MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL AND GENERAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY FOR HISTORIANS OF THE GILDED AGE AND PROGRESSIVE ERA Friday, March 27, 2009 Seattle, Washington.
President Jack Blocker, University of Western Ontario, called the council Meeting of the Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era to order. The following SHGAPE Council and other members attended the meeting:
Ellen Litwicki, SUNY Fredonia Alan Lessoff, Illinois State University Elaine Frantz Parsons, Duquesne University Terry Seip, University of Southern California Julia Irwin, Yale University Jack Blocker, Huron University College, University of Western Ontario Maureen Flanagan, Michigan State University Phil VanderMeer, Arizona State University Gordon Bakken, California State University, Fullerton Katherine Osburn, Tennessee Tech University James Connolly, Ball State University Wendy Gamber, Indiana University Roger Bridges, Bloomington, Illinois.
Jack Blocker reviewed minutes from the previous Annual Meeting (March 29, 2008) which had previously been distributed to committee members. Minutes were adopted.
Jack Blocker next made a series of announcements. Thanks to SHGAPE retiring Council members Joseph A. Fry, Jacqueline Moore, and Paul Hietter.
Thanks to the members of the inaugural Vincent P. DeSantis Book Prize Committee, Thomas Pegram (chair), Nora Faires, and Christopher Waldrep.
Thanks to Raymond "Skip" Hyser for his work as chair of the Membership Committee and his agreement to continue to chair the Committee for another year. Volunteers for additional Membership Committee members are welcome.
Thanks to the JGAPE Best Article Prize Committee, Ruth Crocker (chair), Rebecca Edwards, and Steven Noll
James Connolly has agreed to chair the 2009 Nominating Committee which will nominate three Council members and a Vice President/President Elect.
The council then reviewed and acknowledged the written reports from committee chairs and editors that had been pre-circulated.
Maureen Flanagan presented the report of the Program Committee, Maureen Flanagan, Robert Johnston (2008 and 2009), Elaine Parsons (2008), and Laura Tuennerman (2009).
Interest in submitting proposals for SHGAPE panels seems to be growing, as are two equally promising trends, increasing interest in roundtables and panels on transnational topics. SHGAPE co-sponsored three sessions at the 2009 AHA and offered four directly-sponsored SHGAPE sessions. SHGAPE co-sponsored three 2009 OAH sessions, one of which is a graduate student panel. Maureen emphasized the importance of helping graduate students effectively organize and conceptualize their panels and the importance of making SHGAPE's presence more visible at the AHA and OAH. Session chairs should announce that panels are sponsored or co-sponsored by SHGAPE. We should also consider distributing SHGAPE materials at sponsored and co-sponsored sessions.
Membership Committee (Skip Hyser was not present).
Discussion of the Membership Committee's report noted the usefulness of tracking membership and sending out renewal reminders in order to save time and money (especially on postage required to send back issues to late renewers). The desirability of establishing an electronic subscription and renewal system using PayPal was discussed.
Newsletter.
Christopher Nichols has agreed to serve as SHGAPE's webmaster. He will include future newsletters on SHGAPE's webpage. Future newsletters may appear solely online. Online versions will allow for the inclusion of additional material and save printing and postage costs.
Treasurer's Report (Phil VanderMeer).
Phil reported that SHGAPE is in excellent financial condition, as a result of increase in journal subscriptions, increased interest income (the result of Phil's decision to shift reserve funds from a checking account to a CD), and additional contributions to the Society's endowment. Phil has also taken steps to control expenditures by eliminating the AHA reception and budgeting for the Newsletter. Expenditures for JGAPE have increased but the increased revenue from membership, subscriptions, and donations have offset these costs. The Endowment Fund benefited from donations from Vincent P. DeSantis and Peter and Jo Ann Argersinger and from life memberships from Gene Clanton and Jack Blocker. (Since 2005 SHGAPE has deposited funds from life memberships in the Endowment Fund.) Next year we should consider whether to shift additional funds to the Endowment Fund. Phil also noted the valuable services that Hayes Center staff members, especially Suzanne Darr and Mary Lou Halbeisen, provide to SHGAPE.
Annual Report, JGAPE (Alan Lessoff)
Alan noted that growth in membership and the resulting need for organizational stability led to the creation of the office of Executive Secretary to coordinate management of the organization and of the business side of JGAPE.
Alan reiterated the importance of the Hayes Center, which provides SHGAPE with membership and subscription maintenance services. SHGAPE has been approached by several publishers. These offers are attractive, given the copyediting, layout, and subscription maintenance services various publishers would provide. However, given the value of the services that the Hayes Center currently furnishes, it is desirable for JGAPE to continue to be society published.
Alan announced that the Executive Secretary will initiate the process of establishing online membership renewals, which will reduce the workload of the Hayes Center staff, more readily sustain membership, and reduce postage costs. The proposed rate increase will cover PayPal charges.
Alan presented a motion to increase subscription rates for JGAPE as follows: Regular, $50 per year, $60 per couple for joint membership, $70 for Sustaining Members, $110 for Patrons; $90 for libraries and other institutions; $20 for Student Members. Motion approved.
Alan noted that online arrangements continue to pose an important challenge for JGAPE. The search for an online Associate Editor continues. The Society will also continue to investigate possible new online options. JSTOR is proposing to offer its package of current content of history journals for the History Cooperative, an arrangement from which JGAPE would likely benefit.
No H-SHGAPE report was presented
Two items of business, the Election of Nominee (Jeanette Keith) to the Nominating Committee and the election of Jacqueline Moore to a second term as Chair of H-SHGAPE Editorial Board could not be conducted because a quorum of Council members was not present. The election will be conducted via email.
Jack Blocker discussed the rationale for the creation of the Executive Secretary and Online Associate Editor positions and the reasons for the increase in membership dues.
Katherine Osburn, Chair of the ad-hoc committee to create criteria for the Bridges Award, presented the Committee's suggested policy:
The Roger D. Bridges Distinguished Service Award shall be given to an individual who has provided significant service to SHGAPE over a period of time. "Significant service" may include but is not limited to: serving as chairs of various committees or groups; serving as editor or book review editor of JGAPE; holding multiple committee memberships; involvement with SHGAPE over five or more years.
The policy was approved.
Jack Blocker declared the meeting adjourned.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Wendy Gamber (Executive Secretary)