Volume 31, Number 1 - Fall 1991
Bylaws of the White River Valley Historical Society
ARTICLE I - NAME
The name of this Society shall be: The White River Valley Historical Society (a tax-exempt, not-for-profit corporation of the State of Missouri).
ARTICLE II- PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES
Section 1. The purpose of this Society shall be to bring together those people interested in history, and especially the history of the upper reaches of the White River Valley, centering in Taney County, Missouri, and extending into the counties of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas whose tributaries flow into the White River.
Section 2. The Society’s major objective shall be to discover and collect any material which may help to establish and illustrate the history of the area. It may collect printed material, manuscripts and museum items pertinent to the history of the area.
Section 3. The Society shall disseminate historical information and arouse interest in the past by publishing an historical publication distributed to members and by publishing historical information in newspapers or otherwise; by holding meetings with pageants, addresses, lectures, papers and discussions; by marking historic buildings, sites, trails; and by using the media of radio and television to awaken public interest.
Section 4. The Society shall cooperate with the State Historical Societies of Arkansas and Missouri to collect and preserve materials of state-wide significance.
ARTICLE III - MEMBERSHIP AND DUES
Section 1. Active members: Any individual, family, organization, institution or business firm interested in the purposes and objectives of the Society, upon payment of annual dues.
Section 2. Annual dues for active members shall be $14 dollars, and one vote allowed, one Quarterly sent for each membership paid; $15 dollars for each couple, one Quarterly sent, each person having one vote; dues for the current fiscal year must accompany all applications for membership; annual dues shall be payable the first day of June. The membership chairman shall notify by mail all members who have not paid dues by July 15, and those whose dues are not paid by September 1 shall be dropped from membership. A late fee of $2.00 will be added to active member dues not paid by the first of September, to defray the extra expense of single mailing of the quarterly.
Section 3. Honorary members: Any person whose activities have contributed to the objectives of the Society may be awarded at any meeting an honorary membership upon a recommendation of the Board of Directors and a two-thirds vote of the members present.
Section 4. Honorary members shall be entitled to all privileges of the Society except those of voting and holding office, and shall not be required to pay dues. All privileges shall be granted if honorary member wishes to pay dues. Section 5. Life members: Any person who contributes a specified cash gift to the Society. Life membership dues shall be one hundred and fifty dollars ($150.00).
ARTICLE IV - OFFICERS ANDCOUNTY DIRECTORS
Section 1. The elective officers shall be president, vice president and historian elected for a one-year-term, a secretary-treasurer who shall be elected for a three year term, and a county director from as many of the upper White River Valley watershed counties as possible, each elected for a three year term. The terms of the county directors shall be staggered, with one third being elected each year.
ARTICLE V - ELECTIONS
Section 1. The officers and county directors shall be elected at the Annual Meeting held in June.
Section 2. Election shall be by ballot unless there is but one nominee for an office; then the election may be viva voce and a majority of the votes cast shall constitute an election.
Section 3. A slate consisting of one nominee for each office to be filled at the Annual Meeting in June shall be read by the nominating committee at the regular meeting in March. A second reading of the slate shall be made at the Annual Meeting, prior to the call for further nominations from the floor.
Section 4. A nominee for election shall be a dues-paid member and only those members who have consented to serve shall be eligible.
Section 5. A person who has served as a county director for two consecutive terms, or served as an officer for three consecutive terms shall not be eligible to the same office unless there is an interval of one term.
Section 6. Officers and Directors shall be installed at the close of the Annual Meeting and shall assume their duties not later than June 30.
Section 7. In the event of resignation or incapacity of any officer or county director, except the president, the vacancy shall be filled by the remaining board members for the unexpired part of the term. In case of a presidential vacancy, the vice president becomes president. ARTICLE VI- DUTIES OF OFFICERS AND COUNTY DIRECTORS
Section 1. President: It shall be the duty of the president to preside at all meetings of the Society and the Board of Directors; appoint the chairmen of the standing committees; appoint special committees when empowered to do so; give an annual report; be ex-officlo a member of all committees except the committee on nominations, and fulfill such other duties applicable to the office as prescribed by the parliamentary authority adopted by the Society.
Section 2. Vice President: It shall be the duty of the vice president to assume the duties of the president in the absence or resignation of the president; and act as program chairman.
Section 3. Secretary-Treasurer: It shall be the duty of the secretary,treasurer to keep the minutes of the meetings of the Society and the Board of Directors; maintain a list of members; conduct the general correspondence of the organization and special communications as directed by the president; prepare the meeting agenda; notify committees of their appointment; collect all monies; keep an accurate account of all monies received and disbursed; pay mandatory bills promptly and other bills as authorized; submit a quarterly report and an annual report; keep an up-to-date roster in the hands of the circulation manager of the College of the Ozarks Press for mailing the quarterly, provide a copy of the roster to the incoming president after nomination, and a copy to the nominating chairman at the December meeting; and perform all other duties pertaining to this office.
Section 4. Historian: It shall be the duty of the historian to write and keep a permanent history, record the activities of the Society; compile and read at the annual meeting the current year’s history and provide copies of said report to the President and secretary.
Section 5. Editor: It shall be the duty of the editor to compile material and submit copy for publication in the White River Valley Historical Quarterly, with each issue to be distributed by the first of the month preceding each meeting.
Section 6. County Directors: It shall be the duty of the county Directors to act as membership chairmen and promote membership drives in their respective counties.
Section 7. All officers and committee chairmen shall perform the duties specified in the Bylaws and other functions as requested by the president; and prepare in duplicate, for the Annual Meeting and the Society’s records, a resume of the year’s activities. At the end of their tenure in office they shall deliver to the president or the Society’s office, by June 30, all records, papers and/or other property of the Society.
ARTICLE VII- MEETINGS & QUORUMS
Section 1. Regular meetings of the Society shall be held quarterly on the second Sunday in September, December, March and June, except when otherwise ordered by the
Board of Directors or a 2/3 vote of the Society.
Section 2. The regular June meeting shall be the Annual Meeting.
Section 3. Special meetings may be called by the President, Board of Directors or fifteen active members whose request has been submitted to the Board in writing. The purpose of the meeting shall be stated in the call.
Section 4. The Board of Directors shall meet quarterly, if necessary, and eight (8) members present, including two (2) executive officers, shall constitute a quorum.
Section 5. Fifteen (15) active members shall constitute a quorum at meetings of the Society.
ARTICLE VIII- BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Section 1. The Board of Directors shall be composed of the elected officers, County Directors, the quarterly editor and the chairmen of the standing committees.
Section 2. The Board of Directors shall attend to the business of the Society between meetings; designate changes, when necessary, of the time and place of meetings, and perform the duties as designated in the bylaws and otherwise assigned to it.
Section 3. The executive Committee, composed of the elective officers, shall conduct emergency business and fill vacancies.
Section 4. The acts and rules of the Board shall not conflict with those of the Society.
Section 5. The Board shall render an annual report at the Annual Meeting.
ARTICLE IX - COMMIflEES AND DUTIES
Section 1. Membership: Shall receive all applications for membership, collect all dues, keeping an accurate record of names and addresses of those paid and date payment received and making full monthly reports to the secretary-treasurer; shall send out notices of delinquent dues and keep an up-to-the-minute listing of membership changes in the hands of the secretary-treasurer.
Section 2. Research: Shall conduct the research correspondence of the Society, and maintain the W.R.V.H.S. files of information to assist in answering members’ questions.
Section 3. Library: This committee shall be responsible for indexing each issue of the Quarterly within three months after publication; and keep a scrapbook composed of newspaper articles, meeting notices, etc., and any other public items pertaining to members. This material may be sent to the secretary who will forward it.
Section 4. Museum: This committee shall be responsible for collecting historical objects to be placed in museums or exhibits and shall cooperate with museum directors in the White River Valley.
Section 5. Publicity: This committee shall be responsible for writing and sending notices to local and area publications concerning meetings and other activities of the Society.
Section 6. Historic Sites: This committee shall be responsible for establishing the historic validity for sites proposed for marking; for marking historic sites; and for arranging historical tours.
Section 7. Nominating: This three member committee shall nominate one candidate for each office to be filled, and shall read the slate of nominees at the March meeting and again when called for at the Annual Meeting.
Section 8. Auditing Committee: At the Society’s March meeting the President shall appoint an Auditing Committee of three members, whose duty it shall be to audit the Treasurer’s accounts at the close of the fiscal year and to report at the September meeting.
ARTICLE X - STATE AFFILIATION
Section 1. The White River Valley Historical Society shall hold an auxiliary membership in the State Historical Society of Missouri.
Section 2. The W.R.V.H.S. shall thereby be entitled to a delegate to the annual meeting of the State Historical Society and a complimentary copy of the Missouri Historical Review.
ARTICLE XI- FISCAL YEAR
Section 1. The fiscal year for the Society shall be from July 1st to June 30th.
ARTICLE XII - PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY
The rules contained in the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern the Society, subject to the rules which have been or may be adopted.
ARTICLE XIII - AMENDMENTS
Section 1. These Bylaws may be amended at any regular meeting by a two,thirds vote of eligible members present and voting, provided notice was given at the previous meeting or printed in the quarterly prior to the meeting.
Section 2. These Bylaws may be amended at a special meeting called for that purpose, with previous notice and atwo-thirds vote of members present and voting.
Section 3. All proposed amendments shall be submitted in writing.
ARTICLE XIV - DISSOLUTION
In the event of the dissolution of this Society (Corporation), either voluntary or involuntary, all assets of the Corporation (Society), after payment of lawful debts, shall be transferred and delivered to a similar or related, tax exempt organization for its general purposes; providing at the time of dissolution the Society (Corporation) qualifies as a tax exempt organization under Sec. 501 (cX3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
In no event shall any part of the net income or assets of the Society (Corporation) inure to the benefit of any private individual(s).
Revision Approved June 1991
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