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History of the New England Section of the American Ceramic Society
by Neil N. Ault, NE Section Counselor and Fellow of the ACerS
The original Charter of the New England Section was granted by the American Ceramic Society on 11 February 1918. It was signed by Homer F. Staley, President of the Society and Charles Binns, Secretary. Charter members were:
M. F. Beecher
Ross C. Purdy
Arthur T. Malm
Arthur E. Baggs
Leon B. Bassett,
Charles W. Saxe
Leon L. Katzenstein
Carl H. Lawson
Clarence B. Tilton
O. S. Buckner
M. F. Cunningham
A. Albert Klein
George N. Jeppson
C. H. Kerr
Wilson C. Broga
Charles J. Hudson
Al Klein was the first Chairman of the Section.
The Section was active from 1918 until World War II, but there are no Section records from that period. The Section was reactivated on 10 December 1952, and Bernard Schwartz was elected Chair. Among the members of this newly activated group were:
S. L. Blum
W. D. Kingery
Robert Coble
F. H. Norton
A. L. Gormley
O. J. Whittemore
N. N. Ault
The minutes of that December 10, 1952 meeting follow.
The organization of a New England Section of the American Ceramic Society was completed at a meeting at the Norton Company, Worcester, MA, on Wednesday, December 10. Rules of the organization were formally adopted and officers were elected during a business meeting following dinner.
New officers elected were Dr. Bernard Schwartz, Sylvania Electric Products Company, Woburn, Chairman; Mr. O. J. Whittemore, Norton Company, Worcester, MA, Vice-Chairman; Professor W. D. Kingery, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Secretary; Mr. Leo J. Cronin, Raytheon Manufacturing Company, Waltham, Treasurer; Mr. Norman Kendall, Bay State Abrasive Products, Co., Westboro, member of the Executive Committee.
Guest speakers were Miss Adelaide Toombe who spoke on the impressions she gained during a recent trip to Europe, with particular regard to the ceramic and art pottery in Sweden. Mr. O. J. Whittemore of the Norton Company spoke on the subject, "New and Unusual Refractories" and described the properties of some refractory materials withstanding extremely high temperatures and their use for unusual purposes. The next meeting of the New England Section has been tentatively set for January second.
Approximately eighty persons interested in ceramics from all over New England attended the meeting as Charter Members of the New England Section of the American Ceramic Society. Any other persons in New England who are interested in ceramics will be welcome as members of the organization and should contact Professor W. D. Kingery of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for additional information.
NOTE from Webmaster: The New England Section has had only three counselors since this 1952 meeting; F.H. Norton from 1953 to 1964, Neil Ault from 1965 to 2006 and LJTrostel, Jr. to the present!
List of Section Chairpersons and Section Award Recipients
Year -Chair- Section Award*
2007 -AScotch- MKoslowske
2006 -BSayre- HTuller
2005 -BSayre
2004 -MKoslowske- WSCoblenz
2003 -MKoslowske -JNeil
2002 -JPietras- TLilley
2001 -SMunyon -RGentilman
2000 -DCarnahan -CSideridis
1999 -MKoslowske -YMChiang
1998 -SHess -LBowen
1997 -CSideridis-RChand
1996 -KCostello ---
1995 -KCostello -HStrock
1994 -SVitch -APasto
1993 -HStrock -KJakus
1992 -CLandry -MPascucci
1991 -CMiller -GFryburg
1990 -GSundberg -TBuljan
1989 -MPascucci -CLQuackenbush
1988 -TFoltz -JBrennan
1987 -SHartline -JMcCauley
1986 -FMeyer -DMessier
1985 -JNeil -EMaguire
1984 -EMaguire -RAlliegro
1983 -HTuller -FSchmid
1982 -DMessier -LTrostel
1981 RGentilman JPappis
1980 CQuackenbush HKBowen
1979 WRobbins RKatz
1978 DKrohn DUhlman
1977 JMcCauley WKingery
1976 HKBowen NAult
1975 RBaumgartner WRhodes
1974 DViechnicki WPrindle
1973 JHaggerty SBlum
1972 WRhodes APaladino
1971 DButton FNorton
1970
1969
1968 ALevitt
1967 TVasilos
1966 RCoble
1965 LTrostel
1964 MKliman
1963 WJackson
1962 EFlint
1961 NAult
1960 SLull
1959 SBlum
1958
1957
1956
1955
1954
1953
1952 BSchwartz
Counselor: F. H. Norton 1953 - 1964
N. N. Ault 1965 - present
* 1965-66, Raytheon Ceramic Award
1967-76, Distinguished Ceramist Award
1977- , F. H. Norton Award
List of NESection Scholarship ($1000) Recipients
- Year- Student- School
1995
1994- RHigginbottom- Alfred
1993- ABlanchet- Alfred
1992- JHathaway -Alfred
1991- BButler- Alfred
1990 -JAmaral -Alfred
1990- DMcCauley -Penn State
1989 -BLynch -Penn State
1989- JAmaral -Alfred
F. H. Norton; some background on the man and the Award
Thirty-Five Years Ago - - - Text provided by W. H. Rhodes
F. H. Norton Named Distinguished New England Ceramist At the October 20th (1971) evening meeting of the New England Section, Professor F. H. Norton was presented a Steuben bowl in partial recognition of his many achievements and contributions to the advancement of ceramic science and technology. He became the 8th recipient of the New England Section's "Distinguished Ceramist " Award. Chairman Dr. Daniel Button turned over the award ceremony to Professor Robert Coble, a former student and professorial colleague of Professor Norton.
In making the presentation, Professor Coble noted:
"F. H. Norton began his professional career by making a significant contribution in the design of airplane wings which were standards in the industry well in the 1940's. His distinguished ceramics career included the founding of the Ceramics Division of graduate ceramic education at M.I.T., authorship of numerous important texts beginning with Refractories, many scientific and engineering advancements, numerous patents, and perhaps most satisfying, the contributions of his students to the ceramics profession." Professor Norton gave a talk entitled, "A Perusal of Ceramics", in which he concentrated on improved production methods and quality control within the whitewares industry. Included were such topics as high pressure slip casting, one-high wall tile firing, improvement in glazing to ensure uniformity of shade and color, and decreasing the reject rate in sanitary ware manufacture." Most of the audience was not associated with the whiteware industry but rather, the technical ceramics field. Thus, the message was particularly enlightening and inspired such questions as, "Given these technical and productivity advancements, do you think a new profitable and competitive (with imports) wall tile company could be initiated?" Professor Norton's answer was, "Yes, it would be possible, but don't forget that Japanese and European manufacturers are highly competent technicians."
F. H. Norton was Section Counselor from 1953 - 1964. In 1977, the F. H. Norton Award was established in his honor. It had previously been known as the Distinguished Ceramist Award (1967-1976) and the Raytheon Ceramic Award (1965-1966) in the prior year.
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| Above Photo- October 2004 Past F. H. Norton Awardees (l. - r.) Neil Ault, Bill Rhodes, Marina Pascucci, Ted Lilley, Fred Schmid, Bill Coblenz, Don Messier, Lou Trostel, Les Bowen, Harry Strock, Yet-Ming Chiang |
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| Above Photo- September 2005 Past Section Chairpersons (l.-r.) Ed Maguire, Lou Trostel, Keith Costello, Marina Pascucci, Rick Gentilmen, Susan Munyon, Jeff Neil, Charles Landry, Mark Koslowske, Neil Ault, David Carnahan, Jim McCauley, Bob Sayre, Costa Sideridis, Bill Rhodes |
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