Chapter Six of the story of the New-York Historical Society
Chapter six: attempting a turnaround, 1988-1992
The macomber advisory report and the development of the bridge plan, 1988-1989
As publicity and turmoil swirled around the Society, the immediate challenge for the board of trustees was to introduce some measure of stability to the institution. The trustees' first step was to assemble a blue-ribbon advisory committee. This committee, chaired by John Macomber, the former chairman and CEO of Celanese Corporation, was officially created on August 10, 1988, and was composed of a stellar group of professionals representing a wide spectrum of backgrounds and experiences.
The committee was made up of eleven members: Chairman John Macomber, former chairman and CEO of Celanese Corporation; Ellen V. Futter, president of Barnard College; Vartan Gregorian, president of the New York Public Library; Bernard Harleston, president of City College; Eugene Keilin, general partner in Lazard Freres and director of the Municipal Assistance Corporation; Roger Kennedy, director of the National Museum of American History; Sherman Lee, former director of the Cleveland Museum; Richard Ravitch, chairman of the NYC Charter Revision Committee; John Sawyer, former president of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Richard Shinn, former chairman and CEO of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; and Lisa Taylor, former curator at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum.
The second step was convincing Barbara Debs to come back to the Society and serve as its interim director. Debs had established a reputation for financial acumen
McGill (1988b).
during her tenure as president of Manhattanville College from 1975 through 1985 and had served on the Society's board from September 1985 until November 1987, chairing several committees. With a proven track record leading a nonprofit institution, a Ph.D. in art history, and a familiarity with the difficulties the Society had to confront, Debs was a strong candidate to guide the Society through its difficult transition.
Barbara Debs accepted the board's invitation to serve as the Society's interim director, although she specifically requested that she not be considered for the permanent position. She was happy in retirement and had no desire to resume the full-time responsibilities of a permanent chief executive.
Personal communication, Jan. 18, 1995.
Because the Society had been operating in a state of crisis for quite some time, her first task was to provide the leadership necessary to hold the staff together and repair an administrative structure that had broken down during the Society's period of crisis. In a report presented to the board in September 1988, Debs outlined the immediate goals the Society faced and the progress that had been made. Within the institution, Debs and her staff had worked to establish staff reporting processes, had hired a chief financial officer to develop a fiscally sound operating budget, and had begun to assess the Society's organizational structure. Externally, Debs worked to restore public faith in the institution, meeting with important potential donors, government officials, neighborhood residents, and local community groups. In addition, Debs oversaw the Society's communications with the New York State attorney general's office, which was proceeding with its investigation into nearly all aspects of the Society's operations.
