American Council on Consumer Interests records

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.

In 1999, Edward and Anita Metzen donated their collection of American Council on Consumer Interests (ACCI) affiliated documents to Kansas State University Richard L. D. and Marjorie J. Morse Department of Special Collections at Hale Library as part of the Consumer Movement Archives. As an addition to the previously donated ACCI records described in a separate finding aid, these collected documents of two notable past Executive Directors of ACCI provide a window into the organization's scholarly contribution to the study of consumerism over the last half of the twentieth century, including the non-profit's published pamphlets, newsletters, and reports. The files also contain considerable research on a broad range of issues and research interests of the organization under their tenure, including consumer education, governmental business regulation, product testing, and the setting of weight and packaging standards on consumer goods.