Past Presidents
The Society has possessed a diverse line of presidents, including a New York City Mayor and 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 Society's presidents have included:
- George Bancroft (1852–1854)
- Francis L. Hawks (1854–1861)
- Henry Grinnell (1861–1864)
- Charles Patrick Daly (1864–1899)
- Seth Low (1900–1901)
- Robert Edwin Peary (1903–1907)
- Archer M. Huntington (1907–1911, Honorary President 1911-1916)
- John Greenough (1916–1925, Honorary President 1925-1934)
- John Huston Finley (1925–1934, Honorary President 1934-1940)
- Roland L. Redmond (1934–1947)
- Richard Upjohn Light (1947–1950)
Other leaders
- Dr. Isaiah Bowman (Director 1915 to 1935)
- John K. Wright (Director 1938-1949)
Read more about this topic: American Geographical Society
Famous quotes containing the word presidents:
“You must drop all your democracy. You must not believe in “the people.” One class is no better than another. It must be a case of Wisdom, or Truth. Let the working classes be working classes. That is the truth. There must be an aristocracy of people who have wisdom, and there must be a Ruler: a Kaiser: no Presidents and democracies.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“All Presidents start out to run a crusade but after a couple of years they find they are running something less heroic and much more intractable: namely the presidency. The people are well cured by then of election fever, during which they think they are choosing Moses. In the third year, they look on the man as a sinner and a bumbler and begin to poke around for rumours of another Messiah.”
—Alistair Cooke (b. 1908)