The Society may be seen from early on to have been progressive in its time towards equality and diversity. A woman was first invited by The Royal Colonial Institute to read a research paper in 1894, and The Royal Colonial Institute was one of the first learned organisations to admit women as full Fellows, in 1922. The Society's first Asian member was Ji ju Sanjo, son of the Japanese prime minister (Sanjo Sanetomi), in 1872; the first African member was Samuel Bannerman, of the Gold Coast, in 1879.