The meeting was held at the Navy Department, Washington, D.C., and was called to order by the President, who presided.
The minutes of the last meeting of members were read and approved.
The reports of the Secretary, the Curator, and the Treasurer were read and approved.
On motion duly seconded it was voted that within his discretion during the forthcoming year the President be authorized to transfer funds from the checking account to the trust fund, without unduly reducing the former.
On motion duly seconded the action of the Board °f Trustees in entering into an underwriting agreement with Mr. Stephen Decatur for the production of a book was approved.
At the request of the President, the Secretary explained the present status of the proposal for a naval museum, and for restoring historic ships and bringing some of them to Washington.
On motion duly seconded honorariums of $20 each were voted to Miss Florence E. Sharswood and to Mrs. Rachel M. Dominick in recognition of their voluntary and very helpful services connected with the administration of the society’s affairs.
Preliminary to the election of six members to the Board of Trustees to fill early prospective vacancies, the President announced the withdrawal of Rear Admiral Elliot Snow as a candidate for re-election.
The following trustees were elected for a term of three years:
Vice Admiral W. L. Rodgers
Admiral Hilary P. Jones
Admiral Joseph Strauss
Rear Admiral David F. Sellers
Captain E. S. Kellogg
Captain D. W. Knox
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY
Notice has been received from the Secretary of the Naval Institute that at its March, 1934, meeting the Board of Control took under cognizance the expiration of the agreement to contribute $500 per year to the foundation, which agreement had first been made in 1927 for five years and then in 1932 extended for two years. A further extension was most generously voted by the Board for a period of one year at the rate of $400.
In acknowledging this very gratifying action the President of the Foundation addressed the Secretary of the Naval Institute as follows:
Will you be so kind as to convey to the Board of Control my very sincere thanks for this exceedingly generous contribution. The foundation feels under especially great obligations to the Naval Institute for its great moral support, valuable publicity, and liberal financial aid. It is principally due to the Institute that the organization of the Foundation and its successful growth to the present gratifying condition were made possible.
Sales of the Early History of the Revenue Marine have continued slowly. To date the total receipts for the book have amounted to $687, while the total expenditures including royalties have been $534.47, leaving a net cash profit of $152.53. There are remaining on hand 25 bound and 15 unbound copies whose value at cost is $25.68.
During the summer there came to the Secretary's notice an unusually large and rare collection of early naval manuscript, related to the Barbary Wars, in the possession of the present generation of the Decatur family. There was a possibility of the collection being sold and for that reason the owners were unwilling to permit copying, which is highly desirable from a historical viewpoint to preserve the data against dispersion and the possibility of loss and to make it available for research.
The owners were considering the publication of a book based on this rare material, but were hampered by insufficient funds for its preparation. The Board of Trustees, therefore, unanimously voted to offer financial assistance to the extent of $500, under the condition that the Foundation should be recompensated in full from royalties and that it should also require the right to copy the material. An underwriting agreement to this effect has accordingly been made with Mr. Stephen Decatur, who is to prepare a book covering naval affairs during the Barbary Wars.
It is believed that this case is an interesting example of the utility of this society in promoting the purposes for which it was created, and incidentally in assisting the Navy Department. The latter is engaged on a project to print the early documentary history of our Navy and will take up the period of the Barbary Wars within a few years. In these early dates the department's archives are quite incomplete and need extensive supplementing from outside sources. The rare Decatur collection could not have become available to the Navy Department except through the aid of the Foundation.
Another example of the utility and helpfulness of the society is given by the recent photographing of a highly interesting old painting of the armed merchant ship Mary beating off three French privateers in the year 1799. Through the kindness of Mr. Gershom Bradford, a member of the Foundation, this picture was copied under very complicated circumstances which no amount of official red tape could possibly have surmounted, and it is now available to the Navy Department as an illustration to the documentary history of our Naval War with France, the first volume of which has just gone to press. Other rare pictures have been copied under similarly complicated circumstances and have become available to the Navy Department and to our kind sponsor, the Naval Institute.
The attention of President Roosevelt has been called to the Foundation's project for a naval museum in the City of Washington and he has expressed cordial informal approval of its general terms, while suggesting certain modifications of detail.
With great regret I must inform you of the sudden death of Mr. George C. Ames soon after our last annual meeting which he had attended as a new member. Mr. Ames took a great interest in the work of the Foundation and volunteered for any work which might useful to it. Such a fine spirit is what makes an organization accomplish its purposes. Mr. Ames very generously bequeathed to the Foundation the two very handsome clipper-ship prints, exhibited before you, together with a large number of unusually fine books on maritime matters. This material will not come into the permanent possession of the Foundation until the final settlement of Mr. Ames' estate.