Nathaniel Keith's "call" from the 5 April 1884 issue of Electrical World.

Today in 1884, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) was established in New York.  The small group of men participating in the first meeting, a cross section of the electrical experts of the era, were responding to Nathaniel S. Keith’s call to organize a society of electrical professionals to represent the United States to foreign dignitaries who would be attending the International Electrical Exposition the Franklin Institute was hosting in Philadelphia that fall. The first AIEE president, Norvin Green, was the president of Western Union; the six vice presidents included Thomas Edison, telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell, MIT physics professor Charles Cross, two veteran telegraphers, and an employee of equipment manufacturer Western Electric.

On January 1, 1963, the AIEE joined with the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) (established in 1912) to form the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).