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History of the ASA

What do Florence Nightingale, Alexander Graham Bell, Herman Hollerith, Andrew Carnegie, and Martin Van Buren have in common?

These historical figures were members of the American Statistical Association-the second-oldest [160+ years], continuously operating professional association in the country. Founded in Boston one wintry November morning in 1839, the association continues a tradition of promoting excellence in statistics in its application to the frontiers of science, from biological to socioeconomic to the physical sciences.

The ASA was formed at a meeting in the rooms of the American Education Society and was chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Present at the organizing meeting were William Cogswell, teacher, fundraiser for the ministry, and genealogist; Richard Fletcher, lawyer and U.S. congressman; John Dix Fisher, physician and pioneer in medical reform; Oliver Peabody, lawyer, clergyman, poet, and editor; and Lemuel Shattuck, statistician, genealogist, publisher, and author of perhaps the most significant single document in the history of public health to that date: Report … Relating to a Sanitary Survey of the State. By 1841, the ASA was already an energetic society with a roster of 109 members, including U.S. President Martin Van Buren.

From its inception, the ASA founding fathers demonstrated a commitment to statistical science in service to public welfare, and the association has had a close affiliation with the statistical work of the U.S. government, particularly the U.S. Census Bureau. As early as 1844, the ASA recommended to Congress that the Sixth Census "be revised and a new and accurate copy be published." In those early years, the heads of the census were generally ASA members or officers. John B. D. DeBow, superintendent of the Seventh Census, was an ASA member. Francis A. Walker directed the Ninth Census and initiated the Tenth Census. Carroll D. Wright worked on finishing the Eleventh Census. The first director of the permanent census office was S. N. D. North, the sixth president of the ASA and the first to serve a one-year term (1910).

Statistical work in government and business stimulated much expansion after World War I, including the founding of the association's first local chapters. From 1920-1943, 22 chapters were formed across the country. Generally, these chapters were located in large cities, such as Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC. In addition, groups were formed in state capitals such as Albany, New York, and Austin, Texas, and at universities, such as the University of Illinois. Today, the ASA has 78 chapters that vary in composition and size, ranging from groups of fewer than 50 members to one with more than 1,000.

In 1939, the ASA celebrated its 100th anniversary with special events held in Boston and Philadelphia. Membership reached an all-time high of more than 3,000. Some declines occurred, however, during the war years, and the ASA's activities slowed, resulting in the cancellation of the 1942 and 1943 annual meetings. Following the war, the activities and membership of the association expanded rapidly in response to the many advances in science. The Business and Economic Statistics Section was established in 1950, followed by the Social Sciences Section and the Section on Physical and Engineering Sciences in 1954.

A complete history of the ASA is available in ASA: The First 160 Years.