A Look Back at the AOA Congress

This year's Optometry's Meeting^® in Orlando, FL, marks the 113^th Annual AOA Congress and the 40^th AOSA meeting. The first annual meeting of the American Optometric Association was held in 1898, back when the AOA was the American Optical Association. An estimated 32 members attended that first meeting in New York City. Today, Optometry's Meeting^® welcomes over 7,000 optometrists, paraoptometrics, optometric students, ophthalmic industry members and their guests.

As the profession of optometry and the American Optometric Association have grown, so has the Annual Congress. Below are some pictorial records of previous AOA Congresses.

Images courtesy the Archives & Museum of Optometry. Click here for more information.

Attendees

Panoramic photographs were taken of attendees at many of the earlier AOA Congresses. Below are some examples of attendee group portraits.

Seventeeth Optometric Congress: American Optical Association, St. Louis, MO, 1914

Photograph of attendees of the Seventeenth American Optical Association Congress in St. Louis, MO, 1914. The official name change to the American Optometric Association would not take place until 1919. Estimated attendance: 495.

Photograph of attendees of the 44th AOA Congress in Atlantic City, NJ, 1941.

Photograph of attendees of the 61st AOA Congress in Washington, DC, 1958.

Photograph of attendees at the AOA Congress in Washington, DC, 1958.

Photograph of attendees of the 77th AOA Congress in Washington, DC, 1974.

Photograph of attendees of the 61st AOA Congress in Washington, DC, 1974.

Attendees to earlier AOA Congresses would have the opportunity to take day trips to a local attraction. For instance, at the 28^th AOA Congress in Louisville, KY, attendees had the opportunity to tour Mammoth Cave. Below is a picture from the 38^th AOA Congress in Miami.

Attendees of the 38th AOA Congress in Miami Beach (1935) took a day trip to Nuavo Castle in Havana, Cuba. Pictured at the right end of the front row is then-AOA Treasurer F.A. Steugle.

Attendees of the 38th AOA Congress in Miami Beach (1935) took a day trip to a castle in Havana, Cuba. Pictured at the right end of the front row is then-AOA Treasurer F.A. Steugle.

Exhibit Hall

The Exhibit Hall has been a prime attraction of the AOA Congress for many years. As the ophthalmic industry and optometric profession have grew, the AOA Congress Exhibit Hall grew along with it. Here are some scenes from previous AOA Congress Exhibit Halls.

The Exhibit Hall from the 27th Annual AOA Congress in Kansas City, MO in 1924.

The Exhibit Hall from the 52nd Annual AOA Congress in Boston, MA in 1949.