A variety of historical treasures are found in the 109 volumes of The Chemical Bulletin, the newsletter of the Chicago Section of the American Chemical Society. Originally titled The Chicago Chemical Bulletin, our publication predated C&EN’s earliest incarnation by nine years and continues to serve much the same function: reporting news about the chemical enterprise; celebrating chemists’ achievements; presenting feature articles interesting to chemists, including chemistry educators; providing chemists a forum to share opinions and debate; supporting outreach to the public and elected officials; indulging in niche chemistry humor; etc.

In this poster we showcase certain aspects of The Chemical Bulletin’s history that its recent Editors and contributors have found appealing, including the following:
-Its function as an early regional “social network” for chemists, sharing promotions, patents, degrees, positions sought, marriages, births, etc. from the Chicago Section and several of its neighbors, including Iowa, Wisconsin, Milwaukeee, Illinois, and more.
-Chemistry-themed artwork, especially original rubber stamps and the integration of art into the National Meetings.
-Discussion and debate in opinion and letters section on pressing matters of the day, such as chemists’ roles in WWI and WWII, the influence of communism and the Red Scare on the enterprise, and more.
-Its function as a lens providing insights into women’s role in chemistry over the course of more than a century, tracking the evolution of focus from “household chemistry” to professional employment in industry, agriculture, medicine, and education to issues like compensation equity.

The poster itself will provide QR codes to pages on chicagoacs.org that allow the reader/viewer to explore these aspects of the Bulletin Archives in more detail.

Mastheads of the Chicago Section's newsletter, The Chemical Bulletin, from 1914 through present day

Paul Brandt

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