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Re: ARCHIVES Digest - 4 Feb 2000 to 5 Feb 2000 (#2000-36)



Thank you so much for sharing the Goucher letters. They are a phenomenal
treasure.

Marlita Kahn,
Internet Archive


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Behalf Of Automatic digest processor
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To: Recipients of ARCHIVES digests
Subject: ARCHIVES Digest - 4 Feb 2000 to 5 Feb 2000 (#2000-36)


There are 10 messages totalling 1000 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. Jobs
  2. Web exhibit
  3. Denver 2000 Meeting etc
  4. Job links
  5. ANN: News Release: OAH Leadership to Meet with Adam's Mark Hotel Owners
     (fwd) (2)
  6. CNCS Statement to OAH (fwd) (2)
  7. Another point of view
  8. Denver Post article

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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date:    Sat, 5 Feb 2000 07:40:34 -0500
From:    richard cox <rjc@LIS.PITT.EDU>
Subject: Jobs

I recently published a study of entry-level job advertisements for
archivists (comparing such advertisements from the mid 1970s to the late
1990s) as "Employing Records Professionals in the
Information Age: A Research Study," INFORMATION MANAGEMENT JOURNAL 34
(January 2000): 18-33.  IMJ is the former Records Management Jounral.
This might be of some use to individuals discussing how to enter the
profession.

As a few have pointed out, experience is only part of the equation.
There is now stronger graduate archival education programs and a growing
group of individuals doing doctoral programs with a focus on teaching.
Here is an excerpt from a study I am a co-author of, concerning the
status of graduate archival education in LIS school, demonstrating a bit
of the changing nature of graduate archival education:  "At the end of
the 1970s there were seven full-time archival educators in the United
States, three in LIS and four in history. . . .  By 1989, there were 22
full-time archival educators, 12 in LIS and nine in history. . . .  The
1990s brought an even more accelerated pace as a number of schools
(Pittsburgh, Michigan, Toronto) expanded to have multiple faculty
teaching in the archives area (joining British Columbia and Maryland as
the only schools to support multiple faculty programs).  At the end of
the millennium, there are 37 full-time archival educators in North
America; 26 in LIS schools and 11 in history departments"  Quoted from
Richard J. Cox, Elizabeth Yakel, David Wallace, Jeannette Bastian, and
Jennifer Marshall, "Archival Education in North American Library and
Information Science Schools: A Status Report," December 1999 [submitted
for publication and being reviewed].  Add to this that one US school --
University of Wisconsin Milwuakee -- has approved an MAS degree -- and
another school -- University of Pittsburgh -- has a taskfroce working on
a Masters in Archives and Records Studies (approved in principle by the
Department of Library and Information Science) and we see that graduate
archival education is changing.

So, my point is, if an individual wants to prepare for a career in
archives, why not go study in a graduate program -- just like many other
professions do?  Those programs also build in experience as well.

Richard J. Cox
Associate Professor
Department of Library and Information Sciences
School of Information Sciences
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Voice:  412-624-3245
FAX:    412-648-7001
e-mail: rjc@lis.pitt.edu
homepage: http://www.lis.pitt.edu/~rjc

------------------------------

Date:    Sat, 5 Feb 2000 08:29:47 -0500
From:    "Roby, Sydney" <sroby@GOUCHER.EDU>
Subject: Web exhibit

This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand
this format, some or all of this message may not be legible.

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We recently created a web-based exhibit of letters written by the class of
1903, Woman's College of Baltimore, which was later re-named Goucher
College.  The women wrote to each other for fifty years, and although we
don't have all of the letters, the section we acquired is pretty
interesting.  I am attaching a news article that appeared in the Baltimore
Sun about the letters.
 <<NArticle.txt>> I hope you enjoy the site!


http://www.goucher.edu/library/robin/

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The Sun

Goucher letters a 50-year tapestry; History: The Class of 1903 kept in =
touch - and their `Dear Girls' correspondence provides a window into =
the past.

by Dan Thanh Dang   SUN STAFF

November 29, 1999       Page(s):  1A
Edition:  FINAL
Section:  TELEGRAPH
Length:  1160 words
Record Number:  9911290058

________________________________________________________________________=
________

   Stained and tattered, the letters came from young women from as far =
away as China. They touched on suffrage, Prohibition, world wars and =
world travels.
    Stuffed in a worn black binder and discovered in a cardboard box in =
Des Moines, the letters are part of a chain of correspondence spanning =
almost five decades. They provide snapshots of the lives of Goucher =
College's Class of 1903 and a compelling glimpse of history.
   The letters were written because the Class of '03 did one thing most =
people only promise to do: They kept in touch. Using a chain-letter =
format called a Round Robin, one graduate wrote a letter to another, =
who wrote a letter to a third. Each time a new letter was added to the =
Robin, its predecessors were tucked in the envelope, too.
    It is unclear which Goucher graduate initiated the process, but the =
first letter was written in 1907. It moved around the class until it =
reached the original writer. Then the volume was retired, and a new =
Round Robin begun.
    Nineteen years of those letters have found their way back to the =
verdant Towson campus. Now Goucher officials are on a crusade to find =
the rest.
    "This is a small collection, but really special to have because it =
is our history," says Nancy Magnuson, Goucher's head librarian who =
brokered the deal to buy the historic letters for $1,300. "It is a =
connection between the present and the past. Our students have the =
chance to see that it has always been a tradition that our college =
graduates really do make a difference in the world."
    In the early part of the century, only a few women went to college. =
Each Goucher student paid $375 a year for tuition, room, board and =
laundry. After graduation, they scattered throughout the world -- =
becoming teachers, newspaper reporters, hospital workers and =
politicians.
    And correspondents.
    "Dear Girls," each one wrote when it was her turn -- with the =
exception of Jane A. Hyde, a missionary in China who started one of her =
letters, "Dear Comrades of 1903."
    Each writer paid $1.14 -- about $11 in today's dollars -- to mail =
the Robin, as they referred to it. It made at least seven rounds before =
ending in 1953.
    The women wove their daily lives into narratives about the drama of =
war, the thrill of peace, childhood memories, hope for the future and =
family adventures.
    "In the fall of 1918, I left Panama on the American transport for =
New Orleans because the submarine offensive in the Atlantic was even =
worse," wrote Lottie P. Magee, who worked for the American Red Cross in =
Panama during World War I.
    Goucher has four volumes, starting with a Feb. 1, 1919, letter from =
Alice Dunning Flick, an Iowa resident, and ending with a letter in =
1938. It is not clear whether each volume contains all the letters =
written during that time.
    One volume was burned in a fire; others have not been found. Flick =
is believed to have been the last person to possess the set.
    Goucher learned of the letters' existence more than a year ago =
through a phone call from Bruce Scapecchi, 50, an Iowa antique dealer =
who discovered the notebook in a secondhand shop. Some of the letters =
were typed, but most were handwritten. They included black-and-white =
photos of children and Model T cars, as well as newspaper clippings.
    "At first I thought they were just interesting letters," says =
Scapecchi, who purchased the binder for $15. "Then I realized it was =
one wonderful glimpse into American history."
    After a year of keeping the letters, Scapecchi set out to find the =
school mentioned so lovingly in almost every letter.
    That school was Goucher, a respected liberal arts and science =
college once known as the Woman's College of Baltimore.
    After several telephone conversations with Scapecchi, Magnuson last =
year went to Friends of the Library, a group made up mostly of alumnae, =
and raised money to purchase the letters.
    Dozens of colorful stories unfold, even though the collection is =
not complete.
    Emilie A. Doetsch served as managing editor of a national feminist =
weekly and was the first woman to run for the Baltimore City Council, =
an election she lost in 1923.
    Millie Benson Bielaski wrote of a run-in with bandits in Mexico =
City in 1928 when her husband, then the chief of the Bureau of =
Investigation in the Department of Justice, was held for ransom.
    "There is a lot of human nature beneath the feathers and under the =
wings of Robin," wrote Florence Carmine Bankard, the class globetrotter =
who prayed in Jerusalem, stood in the temples of Japan and had her =
fortune told in Calcutta.
    "What you have achieved and in such a variety! Whatever else I am =
convinced at least Goucher did not turn out a cut and ready to wear =
pattern," she wrote.
    Many of the writers spoke about volunteering in World War I. Others =
talked about corresponding with the boys overseas and organizing groups =
to send packages to soldiers.
    Louise L. Miller declared in a 1919 letter, "With the armistice, my =
work with Suffrage began. Not that I had not been a suffragist before =
that!"
    Often, the letters reflected the writers' joy.
    Molly C. Walker sent newspaper clippings of her debutante =
daughter's wedding in 1930.
    Sometimes, they shared sadness.
    In a short, typewritten note of Aug. 31, 1938, Alice B. Soper =
apologized for not writing because "your letters came and found me in =
bed very seriously ill. I have enjoyed reading them very much. I am =
sending this on, however, to avoid further delay." Below her signature =
were printed the words, "Died October '38."
    Goucher recently posted the 98 letters on a Web site that includes =
old yearbook photos of the women. The page links readers to documents =
and other Web sites that explain references to Prohibition, bob =
haircuts and the German submarine offensive.
    In hopes of finding the missing letters, Goucher also contacted a =
number of relatives of the Class of 1903.
    "It was with absolute amazement that we [my father and I] read the =
`round robin' letters you sent that had been written by my grandmother, =
Mabel Day Parker," Deborah Richards of Seminole, Fla., wrote to Goucher =
last month. "We had no idea these letters existed.
    "It's like having pieces to a puzzle into parts of my grandmother's =
life."
    Anyone interested in reading the Round Robin can log on to http: =
www.goucher.edu/library/robin/

Graphics: =20
PHOTO(S)
AMY DAVIS: SUN STAFF

Caption: =20
1. Link to the past: College librarian Nancy Magnuson looks over some =
letters written by the Class of 1903 with Sarah Pinsker, a history =
major who graduated in June.
2. Family and friends: This snapshot was included in a 1926 letter by =
Goucher graduate Claire Vliet and shows her five children.

Copyright 1999  The Baltimore Sun Company=0A=
=0CThe Sun

Goucher letters a 50-year tapestry; History: The Class of 1903 kept in =
touch - and their `Dear Girls' correspondence provides a window into =
the past.

by Dan Thanh Dang   SUN STAFF

November 29, 1999       Page(s):  1A
Edition:  FINAL
Section:  TELEGRAPH
Length:  1160 words
Record Number:  9911290058

________________________________________________________________________=
________

   Stained and tattered, the letters came from young women from as far =
away as China. They touched on suffrage, Prohibition, world wars and =
world travels.
    Stuffed in a worn black binder and discovered in a cardboard box in =
Des Moines, the letters are part of a chain of correspondence spanning =
almost five decades. They provide snapshots of the lives of Goucher =
College's Class of 1903 and a compelling glimpse of history.
   The letters were written because the Class of '03 did one thing most =
people only promise to do: They kept in touch. Using a chain-letter =
format called a Round Robin, one graduate wrote a letter to another, =
who wrote a letter to a third. Each time a new letter was added to the =
Robin, its predecessors were tucked in the envelope, too.
    It is unclear which Goucher graduate initiated the process, but the =
first letter was written in 1907. It moved around the class until it =
reached the original writer. Then the volume was retired, and a new =
Round Robin begun.
    Nineteen years of those letters have found their way back to the =
verdant Towson campus. Now Goucher officials are on a crusade to find =
the rest.
    "This is a small collection, but really special to have because it =
is our history," says Nancy Magnuson, Goucher's head librarian who =
brokered the deal to buy the historic letters for $1,300. "It is a =
connection between the present and the past. Our students have the =
chance to see that it has always been a tradition that our college =
graduates really do make a difference in the world."
    In the early part of the century, only a few women went to college. =
Each Goucher student paid $375 a year for tuition, room, board and =
laundry. After graduation, they scattered throughout the world -- =
becoming teachers, newspaper reporters, hospital workers and =
politicians.
    And correspondents.
    "Dear Girls," each one wrote when it was her turn -- with the =
exception of Jane A. Hyde, a missionary in China who started one of her =
letters, "Dear Comrades of 1903."
    Each writer paid $1.14 -- about $11 in today's dollars -- to mail =
the Robin, as they referred to it. It made at least seven rounds before =
ending in 1953.
    The women wove their daily lives into narratives about the drama of =
war, the thrill of peace, childhood memories, hope for the future and =
family adventures.
    "In the fall of 1918, I left Panama on the American transport for =
New Orleans because the submarine offensive in the Atlantic was even =
worse," wrote Lottie P. Magee, who worked for the American Red Cross in =
Panama during World War I.
    Goucher has four volumes, starting with a Feb. 1, 1919, letter from =
Alice Dunning Flick, an Iowa resident, and ending with a letter in =
1938. It is not clear whether each volume contains all the letters =
written during that time.
    One volume was burned in a fire; others have not been found. Flick =
is believed to have been the last person to possess the set.
    Goucher learned of the letters' existence more than a year ago =
through a phone call from Bruce Scapecchi, 50, an Iowa antique dealer =
who discovered the notebook in a secondhand shop. Some of the letters =
were typed, but most were handwritten. They included black-and-white =
photos of children and Model T cars, as well as newspaper clippings.
    "At first I thought they were just interesting letters," says =
Scapecchi, who purchased the binder for $15. "Then I realized it was =
one wonderful glimpse into American history."
    After a year of keeping the letters, Scapecchi set out to find the =
school mentioned so lovingly in almost every letter.
    That school was Goucher, a respected liberal arts and science =
college once known as the Woman's College of Baltimore.
    After several telephone conversations with Scapecchi, Magnuson last =
year went to Friends of the Library, a group made up mostly of alumnae, =
and raised money to purchase the letters.
    Dozens of colorful stories unfold, even though the collection is =
not complete.
    Emilie A. Doetsch served as managing editor of a national feminist =
weekly and was the first woman to run for the Baltimore City Council, =
an election she lost in 1923.
    Millie Benson Bielaski wrote of a run-in with bandits in Mexico =
City in 1928 when her husband, then the chief of the Bureau of =
Investigation in the Department of Justice, was held for ransom.
    "There is a lot of human nature beneath the feathers and under the =
wings of Robin," wrote Florence Carmine Bankard, the class globetrotter =
who prayed in Jerusalem, stood in the temples of Japan and had her =
fortune told in Calcutta.
    "What you have achieved and in such a variety! Whatever else I am =
convinced at least Goucher did not turn out a cut and ready to wear =
pattern," she wrote.
    Many of the writers spoke about volunteering in World War I. Others =
talked about corresponding with the boys overseas and organizing groups =
to send packages to soldiers.
    Louise L. Miller declared in a 1919 letter, "With the armistice, my =
work with Suffrage began. Not that I had not been a suffragist before =
that!"
    Often, the letters reflected the writers' joy.
    Molly C. Walker sent newspaper clippings of her debutante =
daughter's wedding in 1930.
    Sometimes, they shared sadness.
    In a short, typewritten note of Aug. 31, 1938, Alice B. Soper =
apologized for not writing because "your letters came and found me in =
bed very seriously ill. I have enjoyed reading them very much. I am =
sending this on, however, to avoid further delay." Below her signature =
were printed the words, "Died October '38."
    Goucher recently posted the 98 letters on a Web site that includes =
old yearbook photos of the women. The page links readers to documents =
and other Web sites that explain references to Prohibition, bob =
haircuts and the German submarine offensive.
    In hopes of finding the missing letters, Goucher also contacted a =
number of relatives of the Class of 1903.
    "It was with absolute amazement that we [my father and I] read the =
`round robin' letters you sent that had been written by my grandmother, =
Mabel Day Parker," Deborah Richards of Seminole, Fla., wrote to Goucher =
last month. "We had no idea these letters existed.
    "It's like having pieces to a puzzle into parts of my grandmother's =
life."
    Anyone interested in reading the Round Robin can log on to http: =
www.goucher.edu/library/robin/

Graphics: =20
PHOTO(S)
AMY DAVIS: SUN STAFF

Caption: =20
1. Link to the past: College librarian Nancy Magnuson looks over some =
letters written by the Class of 1903 with Sarah Pinsker, a history =
major who graduated in June.
2. Family and friends: This snapshot was included in a 1926 letter by =
Goucher graduate Claire Vliet and shows her five children.

Copyright 1999  The Baltimore Sun Company
------_=_NextPart_000_01BF6FDD.12A79E76--

------------------------------

Date:    Sat, 5 Feb 2000 09:42:08 EST
From:    Stephen Trent Seames <MrArchive@AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: Denver 2000 Meeting etc

In a message dated 02/04/2000 9:47:23 PM EST, PAKURILECZ@AOL.COM writes:

<< PAKURILECZ >>
Thank you for you effort to provide those of us on the list some web site to
get a balanced and interesting legal view of the merits of this issue. I for
one appreacite your work and it can be surely said of that that : " Here is
a
 Good Reference Librarian, that either has the answer to your question, or
knows where to finds it."  Thank you  STS

------------------------------

Date:    Sat, 5 Feb 2000 10:44:32 -0500
From:    "Linda C. Morrison" <lcmorrison@MINDSPRING.COM>
Subject: Job links

Deirdre Wogan, thanks for tip about Alan Zaben's ARMA page.  Could you or
someone else post  its web address?
    Someone wrote in a few weeks ago asking that geographical place be put
at top of all job postings.  I strongly second that idea.  Often it is not
clear from e-mail address where a position is until you get to the end of
the posting.  If we could have a policy and try to get it understood by
off-list posters, to START any job posting with city or state, it would help
us all.
Thanks, Linda Morrison, Boston area

------------------------------

Date:    Sat, 5 Feb 2000 13:43:24 -0500
From:    richard cox <rjc@LIS.PITT.EDU>
Subject: ANN: News Release: OAH Leadership to Meet with Adam's Mark Hotel
         Owners (fwd)

of interest to SAA members, I believe

Richard J. Cox
Associate Professor
Department of Library and Information Sciences
School of Information Sciences
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Voice:  412-624-3245
FAX:    412-648-7001
e-mail: rjc@lis.pitt.edu
homepage: http://www.lis.pitt.edu/~rjc

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2000 12:24:13 -0800
From: Andrew C. Rieser <acrieser@students.wisc.edu>
To: H-IDEAS@H-NET.MSU.EDU
Subject: ANN: News Release: OAH Leadership to Meet with Adam's Mark Hotel
Owners

For Immediate Release
Thu Feb 3, 2000 - 2:45p.m. EST

OAH Leadership to Meet with Adam's Mark Hotel Owners over Charges of
Racism

Disturbing allegations against the Adam's Mark Hotel have made it difficult
for the OAH to hold its Annual Meeting as originally planned. A 1999
lawsuit brought by five African Americans and the NAACP against the hotel
charging racial discrimination at the company's Daytona Beach facility led
to a U.S. Department of Justice investigation of the entire 21-hotel chain.
The Adam's Mark's refusal to sign a Justice Department consent decree,
the subsequent federal lawsuit, and the ensuing furor among outraged
historians and civil rights activists have forced the OAH Executive Board
to consider canceling the annual meeting.

Guided by the principle of non-discriminatory treatment of all people, the
OAH Executive Board urges the Adam's Mark corporation to sign the
consent decree.  An OAH delegation will travel to St. Louis on 8 February
to meet with Adam's Mark CEO Fred S. Kummer Jr. and Senior Vice
President Fred S. Kummer III at the corporation headquarters. Should the
company refuse to cooperate with the Justice Department, the OAH
Executive Board will pursue one of the following options recommended and
discussed by historians around the country.

Starting last month a number of OAH members and others questioned
whether the organization should do any business with the Adam's Mark
and requested the OAH break the contract for the St. Louis annual
meeting. By email and fax, they have argued that to meet in the Adam's
Mark is to compromise with racists. In order to take a bold stand against
injustice, they have said that the organization must cancel the contract
even though it would suffer serious financial consequences.

Although the OAH would challenge penalties in court, if necessary,
breaking the hotel contract could cost the OAH almost $425,000. This
money would go directly to the Adam's Mark Hotel which would not suffer
any financial losses. In fact, if the OAH canceled the conference, the
Adam's Mark would stand to profit. It would take $425,000 from OAH
members without paying a penny for the labor, facilities, and food required
for a conference, and then it could resell the very rooms just vacated. OAH
would have additional losses of $200,000 in exhibitor fees and registration
if no meeting were rescheduled in 2000. The total ($625,000) would be
close to half of the OAH's annual budget. Some argue that this strategy
allows Adam's Mark to profit from its racist deeds at the organization's
expense.

The refusal of the Adam's Mark so far to agree on implementing a
monitored policy of nondiscrimination threatens the OAH with damages
even more serious than the potential financial loss. It threatens to
cripple both the convention itself and future activities of the OAH on
behalf of the historical profession. The members of our organization hold
many different points of view. Some of them have argued to let the justice
system run its course and to avoid politicizing the organization and its
annual meeting.  Still others believe the financial blow would paralyze
and perhaps kill the OAH. They point out that when the American
Historical Association cancelled its meeting in 1995 and moved it to
Chicago to protest a new anti-gay city ordinance in Cincinnati, the
association suffered significant financial and political consequences,
from which it is still recovering.

Many argue that the organization cast its lot with the hotel company five
years ago when it signed the contract and now must make the best of a
bad situation.  Unknown to the OAH staff in 1995, this hotel had a history
of racial discrimination familiar to many in the African American community
in St. Louis. Although the OAH announced the Adam's Mark location of the
2000 meeting in early 1996 and regularly thereafter, it was not until the
Justice Department filed a lawsuit in December that the implications of the
suit's allegations for the St. Louis meeting became evident to the OAH and
its members.

The Executive Board has considered these concerns and consulted
historians throughout the profession, including African Americans, St.
Louisians, and other distinguished scholars. The board also has been in
contact with regional and national leaders of the NAACP, the Department of
Justice, and civil rights attorneys. The board's primary goals will be
arousing vigorous opposition to racial discrimination and securing
agreement by the Adam's Mark to a consent decree which assures the
adoption of antidiscrimination polices with federal oversight.

In addition to the options of canceling the meeting or holding it as
scheduled, the Executive Board is considering a third option-to hold the
meeting and use it as an opportunity to confront the enduring theme of
racism, to explore it as teachers and historians, and to draw national
attention to its persistence today. In such a case, the executive board
would urge members to attend, to support the professional goals of the
organization, and to condemn racial discrimination in any form.

A number of OAH members have suggested ways to implement this
strategy of making the convention itself a part of the struggle against
racism. OAH President David Montgomery has announced that he is
changing his presidential address to explain the OAH's critique of the
hotel chain and to place its discrimination in the historic context of the
long and bloody battle against racial oppression in the United States.
New plenary sessions on the Adam's Mark case and on the politicization
of scholarly associations will be added to the program. The five plenary
sessions, the Presidential Address and Awards, and the Business Meeting
will be moved to new locations. The Business Meeting will be devoted
to a resolution against having future conferences at Adam's Mark hotels
anywhere, and an NAACP representative has been invited to speak
about the latest developments in their court case.

Other members have urged convention participants not to patronize the
hotel's bars and restaurants. They plan to attend and to help the
organization minimally meet its contractual obligations with the Adam's
Mark but want to "send a message to the management." Others plan to
organize demonstrations outside the hotel and across the street on the
steps of the Old Courthouse where the infamous Dred Scott case had its
origins.

In any case, the OAH president will appoint a special committee to act
immediately on any convention participants' charges of discrimination by
the hotel. OAH leaders will hold a joint press conference at the St. Louis
meeting with representatives from the National Council on Public History,
Missouri Conference on History, American Historical Association, Western
History Association, and other organizations. In addition, the OAH will run
advertisements and encourage articles in the St. Louis and national press
about its plans for the annual meeting. And as it does at every annual
meeting, the OAH will invite area school teachers to participate-this year
they will be part of a teachable moment in the long history of American
racism.

The OAH has a rich tradition of promoting discussions about and
understanding of racial and other problems in American history. Indeed,
from C. Vann Woodward, who led the OAH thirty years ago, to Mary
Frances Berry and John Hope Franklin and immediate past presidents
William H. Chafe and George M. Fredrickson, half of our organization's
presidents have made crucial contributions to understanding the role of
race in American culture. Woodward, for example, who passed away only a
few weeks ago, showed us that Southern racism in the 1950s was a
cultural and legal construction only a few decades old. Far from being
ingrained and immutable, Woodward revealed that racism could be
challenged. The OAH exists to promote the professional needs,
development, and interaction of historians and to improve public awareness
of our country's history. That mission cannot be fulfilled in a setting
where racial discrimination threatens its members or the communities in
which they conduct their teaching and research.

We urge members to discuss this matter and to contact the OAH
leadership-committee chairs, Executive Board members, and officers-to
express their concerns and opinions. Your immediate feedback
(feedback@oah.org) will assist us as we prepare for our meeting with the
Adam's Mark owners on 8 February.

Contact: Lee W. Formwalt
OAH Executive Director
(812) 855-7311
http://www.oah.org/

------------------------------

Date:    Sat, 5 Feb 2000 13:29:33 -0700
From:    "STEVEN P. FISHER" <sfisher@DU.EDU>
Subject: Re: ANN: News Release: OAH Leadership to Meet with Adam's Mark
Hotel
         Owners (fwd)

I am confused. The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that OAH had
decided to go ahead and hold their meeting at Adam's Mark. Are they
reconsidering?

 Steve Fisher
 University of Denver

On Sat, 5 Feb 2000, richard cox wrote:

> of interest to SAA members, I believe
>
> Richard J. Cox
> Associate Professor
> Department of Library and Information Sciences
> School of Information Sciences
> University of Pittsburgh
> Pittsburgh, PA 15260
> Voice:  412-624-3245
> FAX:    412-648-7001
> e-mail: rjc@lis.pitt.edu
> homepage: http://www.lis.pitt.edu/~rjc
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2000 12:24:13 -0800
> From: Andrew C. Rieser <acrieser@students.wisc.edu>
> To: H-IDEAS@H-NET.MSU.EDU
> Subject: ANN: News Release: OAH Leadership to Meet with Adam's Mark Hotel
Owners
>
> For Immediate Release
> Thu Feb 3, 2000 - 2:45p.m. EST
>
> OAH Leadership to Meet with Adam's Mark Hotel Owners over Charges of
> Racism
>
> Disturbing allegations against the Adam's Mark Hotel have made it
difficult
> for the OAH to hold its Annual Meeting as originally planned. A 1999
> lawsuit brought by five African Americans and the NAACP against the hotel
> charging racial discrimination at the company's Daytona Beach facility led
> to a U.S. Department of Justice investigation of the entire 21-hotel
chain.
> The Adam's Mark's refusal to sign a Justice Department consent decree,
> the subsequent federal lawsuit, and the ensuing furor among outraged
> historians and civil rights activists have forced the OAH Executive Board
> to consider canceling the annual meeting.
>
> Guided by the principle of non-discriminatory treatment of all people, the
> OAH Executive Board urges the Adam's Mark corporation to sign the
> consent decree.  An OAH delegation will travel to St. Louis on 8 February
> to meet with Adam's Mark CEO Fred S. Kummer Jr. and Senior Vice
> President Fred S. Kummer III at the corporation headquarters. Should the
> company refuse to cooperate with the Justice Department, the OAH
> Executive Board will pursue one of the following options recommended and
> discussed by historians around the country.
>
> Starting last month a number of OAH members and others questioned
> whether the organization should do any business with the Adam's Mark
> and requested the OAH break the contract for the St. Louis annual
> meeting. By email and fax, they have argued that to meet in the Adam's
> Mark is to compromise with racists. In order to take a bold stand against
> injustice, they have said that the organization must cancel the contract
> even though it would suffer serious financial consequences.
>
> Although the OAH would challenge penalties in court, if necessary,
> breaking the hotel contract could cost the OAH almost $425,000. This
> money would go directly to the Adam's Mark Hotel which would not suffer
> any financial losses. In fact, if the OAH canceled the conference, the
> Adam's Mark would stand to profit. It would take $425,000 from OAH
> members without paying a penny for the labor, facilities, and food
required
> for a conference, and then it could resell the very rooms just vacated.
OAH
> would have additional losses of $200,000 in exhibitor fees and
registration
> if no meeting were rescheduled in 2000. The total ($625,000) would be
> close to half of the OAH's annual budget. Some argue that this strategy
> allows Adam's Mark to profit from its racist deeds at the organization's
> expense.
>
> The refusal of the Adam's Mark so far to agree on implementing a
> monitored policy of nondiscrimination threatens the OAH with damages
> even more serious than the potential financial loss. It threatens to
> cripple both the convention itself and future activities of the OAH on
> behalf of the historical profession. The members of our organization hold
> many different points of view. Some of them have argued to let the justice
> system run its course and to avoid politicizing the organization and its
> annual meeting.  Still others believe the financial blow would paralyze
> and perhaps kill the OAH. They point out that when the American
> Historical Association cancelled its meeting in 1995 and moved it to
> Chicago to protest a new anti-gay city ordinance in Cincinnati, the
> association suffered significant financial and political consequences,
> from which it is still recovering.
>
> Many argue that the organization cast its lot with the hotel company five
> years ago when it signed the contract and now must make the best of a
> bad situation.  Unknown to the OAH staff in 1995, this hotel had a history
> of racial discrimination familiar to many in the African American
community
> in St. Louis. Although the OAH announced the Adam's Mark location of the
> 2000 meeting in early 1996 and regularly thereafter, it was not until the
> Justice Department filed a lawsuit in December that the implications of
the
> suit's allegations for the St. Louis meeting became evident to the OAH and
> its members.
>
> The Executive Board has considered these concerns and consulted
> historians throughout the profession, including African Americans, St.
> Louisians, and other distinguished scholars. The board also has been in
> contact with regional and national leaders of the NAACP, the Department of
> Justice, and civil rights attorneys. The board's primary goals will be
> arousing vigorous opposition to racial discrimination and securing
> agreement by the Adam's Mark to a consent decree which assures the
> adoption of antidiscrimination polices with federal oversight.
>
> In addition to the options of canceling the meeting or holding it as
> scheduled, the Executive Board is considering a third option-to hold the
> meeting and use it as an opportunity to confront the enduring theme of
> racism, to explore it as teachers and historians, and to draw national
> attention to its persistence today. In such a case, the executive board
> would urge members to attend, to support the professional goals of the
> organization, and to condemn racial discrimination in any form.
>
> A number of OAH members have suggested ways to implement this
> strategy of making the convention itself a part of the struggle against
> racism. OAH President David Montgomery has announced that he is
> changing his presidential address to explain the OAH's critique of the
> hotel chain and to place its discrimination in the historic context of the
> long and bloody battle against racial oppression in the United States.
> New plenary sessions on the Adam's Mark case and on the politicization
> of scholarly associations will be added to the program. The five plenary
> sessions, the Presidential Address and Awards, and the Business Meeting
> will be moved to new locations. The Business Meeting will be devoted
> to a resolution against having future conferences at Adam's Mark hotels
> anywhere, and an NAACP representative has been invited to speak
> about the latest developments in their court case.
>
> Other members have urged convention participants not to patronize the
> hotel's bars and restaurants. They plan to attend and to help the
> organization minimally meet its contractual obligations with the Adam's
> Mark but want to "send a message to the management." Others plan to
> organize demonstrations outside the hotel and across the street on the
> steps of the Old Courthouse where the infamous Dred Scott case had its
> origins.
>
> In any case, the OAH president will appoint a special committee to act
> immediately on any convention participants' charges of discrimination by
> the hotel. OAH leaders will hold a joint press conference at the St. Louis
> meeting with representatives from the National Council on Public History,
> Missouri Conference on History, American Historical Association, Western
> History Association, and other organizations. In addition, the OAH will
run
> advertisements and encourage articles in the St. Louis and national press
> about its plans for the annual meeting. And as it does at every annual
> meeting, the OAH will invite area school teachers to participate-this year
> they will be part of a teachable moment in the long history of American
> racism.
>
> The OAH has a rich tradition of promoting discussions about and
> understanding of racial and other problems in American history. Indeed,
> from C. Vann Woodward, who led the OAH thirty years ago, to Mary
> Frances Berry and John Hope Franklin and immediate past presidents
> William H. Chafe and George M. Fredrickson, half of our organization's
> presidents have made crucial contributions to understanding the role of
> race in American culture. Woodward, for example, who passed away only a
> few weeks ago, showed us that Southern racism in the 1950s was a
> cultural and legal construction only a few decades old. Far from being
> ingrained and immutable, Woodward revealed that racism could be
> challenged. The OAH exists to promote the professional needs,
> development, and interaction of historians and to improve public awareness
> of our country's history. That mission cannot be fulfilled in a setting
> where racial discrimination threatens its members or the communities in
> which they conduct their teaching and research.
>
> We urge members to discuss this matter and to contact the OAH
> leadership-committee chairs, Executive Board members, and officers-to
> express their concerns and opinions. Your immediate feedback
> (feedback@oah.org) will assist us as we prepare for our meeting with the
> Adam's Mark owners on 8 February.
>
> Contact: Lee W. Formwalt
> OAH Executive Director
> (812) 855-7311
> http://www.oah.org/
>
> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
>
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>

------------------------------

Date:    Sat, 5 Feb 2000 19:01:42 -0500
From:    wosh <pw1@IS.NYU.EDU>
Subject: CNCS Statement to OAH (fwd)

The press release by OAH leadership that was posted to the listserv
earlier today does not, needless to say, constitute the final word
concerning the Adams Mark Hotel.  Subscribers might be interested in the
attached letter, drafted by a coalition seeking to transfer the convention
to another site.  Several OAH panelists have already canceled their
presentations in protest.  Economic retaliation, after all, always
constitutes a more effective form of protest than the carefully crafted
statement, the high-minded sentiment, and the lofty verbiage that
academics and professional associations often substitute for direct
action.

--
Peter J. Wosh
Director, Archives Program
History Department
New York University
53 Washington Square South
New York  NY   10012-1098
(212) 998-8601 (phone)
(212) 995-4017 (fax)
pw1@is.nyu.edu

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 05 Feb 2000 17:34:48 -0500
From: jeffrey t. sammons <jeffrey.sammons@nyu.edu>
To: pw1@is.nyu.edu
Subject: CNCS Statement to OAH

>Date: Sat, 05 Feb 2000 12:08:30 -0500
>From: "Jeffrey T. Sammons" <jeffrey.sammons@nyu.edu>
>Subject: CNCS Statement to OAH
>X-Sender: js11@is2.nyu.edu
>To: nsingh@u.washington.edu, DonSpivey1@aol.com, Gail.Bederman.1@nd.edu,
>        jlmorgan@rci.rutgers.edu, nnaschoen@uiowa.edu,
fossett@rcf-fs.usc.edu,
>        jsscott@umich.edu, gaineskk@umich.edu, lbriggs@U.Arizona.EDU,
>        MNaison@aol.com, bsmalone@mail.shsw.wisc.edu, m.b.bates@wayne.edu,
>        dbaylor@kpmg.com, ashashko@umich.edu, Zawwoodard@aol.com,
>        Matthew.L.Basso-1@tc.umn.edu, mcountry@umich.edu, mmitch@umich.edu,
>        pmve@umich.edu, rdk1@is2.nyu.edu, tbtyson@facstaff.wisc.edu,
>        reillygosse@igc.org, Robert-Jefferson@uiowa.edu, a-green@nwu.edu,
>        chafe@asdean.duke.edu, mary-strottman@uiowa.edu,
>        matthew.jacobson@yale.edu, naison@fordham.edu,
reilly@aacu.nw.dc.us,
>        vicki.ruiz@asu.edu, charles.bolton@usm.edu, bransby@uic.edu,
>        glenda.gilmore@yale.edu, tracy.k'meyer@louisville.edu,
>        aemichels@facstaff.wisc.edu, rralston@facstaff.wisc.edu,
>        wlvandeb@facstaff.wisc.edu, dlmcguir@facstaff.wisc.edu,
>        borstel@europa.dreamscape.com, skantrow@facstaff.wisc.edu,
>        sneakyestes@earthlink.net, simon.wendt@mailcity.com,
RIP@DEPAUW.EDU,
>        pdjones@students.wisc.edu, pasulliv@fas.harvard.edu,
>        mhoney@u.washington.edu, myoung@iland.net, lg48@is9.nyu.edu,
>        edwards@history.ucla.edu, fischer@luna.cas.usf.edu,
>        kabenton@students.wisc.edu, katherine.charron@yale.edu,
>        JONESLU@MAIL.ECU.EDU, jthompso@acpub.duke.edu,
jeffrey.sammons@nyu.edu,
>        driskell@students.wisc.edu, hlbennet@rci.rutgers.edu,
>        gdejong@mason2.gmu.edu, GHall1929@aol.com, davidj@rand.org,
>        crystal.feimster@yale.edu, cbstrain@socrates.berkeley.edu,
>        cgreene@luna.cas.usf.edu, charlotte.haller@drake.edu,
cmpayne@duke.edu,
>        lekus@duke.edu, jhall@email.unc.edu, rgavins@duke.edu,
>        bsimon@arches.uga.edu, vanbliss@watervalley.net,
>        Adam.Fairclough@uea.ac.uk, eofrantz@students.wisc.edu,
>        tweis@marauder.millersv.edu, dcarter@abacus.bates.edu,
>        cecelski@email.unc.edu, waynel@duke.edu, michael.gomez@nyu.edu,
>        cheryl.greenberg@exchange.cc.trincoll.edu,
StricklandA@Missouri.edu,
>        ARVARHS@prodigy.net, mfberry@sas.upenn.edu, pw1@is.nyu.edu,
>        shropshirek@wharton.upenn.edu, frank@cmabiccw.com, cpkorr@umsl.edu,
>        cm7@is3.nyu.edu, bk39@is9.nyu.edu
>X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.1 (32)
>
>Dear Friends:
>
>         As OAH Convention approaches, we have decided to create a formal
>organization to persuade the OAH to sever ties with the Adams Mark and to
>organize demonstrations in St. Louis against the Adams Mark whether or not
>the OAH takes such a step.  Our organization is called the Committee for a
>New
>Convention Site(CNCS, pronounced cynics). Its statement of principles,
>expectations, and list of founding members are presented below. If you
>agree with the statement and wish to join the organization; or wish to
>express concerns, register questions, and give opinions you may do so by
>contacting Jeffrey T. Sammons at <Jeffrey.Sammons@nyu.edu>(don't use the
>brackets).
>
>          To join CNCS one must be committed to protesting in St. Louis and
>to pledging money to help protect OAH should it suffer damage as a result
>of severing ties with Adam's Mark.  For those who cannot commit to one
>and/or both obligations, we still welcome your support.  We need to show
>OAH that we are backing it all the way in the fight against Adam's mark and
>racial injustice. Pledges and comments should be sent to OAH Executive
>Council at Lee@Oah.org,
>and the OAH President at David. Montgomery@Yale.edu
>
>          The CNCS Statement follows:
>
>To: Dr. David Montgomery, President, OAH and OAH Executive Board
>
>From: The Committee for a New Convention Site(CNCS)
>
>Re: Disassociation with Adam's Mark by February 29, 2000
>
>Date: February 4, 2000
>
>
>       The Committee for a New Convention Site(CNCS, pronounced
cynics*)asks the
>OAH to move all activities related to the convention out of the Adam's
>Mark Hotel, including: registration, panels, vendors, meetings, interviews,
>and any other OAH-sponsored events.  Furthermore, CNCS asks that the OAH
>not encourage members and participants to stay at the Adam's Mark.  If the
>OAH takes the above actions by February 29, then CNCS will encourage
>participation in all OAH events.  At the same time, CNCS is committed to
>organizing and carrying out protest action against Adam's Mark and hopes
>that the leadership and others in OAH will stand alongside us in those
>protests.
>       Should OAH not meet the February 29 date for disassociation with
Adam's
>Mark, CNCS will encourage non-participation in OAH activities and commit to
>the planning and staging of organized demonstrations at Adam's Mark.
>       In the event of a settlement, the terms, meaning, enforceability,
and
>punitive power of that agreement will determine CNCS's course of action.
>       We are pleased that OAH has made considerable progress in the right
>direction, but it has not gone far enough.  We are desperately hoping that
>OAH will not become the issue.  We are doing everything that we can to
>protect OAH against undue harm should OAH take the moral high ground and
>refuse to do business with Adam's Mark and Fred Kummer.  All of us are
>aware that Adam's Mark is the real problem, and we want to continue working
>with OAH in exposing and correcting the past and present wrongs committed
>by Adam's Mark and to prevent such unjust practices in the future.
>
>                               Sincerely,
>
>The Founding Members of "The Committee for a New Convention Site"(CNCS)
>       Beth Bates, Wayne State; Michael Gomez, NYU; Robin D. G. Kelley,
NYU; Mark
>Naison, Fordham; Jeffrey T. Sammons, NYU; Donald Spivey, University of
>                   Miami; Timothy Tyson, Wisconsin-Madison
>
>
>* CNCS(Cynics)is, as the Greek philosophical school of the same name,
>committed to a view of virtue as the only good and that its essence lies in
>self-control and independence.
>Jeffrey T. Sammons, Professor
>Department of History
>New York University
>53 Washington Square South, Rm 616
>New York, N.Y. 10012
>212-998-8635
>jeffrey.sammons@nyu.edu
>
>

------------------------------

Date:    Sat, 5 Feb 2000 20:37:35 -0500
From:    Peter Kurilecz <pakurilecz@AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: CNCS Statement to OAH (fwd)

On Sat, 5 Feb 2000 19:01:42 -0500, wosh <pw1@IS.NYU.EDU> wrote:
<snip>
Economic retaliation, after all, always constitutes a more effective form
of protest than the carefully crafted statement, the high-minded sentiment,
and the lofty verbiage that academics and professional associations often
substitute for direct action.
<snip>

Granted economic retaliation is effective, but in this case who is it more
effective for? -- the hotel or the association. Richard Cox's message noted
that a cancellation will cost an association a good bit of money, plus the
hotel can rent the rooms.

On another note after reading some of the stories from the Daytona
newspaper I find it interesting that only 5 people have sued the hotel out
of an estimated 100,000 BCR attendees.

Peter Kurilecz
pakurilecz@aol.com

------------------------------

Date:    Sat, 5 Feb 2000 21:48:21 EST
From:    Peter Kurilecz <PAKURILECZ@AOL.COM>
Subject: Another point of view

The following website has an interesting story concerning the Adam's Mark
Hotel chains.

http://www.palmetto.org/adamsmark.htm

Peter Kurilecz
pakurilecz@aol.com

------------------------------

Date:    Sat, 5 Feb 2000 22:18:29 EST
From:    Peter Kurilecz <PAKURILECZ@AOL.COM>
Subject: Denver Post article

The url below is for a Denver Post article about the local Adam' s Mark
Hotel
and the local Urban League chapter's dinner there.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/news0201k.htm



Peter Kurilecz
pakurilecz@aol.com

------------------------------

End of ARCHIVES Digest - 4 Feb 2000 to 5 Feb 2000 (#2000-36)
************************************************************

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