overlapping that of the Pacific Division of
AAAS, proposed that it merge with the Division. During the next 12 months, most of the PASS affiliates ratified the new arrangement.
Among them were the Cordilleran Section of the Geological Society of America, Pacific Coast Section of the Paleontological
Society, Seismological Society of America, California Academy of Sciences, Pacific Slope Association of Economic Entomologists,
Astronomical Society of the Pacific Coast, Cooper Ornithological Club, Northern and Southern Divisions, California and Puget
Sound Sections of the American Chemical Society, San Francisco Section of the Archaeological Institute of America, San Francisco
Section of the American Mathematical Society, San Diego Society of Natural History, and the Western Society of Naturalists.
Initially, the Division's region included the states of Washington, Alaska, the Canadian Province of British Columbia, and
the Hawaiian Islands. The original intent had been to include the Philippine Islands as well as all other islands in the Pacific
Basin, and Mexico, but these intentions were not to be fulfilled for many years, and then only partially so.
In the years since its founding, the Pacific Division of AAAS has held meetings every year save during the First and Second
World Wars. It has sponsored a publications program, its first book having been published in 1915, and then, following a hiatus
of many decades, resumed publication of the second through the 24th between 1979 and 2012.
In 1915, the Division met for the first time jointly with its new parent when national AAAS held its first-ever annual meeting
in San Francisco as part of the Pan American Exposition activities of that year. The following year, it held its first independent
meeting, in San Diego. Since then, the Division has held meetings annually, nearly always on university campuses throughout
the Far West.
The Division's meetings, though designed to provide a forum of scientific problems of regional concern, are not constrained
to regional issues and more often than not they feature symposia and other paper sessions that take on issues of far wider
import, many global in scope, added to which its tolerance of controversial programs where balance insures that both popular
and unpopular views may be laid upon the table for open discussion and criticism. These have been key elements in the structure
of its meetings.
Additionally, from the beginning, The Division has been sensitive to the needs of students, and to this day it offers them
a unique opportunity to participate in highly professional programs where seasoned professionals and novices meet one another
in a relaxed yet challenging environment.
The Division's success over the years is perhaps best exmplified by the many distinguished scientists who have given freely
of their time and energies in its behalf. They have served as officers, chaired committees, organized sessions, indeed, even
the meetings themselves, have presented papers, and, last but not least, have encouraged their students to do the same.
American Association for the Advancement of Science, Pacific Division records, BANC MSS 98/102 c, The Bancroft Library, University
of California, Berkeley.
Includes materials documenting the work of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Pacific Division. The
materials date from the founding of the organization in 1910 to approximately 2020. Included are files relating to the organization's
governance, its annual meetings, its publications, and its relationships with other organizations. There are also files relating
to this history of the organization as well as some photographs and audiovisual materials.
Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction
of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions,
privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond
that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
For additional information about the University of California, Berkeley Library's permissions policy please see: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/about/permissions-policies
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Science Study and teaching
Science Societies, etc.