Chapter 14. History of the Proceedings and Journal of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science

Written by RCoxe on January 1, 2025

The first issue of the Proceedings of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science was published in 1926, not soon after the first annual meeting, which was held on April 10-11, 1925.  The first proceedings included minutes of recent meetings, a presidential address by Otto E. Jennings, abstracts of papers given at the Annual Meeting, and a list of Academy members.  Most abstracts in the first issue reflected the interests and specialties of the founding members of the Academy, including geology, entomology, history of science, pathology, and zoology.  The Proceedings continued with the abstracts until 1931, when the first scientific articles were published in Volume 5.  The cost of the Proceedings in 1926 was $1.00 and the cost of membership in the Academy was $2.00.

From 1926 to 1987 the Proceedings covered a wide variety of subjects, including meeting minutes and field trip reports.  Summer field trips were taken around the Commonwealth and are detailed in the summer meetings in the decade reports of the Academy.  In the early years, most article subjects were related to observational science including geology, zoology, botany, and pathology.  Of particular note, were a lot of articles on radiation, which was a new field at the time.

The Look of the Proceedings and Journal

From 1926 to 1960, the Proceedings kept the same look on the outside with the distinctive brown cover.  Printing was in a one column format and meeting minutes appeared in the front followed by contributed papers.  One edition was printed a year. 

1960 (Volume 34): a number of changes were made.  

• The cover was changed to a buff color and an index was added to the back, upon the suggestion of Frank Kern, a founding member of the Academy.
  

1962 (Volume 36): the following changes were made:

• The front cover was changed to a light blue color.
• The text layout was changed from one column to two columns and the pages were made 1/4 inch larger.
• A new page was added for winners of the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science and a list of the members was again added, something that was present in the earlier Proceedings.
• A list of Academy meeting places was added.

1963 (Volume 37): the membership list was changed to surname first.

1964 (Volume 38):  a second issue of the Proceedings was published.  The first issue contained the Annual Meeting minutes and was thinner than the second issue, which contained contributed papers.  Members of the Editorial Committee were added also added to the front cover, a practice that continued until Volume 40 (1967).

1967 (Volume 41): the names of the Proceedings editor and the Editorial Committee member list was moved to the inside of the front cover.  Volume 41 was also reduced to one issue due an increase in printing costs.  One issue for each volume continued to Volume 48 (1974).

1972 (Volume 46): The front cover of the Proceedings was changed in Volume 46 to be larger and yellow in color.  This time also marked the start of Shaymal Majumdar, the longest serving editor, being the Proceedings and later Journal editor of the Academy.

1988 (Volume 62): The Proceedings of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science, became the Journal of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science and gained a new look.

2017 (Volume AAA): The Journal changed to a brown color, when Penn State Press became the publisher.

Editors of the Proceedings and Journal

The first editor of the Proceedings was George H. Ashley, who helped to form the modern day, Pennsylvania Bureau of Geological Survey.  Ashley remained as the editor for one year and then Ralph W. Stone, also of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Geological Survey, took over.  Stone held the position until 1939 and his 14 years as editor was the second longest editorship in the Academy, after Shyamal Majumdar, who served 35 years.  After Ralph Stone, there were many other editors including Robert T. Hance of Duquense University, E.M. Gress of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Richard M. Foose of the Pennsylvania Geological Survey, Jane Huffman of East Stroudsburg University, Carl Pratt of Immaculata University, and the current editor, Russell Minton.

Addition of the Newsletter

In 1943, a newsletter was formed to supplement the Proceedings.  The Newsletter first served to give news about the Academy to members who were serving in World War II and to members who could not make it to meetings due to war-time restrictions on travel.  The Academy’s newsletter continued till 2014, when the website and social media started to provide information faster and more frequently.

 

Go to Chapter 15: Influential Committees of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science