Sec. 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the said Society shall have power to elect and qualify such officers as may by them be deemed necessary, to be chosen at such time and to hold their offices for such period as the Constitution or By-Laws of said Society shall prescribe, and that if the election of said officers, or any of them, shall not be held on any of the days for that purpose appointed, it shall be lawful to make such election on any other day. Sec. 3. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that it shall be the duty of the governor of the State to transmit or cause to be transmitted to the said Society, a set of the Acts and also of the Journals of the present and future. sessions of the Legislature, and also copies of all other documents, papers, books, and pamphlets that shall hereafter be printed under, or by virtue of, an act of Legislature, or joint resolution of both branches thereof, unless such act or resolution shall otherwise provide, and that the said Society may, by their agent or agents, have access at all reasonable times to the several public offices of this State and of the corporate towns and cities thereof, and may cause such documents to be searched, examined, and copied without paying office fees as they may judge proper to promote the object of the Society. Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, that this Act shall be and is hereby declared to be a public Act, and shall be construed benignly and favorably for every beneficial purpose therein intended, and that no misnomer of the said Corporation in any deed, will, testament, devise, gift, grant, demise, or other instrument of contract or conveyance, shall vitiate or defeat the same, provided the Corporation shall be sufficiently described to ascertain the intention of the parties. Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, that the governor be and he is hereby authorized and requested to confide to the care and keeping of the proper officers of said Society the transcripts of the colonial records lately taken by the Rev. C. W. Howard in London, until further disposition of the same shall be made by the General Assembly. JOSEPH DAY, Speaker of the House of Representatives. ROBERT M. ECHOLS, Pres. of the Senate. Assented to, 19th Dec. 1839. CHARLES J. McDONALD, Governor. CONSTITUTION. ART. I. The society shall be called, The Georgia Historical Society. ART. II. Its object shall be, to collect, preserve, and diffuse information relating to the history of the State of Georgia, in all its various departments, and of American history generally. ART. III. This Society shall consist of Resident and Honorary Members - Resident Members embracing those within the State- Honorary Members, those distinguished for their literary attainments, particularly in the department of History, throughout the world. ART. IV. The officers of the Society shall be a President, two Vice Presidents, Corresponding Secretary, Recording Secretary, Treasurer, Librarian, and seven Curators; who shall be elected by ballot, at each annual meeting. Should a vacancy occur in any of said offices, by death, resignation, removal, or otherwise, it may be filled up by ballot, at the next regular meeting of the Society, and if it shall happen in an office other than that of President or Vice President, it may be filled up until the next regular meeting,, by the presiding officer, and the Curators, or a majority of them. ART. V. The annual meeting of the Society shall be held on the 12th day of February, and on the second Monday of every other month a monthly meeting shall be held. ART. VI. The President, or in his absence, either of the Vice Presidents, may call an extra meeting of the Society, upon the request of the majority of the Curators present in the city, or of five Resident Members. ART. VII. The admission of members shall be by ballot their names having been first propounded at a previous meeting and a majority of two-thirds present, shall be required to elect; the Resident Members paying ten dollars for the first year, and a subsequent annual contribution of five dollars. ART, VIII. Seven Resident Members, including at least two of the officers, shall constitute a quorum, and be empowered to transact the regular business of the society, except at the annual meeting, when fifteen shall constitute a quorum. ART. IX. This Constitution can be altered or amended only by a vote of two-thirds of the Resident Members present at the annual meeting, and a notice to that effect having been made at a previous meeting. BY-LAWS. 1. The President, or in his absence the highest officer present, shall preside at all meetings of the Society-regulate the debates, give, when required, the casting vote, preserve order, and be ex-officio, Chairman of the Board of Managers. 2. The Corresponding Secretary shall conduct all the correspondence of the Society, his letters having previously received the sanction of the presiding officer. He shall preserve on file the originals of all communications addressed to the Society, and keep a fair copy of all his letters, in books furnished for the purpose. It shall furthermore be his duty, to read at each meeting the correspondence, or such abstracts from it, as the President may direct, which he has sustained since the previous meeting. 3. The Recording Secretary shall keep the minutes of all meetings of the Society, and at the opening of each one, shall read those of the preceding one. He shall have the custody of the Constitution, By-Laws, and Records of the Society; and shall give due notice of the time and place of all meetings of the Society. 4. The Treasurer shall collect, receive, and disburse all moneys due and payable, and all donations and bequests of money, or other property, to the Society. He shall pay, under proper vouchers, all the ordinary expenses of the Society, and shall deposite all its funds in one of the Banks of the City, to the credit of the Society, subject to his checks, countersigned by the presiding officer; and at the annual meeting shall make a true report of all moneys received and paid out by him, to be audited by the Committee of Finance, provided for hereafter. 5. It shall be the duty of the Librarian, to preserve, arrange, and keep in good order, all books, MSS., documents, pamphlets and papers, of every kind, belonging to the Society. He shall keep a catalogue of the same, and take especial care, that no book, MS., document, paper, or any property of the Society, confided to his keeping, be removed from the room. He shall also be furnished with a book, in which to record all donations and bequests, of whatsoever kind, relating to his department, with the name of the donor, and the time when bestowed. 6. The Curators, with the President, Vice Presidents, Corresponding and Recording Secretaries, Librarian, and Treasurer, shall constitute a Board of Managers, whose duty it shall be, to superintend the general concerns of the Society. The President shall, from this Board, appoint the following Standing Committees, viz.:-On the Library, on Printing and Publishing, and on Finance. 7. The Committee on the Library shall have the supervisory care of all the printed publications, manuscripts, and curiosities. They shall, with the Librarian, provide suitable shelves, cases and fixtures, by which to arrange and display them. The printed volumes and manuscripts shall be regularly numbered, and marked with the name of the "Georgia Historical Society." They shall propose at the regular meetings, such books or MSS. pertaining to the object of the Society, as they shall deem expedient, which, when approved, shall be by them purchased, and disposed of as above directed. They shall be required to visit the Library at least once each week, officially and shall provide a book or books, in which the Librarian shall keep a record of their proceedings and be entrusted, in general, with the custody, care and increase, of whatever comes within the province of their appointed duty. 8. The Committee on Printing and Publishing, shall prepare for publication whatever documents or collections shall be ordered, by the Society shall contract for, and supervise the printing of the same, and shall furnish the Recording Secretary and Librarian, with such blank notices, summonses, labels, &c. as may be deemed requisite. 9. The Committee on Finance shall consist of at least one member of each of the former Committees, and shall have the general oversight and direction of the funds of the Society. They shall once in three months examine the books of the Treasurer, vouch all accounts of moneys expended, and audit his annual report. 10. The order of proceeding at the regular meetings shall be as follows:-1st. Reading the Minutes of the last meeting, and confirming them. 2d. Reading the correspondence of the Corresponding Secretary. 3d. Nomination of new members. 4th. Balloting for those already propounded. 5th. Overtures or reports from the Board of Managers, or from the Standing Committees. 6th. Communications or addresses from the members. 7th. Miscellaneous business. 11. The Board of Managers shall appoint one of the Resident or Honorary Members of the Society, to deliver an historical discourse, at each annual meeting, together with such other exercises as shall be appropriate to its celebration. 12. Any failure on the part of the members, after due. notice from the President, to pay their annual dues, for two consecutive years, shall be considered a forfeiture of membership. And no person thus expunged, can be eligible to readmission, without the strict payment of his arrears. Officers of the Georgia Historical Society, elected June, 1839. JOHN MACPHErson Berrien, President. JAMES M. WAYNE, M. H. M'ALLister, I. K. TEFFT, Correspoding Secretary. WILLIAM B. STEVENS, Recording Secretary. HENRY K. PRESTON, Librarian. WILLIAM THORNE WILLIAMS, CHARLES S. HENRY, JOHN C. NICOLL, WILLIAM LAW, ROBERT M. CHARLTON, RICHARD D. ARNOLD, A. A. SMETS, Curators. On the Library. |