American Heart Association
The American Heart Association grew out of a set of smaller precursor groups. The primary precursor was the Association for the Prevention and Relief of Heart Disease, formed in New York City in 1915, to study whether patients with heart disease could safely return to work. Several similar organizations formed or evolved in Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago in the 1920s. Recognizing the need for a national organization to share research and promote findings, the American Heart Association was formed in 1924 by six cardiologists representing several of these precursor groups.
Association of Flight Attendants
AFA was founded in 1945 by flight attendants at United Airlines. The organization was originally known as "Airline Stewardess Association" (ALSA). ALSA negotiated its first contract with United in 1946. In 1949, ALSA merged with the "Air Line Stewards and Stewardesses Association" (ALSSA), an affiliate of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). By 1951, ALSSA had 3,300 members. ALPA created two separate divisions in 1960, one for pilots, and one for stewards and stewardesses. Nearly half of the USA's 8,700 flight attendants were members of ALPA's S&S division at that time. In 1973, ALSSA flight attendants chose self-determination and formed an independent "Association of Flight Attendants", leaving ALPA. In 1982, AFA had 22,000 members at 18 American airlines. In 1984, the AFL-CIO granted AFA a charter. By 1995, AFA represented 36,000 Flight Attendants at 23 carriers. Four years later, 46,000 flight attendants at 26 airlines were AFA members. After layoffs resulting from the September 11, 2001 Attacks, AFA members voted in 2004 to merge with the "Communications Workers of America" (700,000 members).