Midwinter Minutes, 2003

Midwinter Council Meeting
February 8, 2003

Present: Art Hansen, Kim Lacy Rogers, Charles Hardy, Mehmed Ali, Linda Wood, Madelyn Campbell. Rose Diaz (9:10 am)

The meeting was called to order at 8:45am.
Kim Rogers requested that a meeting with Stephen Rhind-Tutt, Alexander Spring Press, be added to the agenda. Rhind-Tutt is interested in developing a web-based index to oral history.

Council reviewed the minutes from the October, 2002 meeting.
It was moved, seconded, and carried to approve the October Annual Meeting minutes. (Hardy/Wood)

Executive Secretary's Report (Campbell)
The Secretary's report was reviewed and accepted by Council. It was suggested that a more structured method be developed to appointed committee members to the various standing committees and that awards committees be finalized by the September prior to the April deadline.

The Secretary also proposed that the annual budget include an additional $2500 to hire secretarial help during the late spring and summer when administrative support for the annual meeting is at its peak.

President's Report (Hansen)
Hansen congratulated those who worked so hard to make the San Diego meeting such a success. With the strong local support of OHMAR, the Bethesda meeting should be equally successful.

The Oral History Review, under the editorship of Andrew Dunar, continues to publish two outstanding journals per year and the December Newsletter, edited by Mary Kay Quinlan, was excellent. Hansen thanked Jeffrey Charnley and the editorial staff for their continuing work on H-Oralhist.

The President, President-Elect and the First Vice President will work together to develop and procedure for replenishing the committee structure in a timely manner.

Council discussed a proposal regarding the renaming of the Endowment Fund. After some discussion, Council decided to consider the general policy of naming certain funds and awards in more depth at a future meeting.

It was suggested by Linda Shopes that the Past President be included as a member of council. Since this would require a change to the Bylaws, Council passed the following resolution.

It was moved, seconded and carried that the Past President will be expected to attend the midwinter meeting as a non-voting member and provide continuity. (Diaz/Ali)

Hansen presented the 2003 proposed budget. Several new expenditures were discussed.

It was moved, seconded and carried to increase the stipend for the Oral History Review and Newsletter editors to $1750 and the Book Review Editor to $750. (Hansen/Hardy)

It was moved, seconded and carried that compensation for the authorship of pamphlets be negotiated with OHA and a contract signed in which terms are clearly stated. All contracts will be approved by Council. (Hardy/Rogers)

It was moved, seconded, and carried that $2000 be allocated from the Endowment Fund for support of Cuban oral historians to participate in the 2003 Annual Meeting and that $1500 be allocated to support other presenters. (Hardy/Hansen)

It was moved, seconded and carried to approve the 2003 budget as amended. (Ali/Rogers)

Nominating Committee (Rogers)

It was moved, seconded and carried to approve the slate proposed by the Nominating Committee placing in nomination Rebecca Sharpless for First Vice President, Horacio Roque Ramirez and Celia Alvarez for one position on Council, and Mary Larson and John Wolford for one position on Council. (Rogers/Hardy)

The slate for Nominating Committee was discussed. The final slate will be published in the April Newsletter.

Publications (Hansen for Tom King)

Mary Kay Quinlan, Andrew Dunar and Jeff Charnley all submitted reports. Council commended the fine work of all the editors. Dunar presented an updated report on the History Cooperative, including answers to several questions from Council. Unfortunately not all Council members received the report. Council will review the letter from Mr. Regier, Director of the History Cooperative, and will finalize its decision.

Wood brought up her concerns about teachers asking young students to interview emotionally laden projects such as the holocaust, 9/11, or the Vietnam War. It was the sense of Council that OHA explore creating a policy statement on this topic.

Education Committee (Wood)

Troy Reeves, Chair, is very interested in developing an Education section on our new website. Marjorie McLellan has agreed to help develop this. Wood indicated that requests for high school workshops are increasing. She recommended linking the OHA website to E-Teach, developed by Prentiss Hall.

State and Regional Forum (Hardy)

No report.

Website Development (Hardy)

The new OHA website, designed by Jessie Greenberg, is being completed by Internet Presentations Group. Council reviewed the current version and approved the format and structure. Some more work will be completed before the site is launched on the Dickinson College server. The site will contain a "Members Only" section which will be password protected. Those sections are still being developed. Council suggested paying a $200 stipend for IPG's services.

2003 Annual Meeting (Diaz)

Roger Horowitz, Program Chair, and Renee Braden and Dave Winkler, Local Arrangements Co-Chairs, reported on the progress so far for the Bethesda meeting. Plenary sessions, speakers, and local involvement are well underway. There will be a wide array of workshops, tours, and sessions. OHMAR, the official co-sponsor, will present its Pogue Award at the Friday luncheon. Council discussed the feasibility of continuing the Sunday morning sessions and agreed that it was necessary. Diaz mentioned that she will coordinate a veterans table again this year. A budget will be sent to Council in March.

International Committee (Benmayor)

Benmayor spoke to the Council via speaker phone. She will be contacting the new Chair, Alex Freund, to request a report on the committee's activities. No dates have been set for the 2004 International meeting in Rome, Italy.

Diversity Committee (Benmayor)

Council reviewed the report from the Diversity Committee. Nilsa Olivero is working on a student proposal for the 2003 Annual Meeting and will review other submission to see which ones can be sponsored by the committee.

Digital Technology & New Media (Benmayor)

Benmayor indicated that the committee is still working on how to proceed. Cliff Kuhn will continue to define the tasks to focus on. Publishing the Newsletter on the OHA website was discussed again. Council continues to support publishing the Newsletter on the Web, but only after members have received their copies in the mail. Campbell will investigate the cost of digitizing the Newsletter by Modern Litho Print.

2004 Annual Meeting (Rogers)

Rogers announced that the meeting will be held in Portland, OR, at the Hilton Portland and Executive Tower Hotel, September 29 - October 3, 2004. No program chairs have been selected at this time, but Local Arrangements probably will be chaired by Richard Engeman, Oregon Historical Society, and Laurie Mercier. Rogers discussed several possible themes.

2005 Annual Meeting (Campbell)

The contract for this meeting has been signed with the Providence Marriot in Providence, Rhode Island and will be held November 2 - 6, 2005.

Future Meetings

It was moved, seconded and carried to hold the 2006 annual meeting in Little Rock, AK (Ali/Diaz)

Phoenix, AZ will be seriously considered for 2007 and perhaps Hawaii in 2008.

Human Subjects Policy and Oral History (Hansen for Donald Ritchie)

Council reviewed Ritchie's report and was grateful for his thoughtful comments. At this time, the issues of clarification on IRBs has been delayed due to staffing changes at the national level. Diaz suggested that the report be published on our new website along with Linda Shopes bibliography about articles on this subject. Council will seek permission from Ritchie and Shopes.

National Park Service (Ali)

Ali presented documentation covering the status of oral history in the National Park Service. NPS is working to assess and improve their guidelines and training in oral history. Ali will work to set up a panel for the Bethesda and Portland meetings. The National Park Service will be linked to the OHA website.

University of California Press (Campbell)

Council reviewed the mid-year reports. Membership renewal rate is excellent but new members are needed. Council recommended that we forgo a direct mail campaign again and concentrate on developing membership in other ways. A membership recruiting table will be set up at the 2003 annual meeting.

Old Business

Council agreed that the History Cooperative report was excellent and answered all questions.
It was moved, seconded and carried that the OHA affiliate with the History Cooperative for the Oral History Review beginning in 2003. (Rogers/Diaz)

Alicia Rouverol has done a wonderful job working with Tim Lloyd, American Folklife Society, to develop a list of workshop leaders for the Veterans History Project that balances persons from both disciplines.

New Business

Council met with Stephen Rhind-Tutt, President of Alexander Spring Press, to discuss the possibilities of developing a comprehensive oral history index. The index would be fee based and could provide a source of revenue for OHA.

It was moved, seconded and carried that OHA set up a task force to work collaboratively with Alexander Street Press to explore ways of developing and oral history index. (Hansen/Ali)

Rogers will coordinate this effort.

The meeting was adjourned October 9, 2003 at 10:15 AM