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Meetings of the AAS: 1942-1947

Created By Brant Sponberg, edited and expanded by Paul Routly and Joseph S. Tenn.

69th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS)

Dates: December 28-30, 1942

Place: Evanston, Illinois

Number of Members in Attendance: 28 Total; 2 Female; 26 Male

Number of New Members Admitted: 6 Total; 0 Female; 6 Male

Total Membership: ??

Number of Papers Presented: 34

Officers:

  • President, Joel Stebbins 1940-1943
  • Vice-President, Otto Struve 1941-1943
  • Vice-President, J.H. Moore 1942-1944
  • Secretary, D.B. Mclaughlin 1942-1943
  • Treasurer, Keivin Burns 1942-1943
  • Councilors, Charlotte Moore Sitterly 1940-1943, J.A. Pearce 1940-1943, H.M. Jeffers 1940-1943, S.B. Nicholson 1941-1944, W.W. Morgan 1941-1944, F.L. Whipple 1941-1944, W.J. Eckert 1942-1945, F.A. Fath 1942-1945, and B.J. Bok 1942-1945.
  • Ex-President(s),

 

Members/representatives/delegates: None

New Committees: None
Old Committees: None

Held in Conjunction With: None

Honorary Member(s): None

Notes of Interest: The Sixty-ninth Meeting of the AAS was held at Evanston, Illinois, Monday to Wednesday, December 28-30, 1942, on the invitation of Dr. Oliver J. Lee, Director of the Dearborn Observatory of Northwestern University. Most of the Members and their guests stayed at Zeta Tau Alpha House, which also served as headquarters for the meeting. Sessions for papers were held Tuesday morning and afternoon. On Wednesday morning, a symposium was held on "Science Courses in the War Effort;" invited speakers were Fred Fagg, Vice-President of Northwestern University, Professor G. Donald Hudson, of the Department of Geography, Commander S.D.A. Cobb, of the Department of Naval Science and Tactics, and Mr. E.L. Edmondson, Director of Aeronautics and Co-ordinator of C.A.A. War Training Service. Several members took part in the discussion which followed; among these were Drs. O.J. Lee and Newton L. Pierce. The Society Dinner was held on Tuesday evening at the Vera Megowen Tea Room.

Published descriptions of meeting:

 

Group photo of attendees [Identifications]

70th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS)

Dates: May 28-30, 1943

Place: Harvard College Observatory, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Number of Members in Attendance: 72 Total; 22 Female; 50 Male

Number of New Members Admitted: 4 Total; 1 Female; 3 Male

Total Membership: ??

Number of Papers Presented: 19

Officers:

  • President, Harlow Shapley 1943-1946
  • Vice-President, J.H. Moore 1942-1944
  • Vice-President, Robert R. Mcmath 1943-1945
  • Secretary, Dean B. Mclaughlin 1943-1944
  • Treasurer, Keivin Burns 1943-1944
  • Councilors, S.B. Nicholson 1941-1944, W.W. Morgan 1941-1944, F.L. Whipple 1941-1944, W.J. Eckert 1942-1945, F.A. Fath 1942-1945, B.J. Bok 1942-1945, Harold D. Babcock 1943-1946, Dirk Brouwer 1943-1946, and J.J. Nassau 1943-1946.
  • Ex-President(s),

 

Members/representatives/delegates: Mr. E.P. Hubble was selected to be the Society's Member on the Division of Physical Sciences of the National Research Council.

New Committees: None
Old Committees: None

Held in Conjunction With: None

Honorary Member(s): None

Notes of Interest: The Seventieth Meeting of the AAS took place from Friday to Sunday, May 28-30, 1943, at the Harvard College Observatory, Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the invitation of Dr. Harlow Shapley, Director. Headquarters for the meeting were at the Commander Hotel, about a five-minute walk from the Observatory. All sessions were held in the library-auditorium of Building D of the Observatory. A teachers' conference was conducted Friday evening, at which Dr. Joel Stebbins spoke on "Copernicus and the Modern Revolution," and Dr. Charles H. Smiley on "Emergency Navigation with Limited Equipment." The Society Dinner took place Saturday evening at the Harvard Faculty Club. An important matter to raise here is that resumes of all meetings up to the Seventieth have been published in Publications of the American Astronomical Society, volumes 1 to 10 inclusive. This publication will cease with volume 10. Henceforth, accounts of meetings from the Seventy-first onwards will be published in Popular Astronomy.

Published descriptions of meeting:

 

Group photo of attendees [Identifications]

71st Meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS)

Dates: November 5-7, 1943

Place: Cincinnati Observatory, Cincinnati, Ohio

Number of Members in Attendance: ?? Total; ?? Female; ?? Male

Number of New Members Admitted: 5 Total; ?? Female; ?? Male

Total Membership: ??

Number of Papers Presented: ??

Officers:

  • President, Harlow Shapley 1943-1946
  • Vice-President, J.H. Moore 1942-1944
  • Vice-President, Robert R. Mcmath 1943-1945
  • Secretary, Dean B. Mclaughlin 1943-1944
  • Treasurer, Keivin Burns 1943-1944
  • Councilors, S.B. Nicholson 1941-1944, W.W. Morgan 1941-1944, F.L. Whipple 1941-1944, W.J. Eckert 1942-1945, F.A. Fath 1942-1945, B.J. Bok 1942-1945, Harold D. Babcock 1943-1946, Dirk Brouwer 1943-1946, and J.J. Nassau 1943-1946.
  • Ex-President(s),

 

Members/representatives/delegates: None

New Committees: None
Old Committees: None

Held in Conjunction With: None

Honorary Member(s): Sir Harold Spencer Jones, the Astronomer Royal of England.

Notes of Interest: The Seventy-first Meeting of the AAS took place from Friday to Sunday, November 5-7, 1943, at the invitation of Dr. Elliot Smith. Before the Society could meet, however, Dr. Smith passed away, and his place was ably filled by Dr. Everett I. Yowell, the recently retired Director of the Cincinnati Observatory. It was at this meeting that Raymond Walters, the President of the University of Cincinnati, announced the appointment of Dr. Paul Herget as Director of the Cincinnati Observatory. On Saturday afternoon, November 6, Dr. Joel Stebbins delivered his retiring presidential address on "The Law of Diminishing Returns;" this was immediately followed by symposium on "Dwarf Stars and Planet-like Companions." Council decisions of note were the awarding of the Annie J. Cannon Prize to Miss Antonia C. Maury, and keeping the format of the Astronomical Journal the same as the Physical Review.

Published descriptions of meeting:

 

72nd Meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS)

Dates: June 28-29, 1944

Place: Hall of the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Number of Members in Attendance: 88 Total; ?? Female; ?? Male

Number of New Members Admitted: 14 Total; 5 Female; 9 Male

Total Membership: ??

Number of Papers Presented: 24

Officers:

  • President, Harlow Shapley 1943-1946
  • Vice-President, Robert R. Mcmath 1943-1945
  • Vice-President, J.A. Pearce 1944-1946
  • Secretary, D.B. Mclaughlin 1944-1945
  • Treasurer, Keivin Burns 1944-1945
  • Councilors, W.J. Eckert 1942-1945, F.A. Fath 1942-1945, B.J. Bok 1942-1945, Harold D. Babcock 1943-1946, Dirk Brouwer 1943-1946, J.J. Nassau 1943-1946, John S. Hall 1944-1947, N.U. Mayall 1944-1947, and Peter Van De Kamp 1944-1947.
  • Ex-President(s),

 

Members/representatives/delegates: Mr. John C. Duncan was elected a member of the Division of Physical Sciences of the National Research Council to represent the AAS.

New Committees: None
Old Committees: None

Held in Conjunction With: None

Honorary Member(s): None

Notes of Interest: The Seventy-second Meeting of the AAS took place on Wednesday and Thursday, June 28-29, 1944, in the Hall of the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The headquarters of the meeting was at the Hotel Benjamin Franklin, and during its course visits were made to Benjamin Franklin's Grave, the Betsy Ross House, and Independence Hall. On Wednesday afternoon, after the Business Meeting concluded and a few technical papers were presented, the session was then turned over to a teacher's conference which concentrated on two main themes - the teaching of navigation, and what sort of astronomy should be taught in post-war liberal arts colleges. After the Society Dinner later that night, members and their guests repaired to the Fels Planetarium, where an impressive demonstration had been arranged. Towards the end of the meeting, directions were given for transportation to the main observatories in the area, namely, Flower, Cook, Sproul, and Haverford - in an age of gasoline rationing and "A" books, probably few, if any, visited all four.

Published descriptions of meeting:

 

Group photo of attendees [Identifications]

73rd Meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS)

Dates: June 8, 1945

Place: Harvard College Observatory, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Number of Members in Attendance: 39 Total; ?? Female; ?? Male

Number of New Members Admitted: ?? Total; ?? Female; ?? Male

Total Membership: ??

Number of Papers Presented: 0

Officers:

  • President, Harlow Shapley 1943-1946
  • Vice-President, J.A. Pearce 1944-1946
  • Vice-President, Alfred H. Joy 1945-1947
  • Secretary, Dean B. Mclaughlin 1945-1946
  • Treasurer, Keivin Burns 1945-1946
  • Councilors, Harold D. Babcock 1943-1946, Dirk Brouwer 1943-1946, J.J. Nassau 1943-1946, John S. Hall 1944-1947, N.U. Mayall 1944-1947, Peter Van De Kamp 1944-1947, N.T. Bobrovnikoff 1945-1948, A.D. Maxwell 1945-1948, and R.M. Petrie 1945-1948.
  • Ex-President(s),

 

Members/representatives/delegates: None

New Committees: Russell Committee (To solicit funds for the Russell Lectureship), consisting of Harlow Shapley, Chair, Walter S. Adams, Joseph C. Boyce, Theodore Dunham Jr., Luther P. Eisenhart, Charles A. Federer, Alfred H. Joy, Dean B. Mclaughlin, W.F. Meggers, Charlotte Moore Sitterly, and Percy Witherell.

Old Committees: None

Held in Conjunction With: None

Honorary Member(s): None

Notes of Interest: The Seventy-third Meeting of the AAS was held on Friday, June 8, 1945, at the Harvard College Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The records are not entirely clear on this point, but it seems that this gathering consisted of a single business meeting - no scientific sessions took place - probably because of war-time travel restrictions. Even so, as mentioned above, the Russell Lectureship Committee was established.

"Abstracts of papers prepared for the canceled Seventy-third Meeting of the American Astronomical Society," Astronomical Journal 51, 121-25 (1945).

74th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS)

Dates: February 1-2, 1946

Place: Columbia University, New York, New York

Number of Members in Attendance: 147 Total; ?? Female; ?? Male

Number of New Members Admitted: ?? Total; ?? Female; ?? Male

Total Membership: ??

Number of Papers Presented: 42

Officers:

  • President, Harlow Shapley 1943-1946
  • Vice-President, J.A. Pearce 1944-1946
  • Vice-President, Alfred H. Joy 1945-1947
  • Secretary, Dean B. Mclaughlin 1945-1946
  • Treasurer, Keivin Burns 1945-1946
  • Councilors, Harold D. Babcock 1943-1946, Dirk Brouwer 1943-1946, J.J. Nassau 1943-1946, John S. Hall 1944-1947, N.U. Mayall 1944-1947, Peter Van De Kamp 1944-1947, N.T. Bobrovnikoff 1945-1948, A.D. Maxwell 1945-1948, and R.M. Petrie 1945-1948.
  • Ex-President(s),

 

Members/representatives/delegates:

New Committees: Foreign Aid Committee
Old Committees: None

Held in Conjunction With: None

Honorary Member(s): None

Notes of Interest: The Seventy-fourth Meeting of the AAS took place on Friday and Saturday, February 1-2, 1946, at Columbia University in New York City at the invitation of Dr. Jan Schilt. There were four sessions devoted to papers, one to a symposium on double stars carried over from the previous meeting, and one to a teachers' conference. A session of the Executive Committee of the American Section of the International Astronomical Union was held Friday afternoon, and questions pertaining to the forthcoming Copenhagen Conference of the Executive Committee of the Union were discussed. Following this, the teachers' conference took place under the chairmanship of Professor Marjorie Williams. The Society Dinner was held that night at the Men's Faculty Club. Just before dinner, the Mexican Ambassador, His Excellency Sr. Antonio Espinosa De Los Monteros, acting for the President of Mexico, Avila Camacho, presented the Order of the Aztec Eagle to Dr. Henry Norris Russell. At the conclusion of the ceremony, waiters brought in trays of cocktails, which were quickly consumed. It was later discovered that the cocktails had been brought in by mistake, and that they were really intended for a group of engineers next door. The Saturday session was devoted entirely to the double star symposium, as noted above. The meeting ended late Saturday afternoon, the program of papers was rushed towards the end, and a general wish was expressed that the atmosphere of future meetings would be less hectic, possibly going back to three day meetings.

Published descriptions of meeting:

 

75th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS)

Dates: September 8-11, 1946

Place: University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin

Number of Members in Attendance: ?? Total; ?? Female; ?? Male

Number of New Members Admitted: 13 Total; 4 Female; 9 Male

Total Membership: ??

Number of Papers Presented: about 40

Officers:

  • President, Otto Struve 1946-1949
  • Vice-President, Alfred H. Joy 1945-1947
  • Vice-President, Donald H. Menzel 1946-1948
  • Secretary, C.M. Huffer 1946-1947
  • Treasurer, J.J. Nassau 1946-1947
  • Councilors, John S. Hall 1944-1947, N.U. Mayall 1944-1947, Peter Van De Kamp 1944-1947, N.T. Bobrovnikoff 1945-1948, A.D. Maxwell 1945-1948, R.M. Petrie 1945-1948, H.L. Alden 1946-1949, Ida Barney 1946-1949, and O.C. Wilson 1946-1949.
  • Ex-President(s),

 

Members/representatives/delegates: None

New Committees: None
Old Committees: None

Held in Conjunction With: None

Honorary Member(s): None

Notes of Interest: The Seventy-fifth Meeting of the AAS took place from Sunday to Wednesday, September 8-11, 1946. At the invitation of Dr. Joel Stebbins. The dates were set after it became certain that the men's dormitories on Lake Mendota would be available. All the scientific sessions were held in the Play Center of the Wisconsin Union. A vote of thanks by acclimation was given Dr. Keivin Burns for his five years of service as Treasurer of the Society. Similarly, a vote of thanks was extended to Dr. Dean B. Mclaughlin for his seven years as Society Secretary. His advice, expressed at the conclusion of the Seventy-fourth Meeting, That the Society should go back to three day meetings was substantiated at the Seventy-fifth - the sessions gave one the impression of freedom from hurry.

Published descriptions of meeting:

 

Group photo of attendees. (Courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives #AAS E18) [Identifications]

76th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS)

Dates: December 27-30, 1946

Place: Cambridge, Massachusetts

Number of Members in Attendance: ?? Total; ?? Female; ?? Male

Number of New Members Admitted: 15 Total; 2 Female; 13 Male

Total Membership: ??

Number of Papers Presented: ??

Officers:

  • President, Otto Struve 1946-1949
  • Vice-President, Alfred H. Joy 1945-1947
  • Vice-President, Donald H. Menzel 1946-1948
  • Secretary, C.M. Huffer 1946-1947
  • Treasurer, J.J. Nassau 1946-1947
  • Councilors, John S. Hall 1944-1947, N.U. Mayall 1944-1947, Peter Van De Kamp 1944-1947, N.T. Bobrovnikoff 1945-1948, A.D. Maxwell 1945-1948, R.M. Petrie 1945-1948, H.L. Alden 1946-1949, Ida Barney 1946-1949, and O.C. Wilson 1946-1949.
  • Ex-President(s),

 

Members/representatives/delegates:

New Committees: None
Old Committees: None

Held in Conjunction With: AAAS

Honorary Member(s): Dr. Megh Nad Saha of Calcutta, India, Professor Gavrill A. Tikhov of Russia, Professor Bertil Linblad, Upsala, Sweden, Dr. Jan Oort, Leyden, Netherlands, Professor E.A. Milne, Oxford, England, and Dr. Bernard Lyot of France.

Notes of Interest: The Seventy-sixth Meeting of the AAS was held on December 27-30, 1946, Friday to Monday, in Cambridge, Massachusetts in conjunction with the AAAS, and in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Harvard College Observatory on its present site. Because of the Centennial Celebration, a special kind of program had been arranged with four symposia on interstellar matter, electronic and computational devices, eclipsing binaries, and the gaseous envelope of the earth. This meeting also made astronomical history because Henry Norris Russell Himself gave the first Russell Lecture on "A Study of Eclipsing Binaries." Harvard University was the recipient of a portrait of Harlow Shapley commemorating 25 years of his directorship of the Harvard College Observatory. The Society Dinner was held at the Continental Hotel Sunday evening, followed by a joint meeting with Sigma Xi at the Sanders Theater, where Dr. Shapley gave his lecture as retiring President of the AAS and Xmas Lecturer of Sigma Xi. After dinner, the Society President, Dr. Otto Struve, announced the election of six honorary members, as noted above, and presented the fifth Annie J. Cannon Prize to Mrs. Emma Williams Vyssotsky. Because of ill-health, Mrs. Vyssotsky was unable to receive the prize in person - her husband accepted the award for her.

Published descriptions of meeting:

 

Group photo of attendees (left half) [Identifications].
Group photo of attendees (right half) [Identifications].

77th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS)

Dates: September 3-6, 1947

Place: Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois

Number of Members in Attendance: ?? Total; ?? Female; ?? Male

Number of New Members Admitted: ?? Total; ?? Female; ?? Male

Total Membership: ??

Number of Papers Presented: 50

Officers:

  • President, Otto Struve 1946-1949
  • Vice-President, Donald H. Menzel 1946-1948
  • Vice-President, Paul W. Merrill 1947-1949
  • Secretary, C.M. Huffer 1947-1948
  • Treasurer, J.J. Nassau 1947-1948
  • Councilors, N.T. Bobrovnikoff 1945-1948, A.D. Maxwell 1945-1948, R.M. Petrie 1945-1948, H.L. Alden 1946-1949, Ida Barney 1946-1949, O.C.wilson 1946-1949, C.D. Shane 1947-1950, J.L. Greenstein 1947-1950, and P.M. Millman 1947-1950.
  • Ex-President(s),

 

Members/representatives/delegates: Mr. B.K. Bok was elected a member of the Division of Physical Sciences of the National Research Council for the term 1947-1950.

New Committees: None
Old Committees: None

Held in Conjunction With: None

Honorary Member(s): Professor V. Ambartzumian of Leningrad, USSR.

Notes of Interest: The Seventy-seventh Meeting of the AAS was held on September 3-6, 1947, Wednesday to Saturday, at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. The Council accepted a gift of $3000 from Jessie Stevenson Kovalenko in memory to his wife. The Council also elected V. Ambartzumian to honorary membership, as noted above, and announced that Walter S. Adams had been chosen as the next Russell Lecturer. The remainder of Thursday afternoon, September 4, 1947, was devoted to a symposium on "Stellar Atmospheres", consisting of papers by Messrs. Bengt Stromgren, P.C. Keenan, Otto Struve, Lawrence Aller, Andrew Mckellar, and Alfred H. Joy. On Friday afternoon, a teachers' conference was held with Dr. J. Allen Hynek presiding. The teaching of celestial mechanics and the computation of orbits was stressed. On Saturday morning, members and their guests travelled to the Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, by private car and bus to more fittingly celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Yerkes Observatory as well as the AAS. During the proceedings at Yerkes, Dr. Joel Stebbins, Director of the Washburn Observatory and for many years Secretary of the AAS, was called upon to present a special paper he had prepared pertinent to the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the AAS. After luncheon, which was served at the George Williams College Camp on Lake Geneva, the meeting was formally closed.

Published descriptions of meeting:

 

Group photo of attendees (left half) [Identifications].
Group photo of attendees (right half) [Identifications].

78th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS)

Dates: December 28-31, 1947

Place: Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

Number of Members in Attendance: ?? Total; ?? Female; ?? Male

Number of New Members Admitted: 30 Total; 5 Female; 25 Male

Total Membership: ??

Number of Papers Presented: 51

Officers:

  • President, Otto Struve 1946-1949
  • Vice-President, Donald H. Menzel 1946-1948
  • Vice-President, Paul W. Merrill 1947-1949
  • Secretary, C.M. Huffer 1947-1948
  • Treasurer, J.J. Nassau 1947-1948
  • Councilors, N.T. Bobrovnikoff 1945-1948, A.D. Maxwell 1945-1948, R.M. Petrie 1945-1948, H.L. Alden 1946-1949, Ida Barney 1946-1949, O.C.wilson 1946-1949, C.D. Shane 1947-1950, J.L. Greenstein 1947-1950, and P.M. Millman 1947-1950.
  • Ex-President(s),

 

Members/representatives/delegates: None

New Committees: None

Old Committees: None

Held in Conjunction With: None

Honorary Member(s): None

Notes of Interest: The Seventy-eighth Meeting of the AAS was held Sunday to Wednesday, December 28-31, 1947, at Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, upon the invitation of Dr. J. Allen Hynek. Members and guests were comfortably housed and dined in Neil Hall, a large dormitory for women on campus. The sessions were held in the Social Administration Building. The only item of business which was transacted was the adoption of a revised schedule of life-membership fees. On Monday evening, the second Henry Norris Russell Lecture was given by Dr. Walter S. Adams, Emeritus Director of the Mount Wilson Observatory, who spoke on "Gaseous Clouds in Interstellar Space." Tuesday was the day set aside for a visit to the Perkins Observatory at the invitation of its Director, Dr. N.T. Bobrovnikoff. In three chartered buses and several private automobiles, the entire group of members and guests were transported some 20 miles north to an all-day symposium on "The Relation Between Spectral Characteristics and Motions of Stars." The Society Dinner was held at the Faculty Club, followed by the usual speeches. The final session took place the next morning, at the end of which Dr. Struve declared the meeting closed.

Published descriptions of meeting:

 

Group photo of attendees [Identifications]

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