LETTER FROM THE SECRETARIAT

The Secretariat has been at the University of South Florida (USF) for the better part of a year now. With the financial support of USF we have been able to get the day-to-day operating expenses of the Secretariat back in a position which requires less direct expenditure from CLAH funds.

Following the suggestion of Dauril Alden and with the hard work of the Secretariat--both in Auburn and at USF--and the ready cooperation of people in Seattle, our luncheon meeting was held in the truly spectacular setting of the Space Needle and the cocktail party had a great view of the Seattle night. We would also like to thank the AHA, particularly Sharon Tune, for their continued support with the convention.

One of the suggestions that came out of the Seattle business meeting was the need to get several of the prizes that CLAH is involved with on a more stable financial basis so that these awards do not have to come out of the operating budget. While some prizes, like the Lydia Cabrera, are on fairly firm ground almost all the others really do need our financial support and even the Cabrera could serve more scholars with additional funding. If your situation allows now, or perhaps at some point in the future when you may be thinking of estate planning, I would encourage you to support these prizes that recognize at least a few of the very many worthy scholarly efforts of our colleagues and which help other scholars get launched in their research.

The CLAH archives have found a permanent home. The Special Collections Department of the USF library generously offered to house and maintain the archives and after discussion at the Seattle meeting the offer was accepted. The archives will be open to everyone and included in the offer is the future possibility for a number of on-line services that will provide ready access to the archives and related CLAH materials.

There is more to the daily functioning of this organization than I think most people would suspect, or at least this was true in my case. I want to thank all of you who have helped by providing information, suggestions, meeting deadlines, and being understanding. We do rely on you and appreciate the fact that you are very busy. I also want to acknowledge the hard work of Lori Simons, the CLAH secretary. She was hired at one of the busiest moments of the year and had to learn the complexities of the job while in the midst of getting the Newsletter in shape to be printed and has done a fine job for us. Unfortunely for CLAH, Lori will be leaving us shortly.

As part of our agreement in assuming the Secretariat the three Latin Americanist then in the History Dept.--Alejandro de la Fuente, Paul Dosal and myself--agreed to not only work together but to rotate the position of Executive Secretary. My year is ending and Paul Dosal will assume the office of Executive Secretary starting in June.

In closing, I want to say that it has been my personal pleasure to work with Lyman Johnson. Through the initial transition and in all our subsequent work together he has been a most thoughtful, considerate and helpful president.

Ward Stavig

Executive Secretary