IABC/Atlanta is proud to be one of the original IABC chapters in the world!
Our chapter’s history extends several decades prior to IABC’s founding in 1970. The organization that became IABC/Atlanta, the Atlanta House Publications Editors Association, was founded on December 15, 1942!
As membership grew both within and outside of Atlanta, the organization first changed its name to the Georgia Industrial Editors Association, then to the Southeastern Editors Association. In 1946, it became affiliated with the International Council of Industrial Editors.
By 1955, the Atlanta ICIE chapter membership stood at 74 members, paying annual dues of $10 each. They distributed a mimeographed monthly newsletter with the stunningly mundane title, “Newsletter.” Earliest members included editors of publications from Atlanta corporate stalwarts Lockheed and Delta Air Lines.
The chapter flourished as the communications profession in Atlanta grew. In 1970, the ICIE merged with the American Association of Industrial Editors to form the modern International Association of Business Communicators, or IABC, with IABC/Atlanta as one of the new organization’s first chartered chapters.
