Edith Wharton Society: Minutes from the ALA Business Meeting 5-28-10

Wharton Society Business Meeting, ALA, May 27, 2011

Executive Board. With the resignation of Margaret Murray, Gary is now president and Meredith is vice-president. Emily Orlando has been nominated as secretary and Gary declared her election by acclamation. The term for the above positions is Jan. 2011 – Jan. 2013.

Executive Board Members-at-Large:

Mary Carney
Melanie Dawson
Jennifer Haytock
Adam Jabbur
Ann Patten

Gary declared the election of all nominees by acclamation. Terms for the Members-at-Large will run from Jan. 2012 – Jan. 2014.

Members of the executive board will be asked to read papers for the Review.

Thanks to Meredith Goldsmith, Irene Goldman-Price, and Alan Price for agreeing to handle the nominations and elections.

Wharton in Florence conference updates from Meredith and Emily: Individuals are needed to vet papers. Laura Rattray, Denise Mok, Melanie Dawson, and Donna Campbell volunteered.

Marist College memo of understanding for the conference facility: we will be getting it at the end of May or in early June.

It was suggested that we find lists of conference attendees from previous conferences and send them information about the conference (lists are on the web of papers/attendees). It was also suggested that we send the CFP to the Mount and to other author societies: Fitzgerald, Cather, James, Dreiser, Emerson/Hawthorne/Poe conference. We will have a flyer in the Review and advertise on Facebook.

Things we need to clarify with Marist:
Drop-dead deadline. When exactly do they need to know how many people are coming? (We need to set the date w/our own registrants.)
Exactly what is included, foodwise?
Payment—how best to take $$ (online, via PayPal, Euro/dollar?)
On our end:
Send ad w/pictures to Donna, so the picture is associated with conference
Promotion: author societies: FSF, Cather, James, Dreiser; General public: The Mount
Recruitment: pulling names of European scholars especially from prior conferences (on web site)
Contact Rebecca Mead at New Yorker?

Documents: trifold pic of conference. Be very explicit about what we supply and don’t supply as part of the registration fee. Emphasize: garden tours, etc. and provide the exact address of LdM campus.
Post-registration: Document w/additional information (how one gets from A to B, small map of Florence)

Sharon Kiehl Califano can help with a website.

Other upcoming conferences:

SAMLA: Edith Wharton and the Writer’s Imagination (deadline was May 9; organized by Mary Carney; conference Nov. 4-6 in Atlanta)

Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture Since 1900 has invited the Society to submit a panel for the 2012 conference, Feb. 23-25, 2012. They noted that if there are debates in our field that we would like to represent at the conference, they could accommodate sequenced panels addressing both sides of the debate. The deadline for submission is Oct. 15. Please let Gary know if you’d be interested in organizing such a panel.

Edith Wharton Collection Research Award winner is Laura Rattray for her project, “Edith Wharton in Context.”

Edith Wharton Essay Contest: evaluation process is still underway.

Should deadline be changed to the middle of May?

Panel suggestions for next year’s ALA. Meredith as vice-president will organize one panel and the other panel topic will be chosen from submissions (to be voted on by the executive board). Those interested in submitting panel topics should do so through the Society website. Gary will send out a call for proposals.

MLA 2012 panel topic in Seattle will be “Edith Wharton at 150.” Gary is chairing.

It was decided at the MLA board meeting in January 2011 that, given economic conditions and shrinking travel budgets, at least one Board meeting a year would be held electronically. Are there suggestions for how to best do this. Perhaps via Skype? Webex?

Edith Wharton Review editorship. Carole Shaffer Koros announced that Ann Patten will help with editorial duties at the journal.

Who is writing the Wharton review for American Literary Scholarship? It is assumed that Carol Singley is still doing this. Gary will check with her about it. [Edited to add: Yes, Carol Singley is still doing the Wharton chapter for AmLS.]