Inter-Society Color Council

The Inter-Society Color Council was organized on February 26, 1931 to coordinate the activities of leading technical societies relating to the description, specification, and standardization of color and promote the practical application of this knowledge in science, art, and industry. There are currently more than 30 national associations and technical societies participating in the ISCC. The delegations appointed by these member-bodies represent the fields of science and technology; manufacturers of colored materials; producers of color reproduction processes; and creators of color effects in graphic design.

The ISCC's Problems Committee is a standing committee charged with investigating problems related to color and publishing and disseminating its findings in nationally-recognized publications. These problems are assigned to various sub-committees and the work is directed by specialists with expertise in the relevant subject matter.

The ISCC sponsors symposia at its own annual meetings, as well as the annual meetings of member organizations. A series of technical conferences, known as the Williamsburg Conferences, are devoted to subjects considered to be of particular relevance to field of color science.

The most prominent trade association among ISCC member organizations is the Color Association of the United States, whose predecessor, the Textile Color Card Association (TCCA) was founded on February 19, 1915. The TCCA was created in response to the demand for a standardized set of staple colors to enable different segments of the textiles industry and allied trades to coordinate their product lines. The TCCA's first standard color card, comprised of 110 colors, was issued May 21, 1915. This universally recognized reference, now in its tenth edition, continues to set color trends in American textile markets.

The seasonal color cards issued semi-annually by the Color Association provide a valuable forecasting service to American textiles manufacturers. The Color Association has also issued color cards in cooperation with various trades representing segmented markets within the larger textiles industry.

The colors selected for inclusion in the Color Association's seasonal color forecasts and Standard Color Reference were chosen based on results from surveys of members representing the various trades within the textiles industry and the names assigned to these colors were merely descriptive terms.

Alternatively, the system of color notation, developed by Professor Albert H. Munsell (1858-1918), represented a determined effort on the part of those working in the emerging field of colorimetry to provide a scientific basis for the identification and selection of colors. The Munsell Color Company was organized in Boston shortly before Professor Munsell's death to coordinate the publication of Professor Munsell's books as well as the production of educational materials.

The Munsell Color Foundation was established in September 1942 in order to promote the advancement of color knowledge, particularly as it relates to the standardization and specification of color and color terminology, as well as its practical application to color problems in science, art, and industry. The foundation assumed responsibility for the direction of the Munsell Color Company and encouraged the company to undertake a number of cooperative projects with the ISCC, including the development of color blindness and color aptitude tests.

In a move designed to insure that the tradition of integrity of Munsell products would be maintained, the foundation sold the Munsell Color Company to the Kollmorgen Corporation in March 1970. The foundation continued to provide grants supporting color research until 1983, when its assets were transferred to the Rochester Institute of Technology in order to create the Munsell Color Science Laboratory.

Dorothy Nickerson (1900-1985) worked in the research laboratory of the Munsell Color Company from 1921-1926, before joining the United States Department of Agriculture as a color technologist. In the course of her long and distinguished service with the USDA, Ms. Nickerson was responsible for establishing color standards for grading cotton as well as setting specifications for artificial daylight in color inspections of agricultural products. She was a founding member of the ISCC and served as secretary from 1935-1952 and as president from 1954-1955. She also served as trustee of the Munsell Color Foundation and is credited with more than 150 scientific and technical publications.

Among Dorothy Nickerson's many outstanding contributions to the field of color science was her participation in the development of the Munsell Renotation System, which provided a graphic representation of the spacing of Munsell colors according to CIE coordinates. In collaboration with Deane Judd, she completed studies for the National Bureau of Standards on the spacing of Munsell colors which produced the Munsell Re-renotations and a comparative analysis of the Munsell Color System and the Swedish Natural Color System.