American Association for the History of Medicine: Report of the Ninety-Second Annual Meeting

The ninety-second annual meeting of the American Association for the History of Medicine was held in Columbus, Ohio, April 25–28, 2019, at the Hyatt Regency Downtown Columbus Convention Center Hotel. The following summary has been prepared by Jodi L. Koste and is intended for the information of the members of the association. The official minutes and reports are preserved in the Office of the Secretary. The final meeting program, featuring the titles of the papers and the names of all of the presenters, may be found on the AAHM website at http://histmed.org/meetings.html.

Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Council of the American Association for the History of Medicine, Inc.

April 25, 2019

The regular meeting of the AAHM Council was called to order by President Susan Lederer at 1:10 p.m. in the Fayette Room of the Hyatt Regency Downtown Columbus Convention Center Hotel. All officers and council members were present except Marta Hanson and Shannon Withycombe. Council approved the minutes of the 2018 council meeting as published in the Bulletin of the History of Medicine, Volume 92, Number 3, pp. 506–44. Council reviewed, discussed, and accepted the reports of the secretary, treasurer, and the association's standing and ad hoc committees. Council discussed the issues summarized on p. 406.

Report of the Secretary (Jodi Koste)

The Office of the Secretary serves as the main point of contact for AAHM members, vendors, and the general public. The secretary sends out official communication to members about membership renewal, the annual meeting, and other business as directed by AAHM Council. Communication was hampered in the past year by an unreliable email distribution list maintained by the association. We have made several attempts to resolve the issue but have not completely corrected the problem. It will continue to be addressed in the coming year. The Office of the Secretary also provides support to the 2019 program and local arrangements committee.

As in past years, the AAHM officers and council conducted business through conference calls and email. In the fall, council voted to accept Madison, Wisconsin, as the site for the 2021 meeting. The secretary secured a contract for the meeting site in Madison over the winter and we will be returning to the 2004 venue, the Monona Terrace Convention Center. Council also agreed to explore a proposal from council member Justin Barr to create a research-based history of medicine publication primarily designed for clinicians, teachers, public historians and others. Such a publication would not be funded by AAHM but endorsed by it. Finally, council decided to undertake a membership survey to gather data to help with strategic planning and fund raising as the association approaches its one-hundredth anniversary in 2025. The officers carried out the job of designing the survey, which was sent to all active members during the winter. During the 2019 council meeting, the officers and council members will engage in the first phase of work on a strategic plan. The plan will help inform the efforts of Margaret Marsh, former AAHM treasurer, who has graciously agreed to lead the association in conducting a capital campaign over the next five years.

The AAHM received travel grant funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) grant secured by the History of Science Society (HSS). This was year two funding of a three-year grant award. The call to 2019 program participants to apply for travel grants was issued simultaneously for both AAHM and NSF funds. This helped to reduce some of the challenges faced by the 2018 Travel Grant Committee. The History of Science Society has been open to suggestions for refining the grant application process and has been a great resource for the Office of the Secretary who serves as the liaison between HSS and the AAHM Travel Grant Committee

Once again, the association signed a contract with Chesapeake Health Education Program, Inc. (CHEP) to provide meeting planning services. Carly Spiewak, our assigned meeting planner, worked with the association until September when she took a four-month maternity leave. In her...