Earle, K.M., M.D.: The International Academy of Pathology: The First seventy-five Years, 1906-1981. (Presented in part at the Seventieth Meeting of the International Academy of Pathology, United States-Canadian Division, at the Palmer House Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, March 2, 1981, The Diamond Jubilee Lecture.)

The concept of an international academy of pathology originated in 1906 when Maude Abbott, M.D. of McGill University, Montreal, Canada; Major James Carroll of Washington, D.C.; and W. G. MacCallum, M.D. of Baltimore, Maryland met at the Army Medical Museum in Washington, D.C., and later in Baltimore, Maryland and formed an organizing committee to establish an International Association of Medical Museums. A letter of invitation was sent to the leading medical museums throughout the world requesting them to join in forming an international association. This led to the formal organization of the International Association of Medical Museums (IAMM).

The first documented meeting was held in 1907. Many renowned scientists attended. Among them was Dr. William Osler who played an especially prominent role in the founding of the International Association of Medical Museums (IAMM).

The name of the IAMM was changed in 1955 to the International Academy of Pathology (IAP). In 1969, a new Constitution and Bylaws formalized both the Divisional and International organization of the International Academy of Pathology. Divisions evolved in various countries throughout the world.

The history of the first seventy-five years is reviewed in chronological order with emphasis on some of the personalities that molded the early developments.