The first meeting
"...my job at that time was to help collect the group who were really interested in speech correction and we only succeeded in finding about a dozen people at that time who were really doing something which we then called speech correction."
- Sara Stinchfield Hawk, ASHA 25th anniversary president's dinner, 1950
The first meeting was called in a very informal manner by Robert West and Sara Stinchfield Hawk who rounded up eleven other convention attendees who were very interested in speech correction. They assembled in a room in the Hotel McAlpin where the NATS convention was being held. They proceeded to meet over the next three days and organize their new society. The name chosen was the American Academy of Speech Correction and its purpose was defined as "the promotion of scientific, orgnized work in the field of speech correction." Temporary officers elected were Robert West, President and Sara M. Stinchfield, Secretary.