The Population Association of America (PAA) is a non-profit scientific professional association dedicated to the study of issues related to

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

and

demography Demography () is the statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration. Demographic analysis examine ...

. The PAA was established by

Henry Pratt Fairchild Henry Pratt Fairchild (August 18, 1880 – October 2, 1956) was an United States, American sociology, sociologist who was Professor of Sociology at New York University and actively involved in many of the controversial issues of his time. He wrote ...

and Frederick Osborn, with funds secured by

Margaret Sanger Margaret Sanger ( Higgins; September 14, 1879September 6, 1966) was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. She opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, founded Planned Parenthood, and was instr ...

from the Milbank Memorial Fund. In its early years, the PAA was a coalition of population scientists, birth control activists, immigration restrictionists, and eugenicists.

History

Founding

The Population Association of America was conceived on December 15, 1930 at a meeting in the office of

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. It was an offshoot of the American National Committee of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) which had been formed in 1927 with Raymond Pearl of

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

as its first President. The History Committee identifies the following events in the timeline prior to the founding of PAA that were relevant to founding PAA: * 1922: Scripps sets up the Scripps Foundation for Research in Population Problems. This would later be renamed the Scripps Gerontology Center in 1972. * 1927: The World Population Conference is held in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, leading to the formation of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP). * 1928: Milbank Memorial Fund begins studies in population in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. * 1929: Guy Burch founds the

Population Reference Bureau The Population Reference Bureau (PRB) is a private, nonprofit organization specializing in collecting and supplying statistics necessary for research and/or academic purposes focused on the environment, and health and structure of populations. The ...

. * December 15, 1930: A small group begins to discuss forming the PAA in New York City Town Hall. * May 7, 1931: The PAA is organized in New York City Town Hall. * April 22–23, 1932: The PAA holds its first annual meeting in New York City Town Hall. * 1935:

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

, wife of then-U.S. President

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

, attends the PAA's ''Conference on Population Studies in Relation to Social Planning.'' Frank Lorimer produces the first issue of ''Population Index'' using office space at Victor Building, which at the time also hosted the Population Reference Bureau.

Journal

The flagship journal of the PAA, called ''

Demography Demography () is the statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration. Demographic analysis examine ...

'', is a bi-monthly open access journal published by

Duke University Press Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921 by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 ...

and was founded in 1964. It is one of the world's leading journals on issues related to population and demographic trends.

Award

The Irene B. Taeuber Award for research achievements of the Population Association of America is named after Irene Barnes Taeuber. PAA award
8 different awards

Conferences

The PAA holds an annual meeting every March/April where people present research and data on population trends. The PAA held its first annual meeting on April 22–23, 1932, in

. Since then, annual meetings have been held every year except the year 1938 and the years 1943, 1944, and 1945 (the latter three due to the United States' involvement in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

). Initially, PAA Annual Meetings were held in New York City and nearby East Coast cities, due to the concentration of population researchers and policymakers in that area. The first meeting outside the eastern U.S. time zone was held in Chicago in 1958. Since then, conferences have been held in numerous locations across the United States ranging from

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

and

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, and also in some cities in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

such as

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. The Annual Meetings for 2011, 2012, and 2013 were held in Washington D.C.,

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, and

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

respectively. The annual meeting website is maintained in collaboration with

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. The

Pew Research Center The Pew Research Center (also simply known as Pew) is a nonpartisan American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world. It ...

is among the many demography-related research groups that sends many papers and posters to this conference. Some of the PAA's Annual Meetings and additional meetings have been held in collaboration with other professional associations such as the American Statistical Association (1933, 1950),

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

(1938), National Economic and Social Planning Association (1939), and American Sociology Association (1967). The Annual Meeting for 2020 was canceled, and the 2021 meeting was held virtually. The PAA has also sponsored other population-related conferences, such as the 1935 ''Conference on Population Estimates'' that

attended and the 2013 conference ''Integrating Genetics and the Social Sciences'' held at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

Presidents

Recent presidents were

Membership

PAA allows people to become members for a fee depending on their status and location. Members get PAA publications including the journal ''

,'' weekly e-newsletter, and they can attend the PAA Annual Meeting at a reduced rate. As of 2013, there were about 3,000 members.

Other activities

The PAA is a partner in the Science and Technology Fellowship Program of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Professional associations based in the United States Population 1930 establishments in New York City Non-profit organizations based in Virginia Eugenics in the United States