TWENTY YEARS OF THE NORTH CAROLINA ACADEMY 



OF SCIENCE 

 Bj' C. S. Brimley 



With this meeting (that of 1922), the North Carolina Academy 

 of Science closes its twentieth year, and at the request of the secre- 

 tary. Dr. Cunningham, I have prepared a brief review of those first 

 twenty years of its history. 



No account of its origin has ever been published, the first printed 

 records being those of th^ first regular meeting for the presentation 

 of papers at which time the Academy had already been organized 

 for over six months. 



The manner of its beginning was in this fashion. W. W. Ashe, 

 at that time State Forester, conceived the idea of organizing such 

 an institution for the State sometime in 1901, and he communicated 

 his thoughts to Franklin Sherman, State Entomologist, and H. H. 

 Brimley, Curator of the State ^luseum, and later on to F. L. Stevens, 

 Plant Pathologist at the A. and M. College, and Tait Butler, State 

 Veterinarian. These five gentlemen held various conferences and 

 discussions, and the idea also spread among the members of the 

 Raleigh Biological Society of which Dr. Stevens was president. This 

 was mainly during the early ])art of 1902. 



Finally these five gentlemen sent out a call for a meeting to 

 organize a North Carolina Academy of Science, though I am not 

 sure whether the call was signed by others or by these five gentle- 

 men alone, nor do I remember just to whom the appeal was sent. 

 Probably it went mostly to biologists as all the gentlemen inter- 

 ested were biologists themselves, and I have a dim recollection of 

 some discussion as to Avhether the attempt should be to form an 

 Academy of Science or of Natural Sciences. The former was finally 

 decided upon, but I am not at all sure that that decision was reached 

 before the call was sent out. 



However, be that as it may, the call was sent and in response to 

 it there assembled in Dr. Butler's office in the State Agricultural 

 Building at Raleigh on March 21, 1902, four of the five originators 

 (Sherman, II. II. Brimley, Steven.s. and Ashe). Dr. Butler being out 



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