• for the most part, this is an important aspect geography
  -until there were trained geographers teaching new students in the field, geography would continue to be dominated by those trained in geology

  -once the first truly trained geographers had assumed their positions in university departments dedicated to geography, our field really began to take shape

• on the other hand, there was another way that geographers organized themselves and helped establish the position of geography
  -this was through geographical societies and professional organizations

  -these appeared in many countries, including the United States

• these have operated on the local and especially the national level

• they also predated, in many cases, the establishment of geography positions at the major universities
  -they paved the way for geography professorships

• they provided support for the many individual scholars we have talked about this semester

• there were both scholarly and popular societies
  -the older ones tend to be laymen's societies, in that they are not restricted to professional geographers or teachers

  -the younger ones tend to be professional societies, organized after the establishment of university geography to fulfill professional needs that the popular societies could not

• the first organization of its kind to endure was founded in France in 1821
  -this was the Geographical Society of Paris

• it was followed shortly thereafter by
  -the Berlin Geographical Society in 1828

  -the Royal Geographical Society in 1831 in London

• geographical societies were also actually established in Mexico and Brazil in 1833 and 1838, respectively

• in 1845, the Imperial Russian Geographical Society was founded

• it was not until 1851 that the first American society was established

• thus, by 1866, there were
  -11 societies in Europe
  -3 in Asia
  -3 in Latin America
  -only 1 in the United States

• it was founded in 1851 in New York City as the American Geographical and Statistical Society

• the name was shortened in 1871 to the American Geographical Society or the AGS

• the organization was conceived with a single, broad purpose:
  -to collect and disseminate geographical information or knowledge

• this was a laymen's organization, open to anyone who had an interest in geography, giving it a popular base

• the society was founded to fill a need, that being the lack of any geographical organization in this country

• but, after a good beginning in the 1850s and early 1860s, the turmoil of the Civil War almost brought an end to the AGS

• in the 1870s and 80s, however, the AGS rebounded and again emerged as a major geographical society

• right from the very start, the meetings of the AGS included presentations of papers by society members, attesting to the research orientation of the society and the goal of the society to disseminate geographical knowledge

• closely related to this was the society's stress on publications, especially periodicals or journals
  -the primary publication of the society in the 1800s was the Bulletin of the American Geographical Society
  -first appeared in August, 1852

  -contained the transactions of the society, including many of the papers read at the meetings

  -the Bulletin was replaced in 1916 by the Geographical Review
  -this was done because the Bulletin was little more than a list of transactions

  -the Review, on the other hand, was intended to be of a higher scholarly quality to satisfy the intellectual interest of the members

  -with this change, the Geographical Review has become one of the premier geographical journals in the world

• though he did not found the society, special mention should be made of Isaiah Bowman, president of the AGS from 1915-1935
  -Bowman was a tremendous asset to the society during his tenure

  -he led the move to establish the Geographical Review as a major journal

  -he also allocated a great deal of money for additional AGS publications, including books and maps

  -he stabilized the society during World War I and the early years of the Depression, probably ensuring that the AGS would survive through World War II

• one unique feature of the organization is the AGS Collection
  -one of the world's leading geographical libraries, maintained in Milwaukee, WI

  -home to a wide range of maps, atlases, photographs, and books

• today the AGS is still a vital organization in this country, one in which both professional geographers and laymen can pursue geography

• it was founded in 1888 in Washington D.C.

• it too had a single purpose, very much like that of the AGS:
  -for the increase and diffusion of geographic knowledge

• though it also stresses science, the NGS is a much more popular organization
  -for this reason it is much larger than the AGS

  -in fact, it is probably the largest of any educational society in the world

• the popular nature of the NGS can be seen in its publications
  -the major publication of the NGS is the National Geographic Magazine
  -deals with scientific topics in almost every monthly issue

  -contains, however, scores of brilliant photographs and less written text, giving it a very popular flavor

  -this format is very appealing to children

  -though it is a popular publication, National Geographic is not unscientific
  -it is incredibly accurate

  -it is also very timely and contemporary

  -it is not restricted to any one place, and thus brings the whole world to its members

  -contains some of the world's best, most available cartography

• the NGS has played a major role in this country
  -because of its huge membership it is the most recognized geographical society in the country, if not the world

  -it has the greatest financial resources of any geographical organization in the country, and thus it funds a great number of projects from research to improved geographical education

• it was founded in 1904 in Philadelphia on the suggestion of Davis

• its goal was different than that of the AGS and the NGS
  -it was to promote the profession of geography by forming a body of scholars dedicated to that field

  -in fact, until 1948, membership was restricted to persons who had conducted original research in some branch of geography

• thus, the AAG was a scholarly society rather than a popular one
  -so it was not intended for laymen

• indicative of this was the AAG's main publication, the Annals
  -this was a highly scholarly journal with high standards

  -it has continued to be a major geographical journal

  -recently, however, it has become highly scientific in orientation, alienating a portion of human and regional geography

• through its early history, the association remained very small and grew only slowly
  -by 1941, there were only 167 members

• World War II, however, prompted an explosion of geographical jobs
  -people were needed with geographic training in the War Department, the Dept. of Agriculture, the Dept. of State, the Army Map Service, and scores of other offices

  -as geographers were trained to fill these positions, a new group of geographers appeared--professional geographers in applied fields and in secondary education

  -but, because these people were not researchers, they did not qualify for membership in the AAG

  -instead, they organized their own organization--the American Society for Professional Geographers with their own publication--the Professional Geographer

• between 1943 and 1948, there was much competition between the AAG and the new ASPG
  -the AAG was losing the battle since the ASPG was growing far more rapidly

• the competition ended in 1848 when the two groups merged in a new AAG
  -this was when the research requirement for membership was dropped to allow service-oriented geographers a place in the association

  -the new AAG retained both the Annals and the Professional Geographer

  -the new association was also markedly larger after the merger, with 1,300 members

  -by the 1970s, the total had topped 7,000 members

• today, the AAG is the premier scholarly organization in our field in the U.S.
  -in addition to its journals, the AAG publishes occasional books

  -it holds an annual national meeting, attended by thousands of geographers and at which hundreds of papers are presented

  -it also holds regional annual meetings

  -it grants scholarships and other monies to research on geographic topics by graduate students and post-graduate scholars

  -it publishes a guide to geography programs to aid students in selecting graduate programs

• the largest and most popular of the three is the National Geographic Society

• the most scholarly and professional of the three is the AAG

• lying somewhere in between these two is the American Geographical Society, which has a popular aim but high intellectual standards

Back to the Profession of Geography Home Page

Back to V.U. GeoMet Home Page