July 25, 2005

 

The meeting of the Douglas County Historical Society Board was called to order at 5:05 P.M. at the Watkins Community Museum of History. Chairperson John Simmons presided. Attending were Napoleon Crews, Dennis Dailey, Phil Godwin, Bennett Griffin, Martha Harris, Ralph King, Stan Hernly, Jim Martin, Bill Myers, Clenece Hills, Bob Piller, Steve Sublett, and Pennie von Achen. Museum Director Rebecca Phipps and Archivist Helen Krische were also present.

 

The minutes of the June 28, 2005 Board meeting were approved as printed, with the following amendments: Calamity Jane attendance was 42 people; a motion had been made, seconded, and approved regarding moving forward with the Know Your Antiques proposal.

 

Simmons: The preferred method for handling the minutes is to submit them to board members by email in advance of the next meeting at which they are to be considered for approval.  Posting of the approved minutes will occur after the board meeting at which they were approved. The same procedure should be utilized for the minutes of the Administrative Committee.

 

FINANCIAL REPORT

 

Piller: Financial report submitted. Highlights: Income is down ($27,274); expenses are down $24,704; net income is down ($3,890); corporate memberships are down ($12,315); personal memberships are up $12,090; total membership dues are down ($175). We have businesses that have pledged, but that haven’t been collected yet. Christmas sales always increase the gift shop sales. Rebecca did an outstanding job in presenting the DCHS budget request to the county. Charles Jones gave Phipps and Piller hints on presenting the budget request. County will give us $120,500 for this next year, which is $12,500 more than what we received last year. $5,000 in additional county money was awarded for board and director training. Met with Bill Myers; he is doing well as the treasurer helper. We are currently losing money on our special events. Sublett: We need someone to handle the personal memberships, which are down considerably from last year. I would like a weekly or monthly report on corporate membership. Simmons: This is important, so Phipps will email. Godwin: I went through the list of those members who have not renewed. I would like to send a personal note asking for them to renew. Piller: He has called people on the personal side, and the response has been mixed. Hills: Contacting the folks is a great idea. It would be nice to invite them to a social function at the museum.

 

DIRECTOR’S REPORT

 

Phipps: Our event attendance is higher than many historical societies in the surrounding areas. Mock Trial of Quantrill idea is being contemplated. Need a board volunteer to help with the Quantrill mock trial. Crews volunteered.  City taking over the Hobbs House is great, but she hopes that we can work with the Parks and Recreation Department. We will probably not receive city support again. Hobbs house could be competitive with us. The county and city view us as the county museum. Others in this area define us as the Lawrence museum. Simmons: We need to better define that we are a county museum.

 

ARCHIVES AND EXHIBITS REPORT

 

Krische:  Received KHC grant money and will begin that process. Rice Gallery is being painted for the Entertainment Exhibit in March.  We will send the preliminary proposal for the Douglas County Courthouse Exhibit, this week.  The courthouse exhibit will be the first time that the museum staff has been involved in constructing a historical exhibit in one of the county spaces.  For the month of July, there were 52 research requests, 177 photos, and 57 archival records.  Overall, there are 3,632 records in the archives that have been entered into Past Perfect.

 

CURATOR’S REPORT

 

Lippincott:  Absent

 

PRODUCTION OF MEMBERSHIP/CORPORATE BROCHURE

 

The brochure should serve both corporate and personal membership informational goals.

The proposed brochure was reduced to 3 panels, eliminating the membership tear off panel.  The wording, photos, and membership information will be changed.  Simmons will field board suggestions and get with Crews on possible production.

 

MONTHLY DCHS INTEREST GROUP

 

This item was postponed until the next meeting.

 

ORRIN OLSON DRAWINGS

 

This item was postponed until the next meeting.

 

REVIEW OF UPCOMING MUSEUM EVENTS

 

Phipps: Needs help with the Touched by Fire concert and dance on Friday, August 19. This is a moneymaker for the museum. Lawrence Civil War consists of events starting on Monday, August 15, through Sunday, August 21 (see brochure). Would like to have a concession, and we need workers. Simmons: Need volunteers and someone to be in charge. Simmons and von Achen will help that night. Myers: Why don’t we hire a vender to handle the concession for us and make a financial arrangement? von Achen: The question is whether we will make any money. Sublett: It’s not too of a big job that we can’t do the work ourselves. Volunteers: Sublett, von Achen, Myers, Harris, Dailey, Simmons, and Martin.

 

OTHER BUSINESS

 

A.     Get well card for Phil Humphrey: Had a stroke, but his progress has been good. Family still requests no visitors. Simmons found and will send a get well card.

 

B.     Fall DCHS Meeting: Simmons: Attendance low during fall meeting last year. Would like to probe how we can increase attendance. Possible places for this year’s meeting: Eldridge House and The Dole Center. Entertainment format should be an historical presentation. Reenacters would be good. Meeting to be held November 15th pending availability. We also need to consider a menu.

 

C.     Date of the next board meeting: September 27th

 

D.     Organizational Chart: Godwin recommended the Niebam chart. Motion. King seconded. Simmons: The chart does not reflect the organization described in the constitution and bylaws. Piller: we need a retreat to discuss before we adopt. Question called. The motion failed.

 

The next Board of Director’s meeting is Tuesday, September 27, 2005 from 5 – 7 P.M.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 6:59 P.M.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Napoleon Crews

Secretary