On December 29-31, 1903, in St. Louis Missouri, a committee organized by the American Association of Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations held the first meeting to establish the constitution and by-laws of the new American Breeders Association. Through acting as a clearing house of information, organizing conferences, and publishing the work of its members, the ABA focused on combining practical breeding of plants and animals with the 'new' science of Genetics. It was in 1914 that the ABA became the American Genetic Association and implemented a business-model organization and strove for financial stability in order to minimize it's dependence on donations and the influence these donations might carry.

Today the American Genetic Association is publishing primary Genetics research in such fields as genomic diversity, comparative genetics, species conservation, polygenic and multi-factorial gene hunts, genetic epidemiology, bioinformatics, molecular evolution, plant and animal domestication, phylogenetics and phylogeography. With a history of commitment to science, diverse pool of readers and contributors, a recently revamped editorial board, and rapid publication time, the American Genetics Association continue to disseminate the achievements of the Genetic community through the Journal of Heredity.