A Famous First President

A famous first president

It is not surprising, therefore, that Chandler would turn to John Draper as the first president of the American Chemical Society. As a fellow chemist said of Draper in 1874, “few men of science now living in America have been so long and so favorably known.” Predicting the success of the enterprise “already ensured,” Chandler, on April 11, 1876, invited Draper to become the first president. “It is the unanimous wish of the members,” he said. “Your name will be a tower of strength to us.” Draper accepted, but told Chandler his health would prevent his active participation in the Society’s affairs. In response, Chandler assured Draper that “we will see that you are not burdened with time consuming duties, and will make it very pleasant for you.”

For the most part, the American Chemical Society used Draper’s name and reputation more than they depended on his actual participation in meetings and programs. Draper never chaired a monthly meeting during his presidency in 1876. When the American Chemical Society sponsored a dinner for the foreign chemists attending the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in June 1876, the invitation went out over Draper’s name, even though Chandler knew that Draper would be unable to attend.

Draper did participate in a gala event held on November 16, 1876, at the newly opened Chickering Music Hall in New York City. The event, prominently advertised and open to the public, was billed as Draper’s inaugural address as the first president of the American Chemical Society even though his term of office ended in December and his replacement for 1877 had already been selected. In covering the event, the New York Times reported that the society “felt that it could come up before the public with conscious pride and challenge the attention of scientific men to its objects and principles.”

Reading the ‘book of Nature’
Using the title Science in America, Draper began optimistically, “The field of nature is ever widening before us,” and “the harvest is becoming more abundant and tempting, the reapers are more numerous. Each year the produce that is garnered exceeds that of the preceding. In all directions there is good hope for the future.” Stressing that the progress of science depended on two elements—colleges and scientific societies—Draper enthusiastically regaled his audience with stories of chemistry. For example, referring to the recent discovery of a new element in the sun but then unknown on earth, Draper remarked, “I often look at the bright yellow ray emitted from the chromosphere of the sun by that unknown element, Helium, as the astronomers have ventured to call it. It seems trembling with excitement to tell its story.”

Draper concluded his lengthy oration with a challenge to his chemical colleagues. “Let us continue our labor unobtrusively, conscious of the integrity of our motives, conscious of the portentous change which is taking place in the thought of the world, conscious of the irresistible power which is behind us! … Let us deliver unflinchingly to others the truths that Nature has delivered to us.”

It was on this note that the American Chemical Society began, embarking on a long history of growth and achievement. The small band of 35 chemists that met on April 6, 1876, has grown to more than 163,000 chemists and chemical engineers who continue to read the book of Nature just as John Draper urged them to do.

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