The American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati is governed by the officers and Board of Directors of the Society of the Cincinnati, Inc., with the guidance and support of the Board of Advisors. The bylaws of the Society of the Cincinnati, a District of Columbia non-profit corporation, define this governing structure and the relationship between the two boards. Together they shape the agenda of the Institute and ensure that the Institute carries out the historic mission of the Society, defined by the founders of the Society of the Cincinnati in 1783, to perpetuate the memory of the American Revolution.
Board of Advisors
The Board of Advisors has the right and responsibility to make recommendations concerning the operations of the Institute. Drawing on the wide-ranging experience and expertise of its members, the board exerts broad influence over the Institute’s strategic directions and provides counsel to the Society’s leadership on priorities and plans.
The Board of Advisors is comprised of as many as fifteen members. The vice president of the Society of the Cincinnati serves as the chairman. Other members of the Board of Advisors are nominated by the president of the Society and confirmed by the Executive Committee of the corporation. A simple majority of the members of the Board of Advisors must be members of the Society of the Cincinnati. Other members of the Board of Advisors are men and women who are committed to the goals of the Institute. Members of the Board of Advisors who are not officers of the corporation are elected to staggered six-year terms, which may be renewed. All members serve without compensation.
The current members of the Board of Advisors are:
Joel Thomas Daves IV, Chairman, Mobile, Alabama
Herbert M. Berg, Ph.D., Alexandria, Virginia
Kathleen Walsh Carr, Washington, D.C.
Hannah Caffery Cox, Alexandria, Virginia
George Sunderland Rich, Baltimore, Maryland
Mark Calhoun Williams, Bethesda, Maryland
Executive Committee
The Executive Committee governs the corporation between meetings of the officers and Board of Directors. The Executive Committee receives reports from the Board of Advisors and a variety of committees appointed by the president, confirms the election of members of the Board of Advisors and takes other actions, some of which are subject to the final approval of the Board of Directors. The six General Officers constitute the historic leadership of the Society of the Cincinnati, each officer holding a position established by the Institution of the Society of the Cincinnati and first held by a former officer of the Continental Army. George Washington was the first president general of the Society of the Cincinnati.
The six General Officers of the Society of the Cincinnati serve as the Executive Committee of the corporation. The solicitor and the executive director of the Society of the Cincinnati are non-voting members of the Executive Committee. The officers of the corporation serve for three-year terms. Neither the president nor the vice president may succeed himself, but there is no such term limit for other officers.
The current officers and other members of the Executive Committee of the Society of the Cincinnati, Inc., are:
Frank Keech Turner, Jr., President, Baltimore, Maryland
Joel Thomas Daves IV, Vice President, Mobile, Alabama
Francis Ellerbe Grimball, Secretary, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina
William Postell Raiford, Ph.D., Treasurer, Hockessin, Delaware
Cordell Lee Bragg III, Assistant Secretary, Thomasville, Georgia
John McConville Shannon, Assistant Treasurer, Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina
William Polk Skinner, Solicitor, Washington, D.C.
F. Anderson Morse, Executive Director, Arlington, Virginia
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors is comprised of the six General Officers and two directors from each of the fourteen constituent societies, organized in the thirteen original states and France, and as many as six at-large members. All directors serve until replaced.
The current directors of the Society of the Cincinnati, Inc., are:
Francis Gorham Brigham III, Newtonville, Massachusetts
Jean-Franҫois, comte de Caffarelli, Paris, France
William Pfingst Carrell II, Louisville, Kentucky
Loÿs, marquis de Colbert Cannet, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Thomas Edward Crocker, Jr., Washington, D.C.
Robert Campbell Farmer, Richmond, Virginia
Edward Paul Gibson, Charleston, South Carolina
Douglas Sinclair Hamilton, Westerville, Ohio
Thomas Heyward Motte Hamilton, Charleston, South Carolina
John Christopher Harvey, New York, New York
Stephen Benjamin Jeffries, Boston, Massachusetts
Bryan Scott Johnson, Greenville, South Carolina
Joseph Branch Craige Kluttz, Charlotte, North Carolina
David Peter Kollock, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Frank Mauran IV, Providence, Rhode Island
Herbert Jaques Motley, Jr., Nahant, Massachusetts
Christopher Mark Nichols, Prospect, Connecticut
Ferdinand Henry Onnen III, Washington, D.C.
James Keith Peoples, Washington, D.C.
Michael Paul Pillsbury, Ph.D., Washington, D.C.
Richard Renz Raiford, Haymarket, Virginia
Walter Gurnee Dyer Reed, Newport, Rhode Island
Kenneth Duane Roach, Windsor, Connecticut
William Lowe Sheftall III, Thomasville, Georgia
Gregory J. Sproat, Jeffersonville, Pennsylvania
John Mark Stephenson, Albany, Georgia
Mark Crosby Ward, Devon, Pennsylvania
Mark Calhoun Williams, Bethesda, Maryland