From extant documents, it is apparent that the origin of OCA was in 1923 as the Ohio Association of Speech Teachers, becoming Ohio Assoc. of Public Speaking and the Speech Arts in 1926, then the Ohio Association of College Teachers of Speech 1932. Officers were noted for 1926 so perhaps that is when it was formally constituted and it existed through World War I. The first “stand alone” conference was in 1932 as OACTS; prior conferences were held with other subject matter associations in Columbus. Later OACTS evolved into SCAO (the Speech Communication Association of Ohio). Some state communication associations report origins in the 1920s & 1930s but none earlier than 1923. Thus, it seems that we are among the oldest state communication associations, if not the oldest.

–Summary written by Jerry Feezel, OCA’s first Archivist