At a meeting in Duluth in 1907 that made real estate history, it was Edward S. Judd* who made the fruitful suggestion that a National Association of REALTORS® be formed. The Duluth meeting was called at the invitation of the Duluth Real Estate Board, and representatives were present from the real estate exchanges of St. Louis, Milwaukee, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Superior, Duluth and Chicago.
In May of 1908, Mr. Judd, then president of the Chicago Real Estate Board, welcomed to his city the first national real estate convention, at which was organized the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges.
It was during his presidency that the National Association, convening in Winnipeg, Canada, adopted its code of ethics, which after several revisions, became the code to which every member must subscribe.
A graduate of Williams College in Massachusetts, Mr. Judd began his professional career as a journalist in St. Louis. He moved to Chicago in 1883 at the behest of his uncle to study law at the Union College of Law (now Northwestern University’s School of Law). He was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1884 and practiced law from 1884-87 as a member of the law firms of Judd & Whitehouse and Judd, Ritchie, Esher & Judd.
He entered the real estate business in 1888 as manager of the loan department of E. A. Cummings & Co. In 1903 he founded his own realty firm, Edward S. Judd & Co. He was a member of the Chicago City Plan Commission, Chicago Underwriters' Association and Chicago' Association of Commerce. Mr. Judd was a member of the Society of Colonial Wars. Born in Westhampton, Mass., he died in Chicago in Dec. 1946 at the age of 87.
Source: Presidents of the National Association of REALTORS®, (Chicago: NAR, 1980).
*Deceased