[3] Groups are located in Chicago, Florida, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.
[4] The society was organized by four friends, Gertrude Emerson Sen, Marguerite Harrison, Blair Niles and Gertrude Mathews Shelby, to bring together women interested in geography, world exploration, anthropology and related fields.
[8] Famous members included: historian Mary Ritter Beard, photographer Margaret Bourke-White, novelist Fannie Hurst, mountain climber Annie Smith Peck, anthropologist Margaret Mead, Eleanor Roosevelt, and author Grace Gallatin Seton Thompson.
It is awarded to a member whose "original, innovative, or pioneering contributions are of major significance in understanding the world's cultures and environment."
The medal was designed by sculptor Lucille Sinclair Douglass, and shows Winged Victory on the arc of the world.