On March 11 and 12 of 1975, an organizational meeting was held at the offices of the New York
State Cancer Control Bureau in Albany NY and the New York State Tumor Registrar’s Association
(NYSTRA) was founded. Six chapters of NYSTRA were also founded at that time, based in part
upon geographic location within the state, and were named as follows: Hudson Valley, Albany,
Long Island, Rochester, Central New York and the Lakes Area.

There were 46 original founding members representing all area of the state and Dolores
Gamble was our organization’s first president in 1975-1976. Providing educational
opportunities was a primary goal of our organization, and that goal remains a primary focus
some 40 years later. In 1976, NYSTRA held a state-wide educational program designed
specifically for tumor registrars, which was held in Albany NY. These wonderful educational
conferences became an annual event. The location of subsequent annual conferences was held
in various locations throughout the state, in order to ensure that all registrars throughout the
state would have an opportunity to attend.

As our profession has changed over time, the National Tumor Registrar’s Association (NTRA)
became the National Cancer Registrar’s Association (NCRA). Later, the New York State Tumor
Registrar’s Association (NYSTRA) adopted a similar name change and became the New York
State Cancer Registrar’s Association (NYCRA).