The following account (italicized) is excerpted from the "History Of the Pensacola Section" written in 1975 by then-Chair Cliff Chang and founding-Chair Bob Johnson. This History was included in an ACS time capsule sealed in 1976. A copy can also be found in the Section Officers Handbook.
... It is interesting to note that the Section initially began as the Mobile-Pensacola Section in 1948. The principal chemical company at that time was Newport Industries, a naval stores plant that processed pine tree stumps for rosin and pine oil. Chemists at the Newport Industries actually started the drive to form a local ACS section. The Section at that time covered a very large area including parts of Mississippi, as well as Alabama and Northwest Florida. Local meetings rotated between Mobile, Pensacola, Laurel, and Hattiesburg, MS ...
... The expanding chemical industry in Pensacola shifted attention away from the further areas, and the Section split and became the Pensacola Section in November of 1960. The determining factor in the split was the large number of chemists from the Chemstrand nylon plant along with American Cyanamid, Air Products and the Environmental Protection Agency Research labs. Adding to the section were the educational institutions of Pensacola Junior College and the University of West Florida ...
... The primary goal of the Section is to support communication and technical discussion between chemists, to enhance the professional development of chemists and scientists in the area and to promote chemistry and science in the local area ...
The Section currently covers the counties of Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa,Walton, and Holmes in northwest Florida, with a total membership of about
160. In recent years, Sterling Chemical (formerly Cytec, formerly American
Cyanamid) and Solutia (formerly Monsanto, formerly Chemstrand) had undergone
bankruptcies.Section meetings are held eight times per year at various sites. In 1993 the Section was a co-winner of the American Chemical Society Award for Outstanding Performance by a Local Section in the small section category, and won the Phoenix Award for the largest industrial sponsored event during National Chemistry Week.
The full text of the Time Capsule document appears in The Officers' Handbook. Since 1976, changes in the local area industries have undergone consolidations, buy-outs, etc. During 2001, our Section --having celebrated it's 40th anniversary of the Pensacola Section last year -- recognized the 125 years of service by the American Chemical Society and updated its history Appendix II.
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