International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine (IAASM) Records

The records of the International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine reflect the prestigious international character of its membership. Much of the earliest correspondence is written in French. Official communications are issued in both French and English. A minimal amount of correspondence from Secretary General Castelo-Branco is in Portuguese. In general, the records consist of correspondence, minutes, applications of candidates for membership, and applications for the Academy's Annual Scholarship Award. A small quantity of financial records, a few portrait photographs of members or laureates, and a series of publications are also included. Besides the sometime extensive correspondence with members, the most important series is the continuous record of semi-annual meetings held between 1955 and the late 1990s. In general, the records consist of correspondence, minutes, applications of candidates for membership, and applications for the Academy's Annual Scholarship Award. A small quantity of financial records, a few portrait photographs of members or laureates, and a series of publications are also included. Besides the sometime extensive correspondence with members, the most important series is the continuous record of semi-annual meetings held between 1955 and the late 1990s.

Very little information was discarded during processing, with the exception of unsolicited mail from the convention boards. Coated fax paper with text faded beyond recognition was also discarded. Photocopying was attempted, but often, the documents were too faded to get a darkened copy.

Counting the Academy's meetings is somewhat complicated due to the practice of holding meetings during the annual meetings of the International Congress of Aerospace Medicine. For instance, the first meeting of the International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine was held during the fourth meeting of the International Congress in Paris in 1955. In 1965 and 1970, the International Congresses scheduled to be held in West Germany and Poland respectively, were annulled for reasons which are not apparent in the International Academy's records. Due to the subsequent numerical confusion, the Academy's meeting records have were originally divided into two subseries, meetings of the general assembly, and meetings held in conjunction with the International Congresses. When additions were processed in 2011-1012, there was also a considerable number of Executive Council Minutes, so a third subseries was created. All three subseries are arranged chronologically.

The overall arrangement of the collection is chronological. However some series, particularly correspondence with members and member candidate applications, are naturally arranged alphabetically. The majority of records date from the secretariat of Dr. Andre Allard during the 1960s. Allard's records are extensive and apparently complete.

Among the Academy's early records are the original documents relating to the founding of the European Federation of Aviation and Space Medicine which took place during the fourth meeting of the Academy in Rome in 1959 held during the eighth meeting of the International Congress of Aerospace Medicine.

Beyond their immediate use for Academy history, the records provide useful documentation of an international professional society active during the height of the Cold War.

Additions processed in 2011-2012 nearly doubled the size of the collection, and weeding out all duplication throughout the entire collection and fitting new records into the existing scheme of organization proved problematic. Where possible, new records were incorporated into existing files and boxes. However, in general, organizing files according to the tenure of each individual Secretary General no longer made sense, since many of the records appeared to have originated with committee chairs rather than with the Secretary General. Furthermore, many of the files were membership applications (some of which were older and were potentially already included with member correspondence). It was more efficient simply to arrange them alphabetically in their own subseries (VI A, Individual Candidate Applications) rather than trying to place them chronologically within the series of each Secretary General, since a researcher would presumably be more likely to look for a member or applicant by name than by date range. Thus, a new more generic series (Records of Secretaries General, 1963-2004) was created to try to approximate the existing series without being so dependent upon the date or whether the file originated with a particular Secretary General's office. If additional records are deposited by the IAASM in the future, the records series may require increased specificity or perhaps even a complete revision.

Series I contains Founding, Historical, and Constitutional Records. Because of the historical background they provide, correspondence about the shipment of documents during various transfers of the Secretariat are included in this series. Likewise, correspondence related to depositing the Academy Archives at Wright State University and a historical listing of Academy Officers for the years of 1955-2007 were filed in this series when additions were processed during 2011-1012.

Series II, Meetings, contains three subseries. Subseries II A covers General Assembly Meetings from 1955 through 2001. Subseries II B covers Executive Council Meetings from 1980 through 2003. Lastly, subseries II C covers International Congresses from 1962-1999. The Executive Council Meetings subseries was added during the processing of additions (2011-2012). In addition to the Minutes of the Executive Council, a quantity of Academy newsletters is filed in this subseries (even though they are not meetings), because they presumably originated with the Executive Council. Furthermore, the newsletters frequently contain meeting minutes and reports.

Series III, Records of Secretary General Andre Allard, contains 5 subseries, the first 3 of which cover correspondence (general correspondence, correspondence with diplomatic missions, and correspondence with IAASM Members. Subseries III D includes IAASM Membership Inquiries and Subseries III E includes IAASM Rejected Candidates. Subseries III E became problematic when additions were processed, as it was clear that some candidates reapplied and were sometimes ultimately accepted as members. Furthermore, it was not always evident from the applications for membership and subsequent documentation whether or not a given candidate was accepted or rejected. Therefore, when additions were processed, candidate applications and member files generally were filed under Series VI, Subseries VI A, IAASM Individual Candidate Applications, 1963-2003, even though they may occasionally duplicate material already available in Subseries III C (Correspondence with IAASM Members) and Subseries III E (IAASM Rejected Candidates).

Series IV, Copies of Records of Secretary General Eugene Lafontaine, 1971-1977, is comprised exclusively of correspondence.

Series V, Copies of Records of Secretary General Peter Vaughan, 1977-1979, consists exclusively of correspondence.

Series VI, Copies of Records of Secretaries General, 1963-2004, includes IAASM Individual Membership/Candidate Applications (subseries VI A) and miscellaneous correspondence and financial reports (subseries VI B). Some of the Membership/Candidate Applications may duplicate material available in Subseries III C, Correspondence with IAASM Members or Subseries III E, IAASM Rejected Candidates.

Series VII consists of Committees. This series was added when additions were processed. Subseries VII B, Scholarship Committee is the largest of the three subseries. The other two are the Selectors Committee (VII A) and Nominating Committee (VII C). Series VIII consists of Publications, Reprints, Reports, and Photographs. It was one of the original records series, but it was renumbered in order to retain its place at the end of the collection. These publications, reprints, and reports proceed from the IAASM or from other relevant organizations and entities. However, this series does not include the official academy newsletters.