Beginning in the early twentieth century, interest in the endocrine glands increased at a constantly accelerated pace. Enthusiasm tended to outstrip discretion and exploitation of inadequate knowledge came to be a reproach.
By the year 1916, it had become evident that an organized effort should be made to encourage sound developments and to curb abuses in this field. To this end, The Association for the Study of Internal Secretions was initiated and a permanent organization was effected on June 4, 1917. The Certificate of Incorporation of The Society was filed in the offices of the Secretary for the State of Delaware on January 13, 1918. The official name of the organization was changed to The Endocrine Society on January 1, 1952.
Annual Meetings have been held since 1916 except in 1943 and 1945 during the World War II when meetings were canceled at the request of the United States Government. Realizing the increasing importance of endocrinology to general medicine, the Council in 1947 established an annual post graduate assembly now known as the Clinical Endocrinology Update.
The first issue of Endocrinology was published in January 1917. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology was established in 1914, and the name of the journal was changed to The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism on January 1, 1952.
A Short History of Endocrinology in the U.S.
| Year | Milestone |
| 1909 | One of the earliest references in the literature to modern endocrinology in the United States, was a report by Harvey Cushing on the removal of a portion of the anterior lobe of the pituitary, for the successful treatment of acromegaly. |
| 1916 | P.E. Smith and Bennet Allen, separately reported that pituitary surgery resulted in a diminished growth rate and reduced degree of function of the thyroid gland. |
| 1916 | A few physicians interested in what was later to be called endocrinology convened at an AMA meeting and decided to form an organization for the Study of Internal Secretions. |
| 1917 | The Association for the Study of Internal Secretions was incorporated and began the quarterly publication of Endocrinology. |
| 1933 | Fevold reported on the separation of the gonadotrophic hormones into FSH and LH. |
| 1938 | Hertz, Roberts and Evans first reported on the use of radioactive iodine in the study of thyroid function. |
| 1940s | Hertz, Roberts, Hamilton and Soley, independently and simultaneously reported on the use of radioactive iodine in the treatment of hyperthyroidism. |
| 1943 | E. B. Astwood introduced the use of thiouracil in the medical treatment of thyrotoxicosis. |
| 1950 | Hench and Kendall treated rheumatoid arthritis with cortisone. |
| 1949-50 | Samuel Seidlin was the first to cure metastatic thyroid carcinoma to the skull with RAI. |
| 1954 | Paul Bell elucidated the molecular weight of ACTH |
| 1959 | Gerald Aurbach was the first to isolate parathyroid hormone. |
| 1960 | Berson and Yalow first introduced the technique of radioimmunossay, initially using insulin. |
| 1969-70 | Guillemin and Schally in competition isolated GH-RH, LH-RH, FSH-RH and TRH. |
