DOUGLAS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

October 26, 2004-Minutes

The meeting of the Douglas County Historical Society Board was called to order at 5:00 p.m. at Watkins Community Museum. Chairman Jerry Niebaum presided. Attending were Dennis Dailey, Phil Godwin, Martha Harris, Stan Hernly, Clenece Hills, Phil Humphrey, Patty Johnston, Jim Martin, Bob Piller, Lew Phillips, Barbara Waggoner, and Director, Rebecca Phipps. Board members Ralph King, John Simmons, and Pennie Von Achen were unable to attend. Also present were museum staff member Helen Krische-Dee, and prospective board members, Napoleon Crews and Bennett Griffin.

The minutes of the September 28 Board meeting were approved as corrected, (a “s” was added to Lew Phillips’ name).

CORRESPONDENCE

A letter from the Department of Interior’s Associate Regional Director has been received. They would like to extend the deadline to September 30, 2005 for the Underground Rail Road grant that was issued to the Society. Niebaum will respond with a letter indicating that the Society has attempted several times, most recently in July, to contact James Hill to arrange a meeting regarding the grant, and has yet to receive a reply. He will send Hill a copy of the letter.

FINANCIAL

Piller distributed the year-to-date financial statement summary. Currently, finances are good, as there has been an increase in the corporation membership due to the great job done by Board member Lew Phillips.

STAFF REPORTS

Phipps reported the museum statistics for the month of September. In 2004 there were 1,050 visitors and in 2003, 719 visitors.

The “150 Winter Outerwear” exhibit is on display as is the Prairie Gold exhibit. The Prairie Gold exhibit is a permanent, rotating exhibit. The Latin American Studies Program from KU will loan to Watkins for about a month the “Day of the Dead” exhibit. Graduate students from the LA Studies Program will assist with the exhibit.

Phipps and staff will review their ideas for future exhibits. The Rice Gallery area is being up-dated with new electrical wiring, lighting and floor.

The curator’s job position was posted on October 15. Seven applicants have been received.

Approximately 200 quilts and 100 afghans have been donated to the Museum by a Prairie Village couple. All of these quilts and afghans were made in Kansas.

Due to recent incidents where parents have left their children unsupervised in the children’s area on the third floor, Phipps and staff will reevaluate the use of the area. One option is to distribute the display through the museum so children and parents can enjoy it together. It was suggested that the people who created the area be contacted about the changes in the area.

Engineers are being consulted regarding the wall clock on the second floor. It is pulling away from the wall and damaging the masonry work.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Events

Niebaum reminded everyone of the Carnival of Souls movie to be shown on Halloween night, October 31 at Liberty Hall. Liberty Hall will run four ads in the Journal-World, and will also sell tickets at the door. John Clifford will introduce the movie. The staff at Liberty Hall has been very helpful with this event.

An e-mail was sent to Board members (and hard copies to the non-email members) that the New Year’s Eve event will not be held this year. Clarification of the committee’s responsibility needs to be made before the committee can move forward.

Governance and Policies

Hills reported that Steve Glass has been unable to attend recent meetings, but will soon be able to meet again, so the committee will start continue with their work. There are drafts of the Personnel policy and Constitution and By-laws to be considered.

Business Membership

Phillips reported that phrase two was started about eight weeks ago. A progress meeting is to be held on Wed. Oct. 27. Everyone is encouraged to attend the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce mixer to be held on November 17 at the Museum.

Nomination Committee

A slate of nine candidates will be presented at the annual meeting on November 9. There are nine positions to be filled. The committee had a list of forty possible names to consider and contacted fifteen of those names.

OTHER ITEMS

Annual Meeting

Niebaum encouraged everyone to RSVP for the annual meeting dinner. Tom Alexander and his staff from the Americana Music Academy will present a program with musical entertainment and talk about the work of the Academy. He will also talk about his project of collecting and archiving regional folk music.

An organizational chart of the Society drawn by Godwin with adjustments by Niebaum was distributed to Board members.

Executive session

Phipps, Griffin and Crews left the room as the Board went into executive session.

Meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Patty Johnston

Secretary