ACT OF INCORPORATION. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That Andrew D. White, of Ithaca, in the State of New York; George Bancroft, of Washington, in the District of Columbia; Justin Winsor, of Cambridge, in the State of Massachusetts; William F. Poole, of Chicago, in the State of Illinois; Herbert B. Adams, of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland; Clarence W. Bowen, of Brooklyn, in the State of New York, their associates and successors, are hereby created, in the District of Columbia, a body corporate and politic, by the name of the American Historical Association, for the promotion of historical studies, the collection and preservation of historical manuscripts, and for kindred purposes in the interest of American history and of history in America. Said Association is authorized to hold real and personal estate in the District of Columbia so far only as may be necessary to its lawful ends to an amount not exceeding five hundred thousand dollars, to adopt a constitution, and to make by-laws not inconsistent with law. Said Association shall have its principal office at Washington, in the District of Columbia, and may hold its annual meetings in such places as the said incorporators shall determine. Said Association shall report annually to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution concerning its proceedings and the condition of historical study in America. Said Secretary shall communicate to Congress the whole of such reports, or such portions thereof as he shall see fit. The Regents of the Smithsonian Institution are authorized to permit said Association to deposit its collections, manuscripts, books, pamphlets, and other material for history in the Smithsonian Institution or in the National Museum at their discretion, upon such conditions and under such rules as they shall prescribe. [Approved January 4, 1889.] Rec. June 17, 1902. LETTER OF SUBMITTAL. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, Washington, D. C., April 21, 1899. To the Congress of the United States: In accordance with the act of incorporation of the American Historical Association, approved January 4, 1889, I have the honor to submit to Congress the annual report of that Association for the year 1898. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, S. P. LANGLEY, Hon. GARRET A. HOBART, Secretary. President of the Senate. LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION, SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a general report of the proceedings of the American Historical Association at their fourteenth annual meeting, held in New Haven, Conn., December 28-30, 1898. Some of the papers there read and discussed have been elsewhere printed. For example, the report of the committee of seven on "The study of history in schools" was accepted for publication by the Macmillan Company, though this is included in the present report as a matter of great importance. Prof. George F. Burr's report on "The search for the Venezuela-Guiana Boundary” was printed in the American Historical Review, April, 1899; so also was Prof. William M. Sloane's article on "Napoleon's plans for French colonies in Spanish America." Other papers that were actually read and some that were presented by title are herewith submitted, together with the third report of the Historical Manuscripts Commission. Among things done by the Association at their New Haven meeting were: (1) The adoption of the American Historical Review, a quarterly magazine, now published by the Macmillan Company, and now sent free of charge to all members of the Association; (2) the appointment of a commission of five for the historical study of colonies and dependencies; (3) the institution of a general committee to represent the local and State historical interests of the Association; (4) an agreement to hold annual meetings in triennial succession in the East, West, and District of Columbia. Respectfully, HERBERT B. ADAMS, Secretary. Mr. S. P. LANGLEY, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. |