The ''Encyclopedia of Associations'' (''EA'') is a comprehensive directory of more than 20,000
associations,
societies
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...
, and other non-profit membership organizations in the United States of America.
Originally titled the ''Encyclopedia of American Associations'', ''EA'' was created by
Frederick Gale Ruffner, Jr. in 1954 while he was working as a market researcher in
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
.
More than 140 scholarly articles have made use of ''EA''.
Past extracts from ''EA'' have included "Organized Obsessions" and the "Gale Encyclopedia of Business and Professional Associations".
A detailed history of ''EA'' is available in an article in ''Distinguished Classics of Reference Publishing''
See also
*
Gale Research
Gale is a global provider of research and digital learning resources. The company is based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, west of Detroit. It has been a division of Cengage since 2007.
The company, formerly known as Gale Research and the Gale Gro ...
*
Frederick Gale Ruffner, Jr.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Gale website
Directories
American encyclopedias
Specialized encyclopedias