Meetings of the Association 8i 



mittee, of which Charles S. Minot was chairman, the annual meeting at 

 Pittsburgh in June-July. 1902, was followed by a meeting in Washington in 

 December, 1902- — January, 1903. Since that year all annual meetings of the 

 Association have been held during Convocation Week. 



In 1922 a committee, of which J. McKeen Cattell was chairman, made a 

 thorough study of the whole problem of meetings and recommended that a 

 twelve-year cycle be adopted. Under this plan major meetings were to be 

 held cyclically in four-year intervals in Washington, New York and Chi- 

 cago ; in mid-periods in large cities in succession in New England, the 

 Central States and the Middle Atlantic States. It was also recommended that 

 a summer meeting be held in 1923. 



The recommendations were adopted by the Council and a joint meeting 

 with the Pacific Division and the Southwestern Division was held in Los 

 Angeles in September, 1923, just before the total eclipse of the sun of that 

 year, the track of which passed across Southern California. A summer meet- 

 ing was held in 1925, a joint meeting with the Southwestern Division at 

 Boulder, Colorado, but no other summer meeting was scheduled until 193 1, 

 when a joint meeting with the Pacific Division was held at Pasadena, Cali- 

 fornia. Since 1931 the Association has held a summer meeting each year. 

 Two summer meetings are scheduled for 194T, one at Durham, N. H., in 

 June and one at Chicago in September. 



Various considerations enter into the choosing of places for meetings of 

 the Association. Perhaps the primary one is that they should be distributed 

 widely over the country. Another is that they should be held in or near large 

 centers of scientific interests. They must be held where facilities are adequate 

 and reasonably concentrated. This is not a light requirement, for at the 

 winter meetings there must be available at one time for the sessions of the 

 Association sections and of the affiliated and associated societies at least 60 

 meeting rooms with seating capacities ranging from 75 to 500 and equipped 

 with projection apparatus. Moreover, there must be suitable headquarters 

 for the Association and for from 20 to 50 affiliated and associated societies. 

 Finally, it must be possible to serve at least six or eight large luncheons or 

 dinners at the same time. One of the most difficult requirements to meet is a 

 suitable, conveniently located space of at least 20.000 square feet for the 

 annual science exhibition and general registration headquarters and lounge. 

 At summer meetings science exhibitions are not held and other requirements 

 are about half those for winter meetings. 



The first step in choosing a place for a meeting is usually an invitation 

 from local institutions or organizations, supported by members of the Asso- 

 ciation living in the city extending the invitation. If the invitation is looked 

 on with favor by the Executive Committee, the office of the Permanent 

 Secretary makes a survey of the physical and other facilities available in the 



