The story
The AEA was established in 1885 in Saratoga Springs, New York by younger progressive economists trained in the German historical school, including Richard T. Ely, Edwin Robert Anderson Seligman and Katharine Coman, the only woman co-founder; Since 1900, it has been under the control of academics.
The Purposes of the Association are the following:
1) The encouragement of economic research, especially the historical and statistical study of the actual conditions of industrial life;
2) The issue of publications on economic subjects;
3) The encouragement of perfect freedom of economic discussion. The Association says that it takes no partisan attitude, nor does it commit its members to any position on practical economic questions. The Association publishes an academic journal in economics, namely, the American Economic Review.
Once composed primarily of college and university economics teachers, the Association, headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, now attracts increasing members from business and professional groups. Today, the Association has about 23,000 members, and over half are academics. About 15% are employed in business and industry, and the remainder largely by federal, state, and local government or other not-for-profit organizations.
The leadership of the AEA has been dominated by academics from six academic institutions: Harvard, MIT, Chicago, Columbia, Stanford, and Princeton.
From Wikipedia’s article on American Economic Association, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4