100 Years of SSA

Preserving our Heritage

November/December 2005

The Centennial Committee needs your help to document and preserve important Society history! Over the past year the SSA office has made a start at collecting various archival materials to document and preserve the Society’s early history. An archivist has reviewed the Society holdings and materials stored at Berkeley and elsewhere, including a Herculean effort by volunteer Bill Rinehart to collect photographs of SSA Presidents, Medalists, and Editors. These photographs have been compiled into draft posters that were displayed at the 2005 meeting in Lake Tahoe. We are now asking for members’ help to compile other interesting photographs that document the early history of the Society. Candid or formal photos from past meetings, pictures of important members and leaders of the Society, and even copies of important documents would be welcome. Maybe in your departmental archives or the files of a former faculty or staff member there is a fading folder labeled “SSA” that is bulging with photos and mementos that would be of interest to current and future Society members? Maybe you have slides of your own tucked away?

Contributed material will be used to help us commemorate the Society’s centennial year in 2006. One of the most significant events during the year will be our Annual Meeting, to be held in San Francisco on the 100th anniversary of the 1906 earthquake. SSA will join with EERI and Disaster Resistant California during the week of 18–22 April in what promises to be a major gathering of scientists, engineers, and disaster-management personnel. In addition to the regular SSA luncheon, a special centennial banquet will be held in commemoration of the Society’s anniversary. At the banquet, Frank Press will be presented with the first SSA Public Service Award and Simon Winchester will give a talk based on his new book, A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906. The festivities will include a slide show with pictures from SSA, past and present, and selected photos from the 1906 earthquake. A number of historical photographs will also be reprinted in SRL throughout the year.

Please help preserve the fascinating history of SSA by taking a few minutes to look through your personal “archives.” If you are interested in contributing slides, photographs, or documents, please contact Susan Newman at the SSA office (snewman@seismosoc.org) for more information.


 

HOME

Posted: 08 December 2005