THE
MONTICELLO
ASSOCIATION
2000 Annual Meeting Minutes
Minutes of the Annual Meeting at the Omni Hotel
Charlottesville, VA
MAY 7, 2000
The 2000 annual meeting of the Monticello Association was held on Sunday, May 7, 2000 at the Omni Hotel in Charlottesville, Virginia in accordance with paragraph 3 of the By-Laws. The meeting was held in conjunction with a luncheon and with approximately 200 members, associate members and guests in attendance. Of these, approximately 65 were voting members. There were approximately 55 descendants of Sally Hemings and their guests present.
Two presentations were featured immediately after the luncheon by members of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation committee charged with researching and writing the "Report on Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings." Dr. Dianne Swann-Wright, the committee chairwoman and Ms. Cinder Stanton, one of the committee members, conducted the first presentation. They discussed in some detail, the procedures used in reaching the conclusions presented in the Foundation's report. The Foundation's report concluded that Thomas Jefferson almost certainly fathered one and probably all of Sally Heming's children. The second presentation was by Dr. Kenneth Wallenborn, also a member of the committee and author of the committee's minority report. He highlighted those areas in the Foundation's report with which he disagreed and presented his position that the evidence was insufficient to support the committee's final conclusion. Each presentation was followwed by a question and answer period.
Following that Mr. V.R. Shackelford III presented an update on the process of the Association's Membership Advisory Committee and announced the publication of its Interim Report. The Interim Report was made avialable to all immediately after the meeting.
After a short break the Association President, Mr. James Truscott, called the business meeting to order. Mr. Truscott recognized Jane Rotch for over 35 years of service as the graveyard custodian and Mr. Edmund Taylor for his 10 years of service as the Association's Treasurer, presenting a small plaque to each. He then intriduced Ms. Helen Anderson to serve as the parliamentarian for the meeting.
The president then called for a motion to dispense with the reading of last year's minutes. The motion was made, seconded and carried by a large margin.
In the interest of time, the Secretary and Treasurer's reports wer not given but will be published in the 2000 Annual Report. The acting Trustee, Mrs. Randolph Lougee, presented a summary of her report, which also will be published separately. She reported our portfolio value to be $207,520. This is essentially unchanged from previous years. The interest from the account ammounted to $10,131; this has been sent to the Treasurer as directed by the Executive Committee. Mr. Robert T. Coolidge, the Association Historian, then presented his report. Although in the past he has reported on Mr. Jefferson's activities some two hundred years ago, this year he reviewed his duties and provided a review of the procedures he follows in determining eligibility for membership in the association.
Under unfinished business, the Membership Advisory Committee's report was not presented since Mr. Shackelford had already presented the committee's Interim Report. He did state that the final report should be ready for next year's meeting. A motion was made by Maria Randolph Stevens that the committee meetings, including the conference calls, be made open to the membership. After some discussion the motion was ruled out of order since that would not be in accordance with accepted parliamentary procedures. Mr. Shackelford stated that minutes of all the committee's meetings and conference calls would be made available on the Association web site to the maximum extent possible. [Webmaster's note - under construction] He also stated that he hoped the committee's recommendations would be developed, acted upon by the Executive Committee, and distributed to the membership prior to the meeting in 2001.
Under new business, the president called for a motion to elect new trustees for the graveyard. Accordingly the following motion was made:
IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED that the Monticello Association petition the Circuit Court of Albemarle County, Virginia, pursuant to Virginia Code Section 57-8 and 57-23 (1950, as amended) for the appointment of trustees for the Monticello graveyard, containing 0.692 acres, and being the aggregate of Parcels B, C, D and E as shown on the attached plat of survey by Kurt M. Gloeckner, C.L.S., dated January 27, 1975, revised June 12, 1975; and IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED that V.R. Shackelford III, Susan S. Walker, Robert M. Gillespie, William M. Randolph III, Nancy Morgan and Jane R. Boissevain be appointed as said trustees.
A motion was made to amend this motion to include Frank Truscott as a Trustee. The amendment was seconded, voted on and failed. The original motion was then reintroduced. In the ensuing discussion, it was noted that the trustees were originally appointed in 1977 to execute the exchange of properties with the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation; that legally they are the owners of the graveyard and would be named in any legal action involving the graveyard; that two of the original trustees had died and the remaining desired to be replaced; and that it would be desireable to have trustees responsible for the entire graveyard to include the original portion belonging to the descendants of Thomas Jefferson Randolph. The motion was voted upon and passed by a large margin.
The next agenda item was election of officers and Robert M. Gillespie presented the following slate:
| For President | James J. Truscott |
| For Vice President: | Virginius R. Shackelford III |
| For Secretary: | Betsey Bankhead Mackey. |
| For Treasurer: | Cynthia Hubard Spangler |
| For Trustee of Trust Account: | Randy Taylor Lougee |
| For Historian: | Robert T. Coolidge |
It was moved and seconded that this slate of candidates be nominate; they were elected unanimously. Gerald Morgan, Jr. nominated a slate of persons eligible for Associate Membership. They were elected unanimously and their names will appear in the 2000 Annual Report.
Mr. Truscott cited a need to raise the annual dues from ten dollars ($10) to fifteen dollars ($15) because of the considerably increased expenses from the activities of the Membership Advisory Committee (conference calls, mailings, postage, etc.) as well as similar increases in the Secretary's expenses. This involved a change in the By-Laws, and Mr. Truscott asked for a motion for such a change in the By-Laws to reflect this increase. Tom Coolidge proposed the motion to reflect an increase from ten dollars ($10) to twenty dollars ($20) per year. There was also some discussion about doubling the Life Membership charge which is currently $250. Such a change would not affect the By-Laws. Ed Taylor pointed out a downside to increasing the Life Membership charge, namely a loss in potential contributions. After further discussion, the membership voted on a separate motion to increase the Life Membership dues. The motion failed. The original motion to change the annual dues from ten dollars ($10) to twenty dollars ($20) was voted on and passed with only one dissenting vote.
David Works then moved that we support the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation and other historical associations in recognizing the Lewis and Clark bicentennial from 2003 to 2005. The motion was seconded and passed without discussion.
Pursuant to a statement by Ed Taylor, Gerald Morgan was applauded for his many years of service to the Association in a variety of offices.
John Hubard made the following motion:
"That any assembly to discuss or vote on the Hemings-Jefferson matters be done in a closed session, open to voting members only, the minutes to be taken by a person or agency selected by the Executive Comittee and printed in the Annual Report as usual. Mr. Hubard stated that an exception could be made for children age 15 and younger to provide for their supervision by attending parents."
During the ensuing discussion, which was very animated and included all perspectives, a motion was made and seconded to allow Associate members to be present at any such assembly. This motion was voted upon and passed. After further discussion, the amended motion was read as follows:
"That any assembly to discuss or vote on anything dealing with the Hemings-Jefferson matter be done in a closed session (that is, closed to all guests and visitors), open to voting members and associate members only, the minutes to be taken by a person or agency selected by the Executive Committee and printed in the Annual Report as usual; the exception being children who are 15 years or younger would be allowed to attend."
The amended motion was put to a vote and failed by a substantial margin.
Ms. Cynthia Spangler presented the budget for the coming year. It totaled $14,300 with the anticipation that the Membership Advisory Committee will have completed its work by May 2001. Ms. Spangler offered to answer any questions or provide more detail if asked. There being no comments, a motion to accept the budget as presented was made and approved.
In closing Mr. Truscott reviewed the By-Laws requirements for the Membership and Interments Committees and asked that anyone interested in serving contact him or Mr. Shackelford. Finally, Gerald Morgan noted that a recently published volume, "The Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence", was available for $69.50. He noted that the Association had not financial interest in the volume; he just wanted to make the membership aware of it.
The President then called for a motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion was made, seconded and passed overwhelmingly. The meeting adjourned at 4:35 p.m.