I am one of the few NRC members remaining from 1963-64 when the division that
resulted in the formation of IRCA came to a head, and my memory, at age 78, is
still vivid enough that I could go into some historic detail as to how it all
came about. However, though I distinctly remember the issues that arose, it
really wasn't the issues that caused the split, it was the way the issues were
handled.
Karl Zuk, whose comments appeared on the IRCA thread, identified the one key
difference between the two clubs, the method of governance. Those who believe
all of a club's members should have a vote in how the club is operated are more
comfortable in the IRCA; those who are content with the concept that those who
do the work make the decisions accept the governance of the NRC. It's as simple
as that, and for that reason, I see little chance that a merger can emerge.
A good case can be made that the spirit of cooperative competition that has
evolved makes both clubs better; thus, those of us who still DX benefit from
information that is generated by either, or both, clubs. If there were just one
club, the incentive to do better might fade.
Though the divisive issues from 50-plus years ago have faded, I intended to
provide a brief history of how the division came about and some attempts to
bridge the differences have occurred. The result was not quite as brief as I
had originally intended.
When I joined the NRC in 1956, the club was governed by an elected board of
directors. Between 1956 and 1959, issues arose that were heatedly debated
within the pages of DX News and in correspondence between club members. Prior
to the 1959 convention in Omaha, the publisher, whose title was executive
director, announced his resignation. At that convention, there were options
presented to the convention goers for a new publisher, but none had long-term
experience with the club. Some of the old-timers urged a previous publisher to
come back; he said he would if the convention would agree to abolish the board
of directors and turn over governance to a three-person team, the publisher
(executive director), the Musings Editor, and the International DX editor. The
convention-goers voted to do so.
That vote established a precedent about the power of a membership vote at the
convention. Between 1959 and the Amarillo convention in 1961 some controversial
issues arose. At Amarillo, convention-goers voted to take certain actions, but
the three-member governing board later overruled some of the votes, resulting
in more heated debate that eventually resulted in a decision to cut off debate.
A movement grew to establish a new publising team and return to a
membership-vote form of government that was OK'd at the Denver convention, but
was again rejected by the three-member governing board.
In 1962-63 I had tried to convince my friends among the eventual IRCA founders
to be patient ... that the publisher at the time had planned to retire a couple
of years down the road, and the opportunity would arise to transition to a new
three-member board that could have decided to reinstitute an elected board of
directors that would have made the club's decisions. If they were ready to
publish, they were ready to govern.
In 1964, the publisher/executive director retired, the reins were turned over
to a successor. By 1965, I had become international editor, thus one of the
three governors, and a volunteer to succeed the new publisher. In 1966, Gordon
Nelson became International editor, Ernie Cooper remained Musings Editor and
Dick Cooper turned over Executive Director voting power to me, as his future
successor.
At the Montreal convention in 1966, Nelson, Ernie Cooper and I presented a
proposed new constitution and by-laws that would have provided a way, a
difficult but possible way, for the membership, through an elected board of
directors and a membership vote, to impeach an editor or publisher who made
contested, unpopular decisions.
Some of us remember that during all this time -- 1959 through 1968 -- ALL DX
club bulletins were mimeographed publications, hand-cranked, sorted and stuffed
into envelopes by the publisher and any others whom he could get to help. It
was labor intensive — volunteer labor intensive.
Because the NRC, largely due to shared antenna and propagation research by
Nelson, thrived and grew, the convention-goers at Montreal soundly rejected the
constitution we had written, expressing what we took to be satisfaction with
our efforts. There were no controversies at the Eugene convention in 1967, and,
even when third-class postal service out of Boston became iffy and we raised
the dues from $4.00 to $7.00 so we could send the bulletins via first-class
mail, harmony prevailed. Publishing of the bulletins became a team effort by
the original BAD Guys, the Boston-Area DX'ers. I turned the crank and, after
the team collated the bulletins, stuffed the envelopes, applied the address
labels and stamps, I made a late-Thursday-night run to the 24-hour-a-day Boston
post office to put the bulletins in the mail.
In July 1968, I married the schoolteacher I had met five years earlier in
Pampa, Texas, and quickly learned that a gang of DX'ers publishing a bulletin
in our home was incompatible with the life of a newlywed. I felt I had no
choice but to resign a year before I had intended to do so. The remaining
members of the publishing committee decided what needed to be done was to
pursue a merger with IRCA, the terms of which were in the process of being
worked out. The three-member governing board, Nelson, Cooper and myself, made
the decision to merge, under the name IRCA, and it became my duty to make the
announcement at the Boston convention in 1968. One of the club members who had
urged the club to set up the three-man government in Omaha in 1959 quickly
asked for a vote. I, my heart breaking as I spoke, reminded him that the
governing board had, in Montreal, presented a mechanism to overrule us, but it
was rejected. I expected debate, but none ensued. It was a done deal. I had, in
essence, killed the NRC.
Except for one thing. The IRCA board had not yet voted on the merger. Somehow,
the IRCA board REJECTED the negotiated plan. I, as the lamest of ducks, had not
taken part in the negotiations. Fortunately for all concerned, the BAD Guys
could not bring themselves to pull the plug on the NRC. Nelson and others
explored the options and determined commercial offset printing could save the
day. The NRC, out of sheer necessity caused by my sudden choice of marriage
over club management, became the first U.S. DX club to scrap mimeograph and go
offset.
The last mimeographed NRC publication was the first NRC Log, which I had
hand-typed on stencils during that trying summer and fall of 1968. When I had
stepped down, NRC had a little over 400 members. Several years later, when the
BAD Guys turned over publication to the team headed by Russ Edmunds, the
membership had risen to more than 700. Nearly all the other DX clubs moved from
hand-cranked mimeograph to offset. Between dedicated volunteers in Boston, New
Jersey and Louisville, the NRC was strengthened, a corporate form of government
replaced the highly informal triumvirate I briefly headed, and both clubs grew.
I was allowed, both by the club governors and by my wife, to resume stewardship
of the NRC Log for a couple of years more, so I eventually overcame the shame I
felt at having nearly killed the NRC. It took a while for me to forgive myself,
but the lasting friendships I've made through the BCB DX hobby have made
attendance at both IRCA and NRC conventions, even as an inactive DX'er,
highlights of my life.
I do hope someone will step up and, before time runs out, agree to host the NRC
this year, the year that will mark my 46th wedding anniversary. I don't have
the energy currently to be that someone.
I don't really care how either club is governed, as long as each keeps in mind
its primary function is providing avenues of communication among the BCB DX'ing
community.
John Callarman, KA9SPA, Family Genealogist, Retired Newspaper Editor,
DX-oyente, Krum TX (AKA Qal R. Mann, Krumudgeon)
John Callarman, KA9SPA, Family Genealogist, Retired Newspaper Editor,
DX-oyente, Krum TX (AKA Qal R. Mann, Krumudgeon)
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