Communication Currents

*In 1914, 17 speech teachers walked out of a meeting of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) to form the National Association of Academic Teachers of Public Speaking (NAATPS).  By 1920, membership reached 700.

*In 1915, NAATPS held its first convention. The convention was held in Chicago, IL, USA.  Chicago has hosted 31 conventions of the association, most recently in 2009. The 32nd time Chicago will host the convention will be in 2014, the association’s centennial celebration.

*There was only one year in which an association convention was not held. That year was 1918.

*The first state speech association was the Iowa State Association of Teachers of Speech.  The year of the organization’s founding was 1921.

*In 1923, NAATPS became the National Association of Teachers of Speech (NATS).  Membership that year reached 910.

*In 1946, NATS became the Speech Association of America (SAA). 

*In 1970, SAA became the Speech Communication Association (SCA).

*In 1997, SCA became the National Communication Association (NCA).

*The first president of the association was James M. O’Neill (University of Wisconsin).  There have been 97 presidents of the association.  Only one served two consecutive terms.  Howard S. Woodward (Western Reserve University) served as president in both 1918 and 1919. 

*In 1941, the association named its only “Honorary President,” Thomas C. Trueblood (University of Michigan).

*Of the 97 presidents of the association, 17 have been women.  The first woman president was Henrietta Prentiss (Hunter College), who served in 1932.  The most recent woman president was Lynn Turner (Marquette University), who served in 2011.

*The first scholarly journal published by the association was The Quarterly Journal of Public Speaking.  Soon thereafter, in 1917, the name was changed to the Quarterly Journal of Speech Education.  In 1928, the name was changed to the Quarterly Journal of Speech, which remains the name of the journal.

*NCA currently publishes 11 scholarly journals and periodicals, as well as a magazine (Spectra) and an e-magazine,Communication Currents.

*In 1963, the association’s headquarters moved from Indiana University to New York City.  In 1997, the association moved the headquarters to Annandale, VA.  In 1999, the NCA headquarters was moved to its current location at 1765 N Street, NW, in Washington, DC.

For more NCA Fun Facts, visit the NCA website at www.natcom.org!