American Geographical Society

Thirty-Fourth Annual Meeting of the Association of American GeographersSource: Geographical Review, Vol. 28, No. 2 (Apr., 1938), pp. 310-313Published by: American Geographical SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/210479 .

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THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN GEOGRAPHERS

THE Association of American Geographers held its thirty-fourth annual meeting at Ann Arbor, December 28, 29, and 30, 1937. Illness prevented the attendance of the president, W. L. G. Joerg, formerly research editor at

the American Geographical Society and now curator of maps and charts at The National Archives, and the vice-president, Guy-Harold Smith, presided. All the meetings were held in the building of the Michigan Union of the University of Michigan. Robert B. Hall, of the Department of Geography at the University, and his associates on the local committee, Henry Madison Kendall and Charles M. Davis, deserve much credit for the arrangements for the meetings and the efficiency with which they were carried out.

An exceptionally interesting exhibit of maps, graphs, and other material prepared by members of the Association and others was on display in rooms adjacent to the hall in which the meetings were held, and the usual exhibit of books, maps, globes, and teaching devices by geographical publishing houses was in the corridors. An elaborate exhibit of meteorological instruments, photographs of field operations, and maps and graphs illustrating the work of the Soil Conservation Service in the Muskingum Valley attracted much attention.

The following officers were elected for 1938: Vernor C. Finch, president; Griffith Taylor, vice-president; Guy-Harold Smith, treasurer; Preston E. James, secretary; and Clarence F. Jones, councilor for three years. The other members of the council for 1938 are William H. Hobbs, W. L. G. Joerg, Richard Joel Russell, and Richard Hartshorne. Derwent Whittlesey continues as editor of the Annals. The 1938

meeting of the Association will be held at Cambridge, Mass. Forty-eight papers were read at the open sessions, twenty-five of which were by

introduced speakers. Opportunity for discussion was provided immediately after the conclusion of most of the papers. In addition, a critical discussion of each of the groups of papers into which the program was in general divided was conducted at the conclusion of the group by members of the Association previously designated.

At the annual banquet, after an address of welcome by William H. Hobbs, in which was included a message from President Ruthven of the University of Michigan, who is a member of the Association, there was substituted for the president's address an address by Robert B. Hall on the expansion of the Japanese Empire and a series of motion pictures taken by Julien Bryan in the Soviet Union.

Except for a group of papers on miscellaneous subjects read at the beginning of the opening session, the papers were grouped under special headings. In the group of miscellaneous papers, Mark Jefferson in a paper on " Standard Seasons," illustrated with maps and graphs, discussed the characteristics by which the seasons are to be recognized in the United States, the season combinations characteristic of the various sections of the country, and the average dates on which the seasons make their appearance throughout the country. W. L. G. Joerg's paper on " Road and Canal Maps of the 'Internal Improvement' Era in The National Archives" was omitted

because of his absence. Lawrence Martin's paper on "The Constitutional Sesqui- centennial Map Facsimiles" was read by title only, but a collection of the facsimiles of historically significant maps selected by Colonel Martin and reproduced under his supervision was on exhibition. In a paper entitled " Maps and Documents That Fix the Date of the Discovery of the Antarctic Continent," accompanied by lantern slides of the important maps of the period, William H. Hobbs presented some results of his research in the subject of early American discoveries in the Antarctic. S. Whit- temore Boggs's paper on "American Contributions to Geographical Knowledge of the Central Pacific" is published in this number of the Geographical Review. This

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ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN GEOGRAPHERS 3" I

section of the first session closed with a paper by Stephen S. Visher on " Causes and Consequences of Indiana's Regional Contrasts in Rainfall Intensity" (to be pub- lished in the Geographical Review).

THE MUSKINGUM VALLEY STUDIES OF THE SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE

The plans for, and the preliminary results of, the work on the important project in erosion control and soil conservation being carried out in the Muskingum Valley by the Soil Conservation Service were presented in a group of four papers, the first by C. Warren Thornthwaite and the others by men in charge of various phases of the work. Dr. Thornthwaite's paper, " Geographical Research in the Soil Conserva- tion Service," dealt with the geographical aspects of the work of the Service in its studies of rainfall and runoff and their erosional effects and its practical efforts at flood and erosion control. Leonard B. Corwin, in a paper entitled "The Establish- ment of a Unique Climatic Study," explained the instruments and methods used on the Muskingum Valley project in obtaining detailed climatic data through the em- ployment of relief workers and the recording and interpreting of these data on maps and graphs. Otto E. Guthe's paper, on " Research in the Erosion History and Land Utilization of the Muskingum Watershed in Ohio," dealt with studies that are being made of the effects of erosion in the past and the part played therein by farming methods as a basis for plans and recommendations for erosion control. The final paper of the group was by H. Andrew Ireland, on " Physiographic Conditions Affect- ing Run-Off and Soil Conservation in the Muskingum Drainage Basin of Ohio."

STUDIES IN THE TREATMENT OF SURFACE FEATURES

A group of five papers dealt with physiographic history as interpreted from surface features. Supplementing his report at the 1936 meeting of the Association (at Syracuse) on the results of his many seasons of field work in the Rocky Moun- tains, W. W. Atwood, in a paper on "The Erosion Cycle in a Rugged Mountain Region," submitted additional evidence that a number of peneplain surfaces in the Rocky Mountains usually attributed to a corresponding number of erosion cycles may actually have been produced in a single cycle. Richard Joel Russell described intricate stream patterns in the Louisiana coastal plain and discussed their physio- graphic origin. In a paper on "The Morphometry of Landscape" Guy-Harold Smith presented an analysis of slope. Richard Logan (introduced) traced from sur- face evidences the geological history of a section of the valley of the Housatonic River in western Massachusetts; and Henry Madison Kendall, in a paper on "The Surface Configuration of a Portion of Belgium," compared the character and limits of physiographic divisions as actually traced from detailed geological and topographi- cal studies with their broad, generalized outlines as represented on the best available geological maps.

URBAN AND INDUSTRIAL STUDIES

Six papers, all by introduced speakers except for one by Raymond E. Murphy on "The Anthracite Landscape," were presented at the session devoted to urban and industrial studies. Dr. Murphy's paper was a description of the natural aspects of the Pennsylvania anthracite region and the changes in the landscape caused by the exploitation of the coal deposits. Techniques for the study and presentation of the geography of urban areas formed the subject of a paper by Leonard S. Wilson on "Faribault, Minnesota." Thomas F. Barton discussed zoning problems and prin- ciples in urban-rural areas in a paper on " Geographic Ecotones. " Alfred J. Wright presented a series of maps showing the development of major and minor manu- facturing districts in the United States. H. Thompson Straw traced the development of the phosphate industry in Tennessee; and Victor Roterus described the city of

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312 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Knoxville as a center of marketing and supply reflecting the varied manufacturing activities of eastern Tennessee.

POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE

Of particularly timely interest was Richard Hartshorne's paper, entitled "The Tragedy of Austria-Hungary: A Post Mortem in Political Geography," in which he demonstrated the remarkable economic interdependence of the states that formed the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and the failure of the government thoroughly to recog- nize this interdependence and to take measures to solidify it as a chief contributing cause of the dismemberment of the monarchy by the Treaty of Versailles. Harold S. Kemp (introduced), in a paper on "Environment vs. Tradition in the Balkans," compared actual conditions in the Balkans-particularly the generally prevalent poverty resulting from the topography, poor use of the land, lack of communications, and general political and economic mismanagement-with the traditional conception of a proud, independent, hardy people. Also of particular interest at this time was Derwent Whittlesey's paper, "The Mediterranean-Mare Liberum or Mare Clau- sum?" in which he traced the control of the Mediterranean trade route from ancient times by a succession of dominant maritime powers.

RURAL LAND UTILIZATION

Ten papers were presented on the subject of the use of agricultural land. The introduced speakers were Bert Hudgins, who described the development of the tobacco industry of southwestern Ontario; W. M. Hanley, who presented the results of a study of land use in the lowlands of eastern Bengal; Lloyd D. Black, with a paper on agricultural activities in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and the concurrent urban development; Robert M. Glendinning, with a paper on agriculture in the Simi Valley of Ventura County, California; A. Russell Oliver, with a paper on "Land Utilization in Judith Basin, Montana"; W. A. Rockie, with a paper on "Man's Effects on Palouse" (to be published in the Geographical Review); and Joseph A. Russell, who described the history and present conditions of land utilization in Delta County, Michigan.

The papers presented by members of the Association were by Otis W. Freeman, on the results of his exploration of settlements in the Snake River Canyon (to be published in the Geographical Review); Helen M. Strong, on techniques of a detailed study of land use; and Edwin J. Foscue, on the utilization of agricultural lands as regards soil types.

THE MORPHOLOGY OF DWELLINGS

Three papers were presented on the subject of house types, in which American geographers are showing a steadily increasing interest. Fred B. Kniffen gave some results of his studies of the evidence that certain house types in Louisiana now adapted to local conditions had a common origin. Arthur B. Cozzens (introduced) discussed the adaptation to local conditions of certain house types in Mexico; and E. M. Scott and Robert Finley (introduced) presented a profile of house types from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, which was of particular interest in the light that it threw on the origin of the settlers of the regions that it covered.

LATIN-AMERICAN STUDIES

Four reports were presented on research and field work in Latin America. Preston E. James discussed population changes in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil (to be pub- lished in the Geographical Review). Robert S. Platt gave a paper on his detailed studies of regional characteristics in the Republic of Panama. Henry S. Sterling

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ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN GEOGRAPHERS 3I3

(introduced) described the development of agricultural villages in the Valley of Mexico; and William Van Royen (introduced) reported on his studies of topography, land utilization, and settlement in the Cibao region of the Dominican Republic (to be published in the Geographical Review).

MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES IN URBAN AND RURAL SETTLEMENT

The final session was devoted to a series of miscellaneous papers on settlement. In a paper entitled "Can Tasmania Retain Her Population?" Clifford M. Zierer presented a detailed statistical report on agricultural and industrial developments and future possibilities. Stanley D. Dodge discussed the problems of faulty and badly timed statistics that confront the investigator of population growth and decline. Ralph H. Brown discussed little-known sources of information on settlement and other phases of the human geography of the United States during the last years of the eighteenth century and the early years of the nineteenth century. Glenn T. Tre- wartha gave some results of his research in the little-known subject of early French trading settlements in Wisconsin. The rise and decline of villages and towns in the lumber region of the High Plains of the lower peninsula of Michigan was the subject of a paper by Charles M. Davis (introduced). Other speakers at this session were J. R. Randall (introduced), who described the settlements of the Nittany Valley of Pennsylvania; Edward Ullman (introduced), who dealt with the difference between the settlements on the opposite sides of the Massachusetts-Rhode Island boundary; and John Q. Adams (introduced), who discussed recent changes in the location of hunting and trading posts on Baffin Island. A special paper by George B. Cressey should also be mentioned, "The Geography of the Yenisei Valley," a report on a study of recent development by the government of the Soviet Union made in the summer of 1937.

SYMPOSIUM ON STANDARDS OF GEOGRAPHICAL CRITICISM

On the evening of December 28 a symposium open only to members of the Asso- ciation was held under the leadership of Preston E. James. The purpose was to discuss standards for judging theses for degrees in geography and articles for publica- tion. Charles C. Colby led the discussion with an outline of the points to be looked for in papers on geographical subjects, in which he emphasized the "sense of the problem" and its graphical presentation. Various phases of the problem of the presentation of the results of geographical research were discussed at length by Stanley D. Dodge, Griffith Taylor, Stephen S. Visher, and Derwent Whittlesey.

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