Early Days

At the turn of the 20th century, steel treating remains (with the exception of steel mills and a few scattered laboratories) in the hands of blacksmiths. These craftsmen work under a veil of secrecy and mystery. Trade secrets are handed down from father to son. Trusted employees are sworn to secrecy.
With the advent of the automobile industry, the cloud of mystery begins to clear. Craftsmen begin to exchange information and knowledge—not freely, but to a greater degree than before.
Trained as a blacksmith, William Park Woodside plies his trade in several Canadian provinces and in Pennsylvania. He begins working for the Cadillac Motor Car Company in Detroit in 1905.
In his work and his travels, Woodside notes a genuine need for the exchange of technical information. He has a solution to bring heat treaters together.
On Saturday, Oct. 4, 1913, Woodside invites 18 of his fellow heat treaters and automotive employees to a meeting at the Old Fellowcraft Club in Detroit. This successful meeting results in the formation of The Steel Treaters’ Club.

Detroit vs. Chicago

During World War I, the Steel Treaters’ Club becomes the Steel Treating Research Society.
Sections in Chicago and Cleveland are formed. By 1918, membership totals 1,250.
Difficulties develop between the Detroit and Chicago groups. After World War I, the 200 members of the Chicago group secede and form the American Steel Treaters’ Society. They hire a young school superintendent named William Hunt Eisenman as business manager.
Eisenman embarks upon his most important mission: the establishment of chapters. Traveling from city to city, he invites influential steelmakers and steel users to a dinner and introduces the aims of the society. He is so persuasive that by the end of the evening, a chapter is often formed with officers already in place.
By 1919, the combined membership of the two groups grows to 2,750 with 27 chapters. But the two groups are now establishing competing chapters in various cities.

Compromises

The rivalry between Detroit and Chicago impairs the development of both organizations. A mediator is needed to begin talks toward a reunification of the two societies.
This critical role is filled by Col. Albert E. White of U.S. Army Ordnance, who would later become an associate professor of metallurgy at the University of Michigan. He urges the two opposing factions of heat treaters to negotiate their differences.
Reunification is celebrated at the society’s first official meeting in Philadelphia in September 1920.
Elements of the names of both societies are included in a new name: American Society for Steel Treating (ASST). Both Detroit and Chicago want the national headquarters to be located in their cities, but a compromise is reached: Cleveland.
Exactly one year before reunification, the Chicago group—in conjunction with their first convention—initiates something that no organization in America had tried before: a concurrent exposition of heat treating equipment and products. The first Metal Show is a resounding success.
The second Metal Show is held in Philadelphia in September 1920 as a feature of the first convention of the now-united ASST. This highly successful event will be held annually for the next 53 years.

The First Handbook

Col. White, the person most instrumental in bringing together the Detroit and Chicago factions, becomes the society's president in 1921.
The society grows to more than 3,200 members and 31 chapters.
Bill Eisenman becomes Secretary for the society, now headquartered in downtown Cleveland.
Within a month after consolidation, the first issue of a new publication, Transactions (now Metallurgical and Materials Transactions) appears under the ASST name.
The society's oldest award, the Henry Marion Howe Medal, is established and awarded for the best paper published in Transactions.
In 1923, the society starts to publish data sheets on recommended practices for heat treating. These data sheets are three-hole punched to fit in a pocket-sized looseleaf binder.
By 1924, members have received 116 data sheets. This is the beginning of the society's best-known reference, the Metals Handbook.

American Society for Metals

By the 1920s, members need reliable technical information beyond the field of steel treating alone. Alloying during the manufacture of steel has become more important, and the quality and treatment of nonferrous metals attract the attention of engineers.
ASST expands to include the complete range of manufacturing processes for all metals.
By 1933, ASST becomes American Society for Metals (ASM), with Bill Eisenman serving as National Secretary.
Metal Progress magazine (now Advanced Materials & Processes) debuts in September 1930 and quickly becomes the preeminent technical publication in the metals field.
By 1948, the Seventh Edition of the Metals Handbook has grown to 1,444 pages. This is the last single-volume Handbook until the publication of the first Metals Handbook Desk Edition in 1984.

Post-War Progress

After World War II, the concept of a World Metallurgical Congress is proposed to re-establish lines of communication among free world scientists and engineers.
In 1951, 510 delegates from 39 countries attend the Congress, which establishes ASM as a world-class organization.
Conferees spend five weeks in the United States, attending guided tours of plants, institutions and laboratories, and converging in Detroit for the Congress, held in conjunction with the Metals Show.
A second Metallurgical Congress convenes in Chicago in 1957.
In 1952, the society establishes the ASM Foundation for Education and Research (now the ASM Materials Education Foundation) to encourage education and scholarship.
ASM’s Metals Engineering Institute (now ASM Education) is established in 1954 to develop technical training for industry. Seminars are offered for the first time in 1957.

A New Headquarters

In 1959, ASM moves into Metals Park (now Materials Park), a dramatic headquarters building in Russell Township, Ohio, 25 miles east of Cleveland.
The semicircular building, capped by a geodesic dome, is built on several hundred acres donated to the society by Bill Eisenman.
William Hunt Eisenman, ASM’s National Secretary for 40 years, passes away in 1958.
In 1959, Allan Ray Putnam is named Managing Director.
The 8th Edition of the Metals Handbook begins publication in 1961. The first multi-volume edition reaches completion in 1976 with the publication of Volume 11.
Representing the shared expertise of more than 4,600 authors, the 8th Edition is one of the largest and most important projects ever undertaken by ASM.

A Broader Technical Focus

Metals Information, a computerized information searching service, grows throughout the 1960s.
In 1970, the first class of ASM Fellows, 200 strong, is installed at ceremonies at Metals Park.
ASM establishes its ASM Heat Treating Conference/Workshop in 1974, and a new annual event, Metals Week, is held for the first time in 1981.
Funding for the International Data Program for Alloy Phase Diagrams begins in 1981.
The society expands its geographic scope beyond America alone, and expands its technical scope beyond metals to include other engineered materials—composites, plastics, ceramics and electronic materials. ASM becomes “ASM International” in 1986.
Metal Progress becomes Advanced Materials & Processes.
In 1985, Edward L. Langer succeeds Allan Ray Putnam as Managing Director.
In 1988, the 75th anniversary of the society is celebrated with the World Materials Congress in Chicago – the largest event in ASM history. Nearly 12,000 registrants from 50 countries attended more than 330 technical sessions.
By 1989, the Ninth Edition of the Metals Handbook has grown to a 17-volume set comprised of approximately 15,000 pages, 25,000 illustrations and 7,500 tables.

Serving Member Needs

To meet the needs of key technical affinity groups within the general membership, three Affiliate Societies are founded: ASM Heat Treating Society (HTS), ASM Thermal Spray Society (TSS) and Electronic Devices Failure Analysis Society (EDFAS). These groups join the International Metallographic Society (IMS) and the Society of Carbide and Tool Engineers (SCTE) as Affiliate Societies of ASM.
After serving ASM for 30 years—10 years as Managing Director—Edward L. Langer retires in 1996 and is succeeded by Dr. Michael J. DeHaemer.
In 1997, the ASM Materials Solutions Conference & Exposition and the ASM Heat Treating Society Conference & Show are offered together to provide a more comprehensive and valuable learning and networking experience.
By 1999, the ASM Handbook on CD-ROM captures the contents of the entire 20-volume series in four searchable disks, giving members a faster way to access information. New electronic products and services continue to be developed in answer to member needs.
ASM opens a $3 million Training Center at Materials Park, featuring $1.7 million in donated equipment. Dozens of new courses continue to be developed and introduced to answer industry’s most significant training needs.

2000-Present

The ASM International Foundation introduces the first ASM Materials Camp, bringing 30 high-school students to Materials Park for week of hands-on, lab-based learning. This camp becomes the model for ASM’s fast-growing and award-winning program.
Stanley C. Theobald becomes the fifth Managing Director in ASM history in August 2002.
ASM’s new initiative in Materials and Processes for Medical Devices provides information and networking opportunities for designers, engineers and clinicians. A successful 2006 Materials & Medicine Summit is held with Cleveland Clinic in 2006.
The International Organization on Shape Memory and Superelastic Technologies (SMST) becomes an ASM Affiliate Society.
Mtrl, a new initiative to provide “material about materials” to the industrial design community, is launched in 2006.
In 2004, a bold new ASM Strategic Plan calls for investment in an Information Technology infrastructure that will allow for the creation of the Global Community Information Network. By 2006, the first online services based on the ASM Integrated Enterprise are launched, including databases for Materials for Medical Devices and Alloy Phase Diagrams Online.
In 2007, ASM launches its Global Community Website and the first of its Affiliate Society and Chapter sites.