The Society for Creative Anachronism is governed by a collection of documents known as the Organizational Handbook, which includes both the bylaws of the modern-day not-for-profit corporation (SCA, Inc.) and the policies that govern the “in-game” historical re-creation activities and the volunteer bureaucracy that supports it (“Corpora”).
These documents emerged incrementally over the first decade of the Society, as the initial leadership established a structure for the organization. Bylaws were established in 1969 and supplemented over the following years by a body of decisions made by the Board referred to as Corpora. By 1979 the framework had taken on a recognizable form organized along similar lines to the rules we use today.
At the end of the 1990s, these documents were posted online, and for the last two decades have been maintained as a publicly-accessible PDF document. However, versions from before this era are hard to find, as few copies survive and they generally have not been digitized or published.
So I was very pleased when Lord Ramon De Javier, the Society’s Archivist, confirmed that there were several copies of the organizational handbook in the historical collection, which could be scanned and distributed.
Attached below is the first such record, dating to November 1980, labeled “the Corpora and By Laws of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.” and described more fully within as containing “the Second Edition of the Revised Corpora and By-Laws of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Incorporated, and the Governing and Policy Decisions of the Board of Directors.”
Sadly, at some point over the last forty-three years, a few errant termites have burrowed their way through this portion of the archives, consuming a handful of letters on each page, but the content of the document remains legible.
I look forward to receiving additional copies from other periods of our history and making the complete collection available for study.
If you happen to have a copy of the Society’s governing documents from before 2000, please get in touch to discuss how it might best be shared with the world.