The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows from around the world.[2] The society encourages activities that expands geographical knowledge, and the interpretation of that knowledge so that it can be useful to geographers and other disciplines, especially in a policymaking environment. It is the oldest[3] nationwide geographical organization in the United States. Over the century and a half of its existence, the AGS has been especially interested in three regions: the Arctic, the Antarctic, and Latin America. A signature characteristic of the AGS-sponsored exploration was the requirement that its expeditions produce tangible scientific results.
The founders held a joint interest in polar exploration, and readily organized the AGS upon the request of Lady Franklin to search for her husband and his voyagers lost in the Polar Franklin Expedition. In September 1851, the committee formed to draft a constitution. On October 9, this committee undertook the constitution at a meeting held in the Geographical and Statistical Library in New York City. The society was not fully established until December 7, 1854, under a charter granted by legislator of the State of New York'[4]:14–70
The society was primarily named the "American Geographical and Statistical Society"; possibly due to the fact that the organizational meeting was held in New York University's "Geographical and Statistical Library".[5] In 1871, the AGS amended its Charter and dropped "and Statistical" from its title, thus becoming the "American Geographical Society".[4]:71–111
The society's first and most ambitious attempt to influence governmental policy was made early in 1862. On January 7, a special committee was appointed to devise a taxation system to correspond with the present state of public affairs.[6] The committee prepared a report which was printed and distributed to members of the society, members of Congress, and other public functionaries throughout the United States. The society also began to integrate globally within the international geographical community, sending a council member to attend the first International Geographical Congress.
11 West 29th Street, Manhattan
During World War I, the interdisciplinary, government-sponsored "Inquiry" in preparation for the Paris Peace Conference was led by the AGS and headquartered in the society's building in New York. After the Armistice of 11 November 1918, President Woodrow Wilson and the American Delegation sailed for France. With them sailed AGS Director Isaiah Bowman and three truckloads of geographical information compiled by Bowman and 150 geographers, historians, economists, statisticians, ethnographers, political scientists, and scholars of international law.
The AGS was instrumental in providing technical and professional support to the many polar expeditions of Louise Arner Boyd during the 1930s. Her long-time friendship with geographer and future Johns Hopkins University president, Isaiah Bowman, helped inspire in Louise a lifelong interest in geography and photography, which proved invaluable on all her expeditions. The AGS published her book, The Fiord Region of East Greenland, and also sent her in 1934 as the organization's delegate to the International Geographical Congress in Warsaw, Poland. During this trip Louise traveled throughout Poland with local experts, documenting the life, work and customs of the rural people, a population that would undergo drastic changes during and after the Second World War. The AGS published her second book, Rural Poland.
After World War I, the society undertook an ambitious effort to map "Hispanic America" as part of the international effort to map the entire world at 1:1,000,000. The venture lasted from 1920 to 1945 and eventually produced 107 map sheets at a total cost of more than one-half million dollars, mostly in private donations.[4]
Broadway at 156th Street
During World War II, the society assisted more than forty agencies of the U.S. government. Contributing ethnographic data to U.S. Military Intelligence in the efforts to defuse Axis strongholds in Eastern Europe.
The headquarters of the American Geographical Society were initially established at New York University in Washington Square. The university's chapel was used for some of the society's lectures and the AGS remained at this location until 1858. Later, two rooms located in Clinton Hall, formerly the Astor Opera House, became the society's next home in December 1858.[7] In 1866, the American Geographical Society moved to Cooper Union at Cooper Square on Ninth Street, where it remained for ten years.[8] In 1911, the AGS moved to 3755 Broadway at 156th Street.[9] This three story building was built on land donated by Archer Milton Huntington's mother and designed by Charles Pratt Huntington.[10]Audubon Terrace became the society's most prominent home and was visited by many scholars and dignitaries, including President Woodrow Wilson.
After numerous relocations across New York City, the AGS is currently housed at 121 Sixth Avenue, Manhattan.
The society has possessed a diverse line of presidents, including a New York City Mayor and The New York Times Editor. The first president was George Bancroft, an American historian and statesman who was prominent in the promotion of secondary education and public policy.
The AGS publishes a peer-reviewed, scholarly periodical devoted exclusively to geography titled Geographical Review[12] . The journal contains articles on all aspects of current topical and regional issues within geography. Additionally, the society publishes a forty-page, full-color journal titled Focus' in Geography, which includes articles on a variety of topics aimed towards a broader audience of students, teachers, administrators and parents. Focus is edited and written by academic and professional geographers and includes theme sections; maps and photos; and special country issues. Ubique, the society's thrice-yearly letter newsletter, serves as a vehicle for communication of Society news and events. Ubique is sent to all Fellows, Associates, Medalists, Geography Department Heads, and Galileo Circle Members.
The AGS also provides geographers to speak to the media on a variety of issues critical to human, environmental, political, and economic development. The AGS Writers Circle produces Commentary and Op Ed pieces about issues of importance to global society, such as geopolitics, spatial technologies (e.g. Geographic Information Sciences (GIS) and Spatial Modeling), water management, global climate change, globalization, urban growth and change, and social issues.
Expeditions
To contribute to geographical understanding, the AGS arranges an array of expeditions to various locations.
The expeditions the society has been connected with fall into three categories:
expeditions organized and led by members of the society's staff
other expeditions in which members of the AGS staff took part
expeditions under the society's auspices or assisted by the institution in any other ways
Most notably:
A Transcontinental Excursion was arranged and executed by the AGS in 1912. The idea for this excursion was generated by Professor William Morris Davis who, in 1908 "tried the unique experiment of conducting a geographical excursion in Europe, open to students of European and American universities". The excursion promoted the acquaintance of European geographers with Americans.[13][14]
Currently, the AGS sends teams of scholars to improve U.S. understanding of foreign lands and peoples, in order to reduce international misunderstandings and improve humanitarian assistance in case of natural disasters, technological accidents, terrorist acts and war. The organization aims to build a multi-scale Geographic information system (GIS) for each world region, collect unclassified GIS data, conduct participatory GIS, train a new caliber of regional experts, disseminate GIS data freely to the public and publish the results in popular media and scholarly journal. Each expedition is titled a Bowman Expedition, in honor of past AGS Director, Isaiah Bowman.
The AGS archive contains field notes, original maps, sketches, photographs, journals, artifacts, correspondence, expedition flags and memorabilia, field equipment, telegrams, press clippings, event programs, radio logs, meeting records, and many other documents and artifacts. In 2011 the AGS of NY and the AGS Library at UW Milwaukee began a project to organize, rehouse and create the finding aid for the society archives.
The AGS Library was transferred to the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee[15] in 1978. It holds a large collection of material from Latin American and the Polar Regions and contains over one-million items, some dating back to the 15th century.
The AGS Travel Program
Since 1984, the AGS have organized a Travel Program, sponsoring in excess of 250 educational trips for the general public. The AGS Travel Program lecturers are professional geographers, fellows of the society and authorities on the regions traveled. Trips are conducted through various means of travel, including private jet and ship.
The American Geographical Society acquired its Fliers' & Explorers' Globe in 1929 as a gift from AGS President John H. Finley.[16] In his position as editor-in-chief of The New York Times, Finley invited early heroes of exploration and aviation to draw their routes and sign their names on his 18-inch globe. The society has continued the custom and has created a symbol of humanity's drive to explore the universe.
Signers of the Fliers' & Explorers' Globe over the years are men and women who have explored certain places on earth for the first time in recorded history, reached new extremes of height or depth, pioneered new means of travel, or set aviation records. Among them are such people as Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Sir Edmund Hillary, William Beebe, Louise Arner Boyd and the Apollo 13 astronauts.
Signers of the Fliers' & Explorers' Globe are proposed by AGS' Exploration Committee for approval by the AGS Honors Committee and confirmation by the AGS Council.
Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen was a Greenlandic-Danish polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" and was the first European to cross the Northwest Passage via dog sled. He remains well known in Greenland, Denmark and among Canadian Inuit.
A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" and the Greek suffix, "graphy", meaning "description", so a geographer is someone who studies the earth. The word "geography" is a Middle French word that is believed to have been first used in 1540.
William Morris Davis was an American geographer, geologist, geomorphologist, and meteorologist, often called the "father of American geography".
Ellsworth Huntington was a professor of geography at Yale University during the early 20th century, known for his studies on environmental determinism/climatic determinism, economic growth, and economic geography. He served as president of the Ecological Society of America in 1917, the Association of American Geographers in 1923 and president of the board of directors of the American Eugenics Society from 1934 to 1938.
The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences, the society has 16,000 members, with its work reaching the public through publications, research groups and lectures.
Elisha Kent Kane was a United States Navy medical officer and Arctic explorer. He served as assistant surgeon during Caleb Cushing's journey to China to negotiate the Treaty of Wangxia and in the Africa Squadron. He was assigned as a special envoy to the United States Army during the Mexican–American War and as a surveyor in the U.S. Coast Survey.
The Royal Canadian Geographical Society is a Canadian nonprofit educational organization. It has dedicated itself to spreading a broader knowledge and deeper appreciation of Canada, including its people, places, natural and cultural heritage, as well as its environmental, social and economic challenges.
Archer Milton Huntington was an American philanthropist and scholar, primarily known for his contributions to the field of Hispanic studies. He founded the Hispanic Society of America in New York City, and made numerous contributions to the American Geographical Society.
Isaiah Bowman, AB, Ph. D., was an American geographer and President of the Johns Hopkins University, 1935–1948, controversial for his antisemitism and inaction in Jewish resettlement during WWII.
The Royal Scottish Geographical Society (RSGS) is an educational charity based in Perth, Scotland founded in 1884. The purpose of the society is to advance the subject of geography worldwide, inspire people to learn more about the world around them, and provide a source of reliable and impartial geographical information.
John Kirtland Wright (1891–1969) was an American geographer, notable for his cartography, geosophy, and study of the history of geographical thought. He was the son of classical scholar John Henry Wright and novelist Mary Tappan Wright, and the brother of legal scholar and utopian novelist Austin Tappan Wright. He married Katharine McGiffert Jan. 21, 1921 in New York, N.Y. They had three children: Austin McGiffert Wright, Gertrude Huntington McPherson, and Mary Wolcott Toynbee.
The American Association of Geographers (AAG) is a non-profit scientific and educational society aimed at advancing the understanding, study, and importance of geography and related fields. Its headquarters is located in Washington, D.C. The organization was founded on December 29, 1904, in Philadelphia, as the Association of American Geographers, with the American Society of Professional Geographers later amalgamating into it in December 1948 in Madison, Wisconsin. As of 2020, the association has more than 10,000 members, from nearly 100 countries. AAG members are geographers and related professionals who work in the public, private, and academic sectors.
The Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration was an era in the exploration of the continent of Antarctica which began at the end of the 19th century, and ended after the First World War; the Shackleton–Rowett Expedition of 1921–1922 is often cited by historians as the dividing line between the "Heroic" and "Mechanical" ages.
John Riddoch Rymill was an Australian polar explorer, who had the rare second clasp added to his Polar Medal.
Peter Herlihy, University of Kansas geographer, the Associate Director and Graduate Advisor, Latin American Studies, University of Kansas and field director of the controversial U.S. DOD funded México Indígena project known as the Bowman Expeditions, an initiative of the American Geographical Society to organize international teams of geographers to research potentially important place-based issues and restore the role of geographers as advisers to U.S. government foreign policy makers. The stated objective of the México Indígena project is to produce maps of the “digital human terrain,” of the region's indigenous peoples.
David Legge Brainard was a career officer in the United States Army. He enlisted in 1876, received his officer's commission in 1886, and served until 1919. Brainard attained the rank of brigadier general and served during World War I as U.S. military attaché in Lisbon, Portugal.
The George Davidson Medal is awarded by the American Geographical Society for the "exceptional achievement in research for exploration in the Pacific Ocean or the lands bordering therein". In 1946, the American Geographical Society received a bequest of $5000 from his daughter Ellinor Campbell Davidson to establish the medal and a research fund to honor her father. The medal was designed by American sculptor Paul Manship in 1951.
Bowman Glacier is a deeply entrenched glacier, 40 nautical miles (70 km) long, descending the polar plateau between the Quarles Range and the Rawson Plateau of the Queen Maud Mountains to enter the Ross Ice Shelf just west of the flow of Amundsen Glacier. It was discovered in December 1929 by the Byrd Antarctic Expedition geological party under Laurence Gould, and named by Richard E. Byrd for Isaiah Bowman, an eminent geographer who was president of Johns Hopkins University, 1935–49, and Director of the American Geographical Society, 1915–35.
Henry Grier Bryant was an American explorer and writer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The Manchester Geographical Society is a learned society and a registered charity based in Manchester, England.
1 2 3 Wright, John Kirtland 'The Years of Henry Grinnell', Geography in the Making: The American Geographical Society 1851-1951 (1952) — George Grady Press
↑ The American Geographical Society of New York, Memorial volume of the Transcontinental Excursion of 1912 of the American Geographical Society of New York (1915) pp. 1-407. — The De Vinne Press
↑ "Eminent World Geographers Here to See Our Land". The New York Times. 1912-08-18.
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