American Council on Consumer Interests

Identity area

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Corporate body

Authorized form of name

American Council on Consumer Interests

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        Description area

        Dates of existence

        1953-

        History

        1952 Colston Warne proposed an idea for "launching a consumer education association"
        1953 Planning session for further consideration of the project; committee formed to draw up by-laws; plans made for publishing a newsletter and a series of pamphlets; association named Council on Consumer Information; Eugene Beem, Executive Secretary; CCI located at Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, Michigan
        1954 First pamphlet released, Consumer Look at Farm Price Polices; Membership grew from 70 in July to 139 in late November; Warren Nelson, Executive Secretary; CCI located at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
        1955 First Annual Conference held in Dayton, Ohio; Fred Archer, Executive Secretary; CCI located at State Teachers College, St. Cloud, Minnesota

        1956    Membership reached 640; Ramon Heimerl, Executive Director through 1965; CCI relocated  to Greeley State College, Greeley, Colorado through 1965

        1957 The merger of CCI and the National Association of Consumers was approved

        1958 Membership grew to 1041

        1962 Five members of CCI were appointed to the President's Advisory Council

        1963 Tenth Anniversary of the founding of CCI; membership 1200; eight conferences held, 14 published, and 38 editions of the newsletter distributed

        1964 CCI joined the International Organization of Consumers Unions

        1966 Executive committee approved the publication of the Journal of Consumer Affairs; Edward Metzen, Executive Secretary through

        1975; CCI relocated to University of Missouri, Columbia, its present location

        1967 First issue of the Journal of Consumer Affairs published; CCI membership directory published

        1968 Membership 1531; CCI became a member of the Consumer Federation of America

        1969 Name changed to American Council on Consumer Interests

        1971 Colston E. Warne Lecture Series was formed

        1972 ACCI Board of Directors established the Distinguished Fellow Award

        1973 Title of Executive Secretary was changed to Executive Director; Executive Committee was increased from 8 to 10 members

        1975 College student internship program began as a joint project with the Conference of Consumer Organizations (National Consumer Affairs Internship Program); Karen Stein, Executive Director through June, 1978

        1977 ACCI received a grant from the U.S. Office of Consumer Education to produce a position paper, "Consumer Information Systems and Technical Assistance Services as Viewed by ACCI"

        1978 Mel Zelenak, Executive Director through June, 1983

        1983 Barbara Slusher became Executive Director through August 1988

        1988 Anita Metzen became Executive Director

        On November 5, 1952, Colston Warne (President of Consumers Union) inquired by letter whether Ray Price and Henry Harap would be interested in launching a consumer education association. Warne stated that Consumers Union would contribute financial support to bring several persons together for that purpose. Price and Harap met with Warne in Chicago and approved the proposal. Twenty persons accepted an invitation to attend a planning session at the University of Minnesota. These Charter Members were primarily college and university professors. They approved the selection of an executive committee which was given the following charge: prepare a plan for permanent organization, prepare a budget and obtain financial assistance, choose an executive secretary, and define its functions. The following persons served on this Executive Committee: Marguerite Burk, Eugene Beem, G.E. Damon, Henry Harap and Ray Price. Eugene Beem was chosen to act as Executive Secretary. The Executive Committee met in Washington on June 1, 1953, after which the Consumers Union made a grant of $7000. This grant enabled the planning group to proceed with the recruitment of members, publication of newsletters and pamphlets, and the organization of an annual conference. Thus, the American Council on Consumers Interests was formally established in 1953. Initially, the organization was called the Council on Consumer Information and in 1969 it was changed to the American Council on Consumer Interests. ACCI was established for the purpose of stimulating the exchange of ideas among persons interested in the welfare of the consumer and to be non-political, taking no stand on issues of public policy. Its sole purpose was to contribute to more effective fact-finding and dissemination of consumer information. The first annual ACCI conference was held in 1955 in Dayton, Ohio. *Taken from Henry Harap, "A Brief History of the American Council on Consumer Interests," a photocopied paper distributed by Consumers Union of the U.S., March 1981.

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            Sources

            American Council on Consumer Interests webpage's history page. http://www.consumerinterests.org/history

            Maintenance notes

            Creator Source: Local Authority File