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GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
EDITORS' COLUMN
C O L U M N COILER
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ANACHEMS of Detroit have celebrated their silver anniver sary of notable service to the profes sion of analytical chemistry with an impressive technical program and the presentation of the fourteenth annual Anachem Award to D r . Ralph G. Smith (see 59 A ) . The beginnings of the Anachem Society are interesting, for they af ford an understanding of the tre mendous progress that has been made in the intervening twenty-five years toward establishing analyti cal chemistry on a firm, competitive footing with the other, more popu lous branches of the science. In 1941 there was virtually no group with which analytical chem ists as a whole could meet to discuss mutual problems and present papers of interest to their colleagues. This was true despite the formation of the Microchemical Division of the American Chemical Society a few years before, because this group was just beginning the process of evolv ing into the Analytical Chemistry Division of the ACS. Therefore, it was with considera ble zeal, and probably some appre hension, that twenty analytical chemists met on August 6, 1941, at the Engineering Society of Detroit building, to form the Anachem So ciety. At this critical time, the unions (notably CIO, and to some extent, AFL) were anxious to enlist analytical chemists in their ranks— and they insisted on an "hourly rate" and compulsory membership in the union. Despite this stum bling block, and accusations that the group was formed as a bargain ing unit for local analytical chem ists, plans were forged for continu ing the Society, with regular meet ings and a newsletter. The first meeting was held in October 1941, ΊΗΕ
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