OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE:
PROCEEDINGS 247
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE
BOARD OF
TRUSTEES OF THE OHIO STATE
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND
HISTORICAL SOCIETY, APRIL 5, 1940
The regular April meeting of the Board
of Trustees of the Ohio
State Archaeological and Historical
Society was held in the Ohio State
Museum, Friday noon, April 5, 1940.
Trustees present were Messrs. Eagle-
son, who presided, Florence, Rightmire,
Spencer, Spetnagel, Weygandt, and
Wolfe. Director Shetrone, Secretary Lindley,
and Miss Hiestand were also
present.
There being no objections to the minutes
of the previous meeting
which had been sent by mail to members
of the Board, they were declared
approved.
The Secretary presented a request from
Mr. Howard Baum that he
fall heir to the life membership granted
to his father (now dead) in ap-
preciation of archeological excavations
he had allowed on his farm. Mr.
Weygandt moved that the Secretary be
instructed to tell Mr. Baum that
life memberships in the Society are not
transferable. Mr. Spencer seconded
this motion which was carried.
The Secretary sketched the progress of
plans for the Maumee Valley
Historical Conference to be held next
October under the sponsorship of the
historical agencies of Ohio, Indiana,
Michigan, and the Province of On-
tario. At a previous meeting the Board
had approved of the Society's par-
ticipation in this project and had
instructed the Secretary to cooperate in
organizing the conference. . . .
The handicaps endured by the Society
because of the limitations of the
present budget were touched upon by both
the Secretary and the Director
in their presentation of the following
matters. The Secretary spoke of
the desirability of the Society's
securing three valuable collections of li-
brary and museum material: (1) The
Larwill Papers offered for sale by
Joseph S. Callery of Sandusky, Ohio,
concerned with the settlement and de-
velopment of the towns of Wooster and
Mansfield, Ohio. (2) The W. T.
Coggeshall Papers which are being
offered for sale by Ernest J. Wessen of
Mansfield, Ohio. (3) A large collection of Edisonia made by the
late
William J. Hammer who was a close
associate of Edison in all of his
enterprises. This collection would fit
in satisfactorily with an Edison
memorial at his birthplace in Milan. In
describing these collections the
Secretary stressed the advisability of
the Society's building up an adequate
endowment fund or of acquiring a group
of interested patrons who could
finance such purchases. It was suggested
by Mr. Eagleson that the possible
acquisition of these three collections
be referred immediately to the Execu-
tive Committee with power to act. This
suggestion was used in a motion
by Mr. Spetnagel, seconded by Mr.
Spencer, and carried. The Director an-
nounced the resignation of Ross W.
Shoemaker as Assistant Curator of
248
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
State Memorials and the selection of J.
Richard Lawwill as his successor. A
graduate of the University of Cincinnati
with a B. S. degree in Landscape
Architecture, Mr. Lawwill has had
extensive experience as supervisor of
work projects in state memorial areas
and with the National Park Service.
Mr. Weygandt moved that the appointment
of Mr. Lawwill be approved.
The motion was seconded by Mr. Spencer
and carried. In making this an-
nouncement the Director stressed the
importance of an increased budget in
order that the Society might secure and
retain the services of well-trained,
capable staff members.
Following expressions of opinion from
the Director and the Secretary
as to the satisfactory services rendered
by staff members, Mr. Rightmire
moved that the present staff of the
Society be re-elected for another year at
the prevailing salary schedule. This
motion was seconded by Mr. Wolfe and
carried unanimously.
Mr. Weygandt moved that the officers who
had served the Board of
Trustees during the past year (Mr.
Johnson, President; Mr. Eagleson, First
Vice-President; Mr. Wolfe, Second
Vice-President; Mr. Lindley, Secre-
tary; and Mr. Miller, Treasurer) be
re-elected for the coming year and
that the Secretary be instructed to cast
the ballot for their re-election. This
motion, seconded by Mr. Florence, was
unanimously carried.
The Director announced the holding in
May at Detroit of the annual
convention of the American Association
of Museums. . . .
On a motion of Mr. Spencer and second of
Mr. Florence the meeting
was adjourned.
HARLOW LINDLEY, Secretary.
Ohio Academy of History Sessions,
April 5, 12:45 P. M.
Faculty Club, Ohio State University;
2:30 P. M.
Ohio State Museum Auditorium
A. T. Volwiler, Presiding
The joint luncheon of the Ohio, Academy
of History and the
Ohio State Archaeological and Historical
Society was held in the
Faculty Club of the Ohio State
University. William T. Utter,
Professor of History at Denison
University, was elected President
of the Academy for the ensuing year and
William D. Overman,
Curator of History at the Ohio State
Museum, was re-elected
Secretary. After a short business
meeting H. A. De Weerd of
Denison University read the following
paper.