As early as 1880 there were meetings of ophthalmologists and otologists practicing in and near Chicago, although these conferences were quite informal. The sessions were held irregularly and there was no definite organization. The ophthalmic aural surgeons who came together in this way met in one another’s office and upon rare occasions, at the Tremont House. They read papers, discussed topics of mutual interest, exhibited instruments and reported their experience of trips to Europe and studies at foreign clinics. Generally at each meeting the members elected a chairman and a secretary. The responsibility of the secretary was to arrange, in conjunction with the chairman of the evening, the program, date and locality of the next session.

These early ophthalmologists and otologists included Drs. E.L. Holmes, A.P. Gilmore, F.C. Hotz, Samuel J. Jones, Henry Gradle, Lyman, Ware, J.E. Colburn, Edwin J. Gardiner and W.T. Montgomery. As a rule, the secretarial duties were performed by Dr. A.P. Gilmore.

This more or less organized society, under the name of the Chicago Ophthalmological Society, held meetings four or five times a year for about three years, when they were discontinued for a time. Their revival was chiefly due to Dr. Boerne Bettman, who, in conjunction with several other ophthalmologists living in the city at that time, resuscitated it and reorganized both the oculists and the aurists of Chicago under the formal title of the Chicago Ophthalmological Society and Otological Society. Dr. Bettman was the first secretary and acted in the capacity as long as the society survived. Drs. Holmes, Hotz, Gilmore and Montgomery were among those who acted as chairman. As at the meeting of the previous society, there was no regular chairman or president elected for the year. That official was chosen at and for each meeting. These sessions were held monthly and generally took place in the offices of the members.

With the additions of the names of Drs. G.F. Hawley, H.M. Starkey, Boerne Bettman and John E. Harper, the second society had about the same membership as the first.

Once more the society discontinued its labors and for a few years, 1889 to 1892, there were no meetings.

In 1893, however, owing chiefly to the efforts of Dr. C.P. Pinckard, a conference of surgeons practicing ophthalmology and otology was held in Weber’s Restaurant where the Chicago Ophthalmological and Otological Society was born. The first president was Dr. E.L. Holmes. The first secretary was Dr. C.P. Pinckard, who continued to hold office until the year 1902. The charter members were Drs. Geo F. Fiske, Samuel J. Jones, C.P. Pinckard, F.C. Pinckard, F.C. Hotz, Henry Gradle, Casey A. Wood, Boerne Bettman, W.T. Montgomery, Edwin J. Gardiner, Charles H. Beard, W. Franklin Coleman, J.E. Colburn, H.M. Starkey, Lyman Ware, Wm. A. Fisher, F.D. Stannard and Robert Tilley.