This paper examines the circumstances and proceedings of the first management stream held at the 1886 meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Despite the significance accorded to the event, the management literature at times confounds historical appreciation with historical facts, leading to an inadvertent positing of erroneous implications or verifiably false assertions. A number of questions are thus raised that have received at best ambiguous treatment in the management literature. In order to answer the questions, this paper begins with some contextual background on the emergence of ASME. It then addresses the circumstances surrounding the 1886 management stream and, based on clues in the historical evidence, offers a conjecture as to how it might have come about. The salient points of Towne’s introductory paper are outlined and contextualized against the general sensibilities of the audience. These latter are revealed in more detail through an analysis of the recorded discussion on the stream’s three papers. With the evidence at hand, the questions are answered, offering an opportunity to consider how the 1886 management stream may be appreciated.