SHGAPE Council Minutes
January 3, 1997

President M. Les Benedict called the Council of the Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era to order at 4:55 p.m., January 3, 1997, in Park Suite 3, Private Dining Room #5, Sheraton Hotel, New York, N.Y. In addition to President, Benedict, the following Council Members attended the meeting: Immediate Past President, Robert W. Cherny, Vice President Elisabeth Israels Perry, Secretary Treasurer, Roger D. Bridges, Newsletter Editor Kriste Lindenmeyer, Professors Robert Harris, Leon Fink, and Ari Hoogenboom. Past President and Publications Committee Chair Charles W. Calhoun was also present as were Kristie Miller and Gregory Gordon.

The Council adopted the agenda submitted by President Benedict by consensus.

The Council Minutes for the March 29, 1996, meeting were approved as mailed.

Secretary-Treasurer Bridges reported the Society's checkbook balance as of December 31, 1996, $3,141.45. There was some discussion concerning the decline in the budget from that reported the previous year. It was noted that memberships were not being as promptly renewed as they had been in the past. It was also noted that unless new memberships and renewals increased the Society would have to re-evaluate its budget and expenditure priorities.

President Benedict announced that he had appointed Professor Raymond M. "Skip" Hyser as membership chair. The President and Council agreed with Dr. Hyser's view that there was not, at the moment, a need for a committee.

President Benedict appointed Professor Eileen McDonagh to the Nominating Committee.

He reappointed the following to the H-SHGAPE Editorial Board: Professors K. Austin Kerr, The Ohio State University; Lewis Gould, University of Texas, Austin; and Ron Yanosky, Harvard University. He announced that additional appointments would be announced via e-mail. The Council concurred in the appointments.

President Benedict moved the adoption of the following :

Amend Bylaw 1 to read as follows:

"The annual dues of the Society shall be established by the Council, subject to the decision of the General Meeting in the same manner as all other matters, and shall be payable January 1 of each year."

Professor Ari Hoogenboom seconded; bylaw amendment carried unanimously.

President Benedict moved the adoption of the following:

Amend Bylaw 9(c) to read as follows:

"The Distinguished Historian Committee shall consist of the immediate past President, the current President, and the President-Elect of the society, to be chaired by the immediate past President. The committee shall designate a Distinguished Historian of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, who will address the luncheon meeting of the society held at the meeting of the Organization of American Historians, in odd-numbered years beginning in 1997. The Distinguished Historian will receive a complimentary invitation to the luncheon for herself or himself and a companion, and a commemorative plaque or certificate."

Professor Robert W. Cherny seconded the motion; carried unanimously.

Professor Cherny, reporting for H-SHGAPE Editors noted that 26% of the nation's college and university historians now participate in one or more of the e-mail discussion groups under the H- Net umbrella. He reported also that the H-SHGAPE format is considered a model for other lists to emulate.

Professor Kriste Lindenmeyer announced that she had prepared and mailed her final Newsletter. President Benedict moved, seconded by Vice-President Perry, that the Council voice its special thanks to Professor Lindenmeyer for her exceptional work. The motion was approved by acclamation.

In the absence of the chair of the Nominating Committee, Secretary-Treasurer Bridges announced that the following had been elected to three year terms ending in January 2000:

Glenda E. Gilmore, Yale University

Jeffrey Ostler, University of Oregon

Joanne Reitano, LaGuardia Community College

The nominating committee then moved that the bylaws be amended as follows:

Replace the first sentence of Bylaw 4 ["each year at the meeting of the Council during the Annual Meeting of the Organization of American Historians, the Nominating Committee will present a slate of nominees for offices to be filled by election later that year"] with the following:

"On or before October 15 of each year, the Nominating Committee will present a slate of nominees for offices to be filled by election that year."

Motion carried.

Professor Charles Calhoun, chairman of the ad hoc Publications Committee reported that the committee had asked Professor Jeannette Keith of Bloomsburg University, to become the Newsletter editor in place of Professor Lindenmeyer. He reported that Professor Keith had accepted and will begin her service immediately. The committee had begun studying the possibilities for publication outlets. The committee was considering an annual volume of bibliography, bibliographical essays, an electronic journal, a book series, and a standard print journal among the many possibilities. The committee will continue to study the matter and report with a recommendation at a later date.

Professor Cherny reported for the Distinguished Speaker Committee that Professor H. Wayne Morgan, University of Oklahoma, Norman, had been named the Distinguished Gilded Age and Progressive Era Historian and had accepted the invitation to speak at the SHGAPE Luncheon in April at Organization of American Historians Meeting in San Francisco.

President Benedict announced that he Professors Walter Nugent, Indiana University, Peter Holloran, Mount Ida College, and Julie Green, University of Colorado, Boulder, continued to serve on the Program Committee chaired by Professor Elisabeth I. Perry, Vice President. Professor Perry announced that two sessions had been endorsed for the OAH meeting in San Francisco and that the published program would indicate they were cosponsored by SHGAPE. The Programs are entitled: "Politics, Power, and Gender: Women Define Citizenship During the Progressive Era," and "American Catholicism and Protestant Models of Reform." She indicated that the committee had reviewed galleys of the programs and of those sessions that fell withing the chronology of SHGAPE, these were the only two unanimously endorsed by the committee.

In other matters related to SHGAPE programs, President Benedict and Professor Perry noted that the Society was cosponsoring (with the Ohio Historical Society and The Ohio State University Department of History) a William McKinley Conference in Columbus, Ohio, on the occasion of the centennial of his inauguration as president. In addition, the Committee will be seeking proposals for the 1998 AHA Meeting, including those jointly sponsored by the Society and AHA and those sponsored only by SHGAPE but listed in the AHA program.

Unable to attend the Council Meeting, Professor Hyser delivered his membership report in writing. He reported that membership renewals had been included with the newsletter, but when it appeared there was some about whether to renew, he thought it wise to send a membership renewal form and reminder letter to all current SHGAPE members. He indicated his intention to ask all who participated in SHGAPE and joint sessions to join the society, and he will be pursuing other avenues for potential members, including announced programs at other history related meetings, and the AHA Directory of History Departments and Organizations.

Mr. Robert Harris, reporting for graduate students said they had requested more influence and/or control over the selection of their representative on the Council. He said they also suggested separate graduate student sessions and programs as a way of encouraging greater participation in the Society and its activities.

President Benedict said he would be appointing the chair of H-SHGAPE Editorial Board in the near future and would announce it via H-SHGAPE email.

The meeting adjourned at 6:20 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted

Roger D. Bridges
Secretary