International Union of Immunological Societies records

Overview

Administrative/Biographical Note

In the early 1960’s it became clear to many investigators, who thought of themselves as immunologists, that they needed an international network that would both promote interaction between immunologists and present their aspirations and needs to international and national institutions. At the time national societies had long existed in the United States and Great Britain, but such societies had just recently been founded in Canada, Israel, Switzerland, France, and Australia and others were on the point of formation. As the result of informal consultation among immunologists, the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS), an umbrella organization for regional and national societies of immunology throughout the world, was officially founded in Brugge (Belgium) on May 5, 1969 by the representatives of ten Societies (American Association of Immunologists, British Society for Immunology, Canadian Society for Immunology, Dutch Society for Immunology, Gesellschaft fur Immunologie, Israel Immunological Society, Polish Society of Immunology, Scandinavian Society for Immunology, Societe Francaise d’immunologie, Yugoslav Immunological Society). The representatives of the Australian Society for Immunology and the Swiss Society of Allergy and Immunology were unable to attend but the societies expressed their support and were later accepted as founding members. At this first meeting of the Council, officers were elected, a committee structure was established, and steps were taken to write a constitution. Additional Council meetings were held on September 2, 1970 in Merlingen, Switzerland, on February 23, 1971 in London, England, and on July 30, 1971 in Washington D.C. The IUIS Constitution prepared by the Council was formally approved by the 1st General Assembly of IUIS. (The Constitution was revised and adopted by the General Assembly in 1995.) The objectives articulated in the Constitution were: to organize international cooperation in immunology and to promote communication between the various branches of immunology and allied subjects; to encourage co-operation between independent Societies that represent the interests of immunology; and to contribute to the advancement of immunology in all its aspects. The General Assembly also elected the first official slate of IUIS officers and a new Council who would serve for the period 1971 – 1974, in accordance with the rules of the IUIS Constitution. These rules stated that new officers and members were to be elected at the triennial General Assembly. As a result of this election Bernard Cinader became the first President, John Humphrey Vice – President, Alain de Weck Secretary – General, and Peter Miescher Treasurer. The first and most important decision of the new IUIS involved the creation of the International Congress of Immunology. The need to create international congresses that would allow immunologists of many different sub disciplines to present their particular point of view to colleagues in other sub-disciplines had long been apparent and it was unanimously decided that an International meeting, covering the many different areas of contemporary immunology should be organized. The organizationof the first International Congress of Immunology was entrusted to the American Association of Immunologists, founded in 1913, the oldest national immunological society, and was held on August 1-6,1971 in Washington DC. More than 3400 scientists representing 45 countries came to participate in fifteen symposia and eighty-four workshops encompassing most aspects of modern immunology. The second International Congress was held in Brighton, England on July 21 – 26, 1974 and was attended by approximately 4500 scientists who participated in twenty-five Symposia and one hundred sixty-three Workshops. Subsequent congresses have been held every three years under the auspices of IUIS. The establishment of committees was a key factor in the initial development of IUIS. In the first year Committees on Standardization, Nomenclature, Education and Symposia were organized. Two of these, Standardization and Nomenclature were already operating by the time of the First International Congress. Shortly thereafter, in 1973, the Clinical Immunology Committee was formed. These five committees remained as the major focus of IUIS activities until the early 1980’s. In 1980, the Veterinary Immunology Committee was added, followed quickly by the establishment of the Publications Committee in 1981. An important objective for IUIS was to interact with international scientific organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU). Immunology had become a separate section of WHO in 1963 and from its beginnings IUIS maintained an intimate, cooperative relationship with all aspects of WHO immunological activities. From the outset they participated in joint committees in the areas of nomenclature and standardization. Then, in 1976, the IUIS was accepted as a member of the International Council of Scientific Unions. The Immunologist, the official journal of IUIS, published it’s first issue in 1993. The journal publishes articles and reviews in basic and clinical immunology and provides a forum for discussing issues of importance for the discipline of immunology. In the year 2012 there were 65 member societies of IUIS, many of which belong to one of four Regional Federations.

Scope & Content

This collection of records of the International Union of Immunological Societies 1966 – 2011 documents the origins of the Union, its growth in membership and committees and the developments in the International Congress of Immunology. These records have been organized into five series: Officers and Council, Membership, Meetings, Committees, and Affiliated Organizations. The first series, Officers and Council, contains the correspondence and reports of the president, vice-president, secretary-general and treasurer, the minutes, agendas, reports, and correspondence of the meetings of council, the organization’s financial records and some miscellaneous administrative files and photos. There is a complete run of correspondence for the President from 1971, the date of the beginning of the Union through 2001 and a nearly complete run of Treasurer’s correspondence. The correspondence files for the Vice-President and Secretary-General are considerably more sporadic. Of particular interest are some of the early correspondences dating as early as 1966 detailing the discussions leading up to the founding of IUIS, decisions pertaining to the choice of name, issues relating to the proposed constitution and the organization of the first IUIS Committees, Standardization and Nomenclature. Also of note is a compact disc from 2004 containing the electronic files of the Secretary General Anne Kelso, which includes files regarding archives, the assembly, committees, 2007 International Congress planning, the IUIS council, database, email correspondence, federations, finances, ICSU, IUIS central office, IUIS handbook, letters, materials for the website, membership applications, and WHO documents ranging in dates from 1999 to 2004. This series also contains the minutes of all the council meetings beginning with the 1970 meeting and continuing up to 2011. Agendas, reports, correspondence and other materials connected with these meetings are, however, only available from 1979 – 1997. A large selection of the meeting minutes are available through UMBC’s Digital Collections. There are a small number of President’s reports and very few reports of the Secretary-General but there is a reasonably good run of Treasurer’s reports. There is one copy of the 1st International Congress budget for 1971 and another financial report for 1973 after which there is a fairly good run of treasurer’s reports for the years 1980 – 1995. The accounting records available in this collection are practically non-existent for the first ten years of the organization. There is a pair of handwritten ledgers for the year 1972 and then nothing until 1982. Records from 1982 forward include banking and investment information, files pertaining to income and expenditures including invoices, receipts, budgets, and audits, and files concerning the expenses of specific committees. The second series, Membership, comprises the bulk of the records that relate to dues, subscription, member societies and regional federations. There are an extensive number of invoices, receipts, and correspondences pertaining to member payments, as well as correspondence files that provide information about the relationship of IUIS with immunological societies and regional federations throughout the world. These together with printed membership directories show the growth of the Union over time. Series three, Meetings, primarily holds documents relating to the International Congresses on Immunology but also include some records for the IUIS Conference on Clinical Immunology, and the International Immunopathological Symposium. The files include the minutes of the General Assembly, as well as agendas, reports and budgets, programs and correspondence. There are also a significant number of files relating to the planning and arrangements for the congresses. These include schedules, contracts, proposals, brochures, budgets, ephemera correspondence, memos, and management agreements. The files in the fourth series, Committees, are the records of the actions of eight IUIS committees. Some of the committees have retained very few documents while others such as the Clinical Immunology Committee, the Nomenclature Committee, the Standardization Committee and the Symposia Committee have records spanning most of the time they have been functioning. Of the IUIS committees the Veterinary Immunology Committee has maintained most extensive record of their work. Committee files include some or all of the following: correspondence, memos, minutes, agendas, proposals, budgets, reports, articles, programs, and a questionnaire. Of some interest are the correspondences and reports of the Clinical Immunology Committee that predate its organization. They provide a view into the concerns that lead up to its formation. The last series is Affiliate Organizations. These records pertain to organizations that have some type of formal working relationship with IUIS. For most of the represented organizations there is very little material present but the records do include some correspondence, memos, reports, and a charter. On the other hand, there is quite a substantial amount of documents for the International Council of Scientific Union (ICSU). These files contain correspondence, audited accounts, dues and exchange rate information, grants, reports, and newsletters.

Organized into five series: Series I. Officers and Council, 1966-2011. Series II. Membership, 1971-2001. Series III. Meetings, 1970-2010. Series IV. Committees, 1967-2000. Series V. Affiliated Societies, 1972-2000. Series I. Officers and Council Correspondence Council Meetings Reports Miscellany Accounting Series II. Membership Member Payments Member Societies and Regional Federations Directories Series III. Meetings Series IV. Committees Organization Clinical Immunology Commission for Europe Education Nomenclature Publication Standardization Symposia Veterinary Immunology Series V. Affiliated Organizations European Federation of Immunological Societies (EFIS) International Training & Research Center (ITR) World Health Organization (WHO) International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) Miscellaneous Organizations

Provenance Information

This collection came to the archives in fourteen different accessions: MSS 95-02 donated by Alain De Weck of the Inselspital Institut fur Immunlolgie umd Allergologie. Bern, Switzerland on April 19, 1995. MSS 95-10 donated by Gustof Nossal of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, The Royal Melbourne Hospital. Victoria, Australia on July 17, 1995. MSS 95-14 donated by Richard G. Miller of University of Toronto department of Medical Biophysics. Toronto, Ontario, Canada on September 18, 1995. MSS 96-09 donated by Bernard Charley of the Virologie et Immunologie Moleculaires, INRA. Jouy en Josas, France on April 2, 1996. MSS 96-10 donated by Michael Sela of the Department of Immunology, Weizman Institute of Science, Israel on April 25, 1996. MSS 99-01 donated by Bernard Charley of the Virologie et Immunologie Moleculaires, INRA. Jouy en Josas, France on January 11, 1999 SARCV 99-05 donated by Keith James of the Lester Research Labs., University Department of Surgery, Royal Infirmary. Edinburgh, Scotland on May 20, 1999. SARCV 99-07 donated by Henry Metzger of NIAMS, NIH. Bethesda, Maryland on August 20, 1999. SARCV 2000-06 donated by P. Nieuwenhuis of the Histology dept. University of Groningen. Gironingen, Netherlands on May 30, 2000. SARCV 2004-06 donated by the International Union of Immunological Societies on September 28, 2004. SARCV 2005-02 donated by the International Union of Immunological Societies on April 11, 2004. SARCV 2005-04 donated by the International Union of Immunological Societies on June 1, 2005. SARCV 2011-02 donated by Gerlinde Jahn of the Vienna Medical Academy. SARCV 2011-03 donated by Masayuki Miyasaka of Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine.

This collection was processed under the supervision of Marcia Frank Peri and completed in March 2001. Additional minutes were added to the collection in March 2011 by Graduate Assistant Colleen Walter. Three additional accessions were processed and incorporated into the existing collection by Elizabeth Pente, Special Collections intern, under the supervision of Lindsey Loeper, Special Collections Archivist in the Spring of 2012. This collection of the records of IUIS arrived over a period of sixteen years in fourteen separate accessions each of which had been inventoried reboxed, and refoldered maintaining its original order. At the time of processing it was determined that the best approach would be to organize them together as a single collection. The arrangement of documents was determined by the original order of the largest aggregate of materials, with adjustments being made when similar materials, with slightly different arrangements, overlapped. Therefore, for example, the correspondence from each accession was arranged together in date order by year and then by sub-divided by officer; even though some of the correspondence came in arranged by officer, because the bulk of the documents had that as their original order. Similarly, with the financial and accounting documents, the arrangement was based on the incoming order most commonly used. In the Spring of 2010, the Council meeting minutes were scanned and made available for online viewing through UMBC’s Digital Collections (CONTENTdm). The minutes were scanned for access only by Michael Dick, Circulation, and metadata creation was completed by Sujata Sharma and Amelia Jennings, Special Collections student assistants, under the supervision of Lindsey Loeper, Special Collections Archivist. In Summer 2011, born digital minutes from 1998-2011 were sent to Special Collections and added to the digital collection; metadata creation was completed by Molly Bradtke, Special Collections student assistant, under the supervision of Lindsey Loeper, Special Collections Archivist. In the Spring of 2012, a backlog of three accessions received in 2004 and 2005 were processed and incorporated into the existing collection by Elizabeth Pente, Special Collections intern, under the supervision of Lindsey Loeper, Special Collections Archivist. These accessions were inventoried, rehoused, and refoldered maintaining its original order. Three bound volumes of free papers presented at the 12th International Congress titled Immunology 2004 Genomic Issues, Immune System Activation and Allergy; Immunology 2004 Immunodeficiency, Infectious Diseases, Immunomodulation and Vaccines; and Immunology 2004 Autoimmunity, Genetic and Degenerative Disorders, Malignancies, and Transplantation were removed for cataloging. Multiple copies have been disposed whenever there were more than two copies of a given document, as have old checks and checkbooks. Related Materials: Records of the American Association of Immunologists, the American Type Culture Collection, and the American Society for Cell Biology, the Society for Developmental Biology, the American Society for Microbiology, American Society for Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.

Access & Use

No restrictions.

Reproductions allowed for research purposes. Copyright maintained by the creator.

Subject Headings

• Immunology Societies, etc.
• IUIS Archives
• Yugoslav Immunological Society Archives
• Yugoslav War, 1991-1995 Social aspects
• Yugoslav Immunological Society

Series Description & Container List

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Series I. Officers & Council

Subseries I.A. Correspondence

Subseries I.B. Countil Meetings

Subseries I.C. Reports

Subseries I.D. Miscellany

Subseries I.E. Accounting

Series II. Membership

Subseries II.A. Member Payments

Subseries II.B. Member Societies and Regional Federations

Subseries II.C. Directories

Series III. Meetings

Series IV. Committees

Subseries IV.A. Organization

Subseries IV.B. Clinical Immunology

Subseries IV.C. Committion for Europe

Subseries IV.D. Education

Subseries IV.E. Nomenclature

Subseries IV.F. Publication

Subseries IV.G. Standardization

Subseries IV.H. Symposia

Subseries IV.I. Veterinary Immunology

Series V. Affiliated Organizations

Subseries V.A. European Federation of Immunological Societies (EFIS)

Subseries V.B. International Training and Research Center (ITR)

Subseries V.C. World Health Organization (WHO)

Subseries V.D. International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU)

Subseries V.E. Miscellaneous Organizations

Series VI. Oversized