Dear Fellow/Sister NYHIST-L subscribers:
I invite those among you with interests intersecting the history of
correctional services in New York to consider witnessing the New York
Correction History Society startup announced in the notice below if the
meeting time (5:30 PM), date (Tuesday, July 13th) and place (the historic
"Tombs") make attendance possible for you. Give me a call, an e-mail, or a
fax if you want to attend. Attendance does not obligate you to become a
member. Besides, there are no dues as yet. We promise that those who enter
the jail for this occasion will be free to leave without posting bail.
Thomas McCarthy 212 266 1016 212 266 1597 fax
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NEW YORK CORRECTION HISTORY SOCIETY
c/o 60 Hudson St. Room 608, New York, NY 10013
The New York Correction History Society (NYCHS) will hold its formal
organizational meeting 5:30 PM, Tuesday, July 13, 1999, in the visit house of
the Manhattan Detention Complex (aka The Tombs), 125 White St. off Centre St.
The agenda provides for adoption of resolutions to enable the society to
emerge as an official entity. One resolution submits for election as society
officers a slate of nominees that includes professors in criminal justice
studies at public and private universities and current and former
commissioners and other top officials, as well as rank and file officers and
civilian employees, of city and state agencies of correction, probation,
juvenile justice and criminal justice services coordination.
Another resolution authorizes the society's officers to begin work on
specific activities. These include setting up shared interest groups for
members; establishing a web site, newsletter and journal; arranging tours for
members to sites of interest; soliciting, collecting, storing and cataloging
historical materials, and placement of historical markers.
The key enabling resolution -- taken from the "Now therefore, it is resolved"
portion of the Preamble of the Proposed Constitution and Bylaws -- reads, in
part:
"THAT a not-for-profit society be established for the pursuit, preservation
and promotion of correctional history throughout the City and State of New
York; thereby fostering a sense of professional tradition, heritage and
kinship among men and women currently and formerly in New York correction
service; enriching the store of knowledge about their contribution to the
commonweal, both past and present, and increasing public appreciation of it;
and
THAT the society shall seek to achieve these goals by widely disseminating
this history, by serving as a repository and resource for those studying and
researching it, by facilitating exchange of information among them, and by
creating opportunities for their shared activity . . ."
The draft NYCHS Constitution and Bylaws declares that for its purposes the
term "Correction" shall be understood as referring to detention of accused
persons, youth and adult, before and during proceedings to resolve charges,
incarceration resulting from determinations in such proceedings, alternatives
to detention and incarceration (including probation and parole), and
rehabilitation efforts during and after detention, incarceration, probation
and parole.
In keeping with that broad inclusive approach, the draft Constitution also
provides that individual NYCHS membership shall be open
--- at all correctional agencies throughout the City and State to current
and former employees, their families' interested members, the officers and
employees of their agencies' recognized unions, current and former officials
and employees of their agencies' oversight boards or commissions, current and
former employees of their agencies' contract service providers, their
agencies' recognized volunteers, and
members of their agencies' community and youth outreach programs.
-- at accredited colleges, universities and technical institutes, to
professors and instructors in correctional subjects, and students pursuing
correctional studies.
-- to judges who monitor or have monitored correctional agencies, those
judges' staffs and others assisting in those monitorings; members and staffs
of legislative committees whose mandate specifically includes correctional
issues; journalists who regularly cover correction-related news; officials
and full-time employees of community-based organizations engaged in
post-release rehabilitative and support programs for former inmates of
correctional agencies that enter into working relationships with the society.
In New York, historical societies incorporate under the State Education Law.
The organizational meeting, its agenda resolutions and the draft
constitution/bylaws have been designed to follow the letter and spirit of the
State Regents’ "Chartering Historical Societies, Museums and Related Agencies
in New York State." NYCHS needs formal adoption of enabling resolutions in
order to petition the Regents for a Provisional Charter, the first step in a
process leading to what is called an Absolute Charter.
We hope your schedule will permit you to participate in person along with
colleagues you may invite to accompany you. Feel free to copy this notice for
their information.
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