SOCIETY FOR HISTORIANS OF THE GILDED AGE AND PROGRESSIVE ERA

CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE I

Section 1: The name of this Society is Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.

Section 2: The purpose of the Society is to foster and advance the study and understanding of the history of the United States during the period 1865 to 1917.

ARTICLE II

Section 1: Membership in the Society shall be open to anyone interested in the history of the United States.

Section 2: Membership shall date from receipt by the Society of annual dues as designated by the Council and set forth in the Bylaws.  Dues are payable at the beginning of each calendar year.  Membership is forfeited when dues are six months in arrears.

Section 3: Only members in good standing shall be voting participants in the Society's business or hold office in the Society.

ARTICLE III

Section 1: The Society shall meet at least once a year.

ARTICLE IV

Section 1: The officers of the Society shall be the President, the Vice President, the Secretary, and the Treasurer, who shall manage the affairs of the Society with the advice and assistance of the Council.  The President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer shall be members ex officio of the Council.³

Section 2: The President shall be the chief executive officer of the Society.  The President shall preside at meetings of the society and of the Council and appoint members of standing and special committees which may be created.  The President shall perform the executive functions normally attached to such office and any other duties which may be established in the Bylaws.   With the advice and consent of the Council, the President may appoint a Newsletter Editor for a period of no more than two years; the editor may be reappointed at the close of each term.

Section 3: The Vice President shall chair a Program Committee to plan panels for AHA and OAH meetings, shall perform the duties of the President in the President's absence and shall succeed to the Presidency upon the President's incapacity or vacating of the office.³

Section 4: The administrative home of the SHGAPE is the Rutherford B. Hayes Center in Fremont, Ohio.   Each SHGAPE officer works as appropriate with the Director of the Rutherford B. Hayes Center and with Hayes Center staff to maintain membership lists and financial records of the Society and to perform other duties as set forth in the Bylaws or as the President shall direct.³

Section 5: The President and Vice President shall serve terms of two years and be elected from the Society membership in a manner set forth in the Bylaws.  The Vice President shall be the President-elect and shall succeed to the Presidency at the close of the previous President's term.

Section 6: The Secretary and the Treasurer shall serve terms of two years and be elected from the Society membership in a manner set forth in the Bylaws.³

Section 7: The position of Executive Director of the Society may be created by a two-thirds vote of the Council, either by mail ballot or in meeting, with the concurrence of a majority of the members voting either by mail ballot or in a meeting of the Society.  In the event that the position is created, it will be filled by appointment by the Council, and the Executive Director shall serve at the pleasure of the Council; the Executive Director shall assume all the duties of the Secretary and the Treasurer and such other duties as set forth in the Bylaws or as the President shall direct.

ARTICLE V

Section 1: The general governance of the Society, outside of general meetings of the membership, shall be conducted by the Council.

Section 2: The Council shall consist of the Society’s officers, plus nine others elected from the membership as the Bylaws shall direct.  An additional Council member, appointed by the President, will be a graduate student who will serve for a maximum of three years¹.  Three Council Members shall be elected each year for a three-year term.  Any council member having served three consecutive years on the council shall not be eligible for re-election the next year but may serve in subsequent years.  The two most recent past presidents, the Newsletter editor, and the editor of the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era² shall be ex officio Council members.

ARTICLE VI

Section 1: Amendments may be made to this Constitution by a two-thirds vote of the Council, either by mail ballot or in meeting, with the concurrence of a majority of the members voting either by mail ballot or in a meeting of the Society.

Section 2: Any member may suggest amendments to the Council for its action.  Failing action by the Council, an amendment may be brought to a vote of the Society by the submission to the Secretary of a petition for such amendment signed by five percent of the members of the Society.³

ARTICLE VII

Section 1: The rules contained in Robert's Rules of Order, Revised shall govern the society in all cases to which they are applicable, and in which they are not inconsistent with the Bylaws or the special rules of the Society.

Section 2: The Society shall from time to time establish such Bylaws as it deems necessary to fulfill its purpose.

Section 3: Changes may be made in the Bylaws by a majority vote of the Council, either by mail ballot or in meeting, with the concurrence of a majority of the members voting either by mail ballot or in a meeting of the Society.

ARTICLE VIII

Section 1:  This Constitution becomes effective, as amended, on  January 7, 1994.

SHCONR6.WPD

Revised 04/20/06, Washington, D.C.