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IEEE Washington Section |
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Serving members in the District of Columbia and part of Maryland since 1903 |
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e S C A N N E R Calendar Index Technical Societies and Affinity Groups L I N K S |
HistoryThe Earliest DaysVery little information is available about the early years of the section and its founding. From the bits of information gathered recently, the following can be pieced together to form a picture of the origins of the section. A small group of individuals residing in the District of Columbia gathered in the fall of 1902 to form a club, the Washington Society of Engineers. They held their meetings at the George Washington University, located at 15th and H Streets, N.W., on the present site of the former Woodward and Lothrop Building. They filed an application for branch status in the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) and were formally admitted as a branch, as sections were called then, on April 9, 1903. Apparently this event was celebrated at a dinner at the Cosmos Club. From its inception, and for several years after, the papers presented were prepared by members and local people, as the branch had few or no funds to defray the expenses of outside speakers. The annual dues were $20 for fellows, $15 for members, $10 for associates, and $1 for local members. The regular meetings of the society were held each month from October to April, inclusive, usually on the first and third Tuesdays of each month. The Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers of 1904 show that the Washington branch had 28 members on January 1, 1902, and 44 members plus one AIEE student member on April 20, 1904. Ten meetings had been held since October 1902, with an average attendance of 58 people, and 13 original papers had been presented. It was probably through the influence of Dr. F.A. Wolff, Jr., that the meetings were held at the George Washington University. From information obtained from Prof. L.D. Bliss and Mr. Philander Dougherty, the sparkplug of the organization was Mr. Philander Betts. Mention is made in the 1904 transactions to a reply from Mr. Philander Betts to the question, "Is there sustained interest in Branch meetings?" Mr. Betts replied: We are glad to say that the interest in the meetings is well sustained and the prospect for the future is bright. In order to keep up a general interest we have had to introduce a new subject and we feel that our proceeding in this respect is accountable for the sustained interest in the meetings. The membership of the Washington Branch in 1903 numbered 44. The national membership was as follows: 417 members, and 1,810 associates, as well as 2 honorary members, for a total as of May 1, 1903, of 2,229. Another contemporary account is as follows: The Washington section, composed of fellows, members, and associates of the institute residing in the District of Columbia and vicinity, was organized April 9, 1903 and affiliated with the academy [Washington Academy of Sciences] in 1912. This membership, varying in numbers from time to time owing to change of residence of fellows...averages about 75. The early records are sparse beyond this. We have the complete address of Chairman Samuel Reber at the time of the fall meeting in October, November or December of 1904. We also have the minutes of the Branch meeting of February 5, 1907. There is no record indicating any special occasion celebrating the founding and chartering of the branch. The records show only that the branch was formed. We do, however, know a little about the beginnings of standards setting and about the early days of power engineering in Washington, D.C. Standards Setting Power Engineering |
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Send changes to Tim Weil at trweil@ieee.org or Elsie Grant at ncac-scanner@ieee.org. |
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