The ASP History Committee

The History Committee of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific was formed in 1982 and consisted of nine members appointed to three-year terms by the ASP Board of Directors.

The Committee’s most important charge was to present history sessions at the annual meetings of the Society. These sessions often brought together the various groups—professional astronomers, amateur astronomers, teachers, and armchair astronomers—that made up—and still make up—the Society.

The last history sessions were presented at the 2000 meeting. They were omitted at the 2001 meeting because of proximity to the Biennial History of Astronomy Workshop. The ASP scaled back its annual meetings, leaving no room for history sessions, in 2002, and the History Committee was disbanded in 2005.

The Committee’s last chair, Katherine Bracher, continues to produce the “Echoes of the Past” column for Mercury, which she has done since 1983, while another past chair, Joseph S. Tenn, maintains the Bruce Medalists website and has written a number of biographies of Bruce medalists for the magazine.

The Committee also provided advice to the Board and to the Executive Director on matters dealing with history, including historical slide sets, obituaries, and the disposition of back issues of journals.

Chairs

Members