Montana Society of Engineers

Biographical notes:

The Montana Society of Engineers was proposed on March 22, 1887 at a meeting of a group of Civil Engineers and Surveyors in Helena. By July 1887, Officers of the Montana Society of Civil Engineers had been selected and by-laws adopted including setting an annual meeting for each January as well as monthly meetings when enough members desired to hold them. Forty six engineers from all parts of Montana Territory became charter members. The Society changed its name to Montana Society of Engineers in February, 1897 by striking the designation "Civil" because members included civil, electrical, mechanical, mining and other engineering professions including surveyors. Meetings featured both social and business elements with entertainment, professional conversation and presentation of papers. Formal dinners were the order of the day in early meetings with propriety emphasized and young engineers expected to be properly respectful to their elders. In the 1950s the nature of the Society became more serious. Three events in 1957 influenced the Society - affiliation with the National Society of Professional Engineers, the decision to formalize local chapters and State mandated registration for all engineers (civil engineer registration was passed in 1947). These changes caused a rapid growth in membership and prestige. Publications of the Society included the Quarterly Journal of the Montana Society of Engineers, later titled simply the Journal of the Montana Society of Engineers from 1916 to 1949 and the Montaneer from 1964 to 1977. In 1930, the Society instituted a Gold Award for one engineering student graduating from Montana State College in Bozeman and another from the Montana School of Mines in Butte. The Society is still active and has as their mission statement: "We are a society of engineering professionals from all disciplines that promotes the ethical and competent practice of engineering, advocates licensure, and enhances the image and well-being of its members."

From the guide to the Montana Society of Engineers Records, 1887-1975, (Montana State University-Bozeman Library, Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections)