Brief
History of the American Philatelic Society CONTINUED
(page 2)
The Association was first incorporated in the State of West
Virginia November 2, 1891, and re-incorporated in the State
of Minnesota in 1897. In 1897 the name of the organization
was changed briefly to American Philatelic Society, but was
changed back to American Philatelic Association after only
a few months. The name was changed again to American Philatelic
Society at the 1908 convention, and has remained as such since
that time.
In
1916 Dr. Holland A. "Doc" Davis of Denver was elected as
secretary of the Board of Directors, a position he held
until 1945.
His twenty-nine years of service on the Board of Directors
has never been eclipsed. During Davis' tenure Franklin
Roosevelt, an
avid philatelist, and APS member, was elected President of
the United States. He brought into his administration long-time
APS member Harold R. Ickes, as Secretary of the Interior.
Through the 1920s and 1930s the number of members grew steadily.
By 1940 there were more than 4,000 members.
The
1942 convention in Cleveland, Ohio was the stage for local
collector and APS board member Donald Lybarger to present
his vision for the future of the APS. In a speech, he called
for the creation of a central office, which he felt should
be near the geographic center of the philatelic community,
but, for financial reasons, should not be in a large city.
He was elected APS President in 1943, and constantly campaigned
for the central office, as well as elimination of the proxy
system through his monthly President's Message in The
American Philatelist. At the 1944 convention in Milwaukee
it was announced that the APS was seeking applications for
the position of Executive Secretary to establish a central
office effective April 1, 1945. H. Clay Musser of State College,
Pennsylvania, was selected and the APS office was established
there.
The American Philatelic Society was elected to membership
in the Federation Internationale de Philatelie (FIP) as the
United States representative in 1947.
In 1958, the Sales Division, having been
operated for thirty-seven years by J.E. Guest in Dallas,
Texas, became one of the additional responsibilities of
the Executive Secretary, and the operations were moved
to the headquarters in State College, Pennsylvania.
In
1916 Dr. Holland A. "Doc" Davis of Denver was elected as
secretary of the Board of Directors, a position he held
until 1945.
His twenty-nine years of service on the Board of Directors
has never been eclipsed. During Davis' tenure Franklin
Roosevelt, 
an
avid philatelist, and APS member, was elected President of
the United States. He brought into his administration long-time
APS member Harold R. Ickes, as Secretary of the Interior.
The
1942 convention in Cleveland, Ohio was the stage for local
collector and APS board member Donald Lybarger to present
his vision for the future of the APS. In a speech, he called
for the creation of a central office, which he felt should
be near the geographic center of the philatelic community,
but, for financial reasons, should not be in a large city.
He was elected APS President in 1943, and constantly campaigned
for the central office, as well as elimination of the proxy
system through his monthly President's Message in The
American Philatelist. At the 1944 convention in Milwaukee
it was announced that the APS was seeking applications for
the position of Executive Secretary to establish a central
office effective April 1, 1945. H. Clay Musser of State College,
Pennsylvania, was selected and the APS office was established
there.