| | Welcome to the ACS Division of the History of Chemistry Homepage   HIST Vision StatementInspiring chemistry's future by preserving its past.
For more information on the HIST strategic plan, click HERE
| | |  | The recipient of the2026 Joseph B. Lambert HIST Award of the Division of the History of Chemistry of the American Chemical Society isAnnette Lykknes. This award is the successor to the Dexter Award (1956-2001) and the Sydney M. Edelstein Award (2002-2009), also administered by the Division of the History of Chemistry. The HIST Award will be presented to Professor Lykknes at the fall national meeting of the American Chemical Society in August 2026 in Chicago, IL. | | |
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GEOC | Frank Wigglesworth Clarke: ACS President and GeochemistA HIST/GEOC Symposium for Fall 2026One of the greatest American geochemists was Frank Wigglesworth Clarke (1847-1931). He was also an important figure in the founding and development of the ACS. The Fall ACS meeting in Chicago, August 23-27, 2026, will include a joint symposium between HIST and GEOC to celebrate F.W. Clarke. Five papers have already been proposed: 1) F.W. Clarke: Father of American Geochemistry and a Founder of the ACS, 2) F.W. Clarke: Chief Chemist at the US Geological Service, 3) F.W. Clarke: The Smithsonian Institution and the Constants of Nature, 4) F.W. Clarke and Atomic Weights, and 5) F.W. Clarke: President of the ACS 1901. Other topics might include F.W. Clarke and The Data of Geochemistry, F.W. Clarke and the Cosmos Club, and F.W. Clarke and the Golden Jubilee of the ACS. Submissions are warmly requested from all HIST and GEOC members. Abstract submission closes March 30, 2026. This is an important collaboration between HIST and another ACS Division, GEOC. If you identify any other opportunities for a HIST collaboration for a symposium or webinar with another ACS Division, please emailChristine Hahn, HIST Program Chair. | | | | |
|  | An Update from The Oesper Collections - August 2025
The Oesper Collections recently launched a new digital collection on JSTOR of Bill Jensen's original hand drawn scientific caricatures. You are encouraged to use them in your lectures and papers with attribution. Lower resolution copies are available for immediate download and high-resolution copies can be provided upon request. Find the caricatures and our digital apparatus collections on JSTOR:https://www.jstor.org/site/uc/oesper/ Please contact Mark Chalmersmark.chalmers@uc.edu with any questions. |
| | | | The HIST award for thePaul R. Jones Outstanding Paper Award for 2024 has been awarded to Seth C. Rasmussen (North Dakota State University) for the paper “Edward Frankland and the Birth of Organometallics (1)” ((Bull. Hist. Chem.2024,49 (2), 111-121). The award is presented to the author of the best paper published in theBulletin for the History of Chemistry during the previous three years, 2022, 2023, 2024. This is Prof. Rasmussen's second Outstanding Paper Award as he won previously in 2018. He also is this year's winner of the Joseph B. Lambert HIST Award of the Division of the History of Chemistry. | | | | |
| | Joseph B. Lambert HIST Award for Outstanding Achievement in the History of Chemistry
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS for the 2027 Joseph B. Lambert HIST Award. Please see theaward's website for more information.This award is sponsored by and administered by the Division of the History of Chemistry (HIST). The recipient chosen to receive the HIST Award is presented with an engraved plaque and the sum of $1500, usually at a symposium honoring the recipient at the Fall National Meeting of the ACS, which in 2026 will be held on August 25, 2026, in Chicago, IL. The award is international in scope, and nominations are welcome from anywhere in the world. Previous winners of the Dexter and Edelstein Awards include chemists and historians from the United States, Canada, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Hungary, and the United Kingdom. |
| | The History, Heroes, and Theories That Created Quantum Mechanics
ACS Webinars and HIST have coproduced a program on quantum chemistry titledThe History, Heroes, and Theories That Created Quantum Mechanics. The presenters were HIST's own Gary Patterson on quantum chemistry before the computer, and Henry Schaefer III, one of the foremost practitioners of quantum chemistry, on more recent developments. Carmen Giunta was moderator. Materials from the webinar, including slides and (after June 9) a recording are available atACS Webinars . The program was suggested to ACS Webinars in recognition of the International Year of Quantum 2025, seehttps://quantum2025.org/. | | |
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| The ChemHIST Talks videos are now available on the HIST youtube channel:https://www.youtube.com/@histacs. ChemHIST Talks is a series drawn from the HIST speakers at the two national ACS meetings/year and would be chosen by vote of the Executive Committee. The webinar will be on a Wednesday, Noon PT, approximately a month after the national meeting. The latest presentations were given on October 22, 2025. If you would like to view these talks, go directly to theyoutube channel or clickHERE. |
| | | | William B. Jensen, a long-time friend and colleague, died November 2, 2024. Bill won the Edelstein Award in 2005, served as HIST Secretary/Treasurer from 1986-1989 and HIST Chair in 1991. He was the founding Editor of the HIST journal,Bulletin for the History of Chemistry. ClickHERE to access his obituary.E. Thomas Strom, another long-time friend and colleague, died October 26, 2024. Tom served as HIST Chair from 2011-2012, and co-organized 6 HIST symposia that resulted in ACS Symposium volumes. He was a mentor to many of us who have served on the HIST Executive Committee and presented talks at HIST sessions at National meetings. ClickHERE to access his obituary. | | | | |
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| Starting on September 1, 2024, theYouth Protection Policy will take effect, and it details the expectations for volunteers at ACS Youth Events. ACS has partnered with Sterling Volunteers to conduct all background checks. This policy applies to all adults volunteering at ACS Youth Events in the U.S. The email from ACS with links is foundHERE.With National Chemistry Week approaching, ACS asks all Divisions and Local Sections to share theACS Background Check linkwith volunteers as soon as possible. Events scheduled before the end of September have a grace period and are exempt from the new policy. However, it is imperative for volunteers to familiarize themselves with the process and request a background check soon. All volunteers for ACS Youth Events after October 1 must comply with the Youth Protection Policy-no exceptions.
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|  | Bolton Society
The Bolton Society is a program for bibliophiles organized by the Donald F. and Mildred Topp Othmer Library of Chemical History at theScience History Institute. The Bolton Society encourages and promotes the individual love for and collection of all types of printed material devoted to chemistry and related sciences. It also supports the activities of the Othmer Library and encourages book donations from members. Established in April 2000, the Bolton Society is named after Henry Carrington Bolton (1843-1903), a chemist, historian, academic, bibliophile, and renowned bibliographer of chemistry. His Select Bibliography of Chemistry created the definitive list of chemical books published from 1492 to 1902. Anyone who believes in the Bolton Society's mission can join. Members include bibliophiles, academic and industrial chemists, chemical engineers, philatelists, librarians, historians, and booksellers. The Society meets on Zoom and attracts an international membership. To join please fill out theform. |
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| | | | | | | | The ACS Division of the History of Chemistry (HIST) is celebrating its hundredth birthday as an ACS Division in 2022. Parts of our celebration of HIST's Centennial Year are: | | | | | | |
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| The Division of the History of Chemistry (HIST) recognizes the value of supporting the organization of symposia, conferences, or meetings that benefit the study and promotion of the history of chemistry. If you are organizing such an event and would like to request financial support (typically, $500 per traditional half-day session), please submitTHIS FORM to the Division's Secretary-Treasurer, Dr. Vera Mainz (mainz@illinois.edu) no later than two weeks before the HIST Executive Committee meets to consider such requests (i.e., during the national ACS meetings, usually in late March and late August). Most successful requests are submitted at least six months before the actual symposium or conference takes place. It should not be expected that late submissions will be considered. | | | | |
|  | TheBulletin for the History of Chemistry v50(2), 2025, is now available to members. Check out theTable of Contents.
Please remember that the specialHIST Centennial issue of theBulletin, v47(1), 2022, isOPEN ACCESS. Share a link with your friends!NOTE: HIST is making individual articles from theBulletin for the History of ChemistryOPEN ACCESS andsearchable EXCEPT for the last three years. These articles are available in theOpen Access Directory. Articles from the last three years are available via links from theTable of Contents for those issuesFOR HIST MEMBERS AND SUBSCRIBERS ONLY. If you try to access an article, you will be prompted for a login and password. The login username is the email address you provided to the American Chemical Society and the password is your ACS member number.
If you have any problems, please emailmainz@illinois.edu.If you are not a member and want to order an individual article, please check themembership/back-issue order form. | | | | | | | | | |
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| The HIST Division archives are at theScience History Institute (formerly known as the Chemical Heritage Foundation). The finding aid is availableHERE. | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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