History of the American Iron and Steel Institute
Through its predecessor organizations, the American Iron and Steel
Institute's history spans more than 150 years. What follows is
a brief description of the evolution of the Institute, beginning with a
list of the principal milestones.
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1855
1864
1908
1966
1974
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American Iron Association is established.
Name is changed to American Iron and Steel Association.
American Iron and Steel Association is merged into American Iron and
Steel Institute, with headquarters in New York.
AISI opens its first Washington office.
AISI moves its headquarters to Washington.
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The need for an organization "to take all proper measures for
advancing the interests of the trade in all its branches" led
ironmasters, clustered mainly in the East, to establish the American
Iron Association in 1855. That year, world pig iron production amounted
to 7 million tons.
In 1864, the Bessemer steel was made in the United States, and the
Association, headquartered in Philadelphia, changed its name to the
American Iron and Steel Association.
Early in this century, as the industry experienced explosive growth,
its leaders saw the need for an organization to supplement the largely
statistical activities carried on by AISA. That led to the founding of
the American Iron and Steel Institute in 1908, with Elbert H. Gary as
its first chief executive.
From 1908 to 1912, the Institute and the Association functioned side
by side. But on January 1, 1913, the Association was merged into the New
York - based Institute.
The "Roaring '20s" was a period of prosperity and expansiveness.
Institute statistics showed that the United States produced 40 percent
of the world's supply of iron and steel. The opulent flavor of the times
is perhaps best illustrated by who was invited to address an AISI
General Meeting banquet – the Queen of Romania. But then came the
Great Depression. In 1933, at its depths, Congress adopted the National
Industrial Recovery Act, and AISI was called upon by the Federal
Government to act for the steel industry in the establishment and
administration of a Code of Fair Competition. That responsibility was so
vast that almost overnight the Institute's staff had to be expanded from
about a dozen people to almost 100. The NRA, however, was declared
unconstitutional in May of 1935 and replaced in part by the National
Labor Act. Subsequently, the AISI staff was reduced to about 30 and the
AISI Committee on Industrial Relations was established to address labor
issues.
Also in the '30s, it became apparent that the industry's technical
terminology had become chaotic. The Institute came to grips with the
problem, and out of its efforts came the AISI steel products manuals.
They provided makers and users of steel with generally recognized
definitions, descriptions and practices pertaining to the manufacture,
chemistry, metallurgy and adaptability of steel products.
During World War II, AISI technical committees helped conceive the
national emergency steels that conserved critical alloying elements. In
recognition of that contribution to the winning of the war, the
Institute was presented the Distinguished Service Award of the U.S.
Department of the Army. AISI also created a special committee on
industrial health to help place returning injured war veterans in steel
jobs.
In the 1950s, in response to the growing involvement of the Federal
government in the operation of our market economy, AISI opened its first
Washington office. The government relations department was joined in the
U.S. capital by several other departments in 1969; and by the end of
1974, the Institute had moved all of its operations to Washington,
except for regional building codes offices. Shortly before the New
office closed, 115 people were employed by the Institute.
In the '70s changes were made in the Institute's structure so that it
could effectively address such emerging public policy issues as the
environment and energy, as well as become more active on behalf of the
industry in debates over tax policies and policies concerned with
international trade.
Over the past 10 years, restructuring of the steel industry has
resulted in far-reaching changes in AISI. Like its member companies,
AISI has downsized its staff. As its member companies have become more
customer-driven, AISI has also increased its market development
activity. Public policy activity has grown in importance, as has
collaborative research and the role of associate members, almost all of
whom are suppliers of the steel industry.
The Council of Electric Furnace Producers and the North American Steel
Council were established as integral parts of AISI, and the Steel Can
Recycling Institute as a satellite. SCRI recently became SRI, as it
dropped "Can" from its name and expanded its interests to other end
products made of steel.
A constant in every era has been the importance of committees to the
structuring of Institute activities. Even the original association's
By-laws provided for committees – one on statistics and another on
finance. The Institute's By-laws at the time of its incorporation
provided for four standing committees. Today, the Institute has
committees covering key public policy issues, manufacturing
technologies, commercial research, market development, statistics and
communications.
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