BULLETIN FOR THE HISTORY OF CHEMISTRY


Volume 49, 2024

Dewald, Howard D., “American Chemical Society Anniversary Banques and Diamond Jubilee and Centennial Commemorative Stamps,” Bull. Hist. Chem., 2024, 49, 133-138.

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Abstract/Description: The sesquicentennial of the American Chemical Society (ACS) will be celebrated in 2026. Special committees were appointed for celebrating the silver, golden, diamond jubilee, centennial, and 125 years of the ACS. The history of the organization is well chronicled. Each celebration has been marked with special events, usually an elaborate banquet and souvenir program in 1901, 1926, 1951, and 1976, and in 2001 with a special exhibit, a musical play, and a party for all attendees.

This article details celebratory banquets and specifically highlights the diamond jubilee and the centennial of the ACS as shown through the issuance of two US commemorative postage stamps. At the 222nd National Meeting held in Chicago in August 2001, the ACS Division of the History of Chemistry (HIST) held a symposium “Celebrating a Century of Chemistry: The American Chemical Society Anniversary Years of 1901, 1926, 1951, and 1976” as precedent for looking at such events.

Supplemental Material
  1. Complete first day of issue ceremony program for the issuance of the American Chemical Society US Commemorative Stamp on September 4, 1951.
  2. Complete Diamond Jubilee Banquet program of the American Chemical Society on September 5, 1951.
  3. Complete American Chemical Society Centennial Banquet program and first day of issue ceremony for the issuance of the US chemistry stamp on April 6, 1976.