Historical Note

In 1923, one hundred and thirty-five scientists chartered the Virginia Academy of Science (VAS) and held their first annual VAS meeting in Williamsburg on April 26th. The Academy has continued to meet annually since then (except during World War II), bringing together scientists from every field throughout the state. The records of the Virginia Academy of Science have been arranged in chronological order by year, then by those principal officers who maintained large quantities of records, and by the scientific sections and committees whose records have survived.

The early records of the Academy can be attributed largely to the efforts of E. C. L. Miller who was the only officer (secretary and treasurer) to serve continuously, 1924-1949. During these years, he corresponded widely for the entire Academy, maintained committee reports, compiled the yearly programs, and saw that formal records were published annually in the Proceedings. The strength of the VAS Archives lies largely in the historic intuition of such officers, section heads, or committee chairs who maintained the files. Some files are much more complete than others. The early records of the Research Committee, for example, contain applications, papers submitted for consideration for the annual award, and records of the efforts of J. Shelton Horsley to raise an endowment to support these awards which were later named in his honor. More recent files are limited to minutes and annual reports. The Geology Section has perhaps the most complete set of records of section activities, especially during the leadership of William M. McGill. The activities of other committees and sections are often preserved in the Council’s records, however, while the Proceedings through 1966 and/or the annual meeting files often contain reports of committees and sections.

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