Tissue Culture Association records

Overview

Administrative/Biographical Note

On November 10-13, 1946, a conference on tissue culture was held in Hershey, Pennsylvania and sponsored jointly by the panels on cellular physiology, cytochemistry, and nutrition of the Committee on Growth and was paid for by the American Cancer Society. After the final session of the conference a group of sixteen interested persons met to establish an informal organization of investigators who use tissue culture techniques. Primary objectives were discussed and a slate of temporary officers were elected. Keith Porter was elected Chairman, Margaret Murray, secretary, George O. Gey, Duncan Heatherington and C.M. Pomerat, Executives and Honor Fell, European Member at Large. It was decided that the initial aims of the new Tissue Culture Commission (TCC) would be twofold. The first was to look at kinds of media needed by workers in the field and to examine the possibility of preparing these ingredients at a central lab for distribution at a moderate cost. The second aim was to prepare a bibliography of published research in tissue culture since its inception and cross-index it for publication. In addition it was decided that membership would be open to any investigator using tissue culture methods in research. The first meeting of the Executive Committee was held in March 1, 1947 at the Rockefeller Institute. At that time, much of the discussion was centered around the subject of media production. It was determined that the TCC should certify the products it offered. In addition, methods for developing the proposed publication of a Bibliography were considered. In October of 1948, a testing laboratory, where media could be certified for distribution, was set up by Keith Porter at the Sloane-Kettering Institute and was supervised by the Executive Committee. In addition, 1948 saw the first in a series of annual tissue culture courses taught. This first course was held at the University of Toronto, and thereafter at different institutions around the country. In 1948 and 1949, meetings were held in conjunction with those of the American Association of Anatomists. At the 1949 meeting the first slate of officers was elected with George Gey becoming the first president. At that time the commission adopted a constitution and officially became the Tissue Culture Association (TCA). By this time Dr. Margaret Murray had begun the process of directing the work on the Tissue Culture Bibliography and the initial results of that effort were published in 1952. By 1958, due to changing conditions, some within the Executive Committee began to feel that it was time to move away from a methods based society and evolve into a new form. To this end a committee was formed to look into the possibility of reorganizing TCA. Discussions centered around the notion that the reorganization would bring into being essentially a new society with a new name but have a continuity of officers and TCA activities. The focus of this new society would be cell biology or cytology. It was determined that a referendum of the membership should be held to determine their views. The results of the letter sent to the entire membership showed that they were generally favorable toward the idea of reorganization. It was decided that one of the first steps should be a change to the TCA constitution and possible names for the newly reorganized society were proposed. By April 1959 discussions and planning had progressed to the point where an organizing committee was formed, with Keith Porter as chair, to begin the process. On January 9, 1960 this committee met in New York and essentially drew up the blueprint for what would become the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB). There were some among the membership however, including former officers, who felt that TCA was being railroaded out of existence and that the proposed new society would not adequately represent the interests of all current members. Further, there had been no vote to authorize changes to the TCA constitution and no vote of the membership had been taken. As a result, by the time that the organizing group again met in May of 1960, it had been decided that the two ‘entities’ would run concurrently for a period and they would let nature take its course. Ultimately both TCA and ASCB continued independently and the reorganization of TCA never materialized and in 1964 TCA was incorporated as a non-profit organization in the District of Columbia. That same year TCA began looking for a more permanent place for their education programs. To this end Dr. Gey met with Mrs. W. Alton Jones, mother of Patricia Edgerton, a scientist at Johns Hopkins Lab. She donated land in Lake Placid, N. Y. as a permanent home for the Society’s education programs. In 1969, a board was formed to manage the new science center with Donald Merchant as Director. In June 1971 the new W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center (WAJCSC) was dedicated. For some years thereafter the Society was effectively managed out of offices at the WAJCSC though it had no official office on site. Then in 1978 the first Executive Director William Momberger was hired and subsequently the first Executive Office was opened in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Under the auspices of the national organization, many individual branches were created to meet the needs of specific geographical areas. They were: California, Central States, Michigan, Midwestern, Montreal, National Capitol Area, New York, Northeast, Rocky Mountain, Texas. In addition, there were specific divisions within the organization such as the Honor Fell Division, the Invertebrate Division, the Organic Culture Division, and the Plant Division. Over the years, TCA has put out a number of publications the first of which was the bibliography titled Index of Tissue Culture, initially published in 1952. Other publications followed such as the official TCA journal In Vitro, the Bulletin, and the TCA Newsletter along with many ‘special’ publications. At the Annual Meeting in June of 1994 the Society voted to change the name to the Society for In Vitro Biology (SIVB). The SIVB offices are currently in Largo, Maryland.

Scope & Content

Series I contains the files of the Tissue Culture Association’s (TCA) presidents. Included are correspondence, constitutions and by-laws, reports and a variety of administrative files including administrative calendars, handbooks, and rosters of officers and committee members. Correspondence dates from the early years, beginning in 1940 when TCA was the Tissue Culture Commission and continues until 1985. Correspondence covers a wide range of topics illustrating the breadth of interests and activities of the Association including the education program, publications, committees, such as public affairs, terminology, placement and nomenclature and the special committee on litigation. Of interest is the series of correspondence concerning the proposed reorganization of the Association that never in fact materialized but resulted in the creation of the American Society for Cell Biology. Copies of the constitutions and by-laws and their revisions begin with the 1949 constitution and are extant through 1984. In addition there are copies of the documents of incorporation and the president’s annual reports for the years 1969 to 1977. The second series comprises the records of the secretary of the society and are divided into two sub-series: correspondence and membership. There is a significant amount of correspondence, beginning in 1946 with that of the first secretary, Margaret Murray and continuing through the late 1970s. Membership files include a substantial number of membership application files dating from the early 1960s to the mid 1970s as well as member files which include correspondence, invoices and memos, and member rosters beginning in 1947 and continuing until 1982. Treasurer’s records make up the third series and include correspondence, the annual reports of the Secretary-Treasurer, audits, budgets, expense reports, financial statements, and tax forms. Series IV contains records of the business office. Records date from 1978–1984 and primarily consist of the correspondence of the Executive Director, William Momberger. Also included are disbursement and receipt records for 1982–1984, and miscellaneous files on taxes, unemployment insurance and a surety bond. Series V, Committees, is comprised of files from a variety of TCA committees. Files for both standing committees and ad hoc committees provide a view of the varied interests and activities of the organization. Files span the years 1951–1985 and include correspondence, reports, memos, and minutes and rosters. Series VI is made up of files pertaining to the societies Branches and Divisions for the years 1963-1997. Those Branches and Divisions for which documents are extant are: California, Central States, Michigan, Midwestern, Montreal, National Capitol Area, New York, Northeast, Rocky Mountain, Texas, Honor Fell Division, Invertebrate Division, Organic Culture Division, Plant Division. These contain constitutions and by-laws, reports, and correspondence. Also included in this series are files on proposed clubs and sets of rosters. The seventh series, Meetings, is divided into four sub-series: Executive Council, Annual Meetings, Decennial Review Conference, and Miscellaneous Conferences and Audio Tapes. Files for the first sub-series, Executive Council, contains agendas, minutes and supporting documents for the meetings of the Executive Council for the years 1947–1985. The next sub-series, Annual Meetings, is comprised of files for the annual meetings from 1946–1986. Included are organizational materials including files of the program committees, local committees and exhibits committees along with printed programs, abstracts, reports, minutes, correspondence, and catalogues. The third sub-series, Decennial Review Conference contains the planning documents for three conferences, 1956, 1966, and 1976, along with the minutes, reports, budgets, correspondence, abstracts, directories, and session papers of the actual events. The final sub-series contains files of individual conferences and meetings. Included are document files and audiotapes. The eighth series, Publications, is made up of three sub-series: Bibliography & Index, Bulletins, Manual, Newsletter, and Miscellaneous Publications, and In Vitro. The first sub-series contains correspondence files with October House, the publisher, as well as general correspondence and printed bibliographies. Included is the first bibliography published in 1953 and continuing until 1966. Also included are correspondence files for the Index of Tissue Culture for the years 1965–1977. The second sub-series contains published copies of the bulletin dating from 1947–1967, correspondence, minutes, manuscripts, and questionnaires pertaining to the TCA Manual, and miscellaneous publications. Also included are copies of the TCA Newsletter beginning in 1968 along with correspondence, memos, and reports connected with that publication. The third sub-series, In Vitro, contains documents relating to the TCA journal, In Vitro. Along with copies of the publication are copies of individual articles, correspondence, subscription ledgers, budgets, page proofs, and sales figures.

Organized into nine series: Series I. President Correspondence Administrative Files Series II. Secretary Correspondence Membership Series III. Treasurer Series IV. Business Office Series V. Committees Series VI. Branches and Divisions Series VII. Meetings Executive Council Annual Meeting Decennial Review Conference Miscellaneous Conferences Series VIII. Publications Bibliography and Index Miscellaneous Publications In Vitro Series IX. W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center (WAJCSC) [Unprocessed.]

Provenance Information

SARCV 1990-01, SARCV 1990-02, SARCV 1991-01, SARCV 1992-02, SARCV 1992-03, SARCV 1998-06, SARCV 2000-09, SARCV 2000-12, SARCV 2004-05, SARCV 2008-04, SARCV 2009-05, SARCV 2010-003, SARCV 2010-005, SARCV 2011-06, SARCV 2012-01; The Tissue Culture Association Archives was donated in multiple accessions and sent from the TCA offices in Columbia, Maryland by William Momberger, the then Executive Director. The first accession arrived in August 1990 and contained 39 boxes. In December 1990 a second accession was received containing audiotapes of TCA meetings for the years 1975–1984. Additionally, in October 1991, 19 boxes of records and several microfilms were sent. A later accession of TCA materials arrived in January 1992 and contained a run of the Index of Tissue Culture from 1966–1979. Ten further accessions arrived between 1998 and 2012.

This collection is partially processed. Initially the bulk of the materials sent were inventoried, re-foldered, and boxed in the order in which they had arrived. The folder titles were then entered into a Dbase III database for easy access. The remaining materials, mostly tapes and ephemera were left as they arrived. No attempt was made at the time to determine the order in which they would have been created or to put them into series. In 2002 we began the process of arranging and describing the collection according to current archival standards and practices. Documents have been organized along the lines of the institutional structure as set out in the TCA Handbook of Policies and Procedures, with series arranged to preserve the original order. Materials having no permanent value such as old cancelled checks, invoices, receipts, time sheets and the like have been removed from the collection and destroyed. The present finding aid represents about two-thirds of the collection. The materials pertaining to the early education program and the WAJCSC are in process and will be added to the finding aid when processing is complete. In addition there are boxes of audio, print and ephemeral materials yet to be processed and those will also be added as they are completed. Processing completed by: Marcia Peri and Sharon Knecht, March 2003. Finding aid written by: Marcia Peri, Archivist, April 2003.

Access & Use

No restrictions.

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

Subject Headings

• Society for In Vitro Biology
• Tissue Culture Association Archives
• Tissue culture Societies, etc.
• Society for In Vitro Biology Archives
• In Vitro

Series Description & Container List

Expand all | Collapse all

Series I. President

Subseries I.A. Correspondence

Subseries I.B. Administrative Files

Series II. Secretary

Subseries II.A. Correspondence

Subseries II.B. Membership

Series III. Treasurer

Series IV. Business Office

Series V. Committees

Series VI. Branches and Divisions

Series VII. Meetings

Subseries VII.A. Executive Council

Subseries VII.B. Annual Meeting

Subseries VII.C. Decennial Review Conference

Subseries VII.D. Miscellaneous Conferences and Audiotapes

Series VIII. Publications

Subseries VIII.A. Bibliography & Index

Subseries VIII.B. Bulletins, Manual, Newsletter, and Miscellaneous Publications

Subseries VIII.C. In Vitro

Series IX. W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center (WAJCSC)

SARCV 2019-01