HISTORIAN DERIK CLACKUM, GMEA HISTORIAN
BUILDING A STAFF (PART 3) In my earlier two GMN installments about how the GMEA moved from an all-volunteer organization to having a fully staffed office, we looked at the historical factors that were the driving force behind this change. As my first article pointed out, GMEA started as the Music Department within the Georgia Education Association (GEA). GMEA began life with less than 100 members. And, since we were under the shelter of GEA, organization expenses were kept to a minimum and shared by the GEA. Music stalwarts like Max Noah, Maggie Jenkins, and Ann Grace O’Callaghan were able to institute many musical events with the full blessing of the GEA.
During Don Robinson’s term as GMEA President (196769), the Board decided the most pressing organizational need was to hire someone to handle the treasurer’s job. With all the activities that GMEA sponsored, getting someone to volunteer to do the receipting of funds and writing checks was impossible, since being the treasurer had become a full time job. So, in July of 1967, our first paid GMEA employee, Edna Crusselle was hired as GMEA treasurer. Also, the Board decided to hire Robert Eakle to be the editor of the Georgia Music News, another job that had outgrown the volunteer days. Later, Robert was succeeded by Dr. Robert John, and then still later, Dr. John was succeeded by Dr. Mary Leglar. As the need for professional office staff continued to grow, during James Draper’s term as GMEA President (1971-73), the board hired Margaret Swain to be our administrative assistant and handle more of the paperwork. During the 1971 May meeting of the GMEA Board of Directors, Jack Broucheck (former GMEA Corresponding Secretary) proposed the creation of the office of Executive Director. While the Board took no action on his recommendation, the seed had been planted.
But in the 1950’s, GMEA experienced a significant growth in membership and the expanding membership demanded more activities for their students. Gradually, GMEA began to pull away from GEA oversight in order to have more control over our music activities. The first notable event of this transition came during the 1953 GEA Convention with GMEA holding their meetings in a separate facility. While still part of GEA, GMEA wanted to move ahead with having their All-State Band, All-State Chorus, and All-State Orchestra meet every year, instead of the old three year rotation that saw only one AllState group perform for each GEA Convention.
The need for a central office was becoming critical. Even with hiring an administrative assistant, treasurer, and GMN editor, the amount of paperwork for the Festival registrations (now called LGPE), All-State groups, and usual professional correspondence was exceeding the limits of the elected officers’ available time. This was prior to the computer revolution, when paper was king! The sheer bulk of the paper workload was becoming unmanageable for the elected officers to handle from their homes. The need for a central administrator in a centralized office was apparent. GMEA had just grown too big for our cardboard boxes.
In the 1960’s, GMEA President, Dr. Jerry Newman, convinced the GMEA Board to move the 1963 GMEA Convention (now called the In-Service Conference) from Atlanta to Athens and combine it with the UGA Reading Clinic. When Dr. Newman died unexpectedly, UGA Band Director, Roger Dancz was elected to finish Dr. Newman’s term and the concept of GMEA independence was verified by two years of well-attended meetings in Athens.
Addressing the problem, during Julian Creamer’s term as GMEA President (1979-81), the board acknowledged the need and created the office of Executive Director. To fill this office, we needed someone with specific knowledge of our organization. This unique person was former GMEA President, Don Robinson, who had recently retired from being the Supervisor of Music in Fulton County Schools. And, in order to implement this change of direction, the board rented our first official office space at 1252 Peachtree Street, Suite 546, in Atlanta. Finally, a resting place for all those cardboard boxes!
But, with professional independence came financial problems. Without the deep pockets of GEA to fall back on, GMEA needed a new financial format if they were to continue their annual meetings. Thankfully, this new format was discovered and implemented in 1965 by newly elected president, Boyd McKeown. Boyd not only put the GMEA In-Service Conference on sound financial footing, but also set up the format that is still in use today. The continuing success of GMEA in membership growth and additional activities created a lot of stress on a volunteer officer organization. Boyd’s second priority was replacing the organization’s secretary and treasurer, who resigned as he was taking office. Boyd’s wife Edna offered to help. They converted a bedroom in their home into the GMEA office. Edna also agreed to handle the treasurer’s duties (as no one would volunteer for the job) and to assist with the correspondence.
During this time of transition into our office space, long time treasurer, Edna Crusselle, resigned to take a position with the State Dept. of Education and was replaced by Lois Cox. But in 1981, the board decided to put our financial affairs under the duties of the Executive Director. The office of treasurer was abolished and Don Robinson was allowed to hire a bookkeeper to handle our financial affairs. With the beginning of the 80’s, GMEA had completed the transition from a small organization of elected, volunteer officers, to one of the largest MEA organizations in the U.S. with a professional staff and a central office ready to assist our elected officers and our members.
After Boyd’s term ended, however, the GMEA officers went back to “Living out of cardboard boxes,” as former president Herb Cox (1977-79) called it. Every two years, the out-going officers would hand over multiple cardboard boxes of information and forms for the in-coming officers to take home.
winter 2016 // georgia music news
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