ARRL is a non-profit organization and was co-founded on April 6, 1914, by Hiram Percy Maxim and Clarence D. Tuska of Hartford, Connecticut.

[2] Local and regional operational activities of the American Radio Relay League are carried out through its Field Organization.

In 1989, hundreds of amateurs responded to the Loma Preita earthquake in the San Francisco Bay area putting in over 3000 volunteer hours in the first week.

In 2005, ARES, with hundreds of volunteer amateur radio operators, provided key communications assistance to recovery organizations and officials coordinating Hurricane Katrina disaster relief.

He was unable to make contact, and remembering that he knew another ham in Windsor Locks, about halfway, he asked him to relay the message.

At that time, the maximum reliable range of a station was a few hundred miles, and so Maxim realized that a formally organized relay system would be of tremendous use to amateurs.

Maxim and Clarence D. Tuska, the secretary of the Hartford Radio Club, developed application forms and sent them out to every amateur station they could think of.

In 1916, with ARRL membership nearing a thousand, Maxim set up six trunk lines of relay stations, both east–west and north–south, and individual managers were appointed.

A constitution was adopted, twelve directors and four officers were elected (including President Maxim and Secretary Tuska), and membership was opened to anyone interested in radio.

No sooner had this happened than all amateurs received a letter from the Department of Commerce ordering them off the air and to dismantle all antennas, because the United States had entered World War I.

During the war the ARRL facilitated the recruitment of amateurs into communications positions with the armed services, but had little else to do since all civilian experimentation with radio equipment was prohibited.

In November 1918 the Armistice was signed, but Congress introduced bills to put all radio operations in the United States under control of the Navy.

Maxim testified before Congressional committees and the League organized an effective grass roots campaign with thousands of individuals contacting their congressmen in opposition.

ARRL continued to lobby Congress for the resumption of transmitting privileges, and after a number of protests and appeals, amateur radio was fully restored in November 1919.

The use of spark gap technology quickly disappeared as the more efficient continuous wave system of generating radio-frequency energy and transmitting Morse Code became standard.

Other activities during this time included transcontinental relays to quickly move messages across the United States, communications assistance in several emergencies, and encouragement for an amateur radio operator on an Arctic expedition of Donald B. MacMillan—perhaps the first beginnings of DXpeditions.

New civil defense systems and procedures were developed by the League, including regular communications between isolated service members and their families.

The ARRL and many of its members cooperated with scientists during the International Geophysical Year in 1957, measuring the effects of solar activity on propagation in the VHF band.

By 1964 the positive influence of the ARRL was so evident that the United States issued a commemorative postage stamp on its 50th anniversary.

"It is one thing for the Commission to give notice and make available for comment the studies on which it relied in formulating the rule while explaining its non-reliance on certain parts," D.C.

The W1AW station is used for regular Morse code training transmissions for those wishing to learn and also broadcasts a variety of bulletins of interest to radio amateurs.

QST is the organization's monthly membership journal, named after a Morse code Q signal that means "calling all stations".

Field Day is an annual event organized by the ARRL that includes both a competitive element as well as an emphasis on emergency communications readiness and the promotion of amateur radio.

[19] Other critics have felt almost the opposite, however, arguing that the ARRL was slow to lobby for the removal or the easing of the Morse code proficiency requirements of the various license classes, a "conservatism" keeping otherwise qualified people out of amateur radio and thus threatening its future.

[19] Other critics have cited ARRL's support for segmentation of the HF amateur bands in the U.S. by bandwidth, rather than by mode, which some have claimed gives preference to users of the Winlink system[20] and manufacturer-specific proprietary modes such as Pactor 3, DSTAR, and Wide-coverage Internet Repeater Enhancement System (WIRES).

Regulation by bandwidth favors these proprietary technologies at the expense of narrowband and open-standard digital modes (such as JT65, PSK31, RTTY, and CW).

Many Amateur Radio operators who are seeking to develop and experiment with new technology see the ARRL as backing down too quickly on the regulation by bandwidth issue.

Recent[update] FCC rulings on the new soundcard mode called ROS point to the need to drop regulations that hinder experimentation and impede the development of narrowband techniques on the bands where they are most needed[21] An ARRL decision on November 14, 2017 to censure a member of its board of directors[22] drew strong criticism from many Amateur Radio operators.

[23][24] Numerous operators expressed concern that this decision profoundly undermines the principles of representational democracy and of openness and transparency.