The Elfun Society was born at Association Island in Lake Ontario. See our recently greatly expanded Island History with an interactive map, French Canadian military presences, a Kurt Vonnegut interview, and more!

On on Sunday, July 15, 1928, GE President Gerard Swope introduced his concept of this new Society with these words:

"We have in the whole General Electric Company 75,000 people (remember, this was 1928) of whom approximately 900 are participating in the stock investment program."

He felt that this group which represented the brains, the leadership of the Company, and the hope for the future, should organize more effectively than in the past. And so he told the key people assembled that day, "If people can relax together and enjoy each other's company, they can work together efficiently and profitably."

He proposed they form a Society which would be their own, separate and independent of the General Electric organization, where any question could be asked and would bring someone to one's feet to answer it. (See the minutes of first Annual Meeting.)

Mr. Swope offered the names of 11 people representing each of our major plants at the time, to serve as the Society's first Administrative Committee, now called the Board of Directors. (See picture.) This committee met in private session, elected its first four officers, and also reviewed the proposed first constitution for the Elfun Society, which Mr. Swope had written. (See minutes of first Committee meeting.) The first Elfun President was Chester H. Lang. (Complete photo list of Elfun Presidents.)

The Society adopted the name "Elfun" - a contraction of the words "Electrical Funds." In honor of its birthplace, the famous elm tree at Association Island became the symbol of the Society on its letterheads, banners, and elsewhere. Within the first year, twelve geographically orientated chapters were established with 841 members. (Original welcome letter.) Adopted as Elfun's slogan was the Latin Semper Paratus - Always Ready.

Elfun was founded at a time when the Company employed a total of 75,000 employees doing approximately $300,000,000 worth of business. Perhaps because he foresaw this was only a small part of what was to come, perhaps because he wanted the concentrated, centralized management of that day to be subject to all kinds of examination and challenge as the best means of preparing it for the responsibilities of the future, Mr. Swope called upon Elfun to look inward into the Company. To paraphrase slightly, he said,

I do not believe this Company is asleep, but I am sure it is not awake to the great opportunity of doing even greater and better things than it has done in the past. I would like this Society to be just as critical, just as radical as they feel circumstances demand. If its people have the spirit of adventure to try even unheard of things, the Company would either make progress or go broke, and the older of us would try our best to keep it from going broke. (See the text of his talk.)