Constitution of the Wilkinson County Historical Society
Article I
Name
The name of the society shall be Wilkinson County
Historical Society.
Purpose
The purpose of this society shall be to bring together those people interested in history, and especially in the history of Wilkinson County, Georgia. 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, catalogs, circulars, handbills, program,
and posters; manuscript material such as letters, diaries, journals, memoranda,
reminiscences, rosters, service records, account books, charts, surveys, and
field books; and museum material such as pictures, photographs, paintings, 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 insuring 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, moments, and markers.
The society will disseminate historical information and
arouse interest in the past by publishing historical material in the newspapers
or otherwise; by holding meeting with pageants, addresses, lectures, papers,
and discussion; by marking historic building, sites, and trails; and by using
the media of radio and television to awaken public interest.
The society will co-operate with the state historical
society (state historical commission, or state department of archives and
history) to collect and preserve materials of state- wide significance so that
these materials can be made available to students and scholars.
Membership
Membership shall be fou classes:
Annual Meeting
The annual meeting of the society shall be held on the fourth Thursday in February of each year.
Officers and Board
of Directors
Section 1. The officers shall be a president, president-elect, a secretary, who shall be elected for a term of one year; and a treasurer, who shall be elected for a term of two years, and a chairman of the board, who shall be elected for a term of three years, and the past president who shall serve as an advisor.
Section 2. The
officers and directors shall constitute the board of directors.
Election of
Officers and Board of Directors
Section 1. All officers and directors shall be elected by a plurality of votes cast by secret ballot at the annual meeting.
Section 2. Not
less than two months prior to the annual meeting, the secretary of the society
shall send to each member of the board of directors a blank upon which such
member may nominate one person for each office open to election. Nominations shall be returned not less than
one month before the annual meeting. A
committee on nominations, appointed by the chairman of the board of directors,
shall select the candidates from a list of all nominees.
Section 3.
Nominaions may also be made by any member of the society at any time
prior to balloting at the annual meeting.
Any nomination made after the deliberation of the committee on
nominations shall be added to the slate of candidates upon affirmative vote of
a majority of members present at the annual meeting. A candidate for election shall be an individual active
member.
Section 4. A
person who has been elected to the board of directors for two consecutive
terms, or elected as president or vice-president for three consecutive terms,
shall not be nominated to the same office unless one year elapses between the
end of his last term and the beginning of the term for which he is nominated.
Section 5.
Officers and directors shall be installed at the close of the annual
meeting at which they are elected and shall serve until their successors have
been duly elected and installed. In the
event of resignation or incapacity of any officer except the president, or any
director, the vacancy may be filled by a vote of the board of directors for the
expired term of office.
Amendment
This constitution may be amended at any regular or adjourned meeting by a two-thirds vote of those voting, provided notice was given at the previous meeting. Or it may be amended at a special meeting called for that purpose, with previous notice and a two-thirds vote. All proposed amendments should be submitted in writing.