About

Who We Are

The Jackson County Historical and Genealogical Society Kansas is a non-profit, all volunteer-run group dedicated to preserving Jackson County, Kansas, history.

Our Motto

Preserving the Past to Serve the Future

Our Mission Statement

We are a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of Jackson County, Kansas, artifacts, printed materials, oral history, and other relevant material which serve to record the history of the area. Our Society will bring together those people interested in that history and will make such items available to the public for display, research, educational, and informational purposes.

Our History

The Society organized in 1979 when Corinne Richard, Chamber of Commerce President, had a goal of establishing a Jackson County Historical Society (name change in 2017). The Society has a Founders Day program and dinner each April in recognition of that goal.

Our Current Work

Volunteers continue to work at preserving Jackson County history, whether that be artifacts, research materials or oral histories.

Our Future

Our goal is a new museum, located on land adjacent to the Roebke Memorial Museum.

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Bylaws

JACKSON COUNTY HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY KANSAS

CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS 2017

Adopted January 28, 2017

ARTICLE I

NAME, TAX STATUS AND MOTTO

The name of this society shall be the Jackson County Historical and Genealogical Society Kansas, hereinafter referred to as the Society. The Society is a non-profit, Internal Revenue Code 501 (c) (3) tax exempt, organization. It’s motto is: Preserving the Past to Serve the Future.

ARTICLE II

MISSION STATEMENT

The Society is dedicated to the preservation of Jackson County, Kansas, artifacts, printed materials, oral history, and other relevant material which serve to record the history of the area. Our Society will bring together those people interested in that history and will make such items available to the public for display, research, educational, and informational purposes.

ARTICLE III

PURPOSE

The purpose of this Society shall be to bring together those people interested in history, and especially in the history of Jackson County, Kansas. Understanding the history of our communities is basic to our democratic way of life, gives us a better understanding of our state and nation, and promotes a better appreciation of our heritage.

The Society’s major function will be to discover and collect any material which may help to establish or illustrate the history of the area: its exploration, settlement, development, and activities in peace and in war, and its progress in population, wealth, education, arts, science, agriculture, manufacturing, trade, and transportation. It will collect printed material such as histories, genealogies, biographies, descriptions, gazetteers, directories, newspapers, pamphlets, catalogs, circulars, handbills, programs, and posters; manuscript material such as letters, diaries, journals, memoranda, reminiscences, rosters, service records, account books, charts, surveys, and field books; and museum material such as pictures, photographs, paintings, portraits, scenes, aboriginal relics, and material objects illustrative of life, conditions, events, and activities of the past and the present.

The Society will provide for the preservation of such material and for its accessibility, as far as may be feasible, to all who wish to examine or study it, to co-operate with officials in insuring the preservation and accessibility of the records and archives of the county and of its cities, towns, and institutions, and to undertake the preservation of historic buildings, monuments, and markers.

The Society will disseminate historical information and arouse interest in the past by publishing historical material in the newspapers or otherwise; by holding meetings with pageants, addresses, lectures, papers, and discussion; by marking historic buildings, sites, and trails; and by using the media of radio, television, and the Internet to awake public interest.

The Society will co-operate with the Kansas Historical Society and other recognized museums and historical societies to collect and preserve materials of county-wide significance so that these materials can be made available to students and scholars.

ARTICLE IV

MEMBERSHIP AND DUES

Any person or business interested in the history of Jackson County, Kansas, who applies for membership in any classification of membership, and who tenders the necessary dues shall thereby become a member.

The membership year shall be from January 1 to December 31 of each year. Annual dues shall be payable in advance, and members in arrears more than three months after payment is due shall be dropped from membership. Charter members shall be those members who joined the Society during 1979.

Membership dues shall be reviewed yearly at the annual meeting. Any changes will go in effect the following year.

Honorary membership - Honorary membership may be conferred upon any person whose activities have contributed to the objectives of the Society. Honorary members shall be elected by a three-fourths vote of members present at an annual meeting by secret ballot, upon nomination by the board of directors.

ARTICLE V

SCHEDULE AND QUORUM FOR MEETINGS

Regular meetings shall be held quarterly in February, April, July, and October. The Society’s newsletter will be published quarterly to coincide with these meetings. The newsletter will be distributed prior to the meeting in order to serve as notice of the

meetings.

The annual meeting shall be in February at a location determined by the board of directors. The annual meeting will be an all business meeting, including the election and installation of officers; review of the past year’s financial report; review of membership dues; planning of the year’s events; annual committee reports; and establishment of meeting dates and times for the next year, including the following February. The April meeting shall be the Founder’s Day dinner meeting, time and place of meeting determined by the Program Chair and the board of directors. It is highly recommended that the October meeting be held in one of the other towns in the county as we are a county-wide organization. It is recommended that the other three meetings be held in the county seat.

At all general membership meetings, a quorum will consist of the members present.

Special meetings may be called by the president.

ARTICLE VI

OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The officers shall be a president, a vice-president, and a secretary, who shall be elected for a term of one year; and a treasurer and three directors who shall each be elected for a term of three years.

The officers and directors shall constitute the board of directors.

The board of directors shall meet on a regular basis to conduct the affairs of the Society. Board meeting times and dates will be determined by a consensus of the officers and directors. Special meetings of the board of directors may be called by the president. Approved minutes from the board meetings will be available for members to read at the next regular meeting. The president may present a summary of the board meetings at each regular meeting.

A person who has been elected as an officer to the board of directors may only serve for a total of six years. One year must elapse before a person can be re-elected to serve on the board.

The board of directors shall have the power to conduct all affairs of the Society; shall decide questions of policy that for any reason cannot be acted upon at a regular meeting of the Society; and perform such other functions as designated in the Constitution and Bylaws or otherwise assigned to it.

At any meeting of the board of directors, four members shall constitute a quorum. The president of the Society shall be the chair of the board of directors.

ARTICLE VII

ELECTION OF OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS

All officers and directors shall be elected by plurality of votes cast by secret ballot at the annual meeting. The president shall appoint a Nominations Committee at the October meeting. The Nominations Committee Chair shall present the list of nominees at the annual meeting. Offices open to election each year shall be president, vice-president, secretary, and one director, with the treasurer being each third year.

Nominations may be made by any member of the Society at any time prior to balloting at the annual meeting. Any nomination made from the floor must have the permission of the candidate before the nomination may be made. A candidate for election shall hold a current membership; i.e., a business cannot be an officer/board member. A family membership will entitle a family to one adult member being eligible for election.

Officers and directors shall be installed following their election at the annual meeting and shall serve until their successors have been duly elected and installed. In the event of resignation or incapacity of any officer, the vacancy may be filled by a vote of the board of directors for the unexpired term of office.

ARTICLE VIII

DUTIES OF THE OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS

The president shall have executive supervision over the activities of the Society within the scope provided by this constitution and bylaws. The president shall preside at all meetings; shall report annually on the activities of the societies; shall appoint the members of committees and delegates not otherwise provided for; and shall not be entitled to vote on affairs of the board of directors or the Society unless a tie vote should occur.

The vice-president shall assume the duties of the president in the event of absence, incapacity, or resignation of the president. In the absence of the president and the vice-president, the following order shall apply for a presiding officer: secretary, treasurer, and board of directors (three year term, two year term, one year term).

The secretary shall keep the minutes of the meeting of the Society and of the board of directors. The secretary shall maintain a copy of the Constitution and Bylaws as a part of the Secretary Book.

The treasurer shall be responsible for the safekeeping of Society funds and for maintaining adequate financial records. The treasurer shall deposit all monies received with a reliable banking company in the name of the Jackson County Historical and Genealogical Society Kansas. The banking company shall be determined by the board of directors at the first board meeting following the annual meeting. Monies shall be paid out by numbered checks signed by two of these three: the treasurer, the president or the vice-president. The treasurer will collect dues, maintain a list of members, and shall render an annual report based on the calendar year. There shall be an annual financial review of the treasurer’s records by a committee appointed by the president in October.

ARTICLE IX

COMMITTEES

The Society shall have the following standing committees:

1. Library committee - responsible for collecting, cataloging, caring for, arranging and repairing of books, genealogies, manuscripts, newspapers, and other historical source material

2. Museum committee - responsible for collecting, cataloging, cleaning, repair, and storage of historic objects; for arranging museum exhibits, and the correct historical interpretation of these exhibits

3. Maintenance committee - responsible for the care and upkeep of the museum quarters and the historical home

4. Publications and public relations committee - responsible for producing and publishing a quarterly newsletter; for publicity about the Society in general; for maintaining the Society’s web site; for finding ways and means for publishing joint or individual research studies; and for staging radio and television programs;

5. Historic sites committee - responsible for establishing the historic validity for sites proposed for marking; for marking historic sites; and for arranging historical tours

6. Program committee - responsible for arranging suitable programs for meetings and for publicizing them

7. Membership committee - responsible for membership drives and processing new candidates for membership

8. Nominations committee - responsible for making nominations for officers and members of the board of directors

The president, with the assistance of the board of directors, shall appoint chairs and members of the standing committee. A preference sheet from members of what committees they would like to serve on will be available at the annual meeting.

Other committees, standing or special, may be appointed by the president as directed by the Society or the board of directors.

ARTICLE X

PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY

The rules contained in Robert’s Rules of Order, Revised Edition, shall govern the proceedings of the Society except in such cases as are governed by the Constitution and Bylaws.

Voting: All votes will be by voice unless any one member requests a ballot vote. If that request is made, voting will automatically be by ballot. The secretary and one other member will count the ballots and announce the tally.

ARTICLE XI

AMENDMENT

This Constitution and Bylaws may be amended at any regular meeting by a two-thirds vote of those voting, provided notice was given at the previous meeting. They may also be amended at a special meeting called for that purpose, with previous notice and a two-thirds vote. All proposed amendments shall be submitted in writing. The Constitution and Bylaws shall be reviewed each year at the annual meeting and may be amended at that time.

ARTICLE XII

In the event that the Jackson County Historical and Genealogical Society Kansas should dissolve, the board of directors shall designate a successor to receive its collections, keeping as much as possible in the county.