The following history of the Milwaukee Section of the American Chemical Society by Eugene W. Moffett, PhD, appeared in the March, 1946 and May, 1946 issues of the Amalgamator. Eugene Moffett was employed by the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company in Milwaukee (now PPG)

The writing of history may be handled by various methods. The dry, factual records which many of us had to memorize in high school were, perhaps, the poorest kind of history. At the other extreme we have the modern historical or biographical novel which may not contain the whole truth, but, if it is well written, does present a more complete and vital picture of the period. It is hoped that this summary of our section's history will fall somewhere between these extremes. The minutes of the meetings are the source of this information and recorded therein are various interesting episodes.

The Milwaukee Section was formed in September, 1908 and received its charter from the national society in December. The charter was signed by Marston T. Bogart and C. L. Parsons. Our section was the thirtieth to be formed. The formation of the section was almost entirely due to the efforts of J. H. Linton, then in charge of the laboratory of the Vilter Manufacturing Co. After directing the successful organization of the section he served as its Secretary for one year.

The first official meeting was held the following January at the Plankinton Hotel and the section got off to a fine start. The number in attendance was "about 120" which included some members of the Chicago Section and guests. At present we do not have a list of the original members nor know their number. The first officers were Martin Rock, chairman; Alfred Gregg, vice-chairman; J. H. Linton, secretary; Earle Manuel, treasurer, and George Prentiss, councillor.

The economic status of the chemist appears to have been a problem then as now. At the second meeting the treasury reported bills payable of $28 with $16 in the treasury. A special assessment was discussed but no action was taken.

The activities of this Section were very ambitious from the start. Our cooperation with t h e Public Library started immediately and it was recommended that they obtain a complete file of Chemical Abstracts and the Journal. The Section also made plans to invite the Society to hold the annual summer meeting in Milwaukee the following year. Apparently this desire was fulfilled three years later in 1912 but with what success we can not tell. We can find no records kept by the Secretaries from the spring of 1909 until the fall of 1913. If any of our present members have records of or recall events concerning this period such information should be added to our present records.

The next secretary took his position more seriously and faithfully recorded the meetings. Furthermore this interest has been maintained. His name - J. W. Lawrie. He records in one instance that 19 were present for dinner. The memory is still too fresh of recent meetings which set about the same record with a much larger membership. Another officer at that time also has remained very active - H. W. Rohde.

It is a trite saying that history repeats itself but the fact remains. In this year (1913) a talk was given on "The Pollution of the Atmosphere and Its Determination, with Special Reference to Smoke". There's one problem neither the City of Milwaukee nor the chemist have completely solved to date. This Section also considered the advisability of meeting with the Milwaukee Engineers Society for mutual benefit. In this case such an arrangement was made for a few years.

Milwaukee spring weather has ever becn the same, the memories of some native Milwaukeans notwithstanding. The June meeting in 1914 was held on the 19th as a picnic at Whitefish Bay. "Owing to the cold weather few attended and those who did suffered much discomfort."

The war years that followed were busy ones and the records were brief and to the point. During this time the Section worked against misbranding of chemicals, denounced the cry raised against the patriotism of Milwaukee citizens, and took an active part in developing the then infant American chemical industry. By this time the membership must have been considerably over fifty as the results of an election shows that 42 votes were cast. In such a group where everyone knew all the other members the meetings w e r e somewhat less formal at times. The secretary rather gleefully records that one newly elected chairman, when called upon to make a speech, "was short on words but long on beer."

HISTORY OF THE MILWAUKEE SECTION By DR. E. W. MOFFETT (continued in the May, 1946 issue.)

It was previously mentioned that we do not have a list of the original members of our Section. However we do have a photograph taken somewhat later which includes some of the founders and other members who were very active in the Society in its infancy. This interest has been maintained up to the present time in many instances. The second decade of the Section's existence was a period of steady growth and development. Chemists have been criticized recently for our lack of interest in civic affairs and for failure to "sell" the public on the importance of our profession to them. The reasons for this have been discussed elsewhere but such criticism could not be directed against our Section during the years 1919 to 1925. They were vitally interested in the growth of the city and its welfare.

An early photo of some of the leaders who helped found the Milwaukee Section.
(l-r) Healy, Dickey, Lawrie, Kadish, Rhode, Peters, Balke, Gordon, Bauer

In 1919 a Water Symposium was held at which a dozen papers were given covering the water supply for Milwaukee; it's purification and the treatment of sewage and its disposal. Commercial sewage problems were also covered. All of the papers were given by city officials, chemists, bacteriologists and engineers. This group apparently founded the modern water supply system of Milwaukee and other members of the Section were called upon from time to time for their valued opinion. Two years later six chemists of the Section were appointed to study a report on a proposed filtration plant to be located near Lake Park. They were to submit their findings and recommendations to the Common Council. This culminated in the fine plant in operation today at that site which can purify 200 million gallons per day.

At about the same time the Section interested itself in the quality of goods the public was being offered. Certain department stores were offering dress goods for sale with a prominent sign to the effect that the fastness of the dyes used was not guaranteed. A committee was appointed to protest the matter and their later reports indicated success. They enabled the stores to specify the type of dyes to be used in their cloth. P. A. Scott of the Newport Chemical Co. gave a lecture the same year on the American Dyestuff Industry and stated that American dyes were now equal to or better than foreign products.

A third project was undertaken at this time which was to benefit both the public and the local chemists. A committee was appointed to solicit subscriptions for a fund for obtaining scientific books and periodicals for the Public Library. A very ambitious goal of $10,000 was set and the first committee report indicated $1,000 had been subscribed. There is no final report of the amount obtained but it exceeded $3,000. Some of this was used for immediate purchases and about $2,500 was invested. The Library has a small yearly income from these investments at its disposal at present for the purchase of periodicals or books on chemical subjects.

Such activities were a matter of civic interest and it is perhaps not surprising that at that time the Section received complete coverage by the local papers, even tho the subjects of the talks were highly technical at times. W. H. Kloppenburg was secretary of the Section at that time and he started the practice of including these newspaper articles in the minutes.

A number of other matters also occupied the attention of the growing Section. In 1919 it was voted to make the Chicago Bulletin our official organ. This relationship was continued until the present year. The question of allowing non-chemists to attend the local meetings was discussed and after some controversy the present requirements for associate membership were adopted. By the early twenties the Section had grown to over 200 members as two councillors were elected. The present controversy over licensing of chemists is echoed in the minutes by the state licensing of engineers. At that time the Section voted down support for the State bill.

The Section was host to the National Convention of the Society in 1923. Very extensive plans were made and the convention appears to have been a success although no record of attendance was included in the secretary's minutes. That the project was a success financially can not be questioned. There was left in the Convention f u n d about $3,000. After considerable discussion the sum was converted into a trust fund. This was the source of the money used for the purchase of shares of the Wisconsin Avenue building which were discussed at recent meetings.

In 1925 Milwaukee's sewage disposal plant was completed and three speakers described its construction and operation. (This appears to be the last reference to any activity of the Section, as such, in a civic enterprise). It may be of interest to our newer members that a few years ago this plant was the largest consumer of ferric chloride in the world and at that time it treated over 100 million gallons per day of sewage and recovered 120 tons per day of dry fertilizer, Milorganite. (There are those who maintain that this publication should bear the same name.)

It seems to have been a rather common practice in years past to have regional meetings. The Midwest Region met several times at Madison and in 1930 in Milwaukee. The convention was a three days affair and papers were read before four groups: - Physical and Inorganic, Organic a n d Biological, Chemical Education a n d Industrial Chemistry. A symposium was also held on "Progress in the Science of Food Products."

The Section was host for a third time to the fall convention of the Society in 1938. The registration was around 2,900 and the convention was successful except that the weatherman failed us. However the general get-together for a "Gemutlicher Abend" was so well liked that it is still commented on at similar features of the National Conventions.

This brings us up to date, more or less, as recent happenings are too new to be called history. The Section is still growing and will undoubtedly continue to grow as long as Milwaukee thrives and continues to attract expanding industries. However reading these minutes of past meetings has revealed certain trends and problems which may be worthy of serious consideration by the Section.

The downward trend in civic interest has previously been noted. Seemingly concurrent with this the programs have dealt with increasingly technical subjects of less wide general interest. This is not meant as a criticism of the program chairmen, whose difficulties are great enough, but rather as a trend noted and one which will have to be dealt with if we are to furnish programs of interest to our enlarged membership. In 1928 a roll of active members was kept. Out of about 200 members there were listed at the end of the year 128 as active and 10 associate members. A similar survey now would probably not indicate such a high percentage of active members. Why not?

The Section has been plagued since it was chartered with the problem of a meeting place which would fulfill its requirements. Only during the past year have we had adequate facilities. It is to be hoped that this standard will be maintained or improved.

We have a large active Section. Let's keep it active and its members interested in its welfare so that some future historian will at least have some complimentary words for us.