American Geographical Society - History

History

The AGS was founded by 31 New Yorkers, who were wealthy philanthropists, historians, publishers and editors. Among them were George Folsom, Henry Grinnell, Henry Varnum Poor, Hiram Barney, Alexander Isaac Cotheal, Henry Evelyn Pierrepont, S. De Witt Bloodgood, John Romeyn Brodhead, Joshua Leavitt and Archibald Russell.

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'

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’. In 1871, the AGS amended its Charter and dropped “and Statistical” from its title, thus becoming the ‘American Geographical Society’.

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. 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, when the AGS sent a council member to attend the 1st International Geographical Congress.

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 in 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 photographer, 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 organizations 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.

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. In 1866, the American Geographical Society moved to Cooper Union at Cooper Square on Ninth Street, where it remained for ten years. In 1911, the AGS moved to 3755 Broadway at 156th Street. This three story building was built on land donated by Archer Milton Huntington’s mother and designed by Charles Pratt Huntington. 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 32 Court Street, Brooklyn.