S-USIH Annual Meeting Minutes 10.12.2014

Call to Order: 8:04 am, Indianapolis, Omni Severin Hotel

Present: Daniel Wickberg, President

Kevin Schultz, Treasurer

Ray Haberski, Secretary

Tim Lacy, Chair of Publications Committee

Andrew Hartman, Chair of 2015 Conference Committee

Introductions from secretary

President’s report:

  1. Collaborations
  • Sending panel to OAH in St. Louis in May
  • SAAP—exchange panels each year. Paul Murphy has put together a panel for the SAAP in Grand Rapids, MI
  1. Henry F. May fund for graduate students
  • Original gift from David Hollinger
  • Intend to focus on increasing that fund for graduate students attending the conference
  1. Book award 2013
  • Panel at the 2013 conference featuring the winner Ajay Mehrortra
  • 40 submissions for the award, up from 2012.
  • Call for award has gone out earlier, committee consists of Brick (chair), Westbrook, Ratner-Rosenhagen are the committee
  1. Archive of S-USIH
  • Need to systematize and formalize the permanent records of the group
  • Call will go out to all active participants from the beginning of the society’s founding
  • Pointed to this project as a significant one and something that needs to be addressed
  1. Conference 2014
  • Successful and the highlight of the year

Treasurer’s Report

  • Need 25 people to pay conference fee in order to meet the budget
  • Amazon Smile: every time a person makes a purchase at Amazon, people can designate the society as the charitable organization that can be designated for a percetange of the sale
  • Membership system will be Kevin’s top priority in order to better manage fees for memberships and conferences and anything else

Secretary’s Report

  • Collaboration with IUPUI and the Institute for American Thought, in particular
    • The society’s website will be maintained and updated by a employee of IUPUI and the IAT
    • There are grant opportunities available through the IU system and on the IUPUI campus that Haberski will apply for on behalf on the society with the hope of running a summer institute
    • Haberski has scheduled a meeting between Wickberg and Marianne Wokeck (director of the IAT) to discuss formalizing the collaboration between IAT and the SUSIH
    • Haberski noted that the website can become something for the membership as well as a public space
  • Membership total: as of October 2014, membership was 197—a combination of members who joined in order to attend the 2013 conference and members who jointed to attend the 2014 conference.

Publication Chair’s Report:

  • Update on subcommittees
  • Book Reviews: Lillian Barger provided update on recruiting more people to review for the society
    • Relationship with publishers
    • Problem with getting books to reviewers
    • Robert is updating the book review section of the website, in particular soliciting reviewers for certain areas
    • Ben asked if we should require membership among reviewers
    • Building a prompt to join on the same form that asks for interests in books to be reviewed
  • Blog editing
    • Goal of having two bloggers a day is still the target
    • Collaborating with other blogs especially those who do periods or areas that S-USIH do not cover
  • Increasing the magazine quality of the website
  • Need clearer idea about the webtraffic
  • Could tag the books that we refer to on the blog and send people to Amazon
  • Andy Seal updated about the feasibility of a journal
    • Need to undertake a desirability study

2015 Conference Chair report:

  • 2015 conference: Hamilton Crowne Plaza
  • Prices are similar
  • 25, 50, 50 rooms each night
  • Located near White House
  • Keynote and plenaries already set up
  • Publics and their Problems
  • Corey Robin as keynote
  • Committee: Michael Kimmage, Claire Rydell (Stanford grad), Jonathan Wilson (early American)
  • Junto blog: sponsoring two panels
  • AAIH: sponsoring two panels
  • SAAP: sponsor at least one panel
  • Starting with Thursday plenary—on little magazines with Jackson Lears, Sara Leonard, Dan McCarthy, Rachel Rosenthal, Chloe Schama, Baskar at Jacobin
  • Friday night: Public Intellectuals—Russell Jacoby and his book commented on by Claire Potter, Leo Ribuffo, Jonathan Halloway, Tim Goghlin
  • Saturday: museums and the idea of the national

Questions and comments
Good idea collaboration with IUPUI

Could we create a digital magazine through the offices at IUPUI for the blog and the society

Collecting digital documents in intellectual history

Meeting adjourned 9am