Kentucky Association of Teachers of History

KATH Conference Planning Meetings in January 2012

January 21, 10:30-11:30 a.m. at Randolph’s home
and January 28, 12-1 p.m. at Central KY Council for Peace and Justice office (both in Lexington)

Attendees:  Angela Ash (OCTC), Patty Dillon (Spalding), Jake Gibbs (BCTC), Randolph Hollingsworth (UK), Lorie Maltby (HenCC), Melissa McEuen (Transy), Gary Powell (BCTC), Vanessa de los Reyes (GatewayCTC), Alana Cain Scott (Morehead)

The group reviewed the notes from the December 9 planning session, the KATH Conference Budget 2010 developed by KATH Treasurer Alana Cain Scott, a proposed solicitation letter drafted by Angela Ash, and made the following decisions.

KATH bylaw changes re committee structure

An additional change to the bylaws was discussed: each member of KATH Board must agree to attend at least one meeting per semester (orientation in fall after conference and final planning session in late spring before conference – ideally on site) and participate on one committee or be removed from the Board.  New committees to be included in the KATH bylaws as recommended but with the requirement that each of the Executive Committee members would serve on one of the committees (though not as convener/chair):

• Conference Program and Speakers Committee – president
• Conference Location and Logistics Committee – president-elect
• Papers and Awards Committee – past-president
• Nominating Committee – secretary
• Funding and Finance Committee – treasurer

It was decided that the proposed “Communications Committee” could be dispensed with – that the coordinator would do this work.  Also, the H-Kentucky Advisory Board includes KATH Board members and could function as a more integral form of communication, especially when H-Kentucky shifts to the Drupal platform, allowing for more interactive and visually appealing forms of communication.

Additionally, the bylaws will be revised to remove the specific language about the dues – currently written specifically as $10 ($5 for students) per year.  The KATH Executive Committee will need greater flexibility in setting dues based on the reality of inflation and conference expenses.

KATH website (www.kath-online.org)

Use the WordPress blog function as a way to communicate KATH business activities (request interested individuals to “follow” the blog via email notifications for each posting); past conference and Board information is still on the KY Virtual Library webserver and just needs to be redirected to the new domain name. Enid Wohlstein, KYVL Director, is working on this revision.

KATH conference and topic

The group agreed that the Kentucky Historical Society’s Center in Frankfort would be the ideal setting for this fall’s conference – Randolph will ask Derrell and Rebecca to see if they can reserve the Center for KATH on a Saturday in September (ideally the 15^th or the 29^th since the 22^nd is already set for the KY Women’s Writers Conference).  Alana will collect the National History Day submissions for potential submissions for the Tolson prize; Melissa will work on getting the word out for the Clark and Betts prizes.  They will solicit volunteers to judge the papers.

The War of 1812 is of national interest this year and would be a natural topic for KATH to feature.  It could also allow for several opportunities for hands on activities, e.g., genealogy, local history (“You can do history yourself”) as well as offer discussion sessions on history of Native Americans, European and British history, use of primary sources, and the new Social Studies Core Curriculum standards.  Keynoter(s) should be respected historians here in Kentucky who will offer their services gratis this fall to help get KATH back on its feet.  Volunteers gratefully appreciated (yes, we mean you!).

KATH conference budget

Alana’s draft budget for the costs of a typical conference (approximately $3,500 depending on speakers’ costs and expenses) seemed reasonable to the group.  The remaining $311 in the KATH treasury could go toward a coordinator’s salary or be used for the KATH student paper awards.  Alana and Randolph will work on a KHC grant (March deadline) for this fall’s conference (Melissa will serve as the Humanities Scholar).  Alana and Melissa will work on a request for the Chautauqua character actor, Harry Smith who plays Private William Greathouse, a militiaman from Kentucky during the War of 1812.

KATH Solicitation letter

Angela drafted a letter for the group to review (KATH solicitation letter-draft Jan2012).  Response was positive and consensus was that there could be two letters crafted from this draft: one for recruiting new members and one for former members already familiar with KATH.  Past members also need to be alerted formally of the issues regarding KATH business, restructuring and that not just dues but additional donation (suggested $50) is needed in order to pay for a part-time coordinator.  The resulting letters would be sent electronically to the 2011 KATH Summit participants who can print them out and send via post (and email) to any and all.