The short life of the Government Public Relations Association in the US, 1949–1958

The historical literature on US public relations has paid modest attention to the professionalization of the practice in the public sector. This is an historical summary of the Government Public Relations Association, which existed between 1949 and 1958. It attempted to organize a professional association of, largely, public relations officers at the municipal level of government. Its failure to become institutionalized likely reflects the tenuous status of the overt practice of public relations in the US public sector.