ABSTRACT
Part of a general shift towards professionalization and the formation of vocational associations (as opposed to the more avocational societies of amateur practitioners), American scientific societies proliferated in the late nineteenth century. Societies for economics, entomology, chemistry, physiology, geology, and biology were founded in the 1880s; within the following decade, the fields of mathematics, physics, astronomy, and psychology all established parallel associations. These were based in Washington, D.C., where the bulk of their active members worked for various federal agencies.1 “As the nation grew, inquiries concerning resources and the conditions of material development became necessary,” recounted National Geographic Society vice-president W J McGee in 1898, leading to the establishment of many federal scientific offices.2 The United States Geological Survey, Department of Agriculture, Bureau of the Census, Bureau of American Ethnology, Coast and Geodetic Survey, and Weather Bureau were among the federal agencies drawing scientists and the scientifically-minded to Washington D.C. “In time the experts voluntarily met for mutual benefit and grouped themselves in unofficial organizations, which now stand
in the front rank of learned societies of the world; and official bureaus and unofficial societies are one in purpose, and that the highest in human reach – the increase and diffusion of knowledge for human weal,” McGee explained.3
