June 15, 2015 at 10:40 am

June 2015 RWSA Breakfast Meeting at the Agricultural History Society

Minutes of Rural Women’s Studies Association
Breakfast Meeting at the Agricultural History Society
Lexington, KY
June 4, 2015

The meeting was called to order by Co-ordinator Katherine Jellison.

The breakfast meeting was sponsored by both Guelph University and Iowa State University.

The first order of business was approval of the minutes of the business meeting of the RWSA on February 14, 2015, in San Marcos, TX. Cindy Prescott moved for approval, and Linda Ambrose seconded.

The Treasurer’s Report followed. Debra Reid announced that the organization was $16,176.71 to the good, and that the organization was current on Form 990 for the IRS. She has completed the paperwork with the State of Indiana and nonprofit status reporting was transferred from Barbara Stinson to Debra Reid.

Reid suggested that we should have a current membership list attached to the minutes.

Jeannie Whayne moved acceptance of the report, with Maggie Weber seconding.

The group discussed the possibility of lifetime membership. Jeannie Whayne argued for its convenience, but Linda Ambrose pointed out that this might create cashflow issues for the group. Currently, the group’s only restricted use fund is the Jensen-Neth Fund. Reid suggested that lifetime memberships go into the restricted funds. She also mentioned that we revisit our dues structure every three years. Registration for conferences is now through credit cards, so membership fees can be paid in Euros with transaction fees handled by the credit card payment. It was suggested that we might handle further dues transactions through PayPal, and the Ohio University conference might be able to use PayPal for those registration fees. It was also asked if the RWSA could put conference registration and membership renewal on the same form? Jellison will follow up.

Cindy Prescott, “media goddess,” discussed her efforts to maintain the RWSA web presence. She has created a blog and is trying to organize the labor to post once per week. She wants 500-1,000 word posts. It was suggested that grass roots activists could provide some entries. Individuals could write on archival collections, reflections on past meetings, etc. This would provide information and increase organization visibility. The blog is being published through WordPress. RWSA’s Facebook page announces the blog. A Twitter account was suggested. It was also suggested that we link to an established group, #twitterstorians. The Facebook page is a place for “fun stuff.” Prescott has been helping Jellison with improving the website, and she suggested we put information about past conferences on the web.

Jellison proceeded with a discussion of the local arrangements for 2018. A date in May is still being negotiated, with a primary concern being avoiding Congress, a major Canadian historical meeting. The group authorized Jellison to explore 5/17-19/18 as a possibility.

Jellison has located a good place on the Ohio University campus for the meeting, Nelson Commons, which is close to new dormitories. The housing cost on campus will be quite low, and there are a number of reasonable off campus housing locations close by. There will be 1-2 catered events, and registrants will have the option of purchasing a meal ticket for the duration of the conference. There are also a number of inexpensive transportation options from the airport in Columbus to the Ohio University campus.

The group discussed a number of possible plenaries, including Ohio University Press authors writing on food and agriculture as well as Appalachian Studies. Members were encouraged to look through the Press catalog for possible speakers. Jellison also suggested several additional options, including local activists.

Jellison plans to continue the practice of pre and post tours, including local company towns, an evening at The Ridges, the Athens Farmer’s Market, and the Wayne National Forest. Jellison has also offered to do a women’s history walking tour of the OU campus.

Jellison has gathered a number of pledges of funds and is working on funding for the conference.

Catharine Wilson continued with discussion of the conference theme. Cindy Prescott (in an advisory capacity) and Debra Reid (as a committee member) will also have input on the program committee. RWSA will vote on a theme at Agricultural History’s Tarrytown meeting in 2016. The group suggested big tent issues that cover a lot of ground, a theme that includes diversity, a theme that ties into the Athens area, a theme that is inclusive of activists, etc.

Jellison suggested that everyone take part in local outreach in preparation for the conference. It was suggested that the program committee include someone outside of the academy, and also a graduate student. The group will discuss these issues by Facebook.

Sara Egge made the motion to adjourn.

Attendees:

Egge, Sara sara.egge@centre.edu

Fink, Deborah fink27@gmail.com

Grim, Valerie vgrim@indiana.edu

Hall, Randal rh@rice.edu

Hedquist, Seth hedquist@iastate.edu

Homan, Philip homaphil@isu.edu

Hudson, Karen khudsonlexky@gmail.com

Jellison, Katherine jellison@ohio.edu

Jensen, Joan jjensen@nmsu.edu

Jones, Kelly jonesk@apsu.edu