1st National Office - 1001 Connecticut Ave. N.W., Washington, DC
“The National Office will be officially activated on January 2, 1958. We would need to have you assume the duties of Executive Secretary on that date, at the latest.”
- offer letter extended to Dr. Kenneth Johnson, September 9, 1957
The first National Office was located at 1001 Connecticut Avenue N.W., Washington, DC and consisted of a reception room, executive secretary’s office, small conference room and a small office in the rear. The person hired to fill the job of executive secretary was Dr. Kenneth Johnson, an audiologist, who had been employed as the Director of the San Francisco Hearing and Speech Center and a Fellow of ASHA. His initial salary was $12,500 annually and a grant from the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation enabled the organization to hire an assistant for Johnson. Luella Cannon, who had been an executive secretary with the Washington office of the Armstrong Cork Co., was hired as Johnson's executive assistant. She worked in the executive offices for 51 years and is ASHA’s longest serving staff person and the only staff person to have worked in all five National Offices. The National Office was located at this address from 1958-1966. In March 1966, ASHA moved to a new building located outside Washington, DC in Bethesda, MD.