elcome to the Association for Gravestone Studies. We are an organization of approximately 1000 members, with about half in the Northeast. The rest are distributed around the country and in some foreign countries, including Canada, Japan, Germany, England, and Australia. Our office is located in Greenfield, Massachusetts.

Each year in June we hold a week-long annual conference that is held at a different college. Motor coach tours to cemeteries, workshops on conservation of gravestones, making foil impressions and rubbings, and photographic instruction are but some of the things that we do at these conferences. This June over 100 members and non-members attended the conference at Union College in Schenectady, NY. The Conservation Committee presented a day-long series of presentations and roundtable discussions, as well as “hands on” instruction in a local cemetery.  Twelve scholarly lectures were given during the evenings, and a day of participation sessions offered classroom presentations on various topics. Our highest award, the Harriette Merrifield Forbes Award, was conferred on David Watters and three other individuals received the prestigious Oakley Certificate of Merit. 
  
We encourage you to participate in our conferences and publishing efforts. The recent issue of Markers, our annual journal, included articles by seven authors, while the last four issues of the AGS Quarterly had fifteen major articles and fourteen book reviews. AGS members contribute many of these works. In addition, we encourage work in local areas to ensure that your cemeteries are mapped, recorded, and cared for, not only for the benefit of current genealogists and historians, but for all future generations as well. 
 
If you share any of these interests—art, history, art history, genealogy, archaeology, anthropology, conservation, or material culture, please join us and support our work. There is much to do and we eagerly solicit your participation. We would enjoy meeting you, learning of your interests, and including you in our activities. 

                                                                                                                                                             Ian W. Brown
                                                                                                                                                           President

From the President
Ian W. Brown
Summer Quarterly, Vol. 33:3
 

This is my first “from the president” message, so let me start off by saying how honored I am to occupy this role. I have been a member of the AGS since 1987, but because I lived far from its center for most of that time (Alabama), I did not start attending annual conferences until the Savannah meeting in 2002. It was then that I discovered just how incredible these conferences are, and I also came to admire the skills, dedication, and wonderful personalities of its many eclectic members.

During these past two years, as a board member, I learned much about what goes on behind the scenes. Two dozen, hard-working trustees run the organization, a number that is matched by other AGS members who serve on editorial boards. Until one is actually involved as a board member, it is hard to gain an appreciation of all that is involved in running the AGS, both in terms of bringing its annual conference to fruition and in its publications. I highly recommend the experience and encourage anyone who wishes to get involved as a board member to let me know.

I am especially indebted to Rosalee Oakley, our immediate past president, in helping me learn the ropes this past year when I assumed the role of Vice President. She has performed yeoman’s service to the AGS throughout its history, and I for one am grateful to have had her as my guide and model.

In the years ahead I would like to continue to build upon what the AGS has already done, following the adage that “if it works, don’t fix it.” At the same time, I believe there are things that we can do to expand our influence both nationally and internationally. The Northeast has been our base, and will continue to be so because that is where the bulk of our membership lives. With that said, there is no reason why we cannot grow elsewhere. No area has a monopoly on cemeteries after all!

There are several ways in which this “reach out” can occur. One way is to hold our conferences in diverse parts of the country (and even in another country?!). We have done so to some extent in the past, but I believe we can make this an even more common practice in the future. Second, no matter where we hold our conferences, we need to find effective ways to generate new membership in those areas. Third, in order to establish ties between AGS members of the same region, we have to find ways to bring them together. Establishing state chapters is one way to do that, so I have created a new committee to look into how they might be formed. Another new committee is the Marketing Committee, which is exploring ways to get our name out there to enhance membership numbers. Right now we are hovering between 900 and 1,000, which is certainly a decent amount, but if we are ever to get beyond relying on the annual conference to make our budget, we must continue to develop membership, which is one of my major goals.

As a teacher, I am also dedicated to finding ways to increase student involvement in the AGS. Youth is the future for most organizations, and my philosophy is that if we can get students to our conferences we will have them forever. Thus, increasing scholarship is another critical goal for my administration. Enough said. I look forward to the months ahead in leading the AGS and I thank you, the membership, for your trust.

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