BY-LAWS TO THE CONSTITUTION
Adopted 1977

Resolved: that pursuant to the authority granted to the Board of Trustees of the HENRY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, the following By-Laws are hereby adopted:

GIFTS

SECTION 1

The Board of Trustees shall have sole authority to accept or reject on behalf of the Society, each contribution, gift, devise, or bequest, of whatever kind, which amounts to, or has a value of $150.00, or more, and to specify the disposition to be made of such gift.

SECTION 2

The Board of Trustees shall have sole authority to approve, or disprove limiting conditions placed upon any contribution, gift, devise or bequest made to the Society, and to reject any such contribution, gift, devise, or bequest where, in the Board's opinion, the limiting conditions are not desirable or compliance therewith is difficult or impossible.

SECTION 3

The Secretary shall submit to the Board of Trustees at each regular meeting of the Board a list and description of each contribution, gift, devise or bequest in the amount of value of $150.00 or more there-to-fore offered to the Society.

SECTION 4

These By-Laws may be altered, amended or rescinded by a majority vote of the Board of Trustees at any regular or special meeting of the Board of Trustees.

MEMBERSHIPS

SECTION 1

Any person, corporation, partnership or other organization or institution interested in promoting the purposes of the Society may become a member of the Society.

The Henry County Historical Society shall have three classes of members, namely:

1. Annual
2. Continuing
3. Honorary

SECTION 2. ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS

There shall be three categories of Annual members who shall pay dues as follows:

Type of Member Dues

1. PARTICIPATING MEMBERS.

a. Individual $3.00
b. Family, including children under 18 years of age $5.00

2. AFFILIATING MEMBERS.

Any organization or institution which is, in the Society's opinion, a bona-fide member of the Association of Historical Societies of Ohio may become an Affiliated member of this Society by paying the $10.00 dues per year. $10.00

3. SUPPORTING MEMBERS

$35.00

SECTION 3. CONTINUING MEMBERS

There shall be one category of Continuing members, who may be elected by the Board of Trustees for Life or until resignation or removal, and each of whom shall have paid a membership fee as follows:

  1. LIFE MEMBER $50.00 per lifetime, includes individual, and/or spouse and children up to 18 years of age. Death of spouse makes the life membership an individual one. (re-marriage does not make it a family membership again)

SECTION 4. HONORARY MEMBERS

Shall be persons distinguished for their attainments in the fields of history, science, literature, art, or civic or public service who may be elected for life or until resignation or removal, by two-thirds vote of the Board of Trustees at any regular meeting of the Board or at a special meeting of the Board called for that purpose. An Honorary Member shall not be required to pay dues.

SECTION 5

Dues of an annual member of any category shall be paid before he is admitted to membership. The dues of a continuing member shall be paid before he is admitted to membership.

Three Dollars ($3.00) of the annual dues received by the Society from an Affiliated Member shall be paid over to the Association of Historical Societies of Ohio for such use as that Association sees fit.

One Dollar ($1.00) of the annual dues received by the Society from and individual who is a member of the Henry County Historical Society and who is also, in the Society's opinion, a bona-fide member of the Ohio Academy of Medical History or of the Ohio Academy of History, shall be paid over to the Ohio Academy of Medical History or the Ohio Academy of History, as the case may be, for such use as the recipient thereof sees fit.

SECTION 6

In accordance with the provisions of Section 1702.13 (A) of the Revised Code of Ohio, the Society shall keep a membership book containing the name and address of each member, the date of his admission to membership, and the membership class to which he belongs. Upon termination of any member's membership in the Henry County Historical Society, that fact and the date of termination shall be recorded in the membership book.

SECTION 7

Every person eighteen (18) years of age or older, who is a member of the Society, in good standing, including the authorized representative of a corporation, partnership or other organizational or institutional member, shall have the right to vote, to hold office or otherwise take part in the proceedings of the Society.

SECTION 8

Any member of the Society may be removed from membership for conduct prejudicial to the best interests of the Society, by a two-thirds vote of the entire membership of the Board of Trustees taken at any regular meeting or at any special meeting of the Board called for that purpose, provided that at least ten (10) days written notice of the charges against such member and of the time and place of the meeting at which the charges against him will be considered, shall have been served upon him by mail or by depositing the same at the member's address as shown in the membership book of the Society, and provided the member shall have been given an opportunity to produce his witnesses, if any, and to be heard at a regularly convened meeting of the Board at, or before, the time when a vote is taken on his removal. This Section may be altered, amended or rescinded only by a two-thirds vote of the entire membership of the Board of Trustees.

SECTION 9

Except as otherwise provided in Section 7, these By-Laws may be altered, amended or rescinded by vote of a majority of the members of the Board present at any duly constituted regular or special meeting of the Board.

AMENDMENTS ADOPTED MAY, 1979

At a regularly convened meeting of the Board of Trustees, the following Amendments to the By-Laws of the Henry County Historical Society were adopted by a unanimous vote of the 12 Trustees in attendance. (Aye vote)

SECTION 1. MEMBERSHIP YEAR. The membership year of the Henry County Historical Society shall be May 1 until April 30 of the following year. Dues hereafter shall be due on May 1 of each year. All memberships dated December 31, 1979 are automatically extended to April 30, 1980.

SECTION 2. VOTE DF MEMBERSHIP. On April 28, 1970, and each year hereafter, each membership carries one (1) vote regardless of type of membership and number of persons sharing a membership. This includes:

* Family
* Individual
* Life
* Partnership
* Organization
* Institution
* Affiliated
* Supporting, and
* Honorary

This vote shall be referred to as the "Voting Member" and no change in this rule was voted on in 1979 or thereafter.

SECTION 3. TRUSTEE MEETINGS. Trustee meetings are to be held hereafter on the second Monday of each month (adopted June 1971).

SECTION 4. DEATH OF A TRUSTEE. (or removal from state). Upon the death of a Trustee, the Board of Trustees are to elect a trustee to fill the vacancy, to serve only the remainder of the vacant term of office. (Until next annual meeting).

SECTION 5. MEMBERSHIP OF AN ORGANIZATION. On March 14, 1977, the decision was made by the Trustees that an organization might be a member of the Henry County Historical Society, but that organization would have only one (1) vote when voting on Historical Society business.

Members of an organization holding a membership cannot vote unless they represent the one vote of the organization, or they themselves belong to the Henry County Historical Society as a member. Members of organizations (such as the D.A.R.) are not individual voting members but must vote as individual members of the Historical Society. The organization is responsible for the choosing of one delegate to cast the organization's one vote.

Membership fee for an organization is $10.00 per year.