The American Sociological Association (ASA) will celebrate its centennial year in 2005; since its inception, it has grown in size, diversity, programs, and purpose. Current ASA goals are as follows:

• Serving sociologists in their work,
• Advancing sociology as a science and as a profession,
• Promoting the contributions and use of sociology to society.

While the first goal remains the raison d'etre for the membership organization, over the ASA's 100 years, there have been ebbs and flows, support and controversy, about the latter two goals and how the association embodies them.

Asa Membership Trends

An interesting perspective on the ASA's history is revealed through an examination of membership trends. Table 1 shows fairly slow but stable growth up until 1931. During the years of the Great Depression, there were substantial declines. Despite these declines, however, sociologists were becoming very visible in...