Georgia Tech Alumni Association Records (MS024)

Administrative History of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association

The first recorded meeting of the association was held in 1896. Georgia Tech's first graduate, Henry L. Smith (ME '90), invited former classmates to join him at his home to discuss the idea of an alumni association. Together, they drafted the first set of by-laws in 1898. In 1906, a petition for a charter was produced, and it was granted on June 20, 1908. In 1919, reorganization occurred and new by-laws were drafted under the name of the Georgia Tech National Alumni Association, under the leadership of W. H. Glenn (1891).

In 1922, Albert H. Staton (ME '22) was hired as the first executive secretary. He also served as the editor of the Georgia Tech Magazine, which made its debut in 1923. Other former Tech students have also held the position of executive secretary: George C. Griffin (CE '22), Jack Thiesen (EE '10), Howard Ector (IM '40), Roane Beard (IM '49), Robert Rice (IM '49), John B. Carter, Jr. (IE '69), and Joseph P. Irwin (IM '80).

Certain programs have developed out of the Alumni Association. While Griffin was secretary, he created a placement service in 1923, which later transferred to the Tech's administration. In 1947, the Alumni Association began the annual fund raising campaign known as the Roll Call.

Description

The Georgia Tech Alumni Association Records document the administrative and financial history of the organization. The bulk of the collection contains general correspondence and financial documents, such as correspondence to alumni, faculty, and head football coaches and fundraising for the association. Newspaper clippings and articles concerning individuals have been transferred to the Archives' Personality Files; a list of those individuals documented is included in the folder list. Scrapbooks and newspaper clippings make up a large portion of this collection, which illustrates the history of Tech's Alumni Association.