The association began in December 1868 as the National Photographic Association of the United States (NPA). The group’s first goal was to unite against Ambrotype patent restrictions. Although succeeding in preventing the reissue of the patent, the Executive Committee of the NPA became discouraged, and, the group disbanded in 1876 because of lack of interest.
The Professional Photographers of America, as it is known today, was officially founded in April 1880 as the Photographers Association of America, Inc., by members of the Chicago Photographic Association and the former National Photographic Association.
By 1913, the photography association had grown to 725 members, expanding to 2,272 members in 1916. When World War I began, many PAA members contributed to the United States effort by joining the photography section of the Signal Corps. After the war, all photographers of the section were made honorary PAA members through the Liberty War Section of the association.
The organization changed its name to Professional Photographers of America, Inc., in 1958, to distinguish the association from emerging amateur photography organizations. That same year, PPA joined the Mississippi-Alabama Associated Photographers (later renamed the Professional Photographers of Mississippi-Alabama) and the University of Mississippi to hold the first conference on professional photography with joint participation from a local association, national association, and major university.
According to en.wikipedia.org; www.ppa.com. Source of photo: internet
