Linda Draper
Optometric Historical Society
243 North Lindbergh Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63141 USA
Activities and functions of the Optometric Historical Society are:
OHS officers for 2011 are:
President: Irving Bennett, 3307 Seventh Avenue, Beaver Falls, PA 15010; irvbennett23@gmail.com
Vice President: Douglas Penisten
Secretary-Treasurer: Arol Augsburger
Trustees: Jerry Abrams
Jay M. Enoch
A. N. Haffner
Chuck Haine
The Optometric Historical Society was the brainchild of Maria Dablemont,
who was hired by the American Optometric Association in 1964 to serve as
librarian for their growing collection of books, journals, and archives.
Dablemont suggested to Henry W Hofstetter during his term as President of
the American Optometric Association in 1968-69 that there should an
organization for the study and preservation of optometric history.
Dablemont knew of Hofstetter's passion for history and his excellent
organizational skills. In
1968 and 1969, Dablemont and Hofstetter drafted a set of by-laws for the
organization and drew up a list of persons to ask to assist them in
founding the organization. The first executive board of the organization
consisted of Maria Dablemont, Arthur Hoare, Henry Hofstetter, John
Levene, and Sol Tannebaum, with Hofstetter as president. In 1969, a call
for membership went out in the optometric press,and 33 members were
enrolled as charter members. The first issue of the Newsletter of the
Optometric Historical Society was published in January, 1970. The
newsletter has been published on a quarterly basis ever since the first
issue. In 1992, the name of the newsletter was changed to Hindsight.
Henry Hofstetter was an editor of the newsletter for over 30 years.
The editors of the newsletter in its 30 plus years have been Henry
Hofstetter, John Levene, Douglas Penisten and David Goss. Contributing editors have included Jay Enoch and Irving Bennett. Starting with 2007, the title of the society's publication is Hindsight: Journal of Optometry History. The
first of the annual meetings of the OHS held at either the American Academy of
Optometry meeting or the American Optometric Association meeting was held
in 1972. Through the years, the presidents of OHS have been:
| Year | President |
| 1970-1974 | Henry W Hofstetter |
| 1975-1976 | John R. Levene |
| 1980-1984 | James P. Leeds |
| 1985-1986 | Jerome J. Abrams |
| 1987-1988 | Jerome J. Abrams |
| 1989-1990 | T. David Williams |
| 1991-1995 | Meredith W. Morgan |
| 1996 | Charles Haine |
| 1997-2000 | Walter W. Chase |
| 2001-2004 | Douglas K. Penisten |
| 2005 | Jay M. Enoch |
| 2005-2006 | Charles Haine |
| 2007-2008 | Melvin Wolfberg |
| 2009-2011 | Irving Bennett |
Above is a picture of Maria Dablemont taken at the International Library,
Archives, and Museum of Optometry in St. Louis where she was a librarian.
Below is a picture of Henry Hofstetter taken in about 1952. Dablemont and
Hofstetter were co-founders of the OHS.
Another organization that studies topics related to
the history of
optometry is the Ocular Heritage
Society. Its area of emphasis is the collection of items of
ophthalmic interest such as spectacles, vision testing equipment, etc.
The Fall, 2003 issue of the Indiana Journal of Optometry was devoted to
a history of the Indiana University Division of Optometry from its
founding to 1975. Click below on the image of the cover of that issue of
the journal to see a downleadable pdf file of that issue. Please note
that it takes a
while for that file to load.
Click here
for notes on a two-hour lecture on the history of optometry given
each year at Indiana University.
An excellent website with much information on antique spectacles is www.antiquespectacles.com.
For information on the Archives and Museum at the American Optometric Association headquarters, go to: www.aoa.org/x11718.xml. The AOA website also features an optometry history timeline at: www.aoa.org/x18842.xml
To read "historical gems" produced through the cooperation of Optometry Cares - The American Optometric Association Foundation and the Optometric Historical Society, go to: www.optometryscharity.org/archives-museum-of-optometry/historical-gems/.
web page designed by: David A. Goss;
email address: dgoss@indiana.edu
Last update: August 18, 2011