CAMWS was founded at the University of Chicago in 1905 as the first regional classical organization in the United States of America.
Its members (c. 1,500) are primarily college and university professors, K-12 teachers, and graduate students whose specialty is Classics: Classical languages (Greek and Latin) and the world of ancient Greece and Rome.
Departments of Classics at colleges and universities, high schools which teach Latin, publishers and other classical organizations are also welcome to join CAMWS as institutional members.
In odd-numbered years the annual meeting is held in a northern or western state or in Canada.
CAMWS is a member of the Society for Classical Studies, the National Humanities Alliance and the International Federation of Associations of Classical Studies (FIEC).