50 Years of Annual ADSA Meetings on University Campuses

ASSOC IATION AF FAI RS

50 Years of Annual ADSA Meetings on University Campuses G. Malcolm Trout Historian, American Dairy Science Association

The 72nd annual meeting of the American Dairy Science Association, Ames, June 26 to 29, 1977, marked the 50th anniversary of such meetings on university campuses. In the 3rd week of June, 1927, the Association met on the campus of Michigan State College, East Lansing, and has continued to meet on college campuses with two exceptions. Successes of these meetings are taken for granted. Members look forward to them. Families plan ahead for them, anxiously inquiring where the next rendezvous will be. Children of member families grow to adulthood with pleasant memories and life-long associations from these meetings. The mid-June meetings become living geography. Student affiliates radiate enthusiam as they convene to share other college experiences, to renew acquaintances, stage their special programs and compete for honors, offices, and club awards. An afterglow of indescribable satisfaction falls upon the host institution and upon the 1000 to 2000 guests as the 3-day, hour-packed experience comes to an end. In its wake remains an inner warmth, a sense of vocation, worthwhileness, and a rejuvenated zest for extension, research, and teaching in behalf of the dairy industry. THE ASSOCIATION A N D ITS J O U R N A L

The Association, founded on the University of Illinois, Urbana campus, July 17, 1906, is now in its 72nd year. Membership has grown from the chartered 17 to nearly 3000. The name has been changed from the unwieldy "National Association of Dairy Instructors and Investigators", through the "Official Dairy Instructors' Association" to the present name (1916). A journal was founded in 1917 under its current name. Now in its 60th volume, the Journal of Dairy Science has been edited by seven distinguished dedicated scientists, namely, J. H. Frandsen, A. C. Dahlberg, S. T. Sutton,

F. E. Nelson, P. H. Tracy, E. O. Herreid, and L. D. McGilliard, current editor. The Journal has had a marked influence on the growth and direction of the Association. This is a separate story. But it was the summer meeting on college campuses which probably had the greatest impact leading to the Association's present status. E A R L Y ASSOCIATION MEETINGS

Actually, the East Lansing, June 22 to 24, 1927, meeting was not the first on a university campus. The idea of a dairy instructors' and investigators' organization was conceived on the Ohio State University campus, 1905, and was given birth on the University of Illinois campus the following year. Annual meetings between 1907 and 1926 inclusive seemed to have been held where most expedient. Occasionally, the members convened on a strategically located campus, but for the most part they followed the dairy cattle show and dairy machinery exhibitions which were held jointly until 1929 when the dairy cattle show was held in St. Louis and the machinery exposition in Toronto. For dairy instructors to meet at the cattle shows was logical. Economics virtually demanded that professors attend combined meetings, for travel budgets were limited, distances great, and virtually the only means of distant t r a v e l the railroad-was time consuming. So, combining dairy shows and educational meetings enabled more educators to attend both events than would have been possible otherwise. But the annual meetings of the Association were not satisfactory to the dairy instructors and investigators. The cattle shows, indeed, stole the show. Interest was more in cattle judging than listening to committee reports. Thus, the Association annual meeting became confined largely to an evening's banquet where 1662

ASSOCIATION AFFAIRS the interest centered on dairy judging team winhers and awards.

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EVENTS L E A D I N G T O S U M M E R CAMPUS M E E T I N G S The 15th Annual Meeting

TYPE A N D L O C A T I O N OF E A R L Y M E E T I N G S Q U E S T I O N E D

J. H. Frandsen, f o u r t h president of the Association, 1912 to 1913, and f o u n d e r of the Journal, 1917, seemed to sense that future successes of the annual meetings lay in a structure differing f r o m the prevailing cattle show. In his presidential address, O c t o b e r 28, 1914, he expressed concern over the time and place of the annual meeting: The Association might also with profit settle at this time whether it desires a meeting held in the midst of vacation during the summer with no disturbing influence except its effect on vacation, or whether it prefers its business done as at this time in connection with the Dairy Show. Thirteen years were to pass before his suggestion bore fruit. Meanwhile, World War I, f o o t - a n d - m o u t h , influenza epidemics, and cancellation of the 1918 Dairy S h o w t o o k priority of Association interest. However, the early twenties saw renewed activity in dairy science. Extension activities in colleges were making giant strides. C o w testing and registration comm a n d e d m u c h attention and widespread interest. Various sections and divisions of the Association were organized:

The 15th annual meeting, Hotel Sherman, Chicago, O c t o b e r 11, 1920, was called to order by Professor M. Mortensen, the Association's 8th president, w h o strongly advised holding the annual meeting according to section interest, such as (1) breed associations, (2) p r o d u c t i o n , (3) manufacturing, and (4) extension. This was the initiative of section f o r m a t i o n . Mostly, the long meeting addressed itself to extensive comm i t t e e reports on milk quality, bacteriological methods, testing milk and cream, score card for milk. etc. The h o n o r e d guest speaker at the b a n q u e t was President R. A. Pearson, Iowa State College, the Association's first president, elected in absentia, 1906. Other speakers were Dean Van N o r m a n , California, and Chief R a M , U.S. D e p a r t m e n t of Agriculture, b o t h sources of strength and inspiration to the Association. Van N o r m a n was the primary force b e h i n d the unusually successful "World's Dairy Congress", Syracuse, 1923, which actually p o s t p o n e d the time of the annual meeting on a college campus. U n f o r t u n a t e l y , this Congress was never recognized by the International Dairy Federation as a world's dairy congress and, thus, was not allotted an official member. More on the Congress will be given later. The 16th Annual Meeting

Year Section Official testing and advanced registry Production Manufacturing Extension

1920-1921 1920-1921 1920-1921 1921 - 1922

Division Eastern Southern Western

1921-1922 1922-1923 1923 - 1924

Naturally, the n u m b e r of c o m m i t t e e reports and special papers f r o m each section c o m p e t e d for the limited time at the show-centered, annual meetings. The awards b a n q u e t , with a distinguished speaker, r e m a i n e d the mecca for exhibitors, judging teams, and Association m e m bers.

The 16th annual meeting of the Association was in c o n n e c t i o n with the National Dairy S h o w at the T w i n Cities, O c t o b e r 11, 1921. The meeting was opened with a thought-provoking, challenging address by President C. H. Eckles, w h o was in the first of his second, twoyear presidency, the only m e m b e r so h o n o r e d by the Association• Concerning the programs at the annual meetings, he said, in part: In my judgment the most important step before the Association is the formulation of a more definite program for its activities in the future. • . I am not entirely satisfied with the character of the programs we have been accustomed to have on these occasions... Most other societies of a similar nature present a program either in the nature of scientific papers or addresses and reports by individual members . . . . The program continued with c o m m i t t e e reJournal of Dairy Science Vol. 60, No. 10

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ports, no less than fourteen of which were later published fully or in part in the Journal. The 17th Annual Meeting

The 17th annual meeting of the Association, October 10, 1922, University Farm, MN, was much the same as previous meetings. Committee reports took a large portion of the time available. Progress report on the 1923 U.S. "World's Dairy Congress" yielded membership pride and anticipation for the coming event. Nearly 300 were at the annual banquet, Dairy Exposition ground, St. Paul, again to hear the inspiring, banquet-tested, principal speaker, President R. A. Pearson, Iowa State College. But the real interest seemed to center on announcement of the results of the Fourteenth Students Contest in Judging Dairy Cattle at the National Dairy Show on the Minnesota State Fair Grounds the preceding day. The results were recorded in the Journal, but no mention was made of the results of the Sixth Dairy Products Judging Contest held the same day. This bias for one contest over another, prevailing for some time, later led, in part, to the separation of the cattle and machinery expositions, with new vigor injected into the products judging. The 18th Annual Meeting

The 18th annual meeting of the Association was in the Court House at Syracuse, October 8 and 9, 1923. Again, no official program of papers was prepared, but committee reports were read in full and discussed enthusiastically. This is understandable since the president-elect, O. E. Reed, responsible in large part for developing a program, had spent the summer in Europe and the anticipated program of papers was merged generally with that of the American World's Dairy Congress. And what a Congress! The 1923 Dairy Congress, a rare Association achievement

The Congress was largely the brain-child of H. E. Van Norman, one-time professor, Pennsylvania State College, extrovert, smart, vivacious, suave, imaginative, having that rare ability to be composed in the presence of potentates and kings, exuding confidence throughout. He was, indeed, impresario personified. Naturally, he was president of the Congress. Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 60, No. 10

Favoring his dreams for a successful U.S. World's Dairy Congress was the disheartening situation abroad. The International Dairy Federation, Europe, of which the U.S. was not and has n o t been a member, was in a state of disorganization as a result of World War I, which had left Europe in desolation. So no world dairy congresses were held in Europe from 1914 to 1926, twelve years. The same lapse of time and cessation of dairy congresses occurred because of World War II. A complete listing of the International Dairy Congresses follows: Number

Year

City

I 11 III IV V

1903 1905

Brussds Paris The Hague Budap~t Stockholm

VI VII VIII IX X

1914 1926 1928 1931 1934

Berne

XI XII XIII XIV XV

1937

1949 1953 1956 1959

Berlin Stockholm The Hague Rome London

XVI XVII XVIII 1XX XX

1962 1966 1970 1974 1978

Copenhagen Munich Sydney New Delhi Paris

1907 1909

1911

Paris London Copenhagen Rome/Milan

The American World Dairy Congress was a distinct success. No stone was left unturned by Van Norman. There was no better qualified nor more thorough program chairman than Dr. L. A. Rogers, U.S. Department of Agriculture. From the vantage point of over half a century, we can glow with pride at the American Dairy Science Association's initiation, guidance, sponsorship, and leadership of the first and only American World Dairy Congress. The time was ripe--Europe was worn and downtrodden; the U.S. emerged from the struggle virtually unscathed economically; dairying in America was fast becoming a giant agricultural enterprise; land-grant universities throughout America were graduating trained, potential dairy scientists and teachers, and the ADSA was being fed

ASSOCIATION AFFAI RS up with the committee-report type of annual meetings. Dairy science was bursting at its seams, and pressure needed release via an international gathering of scientists. The Congress was a three-city mecca for dairy scientists-Washingtin, Philadelphia, and Syracuse, October 2 to 10, 1923. Delegates and guests arose as Chairman Van Norman and Hon. Charles Evans Hughes, Secretary of State, came upon the platform. The Marine Band played the national anthem. Invocation by the Rev. Dr. James Shena Montgomery followed. The audience greeted Van Norman again with applause as he arose to open the meeting and introduced Secretary Hughes. Before the day's session ended, Van Norman had presented to the gathering of world dairy scientists an illustrious trio of American world-renowed leaders-Secretary of State Hughes (Republican candidate for president, defeated by Woodrow Wilson, 1916); Secretary of Agriculture, Henry C. Wallace (father of Henry A. Wallace, who was later Secretary of Agriculture 1933 to 1940; U.S. vice-president with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1940 to 1944, and Secretary of Commerce 1945 to 1946); and Secretary of Commerce Herbert C. Hoover (formerly chairman of the American Relief Administration which provided necessary food supplies for over 12,000,000 children in various famine areas of Europe after World War I, and later, 1928 to 1932, President of the United States). After visiting historic Washington and being photographed at the White House with President Calvin Coolidge, who made a brief dairyoriented address, the members of the congress entrained for Philadelphia, the "Cradle of Liberty". There, they were welcomed by Mayor J. Hampton Moore and addressed by Pennsylvania's Governor Gifford Pinchot at the banquet. After two days devoted largely to the National Dairy Council programs, Edward James Cattel of the Chamber of Commerce of the city of Philadelphia, closed the banquet with a brief, inspirational, humorous, and applauded speech. Apparently overwhelmed, all President Van Norman could say was "Philadelphia, we thank you." Special trains took the delegates to Syracuse where the remaining 5day sessions of the Congress were held and where arrangement was made to give the delegates an opportunity to attend the National Dairy Exposition, October 7 to 13.

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The Congress was attended by 231 delegates from 43 foreign countries, together with 1590 registered American delegates from 47 states and the District of Columbia. Of the 256 papers listed to be delivered at the 27 section meetings, 240 papers, including every phase of dairy science, practice, and utilization were presented, 115 being contributed by foreign authors and, with few exceptions, delivered in person by the author. The two-volume Proceedings of the World's Dairy Congress prepared by Dr. L. A. Rogers and published by the Superintendent of Documents consisted of 1599 pages. Beyond question, Van Norman's dream at Columbus, 1918, culminating five years later in the greatest gathering of eminent dairy scientists and leaders heretofore experienced, enriched the world's dairy literature, and broke the shackles of doubt as to the capability and integrity of American dairy scientists. J. H. Frandsen, editor of the Journal, summarized one of the noteworthy comments on the results of the Congress as follows: Many of our own people did not realize the high character of research work in progress in America until these reports and papers were heard at the same program with those from European scientists whose names have long been familiar to this country. The American Dairy Science Association could well be proud of its participation in the first and only American World Dairy Congress. Whether the Congress would be listed among the International Dairy Federation of World's Dairy Congresses was immaterial--American dairy scientists, leaders, and eminent European scientists had shared the same speaker's lectern with mutual respect and admiration. The Congress was a noteworthy achievement by the inexperienced American dairy scientists despite its role in delaying the holding of Association annual meetings on college campuses.

The 19th Annual Meeting

After the release of the energies and enthusiasms in behalf of the successful 1923 Congress, the nineteenth annual meeting of the Association, with the National Dairy Exposition, Milwaukee, September 29, 1924, was a letdown. Again, the meeting was a committeereport, cattle ogling, closing banquet type of Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 60, No. 10

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meeting, as experienced heretofore many times. But it was a good meeting; two or three things did occur which influenced the holding of meetings later on college campuses. For the second time, Professor Eckles publicly expressed interest in a day, either before or after the dairy cattle show, set aside exclusively for Association affairs. The suggestion was adopted. Another item of consequence to have a profound effect on the Association was in the making: Ollie Ezekial Reed-Missouri, Purdue, Kansas, Michigan-was elected president of the Association. He was a dynamic leader, believing in great potential for the Association and radiating confidence to the increasing numbers of young members. Thus, O. E. Reed, the Association's l l t h president, of 1925 and 1926 incumbency, could pulse the programs of the twentieth and twenty-first annual meetings at Indianapolis and Detroit, respectively. The 20th Annual Meeting

The Hotel Severin Indianapolis meeting, over which President Reed presided, was true to oldtime form, loaded with excellent committee and sectional reports, and spiced with many committee appointees by Reed. Much enthusiasm was shown at the annual banquet over the results of collegiate team judging of dairy cattle butter, cheese, and milk. And then to next year! The 21st Annual Meeting

For the first time in its history, the American Dairy Science Association was to meet in Michigan at Detroit, October 8 and 9, 1926. Secretary-Treasurer G. C. White, CT, predicted : THIS IS GOING TO BE A BIG SHOW. Besides the usual attractions of the National Dairy Exposition, the greatest trade exhibit in the history of the country will be staged. Several convention records will be broken. Let's all go and make it a record breaker for the A.D.S.A. And so it was! Such a dairy machinery show had never before been seen on the western continent. Likewise, dairy cattle nusnbers were at an all-time high. The Association now had 326 members, the largest membership in its 20-year history. President Reed called the 21st annual meetJournal of Dairy Science Vol. 60, No. 10

ing of the Association to order at the Book Cadillac Hotel 9 a.m., October 8, 1926, to hear readings of the minutes by the secretary, committee appointments, division reports, and an address by Dr. Kenyon L. Butterfield, sociologically oriented and newly-chosen President of Michigan State College who gave a splendid address on "Science All the Way Through." That evening, H. F. Judkins toastmastered an overflow banquet of 300 plus at $1.50 per plate. The Honorable W. M. Jardine, Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, DC, addressed the audience, which was anxiously awaiting the resuits of the two judging team contests. On the morrow the members in attendance were to hear familiar section and committee reports but also a sizeable sprinkling of papers by authorities on various subjects. A t last, Professor Ecldes idea of a scientific meeting was bearing fruit. Credit must go to Professor Eckles' former student and disciple, President Ollie Ezekial Reed, for knowing when the fruit was ripe for picking. A resolution was adopted asking the executive committee to consider the advisability of holding a summer meeting of the American Dairy Science Association to avoid the conflicting activities of the National Dairy Show. This charge fell to the newly appointed program committee, C. H. Eckles (Minnesota), H. A. Ruehe (Illinois), and C. C. Hayden (Ohio). They implemented the resolution promptly. President Reed extended an invitation for the 1927, 22nd annual meeting to meet on the Michigan State College campus at East Lansing. He had much going for him. Recently (1921) he had become head of the dairy department of the nation's oldest agricultural college and had a staff of several dedicated ADSA members. Furthermore, the institution was receiving wide acclaim for its initiatives in cow testing, alfalfa trains, better sire specials, and leadership in mineral feeding of dairy cattle under Dr. Carl F. Huff man. The program committee, headed by Professor Eckles, implored those having administrative charge of dairy departments of colleges to give p r o m p t attention to the matter of program at the 1927 meeting. The plans called for a 3day meeting specifying that, " n o programs will be scheduled for the evenings, leaving opportunity for special conferences, social, and recreational activities."

ASSOCIATION AFFAIRS THE FIRST OF THE SUMMER MEETINGS

In accordance with the resolution passed at the Detroit meeting, the executive committee voted "to hold a* summer meeting at the Agricultural College, East Lansing, Michigan, June 22, 23, 24, 1927". Note that the resolution did not specify "the next annual meeting" but "a meeting". Perhaps it was this lack of specificity that encouraged the ADSA members later, particularly those of the Southern Section, to move that the October 18, 1927, gathering with the National Dairy Show, Memphis, be designated the official twenty-second meeting. The motion was voted down, and the East Lansing, June, 1927, meeting became the official one. More on the special Memphis meeting will be given later. As the innovative East Lansing summer meeting progressed, success was evident in every phase. By the second day the executive committee was so pleased with their venture that they moved to make this summer 3-day meeting of the Association its official twenty-

*Italics by the writer.

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second annual meeting. The motion carried unanimously. Nonetheless, since a vast majority of the membership did not attend the East Lansing meeting but planned to attend the Memphis National Dairy Show in October, a special meeting of the Association under the auspices of the Southern Section was held at Hotel Gayosa. Altogether, the special meeting was an old-time, characteristic, splendid meeting of the Association, with a list of eminent speakers such as C. W. Larson, Chief, Bureau of Dairy Industry; Bradford Knapp, President, Oklahoma Agricultural College; J. H. Frandsen, founder and former 10-year Editor, Journal of Dairy Science; and President Morgan of the University of Tennessee, who gave the banquet address. Again, the interest was high at the overflow banquet, not only in the message of the distinguished speaker, hut also in announcements of the collegiate dairy cattle and dairy products judging teams awards. The Southern members had extended themselves; their hospitality was beyond measure; the special meeting of the Association was indeed special, but it was to be the last associated with the dairy cattle or machinery shows. The college campus, summer meetings were on. The changeable Michigan weather coopera-

Members attending the American Dairy Science Association Annual Meeting, Michigan State College Campus, June 22 to 24, 1927. Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 60, No. 10

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ted fully in making the June, 1927, 22nd annual meeting a complete success. A calm prevailed. The three days were clear, cloudless, and cool. Official, high and low, Lansing temperatures for June 22, 23, and 24, 1927 were 81 ° 60 °, 620--50 °, and 70°--49°F, respectively. The cool nights called for blankets. Truly "the skies were not cloudy all day" and the air was "sweet to the nostril". Members were roomed in the vacationemptied, historic, 1895 Woman's Dormitory and fed in the recently-completed, Union Building, one block away. All sessions were in the adjacent new, Home Economics Building. Aside from visits to the dairy nutrition laboratories and the college creamery, close by, visiting members had little occasion to venture far from the set programs. Thus, attendance at the program meetings was excellent. The first session centered on the teaching of dairying, about which interest was high. But the 19-paper research program commanded the most attention and discussion. Probably this program, more than any others, set the pace for future meetings. This was the type of program that C. E. Eckles had had in mind for many years. The extension, production, and manufacturers section programs also created much interest. Particularly noticeable was the absence of any outside attractions, such as the cattle shows, as previously experienced. From the social standpoint two events were striking, (1) the banquet in the Union Building with local entertainment, and (2) the fish fry and dance on the shores of a nearby lake. At the banquet, two young MSC staff members, Howard C. Rather, Farm Crops, and James G. Hays, Dairy, had the banqueters in convulsions of laughter as they impromptued a sending-andreceiving radio program of that period. One must recall that in 1927 the radio with its multiplicity of controls was just being perfected, and intermixing of reception from several stations was common and often exasperating. Rather and Hays played on this weakness to the audience's delight. Their heterogeneous dialogue predated "Amos and A n d y " by many months and years. The fish fry and pavilion dance beside the cool Michigan Pine Lake (now Lake Lansing) was an experience n o t soon forgotten by those in attendance. A non-anticipated feature of the leisurely social event was the opportunity for Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 60, No. 10

the younger members to meet and visit with long-time Association celebrities such as Eckles, Frandsen, Reed, Fitch, Sherman, and others. Visits with those distinguished men, at leisure in the afterglow of a successful 2-day meeting, seemed to give a "sense of belonging" to the younger members. Surely, there must have been some hidden stimuli, for at least 17 of those present were or would become future presidents of the Association. Contrasted with the speed and convenience of today's transportation, getting to the East Lansing meeting in 1927 was neither quick nor easy. Travel was by train or by low-compression-engine automobiles, Model-T Ford and Chevrolet predominating. Highways were twoway, narrow, brick, macadam, concrete, or gravel and limited. For example, then, hard surface roads out of Lansing extended north only about 20 miles. Modern airplanes and airports were y e t to be in the dream stage. Lindbergh's epochal, nonstop pioneering solo New York-toParis, 33.5-hour, flight had been made but a month before the East Lansing meeting, and the public was still hysterical in its adulation over the achievement of the " L o n e Eagle". Despite the difficulty of long-distance travel in 1927, those members attending (less than 100; 68 in the official picture) had that compulsive, inner urge to attend. The experience of one group, a trio from West Virginia, may be recounted. They set out for East Lansing, three days prior to the opening session in a newly-tired, Model-T Ford fitted with a "Ruckstile" axle and loaded with suit cases, fishing tackle, and camping equipment tied to the hood and running boards. En route they camped in a farmer's field by permission, supped brewed coffee, ate pork-and-beans, bread, and canned peaches, then slep fitfully under a leanto canvas tent until the curious crows cawed them awake at daybreak. Across northern Ohio over newly laid brick paving, they made their way to Toledo at a t o p ~ p e e d of 35 miles an hour. From Toledo they headed for East Lansing via Jackson, staying overnight at the Blackstone Hotel where they refreshed themselves and dressed up for the final 40-mile lap to East Lansing and the opening session. Following the meeting, the trio headed north for fishing waters as suggested by the hospitality committee; then they went themselves home via Port Huron, Buffalo, Olean, and Morgantown. What

ASSOCIATION AFFAIRS a way to attend a scientific meeting! Repeatedly punctured, high-pressure, inner-tube tires (twice, two flats at the same time), long days of tedious travel, and hit-and-miss camping made attendance at the 1927 association meeting for them unforgettable. This outing, with variations, soon became the common experience of many members attending the Association meetings. At the Golden Anniversary Meeting, 1956, Storrs, the Historian, reflected as follows: An unplanned feature of the 1927 meeting, acclaimed at the time by some and viewed with alarm and misgivings by others, was the using of the annual meeting as a vacation for the family. A few members dared to bring their wives with them to the 1927 summer meeting. The camaraderie of the wives soon convinced the skeptics that the summer meetings offered family group vacation possibilities not heretofore considered. Inclusion of the families as a part of the annual summer meetings foretold the future success of the meetings. Before the 1927 meeting ended, the executive council had before it invitations for the 1928 summer meeting from Ohio State University, University of Illinois, Cornell University, University of Minnesota, and University of Wisconsin. They chose the Madison i n s t i t u t i o n world renowed for its innovative, late-19thcentury dairy instruction, distinguished professors, and the laboratories from which the esteemed S. M. Babcock brought forth and gave to the world in 1890, without patent, his renowned fat test. The 23rd Annual Meeting, Madison

By the close of the 1928 Wisconsin meeting the general pattern was set for all future annual meetings of the Association. The 51-paper program was drawn up by Ruehe, Eckles, and Hayden, the same committee that set up the summer program of the East Lansing meeting. The opening session was in the annex to the first dairy building constructed in America. A. C. Dahlberg, the newly-elected editor of the Journal, recorded: It was fitting that Professor Jackson should have presided at this meeting and that Dean H. L. Russell should have presented the opening remarks since the first dairy school in America was held at the University of Wisconsin for the

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purpose of giving instruction on the Babcock Test. Thus, the 1928 meeting was held on historic ground with illustrious scientists present. Indeed, the real feature of the banquet was the presence of S. M. Babcock, emeritus professor of the University and the originator of the test for fat in milk and cream which bears his name (On July 2, 1931, Dr. Babcock passed to his reward, age 87 years, 8 months, and 10 days). The Quaker Oats Company made an appreciated gesture to the Association. They invited the members to a luncheon at their experimental farms and explained the dairy cattle feeding trials under way. This hospitality by a commercial enterprise opened the door for similar gestures at future meetings. The 24th Annual Meeting Washington, DC, June 26 to 28, 1929

Sometime after the Madison meeting, the executive board, bypassing previous invitations from Ohio, Illinois, Cornell, and Minnesota, selected Washington, DC as the site of the 1929 summer meeting. Without question, the invitation and selection of Washington, De, (not on a college campus) must be credited in large part to former president, O. E. Reed, who while at Michigan State College, spearheaded the selection of East Lansing, 1927, as the site of the first summer meeting on college campus. In July 1928, he had become Chief, Bureau of Dairy Industry, U.S. Department of Agriculture, succeeding the illustrious C. W. Larson. He had much to offer the executive board of the Association: Beltsville, Lore A. Rogers (of American World Dairy Congress fame) with his extensive research laboratories, the U.S. Capitol, historic buildings, and interesting environs. This was to be the third summer meeting. The Washington, DC meetings were in the National Museum Building. The program was most appealing to the Association members. It consisted of 61 papers on newly-completed research, activities, or reports of work in progress. The Association members visited the Beltsville Farm on the afternoon of June 27th to inspect the studies in dairy cattle breeding, feeding, and management as conducted by the Bureau. Special tours of educational and historic interest were planned for the ladies. Final tours for all Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 60, No. I0

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were made to Arlington National Cemetery and to Mount Vernon. These tours were innovative and set a precedent so well carried out at several future meetings. Probably the Greyhound Bus tour to the Faraway Farm, Lexington, 1932, to see "Man O' War", and the dinner excursion on historic "Ticonderoga" plying Lake Champlain, 1941, remain classic tours in the memories of those attending the early summer meetings. Early in the Washington meeting, the executive committee, believing that the meeting place should be decided and announced a year in advance so that members could plan their work and vacations with the knowledge of the next convention, again shelved the original invitations in favor of Iowa State College, 1930, and, tentatively, Davis, CA, 1931. F O R M A T OF SUMMER M E E T I N G S ESTABLISHED

By the close of the Washington, DC, 1929 meeting with announcement of the 1930 Ames and 1931 Davis meetings, the general format of the summer meetings had been established. By and large, the meetings involved (1) a three-day event; (2) set research-paper programs; (3) summer vacation with the entire family; (4) commercial participation and monetary award; (5) special tours; (6) use of college campus dormitory and classroom facilities; (7) group picture taking; (8) annual banquets; (9) special programs for women and children; (10) advance selection of meeting sites, geographically located; and (11) announcement of the site of the summer meetings a year in advance. But these were not all, nor were they all retained throughout the years. Increasing numbers attending the annual meetings made some deletions and additions imperative; so did World War II; also, recognition of the Student Affiliates as a separate entity had its impact. 1932 to 1941

The first five years of summer meetings of the Association, 1927 to 1931, were largely innovative and experimental; the meetings for the next 10 years, 1932 to 1941, were ones of membership solidarity and Association strength. In a sense, J. M. Sherman, Cornell, the Association's 14th president, 1930, set a pattern Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 60, No. 10

making the 1932 to 1941 period one of the most productive eras in the life of the Association. He broke the 24-year precedent of 2-year tenancy of office for the president by declining to serve the 2nd year. Previously, M. Mortensen, Iowa, 1920, and J. B. Fitch, Minnesota, 1927, found it expedient to serve but 1 year. Sherman believed that a 1-year term would compact the potential leadership of the Association, giving twice the number of members an opportunity to serve the Association. His generosity was acclaimed immediately, and in 1931 the revised constitution provided for the elected vice-president to ascend to the presidency for 1 year. The 1-year term of office bore fruit. New presidents each year brought to the Association a renewed vigor and a dynamism not experienced heretofore. For the most part, the presidents of that period were long-time dedicated members of the Association. Virtually all of them, as heads of dairy departments in their respective colleges, were experienced administrators. Each served well. They were respected, if not revered and envied, by the younger members. Few members and their wives failed to attend the social function of the annual meeting, the president's reception. A certain dignity surrounded the affair. It was truly a bluejacket, white-trouser event. Several Association changes occurred during the Great Recession and Recovery years of the thirties: (1) a marked attendance increase at the annual meetings; (2) election of a permanent secretary; (3) having printed abstracts available at time of meeting; (4) giving more attention to the women and children's programs; (5) paying tribute to members for distinguished service; (6) host institutions extending themselves to making the annual meeting a memorable one; (7) taking group pictures; (8) acceptance of the first commercial award for excellence in research; and (9) continuing the banquet and its program as the highlight of the meeting. Most of these activities resulted from a reawakening of the older members to the potential role of the Association of scientific dairying. Enthusiasm was rampant. Unfortunately, World War II dampened this enthusiasm and forward thrust. However, the Association emerged from the 4-year holocaust with renewed interest and younger leadership into a technological era which even the crystal gazers

ASSOCIATION AFFAIRS could not foresee. The prewar annual summer meetings of the Association were eventually to give way to a newer concept of meeting. Yet, the skeleton of the old would be retained. The War Years

Members attending the Burlington meeting, 1941, little dreamed of the impending World War 1I, and its impact on the Association affairs. With the record-breaking attendance, 884 total, Secretary Clifford Conklin's innovative Ayrshire beef barbecue, and the unforgettable Lake Champlain "Ticonderoga" dinner cruise, those in attendance foresaw only happy days for the Association. Within six months the nation would be plunged into tile war of all wars. While indus ° try was war mobilized overnight, agriculture and the dairy industry particularly were not lax. " F o o d would win the war and write the peace" were the slogans of inspiration to the nation's farmers. Dairymen were overly zealous of their role in the production of the essential food: milk. The Executive Board, ADSA, never questioned the holding of the ADSA meeting in East Lansing, June, 1942. The war yet was not close to home. However, total attendance was 33% less than that at the Burlington meeting. In fact, not for five additional years (Guelph, 1947) would total attendance exceed that of the 1941 meeting. Further declines in attendance from that of 1942 were to be recorded. Total attendance at Columbia, 1943, was 318; that at Columbus, 1944, was 3 8 4 - l o w e s t figures since the St. Paul meeting in 1935. Undaunted, the dairy scientists believed they were contributing to the war effort by continuing their annual summer meetings where they discussed means of producing more dairy products economically for the war effort. But, at last, the sinews of war rightened suddenly in late spring, 1945. The Association was all set for the June meeting, Ames, when the Washington decree came. The May issue of the Journal carried, in part, this starding announcement: 1045 MEETING CANCELLED

The War Committee on conventions had denied the American Dairy Science Association a permit to hold the 1945 meeting scheduled for Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa, June 12-14.

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That was final. The Board of Directors accepted the ultimatum and immediately improvised a business meeting at the Stevens Hotel, Chicago, June 12. Eleven officers of the Association and two guests were present to hear the presidential address, secretary-treasurer's report, and submitted reports of several committees. Despite the exigencies of war, the Borden Company proudly presented their prestigious awards in dairy manufacturing and in dairy production, continuous since 1937. Up to that time, the Borden Awards, first given at Lincoln in 1937, were the only ones being presented. (In 1948, the Feed Manufacturers Award was establishing; at the 72nd annual meeting, Ames, 1977, eleven awards were bestowed, not including those of the Student Affiliates.) The 1945 Borden awardees were G. M. Trout, Michigan, and G. W. Salisbury, Illinois. They were the two "guests" at the 1945 business meeting, Chicago.

The 1946 Meeting

World War II ended within two months of the Association's Chicago business meeting. Selection of the site for the 1946 annual meeting presented no problems. Naturally, it would be restaged at Ames. That year the total attendance was 757, virtually twice that of the last general meeting, Columbus, 1944. A heart-warming gesture was tendered to one of the members at the closing banquet meeting, 1946, the bestowal of the first "Honorary Membership." Prior to that time, several recognitions for distinctive or meritorious service to the Association had been made irregularly. After much study, the Committee on Honors or Special Recognition recommended, with Board approval, the awarding yearly of the "Association's Certificate of Honorary Membership," believing that honorary membership in the Association "should be kept on a very high plane." Thus, the first of the Association's "Honorary Memberships" was bestowed upon the very deserving, able Ollie Ezekial Reed, 1946. The ovation accorded recipient Reed bespoke the high esteem and respect in which Association members held him. One recalls that Reed engineered the first of the summer meetings on college campuses, East Lansing, 1927. What a tribute to a dedicated member of the Association! Little did the audience in standing ovation dream they were Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 60, No. 10

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JO U R N A L OF D A I R Y SCIENCE

justly honoring a devoted servant at the last of the old-time summer meetings and the beginning of a new era in the life of the Association. GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF M E E T I N G SITES

Space prevents listing of the specific highlights of each of the 47 summer meetings from Iowa, 1930, to Iowa, 1977. The sites of each annual meeting are in Table 1. Here virtually

TABLE 1. State and/or Province in which annual summer meetings of the American Dairy Science Association were, 1927 to 1977. Num-

Location

Year

Michigan Wisconsin New Yorka Minnesota Ohiob Iowa California Kentucky Illinois Pennsylvania Idaho c Washington Indiana Ontario North Carolina Washington, DC Nebraska Vermont Missouri Chicagod (Exec. Board) Georgia Tennessee Connecticut Oklahoma Utah Maryland Arizona Oregon Florida Virginia Kansas

1927,1942,1955,1971 1928,1953,1961 1934,1950,1967 1935,1949,1969 1938,1944,1968 1930,1946,1977 1931,1952 1932,1965 1933,1959 1936,1954

4 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2

1939,1973 1940,1963 1947,1974 1958,1976 1929 1937 1941 1943

2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1

1945 1948 1951 1956 1957 1960 1962 1964 1966 1970 1972 1975

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

TOTAL

ber

51

a1934, Ithaca and Geneva. b1938, Columbus and Wooster. c1939, Moscow and Pullman. d1945, War Committee on Conventions denied the ADSA a permit to hold the 1945 meeting scheduled for Iowa State College, June 12-14. Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 60, No. 10

every section of the United States with 29 states participating, has hosted the American Dairy Science Association meeting on their agricultural college campuses. In addition, the University of Guelph, Ontario, twice has extended its hospitality to the Association members. Six institutions of five states, Michigan, Wisconsin, New York, Minnesota, Ohio, and Iowa (27% of 51 annual meetings) have given a warm reception to the Association members and guests. Eight other states each have welcomed the summer meetings twice. Fourteen states, plus Chicago and Washington, DC, were the locale for 16 meetings. Had one attended all meetings, he virtually would have circumscribed the continental United States. His itinerary from East Lansing westward would have taken him (not in sequential years) to Chicago, Madison, Minneapolis, Bozeman, Moscow, Pullman, Corvallis, Davis, Tucson, Gainesville, Athens, Raleigh, Blacksburg, Washington, DC, College Park, Storrs, Burlington, Cornell, Geneva, Guelph, and back to Michigan. Within the tour boundary, he would have visited also University Park, Knoxville, Lexington, Columbus, Wooster, West Lafayette, Urbana, Columbia, Ames, Lincoln, Stillwater, Manhattan, and Logan. What a way to see America! And the yearly travels were merely the byproduct of attending the annual summer meetings of the Association! Obviously, because of conflicting circumstances and age, no one member has attended all the meetings from 1927 to 1977, inclusive. However, an attendance survey taken in 1942 yielded a surprisingly large percentage of regular attenders. At that time, one member, J. H. Frandsen, Massachusetts, had attended 23 of the first 25 meetings of the Association; of the 16 summer meetings, R. B. Stoltz, Ohio, headed the list, having attended 15 of them. Since then, time has taken its toll and only about 12 of those at the 1927, East Lansing, meeting are still living. Incidentally, the Historian yearns to record that he, himself, has attended 45 (88%) of the 51 summer meetings beginning in 1927. In one sense, yearly attendance data measures the "heart beat" or the inert vitality of an organization. In that respect, the attendance at the annual meetings since World War II, peaking during the 1961 to 1965 period, reflects a healthy Association (Table 2). Several meetings stand out for certain records. For example,

TABLE 2. A t t e n d a n c e at annual meetings of t h e American Dairy Science Association, 1956 to 1977• (For t h e 1st 50 meetings see J. Dairy Sci. 39:634, 642. 1956.) Attendance Meeting

Location

Year

Men

Women

Children

51st 52rid 53rd 54th 55th 56th 57th 58th 59th 60th 61st 62nd 63rd 64th 65th 66th 67th 68th 69th 70th 71st 72rid

Storm, CT Stillwater, OK Raleigh, NC Urbana, IL Logan, UT Madison, WI College Park, MD West Lafayette, IN Tucson, AZ Lexington, KY Corvallis, OR Ithaca, NY Columbus, O11 Minneapolis, MN Galnesville, FL East Lansing, MI Blacksburg, VA Pullman, WA Guelph, Ontario Manhattan, KS Raleigh, NC Ames, IA

1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977

871 746 985 1056 815 1262 1143 1164 709 1116 697 1168 1202 1156 988 1231 1049 776 871 815 1066 1137

318 227 364 254 364 394 440 247 234 384 267 423 299 370 257 314 354 317 400 207 359 291

226 214 342 222 454 260 479 190 317 340 277 403 200 313 265 273 236 226 313 118 193 180

alncluding guests. blncluding 193 s t u d e n t affiliates. <

Clncluding 161 s t u d e n t affiliates. dlncluding 237 s t u d e n t affiliates.

Z 9

Representation Total

States e

1415 1187 1732 1532 1633 1916 2062 1601 1260 1840 1241 1994 1701 1839 1510 1718 a 1666 1319 1777 b 1140 c 1618 d 1608

45 47 46

50 48 45 47 46 47 49

Countries f 10 6 9 9 9 12 25 13 14 7 9 13

2,

~q ~q

© c3

E 7

>

•

°

.

.

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JO URNA L OF D A I R Y SCIENCE

a) Maryland had the largest total a t t e n d a n c e 2062 in 1962, exceeding Cornell's 1967 total attendance of 1994 by 68. b) Wisconsin holds the attendance record for m e n - 1 2 6 2 in 1961, beating the previous record of 1056 held by Illinois in 1959, and holding comfortable margins over Columbus and East Lansing's later attendance figures of 1202 and 1231 in 1968 and 1971, respectively. c) The Michigan meeting, 1 9 5 5 , had representatives from the 48 states and the District of Columbia. By the time of the Wisconsin meeting, 1961, Alaska and Hawaii territories were admitted as states. Since then, the Wisconsin meeting, 1961, had representatives from all states, including the District of Columbia, except one. The Cornell meeting, 1967, had representatives from 49 states, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

the 1960 Utah meeting, 454, by 25. Again only three summer meetings have had 400 or more children in attendance. These were at: Logan, 1960, with 454; College Park, 1962, with 4 7 9 ; a n d Ithaca, 1967, with 403. g) The 1964 Arizona meeting had the largest children attendance per women regi~rant, the ratio being 1.35 to 1 ; that at Utah, 1960, being 1.25 to 1 ; Maryland, 1962, being 1.09 to 1; Pennsylvania, 1936, 1.06 to 1 ; a n d Florida, 1970, 1.03 to 1. h) Maryland, 1962, is first in having the greatest number of foreign countries represented, 25, runner-up being Arizona, 1964, with 14. Wisconsin, 1953 ; Purdue, 1963 ;and Cornell, 1967, each had 13. No foreign registration figures have been reported since 1967. i) The average attendance during the 5-year periods since World War II was as in Table 3.

e) Maryland, 1962, hosted the largest number of women, 440, beating the previously held records of the 1961 Wisconsin and 1950 Cornell tied attendance figures for women, 394, by 46, and the 1967 Cornell figure, 423, by 17. Later, 1974, the Guelph meeting hosted 400 women attendants. Only three schools--University of Maryland, 1962 ; Cornell University, 1967 ; and Guelph University - h o s t e d 400 or more women at the annual meetings.

j) Prior to World War 1I, the University of Vermont, Burlington, 1941, had the highest total attendance ever recorded at the 36 meetings held up to that t i m e - 8 4 4 . Since World War II, this record has been broken 30 times, by meetings at Guelph, Athens, St. Paul, Ithaca, Knoxville, Madison, State College, East Lansing, Storrs, Stillwater, Raleigh, Urbana, Logan, Madison, College Park, West Lafayette, Tucson, Lexington, Corvallis, Ithaca, Columbus, Minneapolis, Gainesville, East Lansing, Blacksburg, Pullman, Guelph, Manhattan, Raleigh, and Ames. The total attendance first exceeded 1000 at St. Paul, 1949. At the 28 annual meetings since then, total attendance has exceeded 1000 26 times.

f) The 1962 Maryland meeting had the largest children attendance, 479, exceeding that of

k) The percentage of men in attendance from 1946 to 1965 has ranged from a low of 50%

d) Maryland, 1962, leads all other meetings in combined attendance of women and children, 919, the number exceeding those attending the 1960 Utah meeting, 818, by 101 and the 1967 Cornell meeting, 826 by 93.

TABLE 3. Average attendance during the 5-year periods since World War II.

Period

Men

Women

1946--1950 1951-1955 1956-1960 1961-1965 1966-1970 1971-1975

687 736 895 1079 1042 948

252 305 334 325 318

Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 60, No. 10

Children

Total

173 292 317 292 301

1054 1206 1500 1736 1655 1524

367

ASSOCIATION AFFAIRS at Logan, 1960, to highs of 72% at KnoxviUe, 1951, and East Lansing, 1971, and 73% at West Lafayette, 1963. The average male attendance during the 30 post-World War II period meetings, 1946 to 1975, inclusive, was 62%. Attendance of men has exceeded 1000 only twelve times in the 72 annual meetings held. These records were established at Urbana, 1959; Madison, 1961; College Park, 1962; West Lafayette, 1963; Lexington, 1965; Ithaca, 1967 ; Columbus, 1968 ; Minneapolis, 1969 ; East Lansing, 1971 ; Blacksburg, 1972 ; Raleigh, 1976; and Ames, 1977, with numbers of 1056, 1262, 1143, 1164, 1116, 1168, 1202, 1156, 1231, 1049, 1066, and 1137, respectively.

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The Later Years

Space does not permit a recording of the historical highlights of the 32 summer meetings of the Association since World War II. Without exception, the annual meetings have been held on college campuses. The number of awards have increased to the extent that they are now being presented at three special segments of the general program. The president's reception has given way to a Sunday evening social affair. By and large, the entire research program has taken on a technological character under a structure widely different from the simple production, manufacturing, and extension divisions of years ago. All this has been to the good. The Association and its Journal have risen unpredictably in world stature.

Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 60, No. 10