Masonry Magazine December 2000 Page. 12
1)
Senator Dirksen mingles with
MCAA members during the 1966
convention (right to left) John Chapman (GSA office), Dirksen, Charles 76
Bolek (Jones Eng.), Joe Szabo and
Jim Holeman (Des Plaines, IL).
2)
Oscar Person, right, and Bob Harrington,
Center, discuss the merits of reinforced masonry
with another industry member.
3)
Representative of SCPRF demonstrates the
newly developed corner pole at the Sheraton
Hotel in Philadelphia.
4)
"Red" Auebach is greeted by George Miller and
Donald Bidwell before his address at the Boston
Convention.
5)
All Weather principles put to work at the Boston
Convention where Massachusetts members arranged
an actual job site visit.
The Chicago Mason Contractor Association took the
lead in pulling together a series of formation meetings
where organizational issues were discussed, including
such matters as defining the term "mason contractor", representation, dues and a formalized name. One of the most
important matters at hand was the development of an aggressive issues program, but it was very difficult since
there were so many diverse opinions that had to be taken
into consideration.
MCAA as an international trade
association, has provided the
nation's mason contractors with a
vehicle to secure and obtain
objectives that might not have
been possible as individuals.
But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's go
back and look at some of the significant meetings that
made all of this possible.
On April 26 and May 26, 1950, a small group of mason
contractors met in Chicago at the Morrison Hotel to map
out plans for the national organization. Using the experiences of an early 1900's organization called, the Mason
Contractors Association of the United States and Canada,
the group tried to avoid the pitfalls that ultimately led to
its demise.
Several months later, on July 14, 1950, a final organizational meeting was held in Chicago to hammer out a final
draft of the Constitution & By-Laws and to develop a dues
structure that made parties comfortable. The next steps
were to finalize a nine point program that adequately presented the position of the nation's mason contractors and to
plan the first national convention of the new organization.
On August 27, 1950, twenty-one delegates from nine geographic areas arrived at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan for the inaugural convention. The participants met on August 28 to elect officers and to formally create the Mason Contractors Association of America. Interesting enough, the first election for President resulted in a deadlock. On the second ballot, Marshall Harrison was declared the winner.
Marshall Harrison of Kansas City, Missouri was elected
the first President with Norman Bouchard of Oak Park,
Illinois as Vice President. Robert Fulcher of Nashville, Tennessee and Harry Cohen of Chicago, Illinois were chosen
as Secretary and Treasurer, respectively.
During the afternoon session, administrative matters
were discussed. Members agreed that "Association" would
be incorporated in the "State of Illinois" and the voting
power of each chapter would be one vote for each 10 members, with stipulation that all members of a chapter were
affiliated. Mandatory affiliation was a major issue since it
was one of the main reasons why the old national mason
contractors organization failed. Next item on the agenda
was a discussion of finances and dues, which were established at $10 per year per member with a limit of $500 for
any organized chapter.
On August 29th, temporary Chairman, Carl Yantz of
Louisville, Kentucky turned the gavel over to President-
elect Marshall Harrison. The delegates then turned to the
task of agreeing on a workable Constitution and By-Laws.
They adopted a Preamble and Objects and Purposes, that
are still in effect today with only a minor alteration.
After tedious discussions on membership requirements, at 10:40 a.m., William Picco of Washington, D.C.
moved that the Constitution & By-laws be approved.