The birth of ALCA was driven by scientific necessity. In the late 1890s, leather chemistry as a discipline barely existed in America. Tanning extracts were inconsistent, analytical methods were unreliable, and few tanners employed chemists in their operations.

A small group of pioneering leather chemists first gathered in 1893 at the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists convention with one goal: to develop accurate methods for analyzing tanning materials. After a decade of sustained effort to establish reliable testing methods and introduce scientific plant control to the leather industry, nine dedicated chemists formally established the ALCA in 1903.

As founding President G.A. Kerr later reflected, these early pioneers faced “bitter disputes and wrangling” as they worked to establish leather chemistry as a respected scientific discipline. Their perseverance laid the foundation for modern leather science.