Dear Pennington cousins, Let's step back a little bit and examine the facts as objectively as possible. This list was started and is still maintained by Steve Privett, who also posted the first PRA website at his own expense and continues as the major technical and a frequent content contributor to both. The PRA basically "took over" both of them, with Steve's compliance and only a minor amount of friction that was resolved privately. Since they were both established to support PRA, of which Steve is a long-time member and strong supporter, and since they both clearly appeared to be official or unofficial publications of the PRA, having PRA Board oversight is probably appropriate. By working within the organization, in a (hate this word, but here it is anyway) proactive way, Steve has made a major contribution both to the PRA and to the researchers who use the facilities he has provided. Carolyn has also made some positive contributions, especially in raising the issues of what genealogical scholarship entails (although she is not the only person who has done that), but instead of working with the organization, she chose to try to destroy it, and she has made repeated vituperative attacks against, among others, Steve Privett. She was invited to be a member of the Research Committee, but when it appeared that she was not going to run the show, and she was not going to be the only "expert" around, she quit, and has persisted in also making repeated public verbal attacks against the Research Director, Gene Pennington, who tried to persuade her to stay on and work with us. She apparently prefers to criticize instead. There is no rational reason to suppose that Carolyn will change her abusive ways. She has promised to do so, and has broken those promises. Furthermore, her obvious attempts to persuade people to leave PRA and start another group (with her as the leader, presumably) and to intimidate those who disagree with her and say so out loud, as well as the fact that many people who do not know all the facts take her accusations at face value, make it apparent that if she was continued to be given a public forum on this list, she would use it to do whatever she could to destroy the very organization that provides that forum. For PRA to do that would be self-destructive. The organization has a right to protect itself from someone who only wants to hurt it. Carolyn is free to start her own group and email list if she likes, and no one in the PRA will try to prevent it. Her previous posts to this list were never censored, even when they were inflammatory and abusive. Part of being a list owner includes having to make tough decisions to prevent abusive behaviour by some list members against others on the list, and the PRA Board appropriately removed Carolyn only after repeated warnings in order to prevent a complete breakdown of civility here. This statement is my own personal opinion, and does not represent the Research Committee or the PRA. Katherine Cochrane