In the late 1950’s, a small group of Safety Professionals, originally, members of the Safety Engineering Club of Baltimore petitioned to bring their group into the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE). The group had been rejected by ASSE many times prior because they “could not qualify as a chapter because of the small percentage of qualified people shown on the roster”. After more than two years, The American Society of Safety Engineers granted our (Chesapeake) charter effective April 9, 1963. Since that date “we have conducted ourselves as the Chesapeake Chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers”.
On May 14, 1963, the Chapter held its charter acceptance meeting at the Sparrows Point Country Club. Below are some of the attendees:
- Mr. Hudson Quarles – President, Baltimore Safety Council
- Mr. L.D. Zweier – Management ’s Representative, Bethlehem Steel Corporation
- Mr. Paul Lucanski – ASSE Chesapeake’s 1st Treasurer
- Mr. Henry Lamb – Eastern Regional Vice President, ASSE
- Mr. Kenneth Robinson – ASSE Chesapeake’s 1st Vice President
- Mr. Al Blackman – Managing Director, ASSE
- Mr. Leonard Wozny – ASSE Chesapeake’s 1st President
- Mr. Arthur Christian – Treasurer, ASSE
- Mr. Joseph Shofstal – ASSE Chesapeake’s 1st Secretary
- Mr. James Van Namee – Vice President, Eastern Central Region, ASSE
- Mr. Wilbur Agee – ASSE Chesapeake Chapter’s 1st Chaplain
It’s fitting in the country’s 250th birthday to reflect on the closing comments of some of the original membership.
“As of this writing, February of 1976, in the year of our country’s two-hundredth birthday, we are alive and healthy. We are in the hands of well qualified leadership, both in the Chapter and at Society level. We are growing. We need to grow to keep up with the rapidly accelerated pace of our professional requirements – We’ll make it!”