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National Communication Association records, 1949-2016

Overview of the Collection

Creator
National Communication Association (U.S.)
Title
National Communication Association records
Dates
1949-2016 (inclusive)
Quantity
129.5 linear feet, (257 boxes and 1 oversize folder)
Collection Number
MS 0673
Summary
The National Communication Association records (1949-2016) consist of documents concerned with all aspects of the National Communication Association (founded 1914), including its administration, community involvement, and projects. Included are correspondence, financial records, personnel records, travel records, event announcements, meeting minutes and agendas, project reports, professional papers and studies, surveys, teaching resources, awards documentation, and directories. Also present are a variety of speech/debate-oriented publications, particularly those produced by the NCA.
Repository
University of Utah Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT
84112-0860

Telephone: 8015818863
special@library.utah.edu
Access Restrictions

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Languages
English
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Historical Note

The National Communication Association was founded in 1914 by a small group of members of the National Council of Teachers of English (organized 1910). Their goal was to establish, based on the examples set by regional associations such as the Eastern Public Speaking Conference, a national, independent organization to serve the needs of the public speaking teacher, an organization that would cultivate the development of a vital, academic speech communication discipline. According to Giles W. Gray, a publications editor for the new organization, "it was the recalcitrance of the National Council of Teachers of English and the refusal of some of its most influential members and officers to yield at any point . . . that provided the impetus for separation." The new organization's first president, James M. O'Neill, recalled in a 1964 message explaining the rationale for the founding of the NCA that, "... the only academically respectable work in public speaking [at that time] was being done by teachers who were 'on their own,' wholly independent of the English department or any other department."

This first vision of the NCA was called the National Association of the Academic Teachers of Public Speaking and had seventeen charter members. The organization functioned under this name, promoting research and more effective teaching, until its 1945 convention, when the group changed its name to the Speech Association of Americirca In 1969, the name was changed to the Speech Communication Association. Membership grew from 106 in 1915 to 7200 in 1970, but declined to just over 6000 by 1989. Initial gross income was $1300 and reached $950,000 in 1989.

The goals of the organization included promotion of research, publication of scholarly journals in the discipline, assisting regional speech communication associations in their activities, and promoting the inclusion of speech programs in educational systems. In 1934, the Teacher Placement Service was inaugurated in response to the growth of the discipline and the need for a central clearinghouse to fill professional positions. Throughout its history, the organization sponsored and encouraged speech communication events. In 1963, the Committee on International Discussion and Debate was formed. Through this program, the NCA sponsored American debate teams in international competition, and brought foreign debate teams to compete in the United States. In 1973, the NCA sponsored the Bicentennial Youth Debates program, which was initiated by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The NCA has held annual conventions since 1915 (with the exception of 1918) to facilitate the presentation of research and provide a forum for the discussion of relevant issues. Some of these conferences have been held jointly with the American Educational Theatre Association, while other organizations, including the American Forensics Association, have also held joint meetings with the NCA.

The activities of the organization's officers were initially concerned with membership development, solicitation of journal advertising, the promotion of research, and planning an annual convention. By 1961, however, it was decided that the administrative burdens associated with maintaining the organization had grown too large for what had been part-time leadership, so a full-time Executive Secretary position was created. A 1969 revision of the group's constitution restructured the organization, and its governing body became the Legislative Council, comprised of representatives from various constituent groups. While the headquarters of the organization had traveled to the home institution of each Executive Secretary before 1963, with the installation of William Work as Executive Secretary (the organization's first full-time officer), New York City became the designated headquarters. However, after years of contemplating doing so, in 1974 the organization moved its office to the Washington, D. C, area.

The NCA's efforts at recognizing and incorporating the various needs of different member groups within the organization were not always successful. The American Speech, Language and Hearing Association (established in 1933 as the American Speech Correction Association) was formed following dissatisfaction with the NCA's ability to address these members' needs, and the American Educational Theatre Association (established in 1936) was another organization with similar origins. The National Society for the Study of Communication (1949) and the American Forensic Association (1950) also had their start as subgroups of the NCA. Such splintering was the basis for an administrative reorganization in 1952, when a "Committee on Structure" was formed. Its recommendations, realizing the inevitability of diverse needs within the SCA, included strengthening the relationships between the parent organization, regional organizations, and sub-organizations, as well as forming deliberative bodies within the organization to review policies and ensure representation. A new constitution in 1954 incorporated these ideas. The adoption of the 1969 constitution also caused some sub-groups within the organization, such as those interested in religious and business speech issues, to re-organize themselves under new affiliations. Subsequent reorganizations in the 1970s sought to further extend recognition of interest groups within the organization.

Various monographs, periodicals, and other documents have been published by the NCA, including The Quarterly Journal of Speech (founded 1915 as The Quarterly Journal of Public Speaking ), Communication Monographs (founded 1934 as Speech Monographs ), Speech Teacher (founded 1952 in response to the needs of public secondary school teachers), and Communication Education . Spectra is the association's newsletter. In addition, the NCA has also published a Directory of Graduate Programs in Speech, Convention Abstracts , and the Index to Journals in Communication Studies , as well as monographs, research compilations, and additional serials.

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Content Description

The National Communication Association records (1949-2016) consist of documents concerned with all aspects of the association, including its administration, community involvement, and projects. Included are correspondence, financial records, personnel records, travel records, event announcements, meeting minutes and agendas, project reports, professional papers and studies, surveys, teaching resources, awards documentation, and directories. Also present are a variety of speech/debate-oriented publications, particularly those produced by the NCA. These files include document reviews and promotion and publicity materials. Lastly, the collection contains additional documents regarding other speech and debate organizations, including their constitutions and by-laws, conference and convention materials, newsletters, announcements, publications, directories, and reports. Throughout the collection, the original order of the documents and the associated titles were retained as much as possible.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library's Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Preferred Citation

Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is divided into fifteen sections of material. The first section (boxes 1-3) contains correspondence that was found separated from other correspondence in the collection. Correspondence found in this section concerns the activities of the NCA's executive directors, William Work and James Guadino, during 1982 and 1983 and 1990 and 1991. Other correspondence in the collection has remained with associated documents. Financial records can be found in Section II (boxes 4-8). These include a general expense ledger, deposit sheets, budget information, receipts, contracts and agreements, invoices, employee time sheets, expense and income lists, and additional financial statements between 1987 and 1990. Section III of the collection (boxes 9-14) contains personnel files, including correspondence, time sheets, resumes, vitae, applications, and photocopies of photographs (originals have been transferred to the Manuscripts Division's Multimedia Section, P0746).

Section IV (boxes 15-97) is the largest of the collection and contains documents regarding numerous boards, caucuses, committees, commissions, divisions, sections, and task forces within the NCA. The materials are arranged according to type of group and include materials from 1959 through 1994. The largest group of documentation within this section is that regarding the Committee on International Discussion and Debate (CIDD) and can be found in boxes 35 to 88 and map (oversize) storage. CIDD materials include correspondence, host institution information, itineraries, participant materials, tour evaluations, and tour publicity. Boxes 43 through 51 contain information on the "Bicentennial Youth Debates" held across the country in 1976 and sponsored by the NCA. Documents regarding groups formed to deal with specific aspects and projects of the NCA, including the Administrative Committee, Publications Board, Educational Policies Board, and Commission on Freedom of Speech, are also located in this section. Materials produced by these groups and their participants include correspondence, meeting minutes, and project documentation.

Information concerned with conferences, conventions, meetings, and short courses sponsored by the NCA are in Section V of the collection (boxes 98-107). Announcements, correspondence, meeting minutes and agendas, agenda background materials, reports, travel arrangement materials, and papers presented at the annual conventions held by the NCA are present. Sections VI and VII of the collection contain information regarding projects, proposals, reports, studies, and surveys conducted by the NCA. Section VI (boxes 108-112) offers documentation for the Criminal Justice Project, fund raising efforts, various studies, a minimal competencies project, and background materials for other projects and proposals. Section VII (boxes 113-119) contains studies, surveys, and reports arranged in alphabetical order, as well as quarterly reports, site visits, accession log sheets, and report resumes compiled by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills.

Publications produced by the NCA are in Section VIII (boxes 120-150). Present are copies of various publications, as well as correspondence, contracts with sponsors of the publications, receipts and invoices, copyright agreements, reviews, publishing information, budget information, and promotion and publicity materials. Also included in this section are the NCA's member directories for 1991 through 1995, and NCA convention programs between 1964 and 1993.

Section IX (boxes 151-156) contains materials originally titled "teaching aids." The materials contain information relating to the teaching of speech and debate, including articles, publications, brochures, guidelines for teachers, guidelines for measuring the competencies of students, scholarly papers, newsletters, workshop materials, and correspondence regarding the varying aspects of NCA's involvement in education. Information regarding the many awards given by the NCA can be found in Section X (boxes 157-159). Documents concerning each award are grouped alphabetically by name, and include information on award policies of the NCA, descriptions and histories of awards, announcements of award availability, copies of award certificates, correspondence, lists of award recipients, calls for nominations, and nomination letters.

Materials originally termed "administrative alphabetical files" have been housed together in Section XI (boxes 160-163). The original folder titles and order of this section has been retained. The materials include correspondence and information on legal and other matters involving the NCA. Histories of the NCA are in boxes 160 and 161. These offer information on the NCA from it's origin in 1914 through 1989. Other files in this section include advertising, membership drive, and past officer information; policy statements and documents regarding meetings of the national office staff; and items pertaining to student matters, including documentation regarding graduate students/teaching assistants, interns, and seminars.

Section XII (boxes 164-185) contains materials reflecting NCA relations with other professional organizations. The section contains information on other speech and communication associations in the United States, as well as some in Canada and Puerto Rico: by-laws, correspondence, conference and convention materials, newsletters, announcements, publications, directories, reports, and other items.

Section XIII consists of addenda to the collection, added in 2011. It includes newsletters, correspondence, programs, committee materials, and financial information. By special request of the depositor, Multimedia materials from the 2011 Addendum (box 224) have remained with the Manuscripts materials.

Section XIV consists of addenda to the collection, added in 2014. It includes newsletters, correspondence, programs, committee materials, and financial information.

Section XV consists of addenda to the collection, added in 2017. It includes committee and assembly meeting minutes, correspondence, programs, financial information, and publications.

Separated Materials

Photographs (P0746) and audio-visual materials (A0436) were transferred to the Multimedia Division of Special Collections.

By special request of the depositor, multimedia materials from the 2011 addendum have remained with the manuscripts materials.

Processing Note

Processed by Kristen Soderberg, Brad Bennion, and Kate Kimball in 1998-2003.

Addenda processed by Michael Bills in 2011 and 2014.

Addenda processed by Braxton Utley in 2017.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Public speaking--History--Sources

Corporate Names

  • National Communication Association (U.S.)--Archives
  • Speech Association of America
  • Speech Communication Association

Form or Genre Terms

  • Articles
  • Correspondence
  • Directories
  • Financial records
  • Minutes (Records)
  • Newsletters
  • Pamphlets
  • Reports

Finding aid prepared by Kristen Soderberg.
1998 (last modified: 2017 and 2018)

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