American Association for the Surgery of Trauma Archives

Meeting minutes, proceedings, and transciptions, annual meeting Transactions, photographs, correspondence, biographical material, presidential addresses, subject files, and publications (1938-2004; 23 linear feet) document the activities, leadership and membership of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST). The bulk of the collection dates between 1970-present and primarily documents the AAST's annual meeting activities, where the Board of Managers, Executive Office, and internal committees meet to conduct the Association's business. Each group produces an agenda, minutes, and transcriptions of its proceedings that are then distributed to the Association's membership. The official titles for these publications and quasi-publications change over time, but serve the same business functions throughout.

The Board of Managers functions as the AAST board of directors. The officers include the President, President-Elect, Vice-President, Secretary-Treasurer, Recorder, the three most recent Past-Presidents, and four Managers-at-Large including the Critical Care Manager and the Editor of the Journal of Trauma. The Executive Office series contains records relating to the president, treasurer, secretary, secretary-treasurer, Journal of Trauma editor, recorder, and managers. Again, the main activities of these groups occurs at the annual meeting and primarily involves organizing the next annual meeting, developing the agenda, rating and selecting papers to be delivered, and defining and prioritizing issues important to the membership that AAST should promote.

The Annual Meeting series primarily contains the essential products of the annual meeting: the official Transactions; transcripts of the invited discussions critiquing the formal papers that are delivered; and presidential addresses. Another primary activity, new members are chosen each year at the annual meeting. Entrance into the fellowship is by invitation only (the membership directory is called the "Family Directory," indicating one of the AAST's guiding principles). The Association accepts recommendations as well as formally rating candidates; a listing of eligible candidates is published each year and distributed to the membership, however these lists and deliberations are restricted from general use in this collection. Both the Directory and candidate lists can be found in the Publications series.

The membership is best documented by the Member Biography Files subseries that comprises most all of the Membership Records series. It contains autobiographies, photographs, curriculum vitas, and obituaries of past members. In 1969, the AAST President requested that members contribute a photograph and biographical information to compose a book of the existing members that could then be passed down to new presidents. In 1981, during the Archives Committee's early stages, there was another appeal for biographical data from members. Equally valuable is the nearly complete selection of former AAST president's portraits found in the Photographs and Slides series.

The AAST is very active in the medical profession and contributes to other organizations both financially and intellectually. The Associated Organizations series documents AAST's relationship with other organizations in the medical profession. The American College of Surgeons, American Trauma Society, and the Association of American Medical Colleges are three of the best-represented organizations. The Joint Action Program was a group effort between the AAST, National Safety Council and American College of Surgeons and records for it can be found in the National Safety Council subseries.