By Louis M. Kyriakoudes and Kristine McCusker
The last few months have seen a whirlwind of activity as we have overseen the move of OHA’s former home at Georgia State University to its new home here at Middle Tennessee State University.
We’ve attended to many details, from setting up the new office here at MTSU’s Peck Hall, to registering the organization as a nonprofit with the state of Tennessee. We’ve learned new software programs to handle membership and the conference program, and we’ve transferred OHA’s operating accounts to a national bank with branches here in Murfreesboro.
We’ve welcomed Faith Bagley, a recent graduate from MTSU’s public history M.A. program, who is the new OHA program associate. We’ve also welcomed our student workers, Jordan Alexander, a student in MTSU’s public history Ph.D. program, who serves as our graduate assistant, and Bethany Bork, our undergraduate intern.
This smooth transition would not have been possible without the generous and cheerful help of OHA’s leadership and staff. First and foremost we want to thank Gayle Sanders Knight, outgoing program assistant, who has helped us at each point in the transition. She has answered our many questions with good cheer. She traveled to Murfreesboro to spend a week with us as we mastered the many ins and outs of OHA procedures.
Gayle’s steady hand at the Georgia State University executive office kept the association on track after Cliff Kuhn’s tragic passing. All who love OHA and the practice of oral history are in debt to her.
We want to thank the outgoing interim executive director, Kristine Navarro-McElhaney. She bequeathed to us all an organization in sound shape, and her training in accountancy has been a great help to us as we’ve established our office. Past president Doug Boyd and current president Todd Moye and the current members of Council have all been essential to this successful transition.
As co-executive directors, we have been struck by the dedication, skill, professionalism and sheer love for the association. We look forward to continuing in that tradition as we serve OHA and you, its members.
OHA social media efforts are in full swing. Please keep us apprised of your work, your projects, career milestones, grants and any other accomplishments and good news you want to share. Please send your announcements to oha@oralhistory.org.
We look forward to seeing you all in Montreal!
