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1971 Conference: Personal Involvement

1 Leave a comment on paragraph 1 0 Read news coverage of the 1971 NCFR conferenceRead news coverage of the 1971 NCFR conference

2 Leave a comment on paragraph 2 0 The Annual Conference in 1971 was held at the YMCA of the Rockies, in Estes Park Center, CO, August 25–28. Eleanore Luckey was program chair. Paul Hansen was local arrangements chair. The conference drew over 800 attendees.

3 Leave a comment on paragraph 3 0 The focus of the conference was on personal involvement. Key words were activity, participation, and growth. Informality and recreation were stressed. There were many “get-in-there-and-pitch” group meetings. All meals were taken together, with some plenary addresses given during mealtime. Conversation hours were held to include students and newcomers. Film sessions were scheduled by Deryck Calderwood, who conducted them through 1985, often with Martha Calderwood assisting.

4 Leave a comment on paragraph 4 0 Gerald Leslie’s Presidential Address contained recommendations from the Axelson Survey. They were intended to make NCFR more responsive to the needs of the 1970s and NCFR members. An excerpt of those recommendations is as follows:

  1. 5 Leave a comment on paragraph 5 0
  2. Increase the terms of office for President and President-Elect to two years.
  3. Separate the position of program chair from the office of President-Elect. (This was accomplished in 1974.)
  4. Reduce the size of the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors and require attendance at meetings. (In 1973, both were reduced by constitutional approval. In 1979, the Executive Committee was abolished.)
  5. Build the annual programs around a series of major presentations on the family in an “Issue of the Year” format. (This was attempted during the 1970s.)
  6. Change the name National Council on Family Relations to reflect the broader membership base. (The members voted twice and turned it down.)
  7. Take affirmative action to recruit Blacks and members of other racial/ethnic minority groups for both membership and leadership positions, and appoint a standing committee on nondiscrimination. (Presidents William C. Nichols and Gerhard Neubeck made special efforts in this regard during their terms of office.)
  8. Adopt a concept of social action that would emphasize NCFR as a source of expertise rather than as a lobby. (Many unsuccessful efforts were made.)
  9. Seek an administratively experienced NCFR member, perhaps on sabbatical leave, to serve as a professional consultant and planner and to aid and direct the process of constructive change.

6 Leave a comment on paragraph 6 0 The conference was the site of the first session on “Strategies in Family Theory Construction.” Though the Research and Theory Section was sponsor, this developed into the annual pre-conference workshop that was devoted to theory development and methodology; it is currently called the “Theory Construction and Research Methodology Workshop.”

7 Leave a comment on paragraph 7 0 1971 conference programRead the conference program

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