Administrative Professional's Week Origins

Administrative Professional's Week recognizes the contributions of secretaries/administrative professionals to the workplace. This holiday has become one of the largest workplace observances and is celebrated worldwide. Some of the traditional ways company management recognize the support staff in their organization is with educational seminars, and individual company activities recognizing them with gifts of appreciation.

Administrative Professionals Week was started in 1952 by the National Secretaries Association, now referred to as the International Association of Administrative Professionals. This name change is due to the increasing responsibilities of today's administrative professional. A council made up of the president of the National Secretaries Association, Mary Barrett, the president of Dictaphone Corporation, C. King Woodbridge, and a Young and Rubicam Public Relations Account Executive, Harry Klemfuss were driven to boost people's interest in the administrative professional career as well as honoring those hardworking people already in this field.

In 1952, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Charels Sawyer announced the first National Secretaries Week to take place the first week in June, while June 4th was designated as National Secretaries Day. In 1955, National Secretaries Week was moved to the last full week of April, with the Wednesday of that week becoming National Secretaries Day. National Secretaries Week became Professional Secretaries Week in 1981. In 1998 the name of the holiday was changed again to Administrative Professional's Week to reflect the expanding responsibilities and job titles of today's administrative support staff.