Session: "Reflections on Sixty Years of SECAC"
Session Chair: William R. Levin, Centre College

Introduction, by William R. Levin

VRC affiliate organization perspective, by Christina B. Updike

"Fifty Years and Counting," by Anne Thomas

"Forty-five Years Later," by Martha Bell Caldwell


Introduction
by William R. Levin

The session titled "Reflections on Sixty Years of SECAC" at the 2001 annual meeting of the Southeastern College Art Conference, convened at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, was proposed with the intention of arranging a forum for loyal, longstanding members to reflect on aspects of their involvement in the organization. The proposal envisioned three or four individuals reviewing their efforts over the years on behalf of SECAC, and then presenting those recollections formally—and perhaps humorously—as prepared texts. A few minutes at the end of the session would remain to allow persons in the audience to respond and reminisce as well. Assuming the idea met with success, the proposal called for this year’s session to be merely the first of perhaps several such colloquia, with a long-range goal of collecting written versions of all the papers read at these occasional sessions into a brief and somewhat idiosyncratic history of the organization, composed by the members themselves. This year three respected individuals rose to the occasion and delivered superb, very different papers. Christina Updike provided a concise yet full report of the numerous contributions to SECAC made over the last quarter-century by the Visual Resources Curators affiliate group, which she was instrumental in forming. Anne Thomas reviewed the accomplishments of the administrative staff position that she has filled so ably for many years, integrating into her narrative recollections of her personal involvement in SECAC and that of her late husband, one of the organization’s founders. Martha Caldwell spoke about a few of the many SECAC meetings she has attended since her graduate-school days, singling out two for special comment and mentioning as well certain important organizational changes that she helped put into place through her innovative leadership. In various ways all three speakers referred to the companionship and mutual support that have brought them—and many others—back to the annual meetings repeatedly, and all three predicted continued vitality for the Southeastern College Art Conference in the twenty-first century. In conclusion, Christina Updike, Anne Thomas, and Martha Caldwell together set a high standard for participants in future “Reflections” sessions; potential speakers are urged to step forward and share with all of us their thoughts.
"Visual Resources Curators Affiliate Organization: Twenty-four Years of Active Involvement in SECAC"
by Christina B. Updike, James Madison University

When Bill Levin sent out an email "Call for Papers" for his "Reflections on 60 Years of SECAC" session, I was amazed to learn that SECAC had reached this milestone. Then I calculated the number of years it has been since I founded the Visual Resources Curators Affiliate Organization of SECAC and was equally surprised to realize that it has been 24 years in existence. That cliche "Time flies when you are having fun!" is very true in this case. Reflecting on the history, growth and impact of the VRC involvement in SECAC is the story I have to tell. This paper will also explore the affect this professional activity has had both in the southeastern region and nationally. You all know what a wonderful organization SECAC is, but now you are going to hear the VRC rest of the story!

The 1976 SECAC meeting in Charleston was the first one that I attended. I had recently been hired at James Madison University as their first full-time slide curator and Martha Caldwell was the senior art historian. She had provided me with literature on the Art Librarians Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) and the Mid-America College Art Association (MACAA) visual resources interest group and encouraged me to join them. Then she said, "And now you are coming with me to SECAC in Charleston. You can hear art history papers, go on tours and meet colleagues." I had already learned that you didn’t say "no" to Martha very often, so away we went on the first of many drives to SECAC venues. Charleston was a charming city, and Martha introduced me to everyone. I was struck with the friendliness I encountered and the format of the meeting with sessions, tours, and evening lectures. On the long drive back to Virginia, I commented to Martha that I wished there had been another slide curator in attendance. I also mused that a session for visual resources issues might be a good idea, since most slide curators are isolated on their campuses as single practitioners in departments of art or architecture and meeting regionally would be a great way to network. She immediately replied, "You should do it for next year." Aha, the seed was planted.

The 1977 SECAC meeting was being held in Blacksburg, Virginia and I contacted the SECAC conference planner to schedule one roundtable session on visual resources issues and then I scheduled a tour of the VPI and SU art department’s slide library with their slide curator. I then spent the next year making contacts. I wrote a letter (this was the age before email and FAX) to Nancy DeLaurier, slide librarian at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, who was also the chair of the Mid-America Visual Resources group, regarding my idea of organizing a session at SECAC for slide curators and she enthusiastically encouraged me. Nancy stated, "There are distinct advantages to regional meetings over national ones. They are easier to get to, generally the same people can attend year after year so that it can develop into a much more cohesive and functional group than could ever happen nationally." She also stated, "Don’t give up! It usually takes five years for a group to form and have life." She enclosed a copy of her "Report on Professional Status Survey of Slide Curators" with a statistical summary, which I could distribute to the attending curators. I also contacted the President of ARLIS/NA for membership materials and professional status information from the national perspective. Now I was ready to announce the meeting to colleagues and encourage attendance. I requested the SECAC mailing list of member schools and universities and sent a letter addressed to "Slide Librarian" announcing the SECAC meeting and the visual resources events. I received 27 responses from curators in the region expressing interest in joining a regional group and a few that stated they hoped to attend the meeting. Two of the curators responding to that first mailing are still in their positions and still attending SECAC, Phyllis Pivorun at Clemson and Joanne Rathman at Vanderbilt. I created a card file (no databases yet) of all the names and addresses for future mailings. Three slide curators attended that first roundtable session where we exchanged ideas and solutions to problems unique to our field, such as cataloging systems, slide library equipment, copy photography techniques, and professional status. I was thrilled at such a great start to a new regional group! The SECAC venue provides a rich experience because it combines the opportunity for all professionals to discuss their specific issues within the art and art history teaching environment. As visual resources professionals, our mission is to facilitate that teaching environment and keeping current in the field is vital to fulfilling that mission. Many attending art historians encouraged me to continue holding sessions at SECAC and promised to take the word back to the slide curators at their schools for the next year. I also began a tradition of writing a report of the SECAC meeting, which included a synopsis of the VRC sessions, for publication in national and regional newsletters to further spread the word of our activities.

So on to 1978. The SECAC venue was at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock and two SECAC members were of great help to me. Lloyd Benjamin was serving as session planner and he helped with the arrangements for the visual resources sessions as well as put me in touch with their slide curator. Virginia Rembert, SECAC President and conference planner at Little Rock, suggested I contact Nancy DeLaurier again, this time to invite her to speak at a slide curator’s session. Since Nancy was serving as the MACAA Newsletter editor and had published my SECAC report, she was aware of the success of the first SECAC slide curators’ meeting in Blacksburg, and accepted the invitation to participate in the second meeting. Nancy brought a wealth of expertise to the session on "Slide Quality", as she was the editor of the Slide Buyers Guide, and she taught the summer workshop "Basic Training for Slide Curators" held each year at her university. She addressed standards in slide quality both commercially and using copy photography and led a discussion evaluating commercial slide sources. Nancy also helped with the afternoon roundtable discussion session where experienced slide curators mentored beginning professionals and Nancy advocated membership in professional organizations. We were able to tour the University of Arkansas slide library and met afterwards for an informal luncheon. This became the traditional format for visual resources activities at SECAC, which continues today. Another tradition of SECAC is the annual dinner or party event, which usually highlights a unique venue of the host city. In Little Rock it was a riverboat dinner cruise, which the curators attended and sat together as a group—great fun and I’ll have more on this tradition later in this paper. Ten slide curators attended and I was overwhelmed by their enthusiastic response to the format and the information exchanged. My conference report was published in the ARLIS/NA, MACAA and SECAC newsletters. Fame was spreading.

The third year was a banner one for the visual resources curators. In 1979, SECAC met in Atlanta, Georgia and it was a record-breaking attendance for SECAC and the VRC—25 curators attended. My "Call for Papers" drew submissions from outside the region and I was able to schedule four sessions and tours throughout the Atlanta area. Anne Thomas, SECAC Secretary-Treasurer was instrumental in assisting me with SECAC mailing labels, preregistration materials, space in the Newsletter for announcements, and coordinating transportation requests at the conference. We met and toured the slide library at Georgia State University followed by a session on "Professional Standards of VR Curators in the Southeast." Susan Tamulonis of Northern Illinois University and myself presented papers on the history of visual resources professionalism, concepts of professionalism and continuing education opportunities. At the end of the session there was a unanimous vote taken to formally affiliate the visual resources interest group with SECAC with the commitment of annually meeting and hosting sessions at the conference. The tour of the Georgia Institute of Technology Architecture Library was also the venue for a discussion of the unique classification of architecture images and a demonstration of the use of a computer in slide library record keeping. Tours at the Atlanta College of Art library and the Emory University art history slide library highlighted the uniqueness of their collections; one with a growing videotape library and the other with its large lantern slide collection. At the SECAC business meeting, I reported to the membership the success of the visual resources program and then presented the VRC’s request to be formally recognized as an affiliate interest group of SECAC. This would allow us to send a representative to the SECAC conference planning meetings to coordinate VRC sessions with the main conference program. The Board and the membership enthusiastically approved the request. Antoinette Johnson, slide curator at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, where the next SECAC conference would be hosted volunteered to attend the SECAC planning meetings for the VRC. As the founder of the VRC affiliate group and program chair, I was designated the VRC’s representative at the SECAC Board meetings, a non-voting position. As always, I collected the names and addresses of the attending slide curators and distributed the list with my conference report so people could remain in contact during the year. My report was again published in the regional and national newsletters.

Our first meeting as an official affiliate interest group was at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. John Schnorrenburg, the SECAC conference planner was another one of my SECAC mentors. He understood the importance of visual resources curators seeing different visual resources collections and helped facilitate the scheduling of a behind-the-scenes tour at the Birmingham Museum of Art. He also arranged a walking tour of historic sites, which gave curators the opportunity to take slides for their home institutions. Two guest speakers were the highlight of the Birmingham VRC program. The morning session was entitled "Copyright Law and Visual Resources Collections" presented by local Attorney David Olive, who talked about the history and meaning of copyright law, the 1976 changes to the law, and he offered an explanation of Section 107 on Fair Use. Kathryn McKenney, slide curator at the Winterthur Museum in Delaware presented the afternoon session on "Cataloging Decorative Arts Slides." Since Kathryn came from outside the SECAC region, John funded a small honorarium from discretionary funds for VRC program development. I will always be grateful to John for his support, because it facilitated securing Kathryn as an expert speaker in the field. From then on, Kathryn became a member of SECAC and a regular conference attendee during the 1980’s, presenting papers often. At the Birmingham meeting, I tried the workshop format for a final session. It was "Photocopy Methods and Photography in Galleries and Museums" led by Ms. Johnson, UAB’s slide curator. Twenty curators attended the meeting and sessions. The SECAC VRC program was establishing itself as an important venue for continuing education and professional development. At the SECAC Board meeting that year, I presented the "Statement of Standards for Hiring Visual Resources Professionals," which had been written and endorsed by the Boards of the College Art Association and ARLIS/NA. The SECAC Board also voted to endorse this standards document and it was printed in the newsletter.

By the fifth year, the VRC affiliate group was firmly established at SECAC. The decade of the 80’s was highlighted by many "firsts," including important discussions and speakers. In 1982 when SECAC met at James Madison University, the VRC Topics Session featured a panel on cataloging standards with Diane Mallos from the National Museum of American Art speaking on computerization standards, Elizabeth Alley from the University of Maryland School of Architecture speaking on architecture classification, and Ingeborg Wald from Cornell University on the topic of manuscript classification. Also that year, the international Visual Resources Association was founded and I became the SECAC correspondent for their journal, the International Bulletin of Photographic Documentation of Visual Art. In 1983, a groundbreaking discussion was held at the Chattanooga SECAC meeting regarding shared cataloging. At our "Documenting Multi-Media Art" session, curators suggested that the VRA should coordinate computerized standard cataloging so that an art slide database would be created and all visual resources curators could contribute to and access this database to share the workload of creating slide records. Computerized cataloging would allow for easy cross-referencing so that no slide would ever be "lost" in a drawer. We are still working on this concept in the 21st century. 1983 was also the first year that the abstracts from the VRC sessions were included in the SECAC Review by editor Robert Craig and the first year the VRA Bulletin editor, Joy Blouin, published selected VRC papers from the SECAC conference. In 1984, at the Richmond, Virginia meeting, was the birth of the Southeastern VRC Newsletter with Sandra Walker of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, serving as editor. Sandy had presented a paper entitled "Establishing an Information Network for Southeastern Slide Curators" where her membership survey was discussed and the respondents expressed the real need for a regional quarterly newsletter and continued sessions at SECAC where curators could exchange information and mentor new slide curators. Sandy continued to publish this newsletter through the 80’s until e-mail and listserves took over as the preferred form of communication. In 1984, another standards document came out of the CAA and ARLIS/NA Boards entitled "Standards for Art Libraries and Fine Arts Slide Collections" and the visual resources affiliate group sought SECAC Board endorsement. After presenting it at the SECAC Membership meeting, the Board requested that I prepare a statement for the newsletter so that Deans and Department Heads could access this document when seeking staffing and establishing policies on collection development. In 1985 the meeting in New Orleans was outstanding with the largest attendance of visual resources curators—36. The southeastern curators were leading the profession with computerization projects using microcomputers and off the shelf database programs. Projects at Roanoke College, Virginia Commonwealth University, Georgia Tech, the Tulane University Architecture Library and James Madison University were shared and demonstrated or described. Another first—live music and dancing at the SECAC party. The late Carolyn Kolb, then SECAC conference planner, treated all attendees to a sumptuous dinner of gumbo and jambalaya and entertainment by a Cajun band. Three hours of lively music had everyone’s feet moving and on the last bus back to the hotel were a core group of visual resources curators, art historians and artists who became new found dancing friends. Thus began a new tradition for SECAC that has continued today and that core group of "last bus" dancers has not changed all that much through the years—in fact it has grown. In the late 80’s still more VRC sessions focussed on computer software, copyright issues, special cataloging schemes, authority file work, disaster planning, new media as visual resources (such as video and video disks), circulation controls, job reclassification and professional issues, slide library equipment, etc. The national interest with what was happening each year at the SECAC VRC sessions drew in presenters and new SECAC members from all over the region and the country. The quality of the papers improved each year making the SECAC sessions extremely worthwhile. In 1988 at Rollins College a new VRC session, the Slide Exchange offered curators a chance to bring original photography slides or duplicates to the conference and then swap them with other curators. This session was a wonderful networking opportunity and a great way to obtain slides for collections back home. The Slide Exchange session became very popular and continued to be held for about eight years. Also at Rollins, a groundbreaking discussion session was held that focussed on strategies for upgrading professional status. Job descriptions were discussed and job reclassification struggles described. Linda McRae of the University of South Florida shared the results of a survey she had conducted of visual resources collections in Florida including their staffing. During the discussion, it was stated that our national professional association should be in the forefront in setting professional standards. The VRA should be encouraged to produce a professional status statement and endorse staffing standards for visual resources collections. As SECAC VRC affiliate chair, I was charged with reporting to the VRA Executive Board, as I was serving in the office of Treasurer at the time, that the curators of SECAC requested the VRA to review and update the professional status statement. It was our hope that it would then be passed by the VRA membership, and presented and distributed as an official policy of the VRA. This request was made and the VRA and ARLIS/NA Boards did appoint a joint Task Force on Visual Resources Professional Issues to study the problems. Out of the Task Force in 1995 came the document "Criteria for the Hiring and Retention of Visual Resources Professionals." Once again, SECAC was the first regional Board to endorse the criteria standards and it was printed in the SECAC Review and appears on the SECAC website. The 1989 meeting saw SECAC back in Little Rock. The highlight of this meeting for the VRC affiliate group was the presentation at the SECAC awards program of a Certificate of Distinction to Kathryn McKenney, retiring slide curator from Winterthur, Delaware, who had been a member of SECAC from 1980-89 and had presented papers at seven of those conferences. In my tribute to Kathryn, I cited her dedication to the profession and her willingness to share her expertise with all her SECAC colleagues.

In the 1990s SECAC returned to many venues such as Atlanta, Birmingham, New Orleans, Charleston, Chapel Hill and Richmond. New sites to me were Memphis, Washington DC, Miami, Norfolk, and Louisville. The VRC sessions continued to tackle new topics and to provide training for new professionals. Theme sessions on facilities planning, automation projects, cataloging problems, staffing alternatives, implementing new technologies, documentation standards, digitization, exploring the web and internet teaching, authority files and standards questions. National projects were showcased at SECAC. In 1992, an introductory workshop on the Art and Architecture Thesaurus developed by the J. Paul Getty Trust’s Art History Information Program was held for all SECAC VRC attendees. Cathy Whitehead and Suzanne Warren from the Getty conducted the workshop and once again, John Schnorrenburg provided special funding support to make the workshop happen. Sessions in 1994 focussed on issues of how shrinking resources and new technology was forcing us to fundamentally reinvent how we educate students. Text and image resources online were discussed and shown. Sandy Walker, then VRA President, reported on the fair use conference and public hearings on copyright in the context of the National Information Infrastructure, which were held in Washington DC where she testified on behalf of the VRA. In 1995, Bonita Billman, visual resources curator at Georgetown University, served as SECAC conference coordinator and the highlights were open houses at the National Gallery of Art, the National Museum of American Art, and the American Institute of Architects Library and Archives. Members of national task forces and committee chairs became regular attendees at SECAC during the 90s. The VRA Data Standards Committee, the VRA Core Categories project, the Museum Educational Site Licensing project and the VISION and REACH projects working towards a National Cultural Heritage Database have all presented reports and findings at SECAC. The SECAC VRC attendees provided feedback and advice to the national groups. VRA, MACAA and ARLIS/NA chapters coordinated meetings to coincide with SECAC venues, thus increasing the networking opportunities, increasing membership and the professional impact. Other important projects coming out of the southeast was Phyllis Pivorun’s NOTIS online cataloging project, and digital imaging projects by Nancy Shelton at Old Dominion University, and myself, Christina Updike at James Madison University. The Madison Digital Image Database teaching and learning system created at JMU was showcased at the 1999 and 2000 SECAC conferences. As a result of these presentations, two regional institutions, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and East Carolina University helped JMU beta test the system and the software has been made available as a free download in October 2001. In 1998, I stepped down as VRC program chair after 21 years of service and Christine Hilker of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and Kathe Albrecht of American University took over. In 2001, John Taormina of Duke University and Jenni Rodda of New York University became program chairs. I remain as VRC representative on the SECAC Board.

The SECAC VRC has also served as a hotbed of officers for the national association. Three members have served as Treasurer (Chris Hilker, Lynda White and myself). Three members have served as President (Sandy Walker, Jenni Rodda and myself) and now a fourth is the current President, Anne Whiteside of the University of Virginia. Kathryn McKenney served as Secretary, Jenni was also a Program Vice President and Mark Pompelia of Rice University is now serving as Vice President. John Taormina of Duke University is editor of the VRA Bulletin, Sandy edited the 7th edition of the Image Buyers Guide published by Libraries Unlimited and Chris Hilker serves as VRA listserve moderator. Lynda White, Linda McRae, Kathe Albrecht, Chris Hilker and myself are or have served as national committee chairs. Linda McRae was most recently awarded the VRA’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award at the 2001 conference in Chicago and I was named to that honor in 1997 at the New York City conference. That is a lot of leadership coming from one regional organization!

And not only leadership at the national level, but leadership on the dance floor at SECAC parties.

As I described earlier, the late Carolyn Kolb started a new tradition at SECAC and it continued thereafter, with Halloween costume parties in New Orleans, Miami, and Tuscaloosa, where the late Gulnar Bosch appeared as a very scary witch. Barbecue and blues or jazz bands has been a popular format for the party such as the ones at the Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark Water Tower in Birmingham, at the cultural center in Chapel Hill and the historic Watertower on the Ohio River in Louisville. We have had two dances at train stations, one in Atlanta and one in Tuscaloosa. And a barbecue at the Historic Tredegar Iron works along the James River with wild dancing to the rock band the Ululating Mummies. However, the two most awesome parties have been the 1991 event held at Graceland in Memphis and the 1994 Halloween party at the Conte Wax Museum in New Orleans.

The wax museum party was so unique. Food booths and bars were set up in the maze of the museum, prizes were given for the best costumes and everyone received party favors of Mardi Gras beads and headbands with sparkly antennae. Once again, there was a live Cajun band to complete the festive atmosphere. I understand from Richard Pumphrey that some "SECAC attendees became very creative after a few beers and that the museum staff did not seem to appreciate our redressing the mannequins." Then the ultimate party was at Graceland. As John Myers recalls the tour of Graceland, he writes "I remember the quasi-religious attitude, which exuded from the young guides (high school age I think) who took us through the house and collection. I also remember standing before the wedding costumes of Elvis and Priscilla in the museum and hearing our guide tell us the daughter, Lisa Marie, was born 9 months to the day after they were married. Those of us who heard that nearly doubled over with laughter, as we tried to maintain some semblance of decorum in the sanctuary of the Great One!" Bill Levin’s memory of the sock hop held after dinner involves "Brad Collins in a T-shirt with a pack of cigarettes rolled up in one shirt sleeve and sloppily inked-on tattoos further down on his arms." I remember giggling at the tour guide’s commentary all the way through the house, but then being absolutely impressed with Elvis’s room full of platinum records and his car collection in the museum where the SECAC reception was held. The theater in the center of the car museum was a replica of a drive-in, complete with car bench seats and window speakers. Film clips of Elvis from his black-and-white movie days were being shown on the screen and as I watched from the front row I suddenly realized what the fanfare was about—"Elvis was hot!" I remember blurting this out rather loudly and my seat partners Larry Ligo and Randy Mack looked at me and burst out laughing at my revelation. I’ve been an Elvis fan ever since.

To end my reflection, I would like to read some comments by curators that seem to sum up the impact of the SECAC VRC. Phyllis Pivorun at Clemson University stated, "To me, the sessions and what was emphasized over the years are a history of how the profession has changed. I’ve loved visiting the slide libraries in the region and the best part is getting back together with people who do what I do. I always come back to the office with new ideas." Lynda White at the University of Virginia states "Certainly the sessions or ideas behind the sessions at SECAC seemed to reappear at the national level quite often. That is quite an accomplishment for such a small group. I think the fact that we have pulled in so many curators from outside the southeastern region is a testament to the strength of the programs." And Sherrie Rook from George Mason University said "When I think of VRC at SECAC what comes to mind are the standards that were set from the beginning: the efficient organization, the warm welcome to all, and the encouragement to participate. The result has been many good sessions, always worthwhile. For the small size of the VRC group, the quality of the sessions and papers has been high." And now you know the rest of the story!
"Fifty Years and Counting..."
by Anne Thomas

When Bill Levin asked me to participate in this session he suggested that I use "selective memories" about SECAC and posed several possible topics for my consideration:

1. joys and pitfalls of running the annual conference
2. presidents I have known and loved
3. development of the Newsletter and/or Review
4. recollections of highlights of various meetings and/or sites
5. changing financial considerations

While it is not my intention to address any of these specifically, I will probably touch on each in some way and without doubt the latter at some length. I will specifically avoid number 2, presidents I have known and loved. I hope it goes without saying that I have respected, enjoyed, even loved all of them. And this presentation is truly from my selective memory for before I delivered the SECAC archives, including minutes, to the University of Tennessee Library, I did not have time to compose this paper. It is probably just as well because you are spared the minutia that I would have been tempted to include had I had access to the raw data.

What I want to do in this brief presentation is to review the history of the SECAC staff position and consider its significance for the organization. I have realized that it is almost impossible for me to address this topic without reviewing my personal involvement in SECAC, without addressing the history of the organization, and without divulging some personal history and information. I hope that you will indulge that.

My first experience with SECAC was in 1950 when I was a graduate student in the newly established MFA program at then Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina, now the University of North Carolina -Greensboro. I do not remember the organization’s name but had the usual student awareness of preoccupation of the faculty, of assignments to clean the studios, and probably suspension of classes. Any sessions that I attended have long since disappeared from my memory.

My next awareness of SECAC came 10 years later when I , a new member of the faculty of the Art Department at the University of Georgia, was invited to participate on the program of SECAC, which was again meeting in Greensboro at UNC-G. Andrew Morgan, head of the Art Department of the University of Mississippi, who had been a fellow graduate student at UNC-G, was driving to Athens to pick me up and we were to drive on to Greensboro. I am not sure but think this was in March and an unexpected, and unseasonably heavy snow storm interrupted those plans. Andy had the courage to go on to Greensboro but I canceled.

Later in that year, 1960, I married Howard Thomas, senior painting professor at the University of Georgia, and during the 11 years until his death in 1971 we attended a number of SECAC conferences which I recall quite clearly: in 1962 we went to Knoxville where the conference was hosted by the University of Tennessee and welcomed at an opening party at the home of Buck Ewing, Chair of the Art Department; in 1963 a group of us drove from Athens to Tuscaloosa where the conference was hosted by the University of Alabama and where some of the sessions of the Southeastern Composers Conference, meeting simultaneously, were a particular attraction; in 1964 we went to Chapel Hill for a meeting hosted by the University of North Carolina with a welcoming party at the home of Joe Sloane and a memorable business session when the Statement of Standards and Principles was formulated and adopted; and in 1966 we went to Chattanooga for a conference hosted by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where my husband introduced his long time friend Carl Holty, who was the guest speaker.

Howard Thomas enjoyed SECAC for many of the reasons that I hear you say that you participate. He liked its size which he found comfortable and relaxed. (During our 11 years together we never attended CAA). He thoroughly enjoyed, respected, and maintained contact with his colleagues in the Southeast, many of whom were actively involved in SECAC. I heard many stories and many references to those individuals who were part of the Southeastern art community in the 40s and 50s - Gulnar and Gerry Bosch, Emil Holzhauer, Dawn Kennedy, John Allcott, Ed Yaghijian, Creighton Gilbert, George Richey, Hollis Holbrook, Kenneth Ness... the list could go on and on.

After I became officially involved in SECAC in 1973, I had occasion to organize minutes and other papers, and I was still reviewing my late husband’s files and papers. I found that Howard had been active in SECAC from its beginning. I have no written record that he was present at the organizational meeting of the Southeastern Regional Conference of the CAA on January 17, 1942 at Sweet Briar College but I do have documentation that at the meeting on October 31, 1942 at Salem College in Winston-Salem, NC, Howard Thomas was Acting Secretary, for John Canady, and was elected President at that meeting. Records show that he held that post until 1947; meetings were not held from 1943- 45 because of the war.

The 8th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern College Art Conference, held in Louisville, KY, in March, 1949, was really the first annual meeting under that name. The minutes of the 1948 meeting include the following:

Howard Thomas reporting on organization proposed the following: a. that the name be changed from the Southeastern Regional Conference of the College Art Association to the Southeastern College Art Conference (since the College Art Association does not recognize us as a regional or branch group); b. that a broad simple statement of the purpose of the organization be drawn up (we have never had a constitution); c. that dues be raised from $1 to $2; d. that the following states be added: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee, making a total of 10 counting those already members of the group (i.e. Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida). It was moved by William McDermitt and seconded by John Rembert that this report be accepted as a basis governing our future actions. The motion carried.

So, the SECAC that we know came into being. The people that I heard about from those founding years, the people that I had the opportunity to meet and know, form so many connections with those who are today active participants in the organization.

Now that I have placed myself in a context of SECAC’s beginning years and have given a fragmentary outline of SECAC’s history, I want to address the past 28 years and my role as SECAC staff.

SECAC continued operating from 1949 to 1973 much as it had from the beginning with all functions fulfilled by volunteers. It is my understanding that the 1972 conference was a near financial disaster and out of the experience came the idea, set forth by John Schnorrenberg, to create a part-time staff position. The objective was to provide continuity and a greater degree of financial control. The organization at its meeting in Atlanta in the spring of 1973, designated me as the SECAC staff person. I honestly cannot remember the specific title of the job, but I have record that the remuneration was $100 per month.

It was in 1973 that SECAC changed its meeting date from spring to fall so a second conference was held in the fall of 1973 in Nashville, TN. That was my first conference as SECAC staff and it was a particular pleasure to work with my friend and former colleague, Ham Hazlehurst, then Chair of the Art Department at Vanderbilt and President of SECAC.

My role as SECAC staff shifted when I began full time teaching at UNC-CH in 1974. I became Secretary-Treasurer of the organization and a staff assistant worked under my supervision. It was SECAC’s good fortune - and mine - that Kay Smith became the staff assistant. When, in 1981, I assumed a job in Reston, VA and no longer had time for SECAC involvement, Joan Gregory of UNC-G became Secretary-Treasurer and Kay Smith continued as staff assistant and provided 15 years of continuity and professional support.

What was happening to the organization as a result of having a staff? Of course, those were the days of 3 x 5 cards, of lists typed on a manual typewriter, carbon copies, and hand entry bookkeeping. But we were developing systems for maintaining membership records, systems for conference registration, systems for accounting for and reporting on income and expenditures. There were conference planning meetings and conference budgets.

For 10 years I was on the periphery of SECAC - attended a couple of conferences for personal pleasure, heard through Kay Smith about some of the activities and achievements. Then in 1991 several things happened: Kay Smith took a full-time job which precluded her continuation as SECAC staff and I decided to retire form my job in Reston and return to Chapel Hill. As an indication that the staff position had professional status, I was asked to come to the meeting in Atlanta to be interviewed for the position of Administrator. The position of Administrator really rolled into one position the responsibilities of the volunteer Secretary-Treasurer and the staff assistant.

In the years that I had been inactive many changes had occurred but the two that seem most significant to me were: SECAC had acquired a computer with all the attendant changes in record keeping that this tool made possible, and the presidency had been separated from the conference site. As you know, the president is now elected to serve a three-year term and each conference site has a local chair. Financially, the organization was on solid footing with a reserve of $10,000.

Certainly, one of the things that pleases me the most is that in the 10 years since my reentry into SECAC that $10,000 reserve has increased to $75,000. A bequest of $15,000 from the estate of Gulnar Bosch accounts for part of the increase but the rest is due to procedures and planning that are central to what we have accomplished in the past decade. Our financial oversight has steadily become more effective and disciplined. While not all conferences make a significant profit, we have not had a deficit conference. This is the result of better conference planning and budgeting. We have developed a conference planning manual which gives direction to conference hosts and over a three year period from the time an invitation is accepted, there is continued staff and Board monitoring of all aspects of planning, including financial. Having a reserve not only provides a source of income from its earnings but it is insurance against any unforeseen and unavoidable disaster which would leave SECAC financially vulnerable.

SECAC has two major activities: the annual conference and publication of the SECAC Review. The conference is one of the principal concerns for staff, and over the years much time and effort has been expended in trying to make the logistics as smooth, workable, and effective as possible. Staff has no role in planning and developing the program; that is the responsibility of the host institution. However, staff does provide support and assists in gathering information that expedites the work of the program chairs. Every conference is different and the problems that occur at one conference generate ideas and systems for solving those problems. Some years ago we often had program participants come to the registration desk and register surprise when they learned that membership and registration fee were required of them. We even had participants who refused to pay, considering that they were doing the organization a service by participating on the program. We seem to have eliminated that problem through the development of conference policies and guidelines for program participants. It is a constant challenge, and an ongoing principle of operation, to provide maximum assistance and the continuity that comes from experience without imposing systems and procedures that become bureaucratic encumbrances to innovation and individuality.

The SECAC Review is not a staff responsibility but its growth and development into a significant professional publication must be noted. In preparing the issues of the Review to deliver to the University of Tennessee I was struck by the change in the appearance of the journal. From a thin mimeographed, stapled few pages it has grown to an impressively designed, bound, and weighty volume. It is staff function to handle post-publication distribution of the Review and my impression, from the orders that we get from both domestic and international sources, is that it is a highly respected professional journal.

The SECAC Newsletter is a staff responsibility and it is an ongoing challenge to make it as readable and informative as possible. I would emphasize that communicating with members is a major challenge for staff - providing content and designing materials so that members read and respond to them in a timely fashion is always an objective. I should note here that getting internet connections and developing a website in the past 3 - 4 years has been a major factor in improving communications and the potential for utilizing these tools can certainly be expanded in the future.

Membership in SECAC has grown at all levels. Today individual membership is between 400 - 500; institutional over 100. Keeping membership fees, as well as conference fees, as low as possible has been an objective for the organization. It has been important to keep the organization affordable for people who are in institutions of all sizes and with a variety of resources. As you know, SECAC has three membership categories: individual, student and institutional. The later provides a significant part of the SECAC budget. It is interesting to examine the history of SECAC dues. As has been noted, individual dues were increased from $1.00 to $2.00 in 1948. They remained $2.00 until 1961. Institutional dues were first reported in the 1958 treasurer’s report but only the gross amount collected was included. I assume that they were $15.00, the amount reported in 1961. A student membership of $1.00 was first recorded in 1968. If we use the 1961 figures of $2.00 for individuals and $15.00 for institutions, we see that over a period of 40 years SECAC dues have increased to $35.00 for individuals and $100 for institutions. Over a period of 33 years, dues for students have increased from $1.00 to $10.00. I have not had the opportunity to compare these increases with those of other comparable organizations but there does not seem reason to claim rapid or exorbitant increases in SECAC membership fees.
I am not a good reader of crystal balls and I do not consider myself a visionary. I can only raise some questions about management that I think the organization will need to confront in the coming years.

1. How long will a part-time staff be adequate?

2. How long can SECAC function out of a home office?

3. What conference sites are going to be suitable? SECAC has already out grown many of the smaller communities where member institutions are located. Conference sites must be attractive communities with facilities large enough to house and provide meeting space for at least 300 people. and they must be accessible by air and/or other modes of public transportation.

4. Will more staff involvement in planning conferences be required? For example, would it provide added continuity for staff to participate in contract negotiations with hotels?

5. Can SECAC devise a more efficient and effective way of managing its financial resources? Can and should this continue to be a staff function?

SECAC in 2001 is a strong organization. Its financial base is sound and its structure seems very workable. Its real strength lies in the people it serves - the art community in the Southeast and increasingly from outside the region. It has a vibrant, energetic and intellectually involved membership. It has been a unique privilege, and a lot of fun, to work with this organization for over a quarter of a century.I feel that I have been involved in a production with a large cast of lively, colorful, stimulating characters and the threads that have connected us are woven into a fabric that is strong and durable. The projection for the future is very bright.
"Forty-five Years Later"
by Martha Bell Caldwell

I don't quite cover the 60 years of SECAC history - only 45 years of it. My first SECAC meeting was at the University of Mississippi in 1956. Present was Dr. Clemens Sommer from UNC who I chauffered around Oxford in my old gear shift car. He had come to Chapel Hill from the University of Freiburg, one of several people bought in by local Quakers. I took his graduate level Northern Renaissance art course when I was still an undergraduate, and we became good friends. So he, and my car, stand out in my memory. Thanks to Fred Moffett I received a copy of the program, which brought other people, talks and panels to mind.

The 20 or so people present attended panel sessions with only a few talks - a very different program from the ones we have come to enjoy. I don't believe I went to the first day's sessions. I was probably left to gaurd Dr. David M. Robinson's collection of ancient art. Henry Hope, who I would later enjoy at Indiana University, served as moderator for a session on the significance of subject in contemporary art. Herman Cherry, who was visiting artist at Ole Miss, provided some remarks at the luncheon. In the afternoon new films on Miro and on color lithography were shown, followed by an address on Early American Lithographs by John Carey and a panel on the Renaissance in Printmaking chaired by George Rickey of Tulane I did attend the dinner at Sardis Lake Lodge where my professor, Davy Robinson, talked a bit about his collection and about Olynthus. Henry Hope gave the major address on contemporary sculpture.

The business meeting was held on Saturday morning. The minutes record that George Cress reported on a survey of studio and lecture courses indicating the student load per faculty. If found this would be interesting historical material.

The Saturday morning session I remember clearly. George Mylonas spoke on Minoan and Mycenaean art, especially his work at Mycenae. Indeed he stayed on at Ole Miss for a week, and I had the privilege of hearing him in several class session on the same topic.

The panel that morning was on critical methods applied to unfamilar art objects. Dr. Sommer with the help of someone else had found some off beat objects, including a painting of a horse which proved to be 19th century American. Gulnar Bosch from Wesleyan in Georgia, Alfred Moir of Tulane, Bill Stars from Duke and Dorothy Bridham of Dillard University in New Orleans tried to deal with it.My second meeting was in 1964 in Chapel Hill at the Carolina Inn. This meeting, run by Joe Sloane and John Schnorrenberg, had a number of interesting sessions. Entering one on architectural history, the chair, Louise Hall of Duke, handed me a very large raucous alarm clock which went off the second a speaker exceeded the 15 minute time allocation. One person about half way through his paper was not too pleased. My memory of this conference was jogged when Barbara Schnorrenberg talked of the party she catered in the Ackland out of the tiny kitchen. Chapel Hill punch, bourbon and ginger ale, was served.I have attended SECAC on a regular basis since 1973 in Nashville missing only one until after my 1998 retirement from JMU. Throughout the 70's, 80's and 90's Tina Updike and I would fly or drive to the beautiful southeastern cities and enjoy the hospitality of the various educational institutions.

Afterwards, in the car or all too frequently sitting for hours in the
Atlanta or Charlotte airports waiting for connections, we would try to
review in order where we had been and the highlights of the various conferences. My paper initially was to be selected memories from the conferences, but there are too many of them and one's memory seems to focus more on the trivial then on that which is important. Moreover in the 25th SECAC Review Anniversay issue published in 1992 a listing is given which continues that begun by Ralph Hudson and Beverly Heisner in 1977.

However I would make some observations. Reviewing the list I am struck by the range and importance of the speakers: Clem Greenberg, Leon Golub, William Wegman, John Szarkoski, Faith Ringgold, Alice Aycock and Arnold Glimcher. The exhibits of art which have been opened for SECAC are impressive: the Lewis Collection in Virginia, Jack Warner's in Alabama, the Virlane Collection in New Orleans. One of my favorite memories is Otto Piene's great Brussel Rose slowly inflating at Ole Miss. Certainly SECAC has provided some truly memorable social events anywhere - Chapel Hill punch at the Ackland, Peggy McDowell's gathering at the Wax Works in New Orleans and of course the party with Elvis at Graceland.For the 1977 Virginia Tech conference in Blacksburg led by Dean Carter, JMU hosted Dorothy Gillespie and Joyce Kozlof who then went on to Blacksburg for the Conference. Dorothy, a native of Roanoke, Virginia, became very interested in SECAC attending many meetings and inviting us to her studio in New York for a party during the 1982 CAA conferences JMU held the 1982 conference which was not successful in terms of attendance, but during this conference the SECAC Exhibition grant got underway resulting in Mary Ann Fariello's exhibit at Chattanooga in 1983.

Irish artists and art historians were invited to attend. They clearly
enjoyed and profited from it. This is an area where I have always thought SECAC could do more. CAA is so impossibly large. A smaller group like SECAC can extend friendship and individual interest effectively. The Arts Council of Ireland, Scotland, perhaps Great Britian wne possibly other countries would pay the way of their people.

Beginning at Chattanooga, Tina Updike, Randy Mack, John Schnorrenberg and I worked on a new constitiution for SECAC, The ideas were largely John's He presented them in a low keyed, organized manner. SECAC's good fortune in having John's effective, commited leadership over the years has resulted in the strong and vital nature of this organisation.

The new Constitution for SECAC was adopted at Richmond in 1984 calling for a president with a three year term separate from the Conference Organizer who had been president for a year term. I accepted the initial presidency which covered the conferences in New Orleans arranged by the late Carolyn Kolb, Tuscaloosa with Virginia Rembert and Knoxville with Donald Kurka and the late Dale Cleaver. A member of the SECAC Board must be from the state of incorporation, Virginia, in order to file the required papers, and so I was second vice president beginning in 1978 until my presidency and then again second vice president until relieved of this arduous duty a few years ago by Pam Simpson. I was on the Board forever.

At the time of the Harrisonburg conference and during my presidency I tried to bring into active relationship with SECAC the various affiliates - SEWCA (CWAO), VRC, Souther Graphics Council, FATE and for a time the Southern Association of Sculptors. As well we explored a relationship with Mid America - something which John Schnorrenberg managed to effectively begin in 1992. Under the leadership of Bob Craig, SESAH came into lively existence in Tuscaloosa in 1986 and continues to meet conjointly with SECAC periodically.The question last summer when I was asked to do this presentation was what of 45 years of activity should I deal with in this paper? I shall get out my SECAC files and note a few letters and programs. Where are those files? I finally found two folders - one on SEWCA and one on the Harrisonburg conference. I turn them over to Fred Moffett now for the SECAC archives at the University of Tennessee before they get lost again. If the presidency files ever turn up I'll turn them over as well. Take a lesson from me and secure your records.

Another lesson from the late Gulner Bosch. In 1991 in Memphis, a memorable conference thanks to Jim Ramsey and Elvis, a group of us treated Gulner to a birthday drink at the Peabody - the hotel where the ducks walk from the elevator to a fountain. On this day the ducks were watched with fascination by the artistic elite of the southeast.

Afterward walking with her back to the conference hotel, Gulner indicated how much she had profited from SECAC and the need to support it in everyway including financially. Put the organization in your will she said. This she did very generously and we should all emulate her.

SECAC does well what it is intended to do - provide a forum for the arts community of the southeast through the annual meeting and through the SECAC Review. My final message is to treasure this organization and the people who are a part of it. Make everyone welcome, enjoy the personal and professional friendships. Be interested in the research and art you find among the members. I hope the participants in SECAC of the 21rst Century will find the encouragement, hospitality and intellectual challenge which has enriched the lives of those of us of the 20th century.



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