The Early Years: Recollections

Abstract

PRESENT AT THE UREATION The first meeting of the organization that was to form the American Forensic was held by a group of forensic directors in attendance at a debate tournament, formally known as the Iowa Collegiate Conference on World Affairs, at the University of Iowa in the fall of 1948. This group, convened by Hugo Hellman of Marquette University, adopted a resolution calling for the establishment of a national organization to represent their professional interests. Once the need for a national organization was agreed upon, several questions arose regarding the nature and scope of the organization. First, should it be strictly for debate coaches or for all forensic activities? Hellman's initial view was that what was needed was an organization of debate coaches. He was soon persuaded that coaches of all forensic activities should be included. Discussion, oratory, extemporaneous speaking, and oral interpretation were popular forensic activities at the time, and the consensus favored the establishment of a national association of forensic directors. Another notion considered at the first meeting was that what was needed was a forensic association in which the members would be colleges with debating teams, not individual forensic directors. It would be similar to the NCAA, in which the members are athletically competing colleges. Still another view favored a classification of members on the basis of years of service in speech activities. This was seen as a way of encouraging good forensic directors to remain in the field. The call for a national association of forensic directors was circulated widely throughout the forensic community. Mimeographed copies of a draft of the proposed constitution were distributed, and people were asked to join what was tentatively called the Association of Directors of Speech Activities. The editor of Speech Activities (E. R. Nichols; Univ. of Redlands) gave the proposal extensive and favorable coverage. James H. McBurney (Northwestern Univ.), President of the Speech of America (SAA; now the NCA), supported the idea. He appointed Nichols, the Second Vice President of the SAA, to make arrangements for organizational meetings to be held during the 1949 SAA convention in Chicago. Hugo Hellman, who was the driving force of the nascent organization, considered those who joined by December 10, 1949, as the founders. Listed alphabetically, they are as follows: H. L. Ahrendts, Kearney State College; J. J. Auer, College of Oberlin; Charles T. Battin, College of Puget Sound; Paul F. Blackburn, Loyola Univ., Los Angeles; Richard C. Bland, Stetson Univ.; Gifford Blyton, Univ. of Kentucky; Robert S. Bradley, S. J., Gonzaga Univ.; Paul D. Brandes, Univ. of Mississippi; Winston L. Brembeck, Univ. of Wisconsin; Adeline Brookshire, Fairmount High School, Fairmount, Indiana; E. C. Buehler, Univ. of Kansas; Hulda Burdick, Muskegon High School, Muskegon, Wisconsin; W. Arthur Cable, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson; Hugo A. Carlson, Augustana College, Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Paul Carmack, Ohio State Univ.; Eugene Chenoweth, Indiana Univ.; Brother C. Cornelius, FSC, Christian Brothers Academy, Syracuse; Lionel Crocker, Denison Univ.; H. Barrett Davis, Lehigh Univ.; Elnora Drafahl, New York State Teachers C ollege, Albany; Thorrel B. Fest, Univ. of Colorado; Austin J. Freeley, Boston Univ.; Hal W. Goetsch, Blair High School, Blair, Wisconsin; Ellen H. Gould, Alabama College for Women; Hugo Hellman, Marquette Univ.; George F. Henigan, George Washington Univ.; James N. Holm, Kent State College; James N. Irby, Jr., Spring Hill College; Bruno Jacob, Ripon College; Lt. Col. Chester L. Johnson, United States Military Academy; Carroll P. Lahman, Pasadena College; R. C. Martin, Lake Forest College; Charles Masten, Kansas State Teachers College, Emporia; Glen Mills, Northwestern Univ.; Eugene C. Moulton, Carroll College; William C. Nagel, Washington High School, Massilon, Ohio; Lloyd R. …