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The society was founded by forty participants during the Modern Language Association Convention in New York City on 29 December 1970. The following were present on the occasion:

William Axton, Philip Collins, Paul Davis, Richard Dunn, Donald Erickson, K. J. Fielding, Donald Fanger, Gordon Fleming, George Ford, David Foster, Joseph Gold, Wendell Harris, Bert G. Hornback, Merrit Y. Hughes, Louis James, Edgar Johnson, E. D. H. Johnson, Lauriat Lane, Steven Marcus, R. D. McMaster, Jerome Meckier, J. Hillis Miller, Sylvére Monod, Ada Nisbet, Robert Partlow, Robert Patten, Ladell Payne, E. Pearlman, Edgar Rosenberg, Lance Schachterle, Lionel Stevenson, Michael Slater, Michael Steig, Richard Vogler and George Wing.

The year before, thirty-seven people attending a Dickens Seminar at the 1969 MLA Convention in Denver expressed interest in several issues related to the study of Dickens. On a motion from Edgar Johnson, a panel consisting of Ada Nisbet, Joseph Gold, William Axton and Robert Patten, moderated by Robert Partlow, was elected as an ad hoc planning committee charged to investigate and report on possible future activities of the group. Among the proposals entertained, several came to fruition, including the establishment of a society to encourage and foster the study of Dickens and a newsletter to serve as a forum for exchanging scholarly information. The latter, which took shape as a quarterly newsletter, distributed its first issue in March 1970, edited by Robert Patten and under the auspices of Dickens Studies Annual. On 1 July 1970, The Dickens Society assumed control of the publication and continued henceforth, appearing in March, June, September and December as Dickens Studies Newsletter. In March 1984, a new series took over, when the title changed to Dickens Quarterly. From the beginning of 2015, the publication and distribution of the Dickens Quarterly has been in the hands of Johns Hopkins University Press.

1. J. Fielding
2. William F. Axton
3. Michael Slater
4. George Ford
5. Philip Collins
6. Robert Patten
7. Angus Easson
8. Harry Stone
9. Sylvère Monod
10. Richard J. Dunn
11. James Kincaid
12. Graham Storey
13. George J. Worth
14. M. Daleski
15. Mark Spilka
16. Barbara Hardy
17. Edgar Rosenberg
18. John Lucas
19. Susan Horton
20. Fred Kaplan
21. Susan Shatto
22. Jerome Meckier
23. Paul Schlicke
24. Bert G. Hornback
25. Duane DeVries
26. Joel J. Brattin
27. Anny Sadrin
28. Nancy Aycock Metz
29. Malcolm Andrews
30. Barry Qualls
31. Grahame Smith
32. David Parker
33. Janice Carlisle
34. John Bowen
35. Robert Tracy
36. Sally Ledger
37. Catherine Waters
38. Lillian Nayder
39. Nicola Bradbury
40. Goldie Morgentaler
41. Ruth Richardson
42. Iain Crawford
43. Natalie McKnight
44. Sean Grass

The Dickens Society Bylaws:

(Last Updated: 1 September 2023)

Mission Statement: The purpose of the Dickens Society is to conduct, further, and support research, publication, instruction, and general interest in the life, times, and literature of the late English man of letters Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870).

1. The officers of the Corporation shall be a President, a Vice President,  a Secretary, and a Treasurer.

2. There shall be a Board of Trustees of twelve members and the four aforesaid officers ex officios.

3. The Board of Trustees fills a strategic role for the Corporation, with the right to employ such agents and start such initiatives as it sees fit in order to fulfill the mission of the Corporation. A Quorum shall consist of seven members.

4. The President shall preside at the meetings of the Board of Trustees, the Executive Committee, and at the meetings of the Corporation.

5. If the President is absent, the Vice-President shall preside in their place. If both are absent, then the Secretary shall preside, or if the Secretary is also not present, the Treasurer shall preside.

6. The Treasurer shall have the custody of the Property of the Corporation. Their accounts shall be audited and certified by a three-person Audit Committee appointed by the President. The Treasurer shall issue an interim report of the financial transactions of the Corporation during the year past at the annual meeting of the members, and they shall also cause a final report to be published in the Dickens Quarterly in the issue following the end of the fiscal year.

7. The Secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings of the Corporation and its members and cause the Annual Meeting minutes to be published in the Dickens Quarterly in the issue following the end of the fiscal year.

8. The members of the Corporation shall consist of: Honorary Members, Life Members, Contributing Member, and Active Members.

9. Honorary Members shall be those who have made notable contributions to the furtherance of the stated purposes of the Corporation. They shall be elected by the Board of Trustees from nominations made by at least five members of the Corporation. A majority of the Board of Trustees who vote shall be necessary for election. Honorary members shall be exempt from any dues.

10. Life Members shall consist of members of the Corporation who have subscribed at any one time such sum as shall be determined by the Board of Trustees.

11. Contributing Members shall consist of members of the Corporation who shall subscribe annually such sum, in addition to the dues of an Active Member, as shall be determined by the Board of Trustees.

12. Active Members shall consist of persons who have applied for admission to the Corporation, who have been approved by the Board of Trustees, and who shall subscribe annually such sum as shall be set by the Board of Trustees.

13. Only individuals shall be eligible for membership in the Corporation. Libraries and other organizations may subscribe to the publication of the Corporation on such terms as shall be set by agents of the Corporation.

14. There shall be an Executive Committee comprised of the officers, the editor and review editor of the Dickens Quarterly, and two members of the Board of Trustees appointed by the Board for a term of one year. The role of the Executive Committee is to manage the affairs of the Corporation and vote on matters pertaining to the future welfare and activities of the Corporation and its journal. The Executive Committee shall have the power to transact current business through the Secretary and the Treasurer and to recommend action to the Board of Trustees on other matters.

15. There shall be a Nominating Committee, composed of four members of the Corporation named by the President for a term of two years and a chairperson who shall previously have served as an ordinary member of a Nominating Committee.

16. The Nominating Committee shall nominate at least one member of the Corporation for each vacancy on the Board of Trustees. It shall nominate one member of the Corporation for vacancies in the offices of President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The Committee shall also nominate candidates for such other positions as are necessary to carry out its business. The Committee shall have responsibility for conducting the online election process.

17. Other nominations for Trustees or Officers of the Corporation may be made by written petition signed by at least fifteen members of the Corporation at least eight weeks before the date of the start of the election.

18. The Trustees and Officers of the Corporation shall be elected via online voting to take place during the last week of the fiscal year, and shall take office at the start of the fiscal year.

19. The President and Vice-President shall serve for a term of three years, or until their successors are chosen, and shall not be eligible for re-election to the same post for a period of three years. The Vice-President shall serve as President-Elect and automatically become President at the end of their term.

20. The Secretary and the Treasurer shall each serve for a term of three years, or until their successors are chosen, and shall be eligible for re-election. If the Secretary or Treasurer is a citizen of the State of Illinois, they shall be the Registered Agent of the Dickens Society and their office shall be the principal office of the Society. If both are citizens of another state, then the principal officer of the Society shall be the Treasurer’s office, but the Registered Agent shall be appointed by the Board of Trustees from among the members of the Society who are citizens of the State of Illinois.

21. The Trustees shall serve for a term of three years each, or until their successors are chosen, and shall not be eligible for re-election for a period of three years from the end of their tenure of office.

22. In case of the death or resignation of any of the Officers or Trustees of the Corporation, the vacancy or vacancies may be filled by Executive Committee appointment until the next election cycle.

23. The Annual Meeting of the members of the Corporation shall be held at a time and place to be fixed by the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees and announced in advance to the members of the Corporation by the Secretary.

24. Special Meetings of the members of the Corporation may be called by the President and a majority of the Board of Trustees upon notice to members of the Corporation by the Secretary.

25. A quorum of the members of the Corporation shall consist of twenty-five members, at least five of whom shall be members of the Board of Trustees and/or Executive Committee.

26. The Corporation shall publish a quarterly entitled Dickens Quarterly which shall be sent to all classes of members not in arrears and to all subscribing libraries and other institutions. The dues of each class of members shall be considered to include the subscription price thereof. Editors shall be appointed by majority vote of the officers and the Board of Trustees, and shall be confirmed by a majority vote of the members of the Corporation during the next following election cycle.

27. These Bylaws may be amended by a vote of two-thirds of the members of the Board of Trustees who vote, with assent of a majority of the members of the Corporation who vote.

28. No part of the earning of this Corporation shall inure to the benefit of or be distributable to its members, Trustees, Officers, or other private persons, except that this corporation shall be empowered and authorized to pay reasonable compensation for expenses incurred and services rendered and to make payments and distribution in furtherance of the purposes set forth in Article 5 of the Article of Incorporation of the Dickens Society. No substantial part of the activities of the Corporation shall be the carrying on of propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and the Corporation shall not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distribution of statements concerning), any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office. Notwithstanding any other provision of these articles or the Articles of Incorporation, this Corporation shall not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried on: (a) by a corporation exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (or the corresponding provision of any future United States Revenue Law), or (b) by a corporation, contributions to which are under section (c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (or the corresponding provision of any future United States Revenue Law).

29. Upon the dissolution of this Corporation, the Board of Trustees shall, after paying or making provision for the payment of all the liabilities of the Corporation, dispose of all of the assets of the Corporation in such manner, or to such organizations organized and operated exclusively for charitable, educational, religious, or scientific purposes as shall at the time qualify as an exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (or the corresponding provision of any future United States Revenue Law), as the Board of Trustees shall determine. Any of such assets not so disposed of shall be disposed of by a court of competent jurisdiction in which the principal office of the Corporation is then located, exclusively for such purposes or to such organization or organizations, as such court shall determine, which are organized and operated exclusively for such purposes.

30. The purpose or purposes for which the Corporation is organized are: charitable, educational, and scientific, and more specifically to conduct, further, and support research, publication, instruction, and general interest in the life, times, and literature of the late English man of letters Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) by such means as may be desirable, and to hold property for such purposes. All above purposes and activities shall be conducted for exclusively educational purposes within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (or the corresponding provision of any future United States Revenue Law).

AMENDMENTS

Bylaws originally adopted 1981.

Amended December 1983 by mail ballot: changed all references (articles 6 and 26) to Dickens Studies Newsletter to Dickens Quarterly

Amended 1986: changed sexist language to be gender inclusive (he became he/she, etc.)

Amended 1 January 2015: outlined new responsibilities for Officers, Board of Trustees, and Executive Committee; changed term length of officers from one to three years and moved start date to beginning of fiscal year; reduced number for a quorum from 30 to 25; and added provision for optional waiver of registration fees for officers without sufficient institutional support.

Amended 18 June 2017: moved the elections of officers and trustees to a secure, online platform and aligned election timing with our fiscal year instead of our annual meeting.

Amended 25 March 2018: split the position of Secretary-Treasurer into two separate roles: Secretary and Treasurer.

Amended 1 September 2023: extended term limit of the Nominating Committee and chairperson from one to two years, waived annual symposium fees for Society officers lacking institutional funding if Society income permits, and changed gendered pronouns to gender neutral pronouns (he/his and she/hers became they/theirs, etc.).

[1] Conference fees for the annual Dickens Society Symposium may be waived for the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and Communications Committee Co-Chairs if such expenses are not covered by their home institution, with the stipulation that the fees be waived only if the Society income permits.