94 History of Geology (GSA History of Geology Division, History of Earth Science Society [HESS])

Monday, 3 November 2003
1:30 PM - 3:30 PM

HENRY S. WILLIAMS AND GSA - PRESENT AT THE BEGINNING

Paper number: 94-6
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 2:45 PM – 3:00 PM

Authors

Abstract

Henry Shaler Williams (1847-1918), a native of Ithaca, New York, was among the group who, in 1888, founded the Geological Society of America, and his name is fourth on the list of original Fellows. In fact his involvement goes back to the Cincinnati AAAS meeting in 1881 when he served as secretary on a committee formed to draft a constitution for a new geological organization. He even wrote the original draft of this document. For various reasons, the new society was stillborn until August 1888, when at the Cleveland AAAS meeting the organization took root. Again Williams was an active participant.

Williams kept diaries, almost a daily record, from 1861 until his death in 1918, and his entries for those, no doubt, warm August days are an interesting personal record of those events; a record that does not always match the "official" history. History tells us that the original name was "American Geological Society," but Williams recorded the name as "American Geological Society Fellowship." And there are several other entries which do not quite agree with the published record of these events. What is the "real" history? Who knows, but this comparison of a personal diary written as the events were unfolding makes an interesting comparison with the official version.