American Statistical Association Archival Activities The First Forty Years

              American Statistical Association Archival Activities
The First Forty Years
Prepared by Rich Allen
This is an effort to document American Statistical Association (ASA) activities across the last
forty years relating to historical records. It also identifies many of the key individuals
responsible for significant activities. As you will see, it is a "tale of 4 committees". The timing
and major activities of each committee will be described, along with mention of the major
contributors. The concluding section contains thoughts about ASA future archival challenges
and opportunities. It is planned that later appendices will reference important ASA documents
and identify the participants during the last 40 years.
ASA has encouraged efforts to capture and preserve its records and those of prominent
statisticians since at least 1967. In that year, ASA President Frederick Mosteller established the
Committee on Preservation of Documents of Distinguished Statisticians. Dr. Mosteller had the
excellent foresight to ask Churchill Eisenhart to chair the Committee, which started Churchill on
a preservation journey that lasted at least 27 years.
In 1984, because of efforts underway to establish a permanent archive of ASA materials at a
university location, a Committee on ASA Archives was established. Again, Dr. Eisenhart was
the logical chairperson and he continued to lead both Committees until they merged in 1989.
The first proposed name for the combined Committee was the Committee on ASA Archives and
Statistician's Manuscripts. However, to broaden the focus on types of materials to be considered,
the Committee was chartered with its present name of the Committee on ASA Archives and
Historical Materials.
The fourth committee started as an ad hoc ASA committee in 1978 to film (and later video tape)
lectures by and conversations with prominent statisticians. That committee was very active (and
proactive) for years but activity waned after the turn of the century due to the retirement of one
major contributor and the death of the other major person. As you will see the Committee on
ASA Archives and Historical Materials has revived interest in the video program, and hopefully
will make the program more accessible and useful.
This history should be considered as a work in progress. It highlights some activities of all four
Committees. It chronicles the ASA collection of books and documents in Boston, along with
efforts to acquire that collection and merge it with the present ASA Archives at Iowa State
University. This write-up also identifies specific Committee activities-successes and otherwise.
Many details of Committee activities are sketchy and hopefully can be better documented in the
future-as people use the present archives for targeted research.
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