ABSTRACT
The origins of the International Assembly project go back at least to an attempt by French academics during the 1889 exhibition to lay on special educational lectures for visitors. It seems that Geddes, with the experience of the Summer Meetings behind him, was the moving spirit this time. Geddes had also been busy recruiting in America. During his visit in January 1900, he recruited an American secretary, Robert Erskine Ely, to provide a large American committee of patrons-mostly university professors but also private individuals, many of them women. In mid-April 1900, Geddes reported that, the Commissaire General of the Exhibition, Alfred Picard, had agreed to provide 3,000 francs for fitting out the headquarters. Geddes was an observer in the Exhibition at many levels. He was an active participant at the International Conference on the Social Sciences, organized by a remarkable woman, Jeanne Weill who had adopted the pseudonym 'Mlle Dick May', and whose networking talents were equal to his own.
