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Constitution of the Craighead County Historical Society
Article I
The name of this society shall be:
The
Craighead County Historical Society
Article II
The
purpose of this society shall be to bring together those
people interested in history; especially the history of
Craighead County. Understanding the history of our
community is basic to our democratic way of life, gives
us a better understanding of our state and nation, and
promotes a better appreciation of our American heritage.
The society's major function will be to
discover and collect any material which may help to
establish or illustrate the history of the area; its
exploration, settlement, development, and activities in
peace and in war; its progress in population, wealth,
education, arts, science, agriculture, manufactures,
trade and transportation. it will collect printed
material such as histories, genealogies, biographies,
descriptions, gazetteers, directories, newspapers,
pamphlets, catalogues, circulars, handbills, programs,
and posters; manuscript material such as pictures,
photographs, painting, portraits, scenes, aboriginal
relics, and material objects illustrative of life,
conditions, events, and activities of the past and the
present.
The society will provide for the
preservation of such material and for its accessibility,
as far as may be feasible, to all who wish to examine or
study it, to cooperate with officials in ensuring the
preservation and accessibility of the records and
archives of the county and of its cities, towns,
villages, and institutions, and to undertake the
preservation of historic buildings, monuments, and
markers.
The society will disseminate historical
information and arouse interest in the past by
publishing historical material in the newspapers or
otherwise; by marking historic buildings, sites, and
trails; by using the media of radio and television to
awaken public interest.
The society will cooperate with the state
historical association, schools and colleges to collect
and preserve materials of state-wide significance so
that these materials can be made available to students
and scholars.
Article III
Membership shall be of nine (9) classes, as follows:
1.
Individual
adult membership - any adult interested in the purpose
of the society;
3.
Joint membership — husband and wife;
4.
Contributing membership — any member offering
special financial support as shown in the current
schedule of fees;
5.
Corporate membership: any business, firm,
organization, board, school, or library offering special
financial support; ($25/year)
6.
Life membership — accorded upon payment of a one-time fee of two hundred dollars ($200.00);
7.
Permanent membership — accorded upon payment of a fee of five hundred dollars ($500.00) payable in a lump sum or in
installments over one year as convenience to the member;
8.
Honorary membership — conferred upon any person
whose activities have contributed to the objectives of
the society. Honorary membership shall be conferred by a
nomination by the Board of Directors and confirmation by
a plurality of three-fourths vote of members present at
annual meeting. No fee is required.
Article IV
The annual meeting of the society
shall be held at the May meeting.
Article V
Section 1: The officers of the society, who may or
may not be members of the Board of Directors, shall be a
President, a Vice-President (Program Chairman), a
Secretary, a Treasurer, and a Delegate and Alternate
Delegate to the annual meeting of the Arkansas
Historical Association, all of whom shall be elected
for a term of one year. There shall be six directors
elected for terms of three (3) years. In the first
election two Directors shall be elected for one year,
two for two years, and two for three years. Thereafter
two shall be elected each year.
Section 2: The officers and Directors shall
constitute the Board of Directors.
Section 3: The officers shall constitute the
Executive Committee.
Section 4: Each retiring President shall become an
ex-officio member of the Board, not to
exceed one year.
Article VI
Section 1: At the February meeting of the society,
the President shall appoint a nominating committee
composed of three members in good standing, none of whom
shall be an officer or member of the board of Directors.
The duty of the nominating committee shall be to
nominate candidates for all offices as well as members
of the Board of Directors whose terms expire April 30 of
the current year. The committee report shall be made at
the next quarterly (annual) meeting in May. Upon request
the Secretary will furnish the nominating committee with
the names of those members in good standing. Before
making its report, the nominating committee shall secure
the consent of the nominees to serve if elected.
Section 2:
Nominations
may also be made by any member of the society at the
annual
meeting. Any such nomination shall be added to the slate
of candidates.
Those nominated from
the floor shall be adult members. Agreement to serve
shall be obtained beforehand by the person making
the nomination:
Section 3:
All officers and Directors shall be elected by a
plurality of votes cast
by secret ballot or
upon motion with unanimous consent at the annual
meeting.
Section 4:
A person who has been elected a Director for two
consecutive terms and all other elected officers who
serve two consecutive terms shall not be nominated again
to the same office until after the passage of at least
one year after
the conclusion of
his last term-of office.
Section 5: Officers and Directors shall be
installed at the close of the annual
meeting at which they are
elected and installed. In the event of resignation or
incapacity of any officers except the President or of
any Director, the vacancy may be filled by a vote of the
board of directors for
the unexpired term of office.
Article VII
The constitution may
be amended at any regular or adjourned
meeting by a two-thirds vote of those present and
voting, provided notice was given at the previous
meeting that an amendment (or amendments) would be
considered at the next regular or called meeting.
Amendments may be acted upon at a special meeting called
for that purpose if public notice was given and
two-thirds vote approved such special meeting. All
proposed amendments shall be submitted in writing.
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Bylaws of the Craighead County Historical Society
Article I. Membership and Dues
Section 1. Any person interested in the history of
Craighead County who
applies for membership in any classification of
membership and who tenders the necessary dues
shall thereby become a member.
Section 2. The schedule of membership dues (fees) shall
be in accordance
with the schedule printed on the inside cover of the
Craighead County Historical
Quarterly as it appears in the most recent issue of the
Quarterly at the time membership is sought.
Article II. Schedule and Quorum for Meetings
Section 1. Regular meetings of the society shall be held
quarterly, on the first
Monday of the second month in each calendar quarter,
being the months of
February, May, August, and November. Exception can
be made by common consent
of the membership and public notice of such change.
Section 2. Special meetings may be called by the
President.
Section 3. The Board of Directors shall meet quarterly
in advance of the scheduled time for the general
meeting. Special meetings of the Board of Directors
may be called by the Chairman of the Board or any two
members thereof.
Section 4. Ten (10) members of the society will
constitute a quorum.
Article Ill. Duties of Officers and Directors
Section 1. The President shall have executive
supervision over the activities of
the society within the' scope provided by these laws and
bylaws. He shall preside at
all meetings: He shall report annually on the activities
of the society. He shall
appoint the members of committees and delegates not otherwise provided
for.
Section 2. The Vice-President shall assume the duties of
the President in the
event of absence, incapacity, or resignation of the
President. He shall be chairman
of the Program Committee.
Section 3. The Secretary shall keep the minutes of
meetings of the society and
of the Board of Directors, maintain a list of members,
and render an annual report.
Section 4. The Treasurer shall be responsible for the
safekeeping of society
funds and for maintaining adequate financial records. He
shall deposit all monies received by him with a reliable
banking company in the name of the Craighead
County Historical Society. Funds shall be paid out by
means of numbered checks
signed by the Treasurer.
Section 5. The Board of Directors shall have the power
to conduct all affairs of
the society. The Board will decide questions of policy
that for any reason cannot be
acted upon at a meeting of the society and perform such
other functions as
designated by the bylaws or otherwise assigned to it.
Section 6. The primary duty of the Delegate or Alternate
Delegate to the
Arkansas Historical Association shall be to attend the
annual meeting of the
Association. (Selection of a Delegate or Alternate
Delegate is usually identified with
a society member who would attend whether Delegate or
not.) Delegates or
Alternates will make reports to the society at the
meeting following the state
convention (annual meeting).
Section 7. At any meeting of the Board of Directors, six
(6) members shall
constitute a quorum. The Board of Directors will select
its own chairman. The Board
of Directors through its chairman will render an annual
report at the annual meeting.
Section 8. The President will appoint a Corresponding
Secretary who will have
access to the society's incoming mail for the purpose of
screening correspondence
that should have a reply. The society will furnish a
supply of stationery and postage
stamps to be used for that purpose. Copies of outgoing
mail will be kept on file. In cases of genealogical
inquiries the Corresponding Secretary may check easily
available (including indexed) sources of information at
the public library or other
locations and transmit the information to the inquirer.
Corresponding Secretaries
will not be required to enter into any lengthy or
involved research. Genealogical inquiries shall be given
to the Editor for the inclusion in the Quarterly.
Article IV. Committees
Section 1. The society shall have the following standing
committees:
1.
Library Committee: Responsible for collecting,
cataloguing, care,
arrangement, and repair of books, exchanged
publications,
manuscripts, newspapers, and other historical source
material. The chairman of this committee shall be
designated Society Historian.
(The Jonesboro Public Library has provided a cabinet for storage of the
library material.)
2.
Museum Committee: Whenever space should become
available for
establishment of a Historical Society Museum, the
President will
appoint a Museum Committee which will be responsible for
collecting,
cataloguing, cleaning, repair, and storage of historic
objects; for
arranging museum exhibits and providing interpretation
thereof; for
care and upkeep of museum quarters.
3.
Publications Committee: Responsible for finding ways
and means for
publishing joint or individual research studies,
newsletter to members and a quarterly book or journal.
The chairman will be designated as
Publications Editor.
4.
Historical Sites Committee: Responsible for
establishing the historic validity of sites proposed for
marking; for actual marking of historical
sites; for arranging historical tours.
5.
Program Committee: Responsible for arranging suitable
programs; for setting date, place and time of meetings.
The Vice-President shall be
chairman of this committee.
6.
Membership Committee. Responsible for membership
drives and
processing candidates for membership.
7.
Nominating Committee. Responsible for making
nominations for
officers and members of the Board of Directors.
8.
Publicity Committee. Responsible for publishing news
concerning
society meetings and other activities. The chairman
shall be designated
as News Editor.
9.
Other Committees, standing or special, may be
appointed by the
President as directed by the society or Board of
Directors.
Section 2. The President shall appoint chairpersons and
members of standing
committees.
Article V. Parliamentary Authority
The provisions of Robert's Rules of Order shall govern
the proceedings of the
society, except in
such cases as are governed by the constitution or
bylaws.
Article VI. Amendment to the Bylaws
These bylaws may be amended at any regular meeting or
adjourned meeting by
a two-thirds vote of those present and voting, provided
notice was given at the previous meeting. Or they
may be amended at a special meeting called for the
purpose with previous
notice and two-thirds note. All proposed amendments
shall be submitted in writing.
Amendment to the Constitution and Bylaws of the
Craighead County
Historical Society
(Presented to the Directors of Said Society on May 2,
1977)
No part of the net earnings of the society shall insure
to the benefit of, or be
distributed to its members, trustees, officers, or other
private persons, except that
the society shall be authorized and empowered to pay
reasonable compensation for
services rendered and to make payments and distribution
in furtherance of the purposes set forth in Article II
under the heading of "Purpose" in the text of this
constitution and bylaws. No substantial part of the
activities of the society shall be
carrying on of propaganda, or otherwise attempting to
influence legislation, and the
society shall not participate in, or intervene in
(including the publishing or
distribution of
statements) any political campaign on behalf of any
candidate for
public office. Notwithstanding any other provision of
these articles, the society shall not carry on any other
activities not permitted to be carried on (a) by an
organization exempt from federal income tax under
section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (or the corresponding
provision of any future United
States Internal Revenue law) or (b) by a corporation,
contributions to which are
deductible under section 170(c)(2) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1954 (or the
corresponding provisions of any future United States
Internal Revenue Law).
Notwithstanding any other provision of these articles,
this society shall not,
except in an insubstantial degree, engage in any
activities or exercise any powers
that are not in furtherance of the purposes of this
society.
Upon the dissolution of the society, the Directors
shall, after paying or making provision for the payment
of all of the liabilities of the society, dispose of all
of the
assets of the society exclusively for the purposes of
the society in such manner, or
to such organization or organizations organized and
operated exclusively for
charitable, educational, religious, or scientific
purposes as shall at the time qualify
as an exempt organization or organizations under section
501(c)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1954 (or the corresponding provision of
any future United States
Internal Revenue Law), as the Directors shall determine.
Any such assets not so
disposed of shall be disposed of by the Court of Common
Pleas of the county in
which the principal office of the society is then
located, exclusively for such
purposes or to such organization or organizations, as
said Court shall determine,
which are organized and operated exclusively for such
purposes.
Passed at regular meeting on May 2, 1977 as recommended
by the
Executive Committee. Thirty-day waiting period required
for amendments was waived.
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