Biennial report of the North Carolina Office of Archives and History.

              FIFTY-THIRD BIENNIAL REPORT
OF THE
NORTH CAROLINA
OFFICE OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY
July 1, 2008
through
June 30, 2010
Raleigh
Office of Archives and History
North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
2011©2011 by the North Carolina Office of Archives and History All rights reserved
NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL RESOURCES
LINDA A.CARLISLE
Secretary
OFFICE OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY
JEFFREY J. CROW
Deputy Secretary
DIVISION OF HISTORICAL RESOURCES
DAVID L. S. BROOK
Director
DIVISION OF STATE HISTORIC SITES
KEITH P. HARDISON
Director
DIVISION OF STATE HISTORY MUSEUMS
KENNETH B. HOWARD
Director
NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL COMMISSION
JERRY C. CASHION (2013)
Chairman
VACANT
Vice-Chairman
Millie M. Barbee (2009)
B. Perry Morrison Jr. (2011)
Mary Lynn Bryan (2011)
Freddie L. Parker (2013)
David C. Dennard (2015)
Barbara Blythe Snowden (2013)
Paul D. Escott (2013)
Richard Starnes (2011)
Valerie A. Johnson (2015)
Harry L. Watson (2011)
EMERITI: Kemp P. Burpeau, N. J. Crawford, H. G. Jones, William S. Powell, Alan D. Watson, Max R. WilliamsCONTENTS
Deputy Secretary’s Report
Education Branch
Roanoke Island Festival Park
Tryon Palace
USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial
Division of Historical Resources
Collections Management Branch
Research Branch
Western Office
Archives and Records Section
Historical Publications Section
Office of State Archaeology
Historic Preservation Office
Division of State Historic Sites and Properties
East Region
Piedmont Region
West Region
North Carolina Transportation Museum
State Capitol
Division of State History Museums
North Carolina Museum of History
Mountain Gateway Museum and Heritage Center
Museum of the Albemarle
Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex
North Carolina Maritime Museum System
North Carolina Maritime Museum, Beaufort
North Carolina Maritime Museum, Southport
Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, Hatteras Appendices
Appendix 1
North Carolina Historical Commission
Appendix 2
Appropriations and Expenditures, 2008-2010
Appendix 3
Appropriations and Expenditures, 1960-2010
Appendix 4
Roster of Employees
Appendix 5
Complete List of Publications Issued
by the Office of Archives and History
Appendix 6
Complete List of Exhibits BIENNIAL REPORT OF THE OFFICE OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY July 1, 2008–June 30, 2010 Jeffrey J. Crow, Deputy Secretary
According to economists, the Great Recession began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009. But the effects of the recession lingered long after the nominal end of the economic downturn. State government faced its most challenging financial situation since the Great Depression. Unemployment remained stubbornly high in the state, barely dipping below 10 percent. State revenues shrank between $3 billion and $4 billion each year of the biennium. State agencies were asked to make deeper and deeper reductions in their budgets. By the end of the biennium, the Department of Cultural Resources had absorbed so many cuts in its operating funds, that only positions—filled and unfilled—remained to meet further budget reductions.
A good example is the Historical Publications Section. The section suffered a 37 percent cut in its appropriation the second year of the biennium. As a result, the section lost four positions, all filled. Consequently, the venerable biennial report, first begun in 1905 by R. D. W. Connor, the first secretary of the North Carolina Historical Commission, became an electronic publication after fifty-two printed installments. Similarly, Carolina Comments, the newsletter of Archives and History since 1952, will be converted to an electronic format in the new reporting period.
One of the few bright spots in the budgetary picture was the establishment of the Archives and Records Management (ARM) fund in 2009. A five-dollar fee on all deed transactions enabled the Archives and Records Section to collect more than $1 million annually in receipts. Those funds became critical to filling the holes created by the loss of appropriations. In the first year of its operation the ARM fund saved ten positions that otherwise would have been lost to budget cuts. The ARM fund also purchased new equipment and subsidized such quotidian expenditures as maintenance agreements and supplies.
Another bright spot was a study of North Carolina’s cultural institutions as a stimulus to the state’s economy. Linda Carlisle, who became secretary of the Department of Cultural Resources in January 2009, showed her considerable business acumen by working with the Department of Commerce to generate an analysis of the “creative economy.” That study, issued in November 2009, demonstrated that the arts, history, libraries, museums, and historic sites and the businesses dependent upon them comprise more than 5 percent of North Carolina’s work force. Moreover, those institutions and businesses produce more than $41 billion in economic activity. Such data underscores the vitality and importance of the state’s cultural life for both workers and consumers.
Despite the gloomy budget situation, Archives and History accomplished a lot during the biennium. With the sesquicentennial of the Civil War rapidly approaching, programs and activities surrounding that anniversary accelerated. The 145th anniversary of the Battle of Bentonville in March 2010 drew more than 50,000 visitors, far exceeding previous attendance. The Civil War 150 Web site (www.nccivilwar150.com) expanded considerably with new essays and information on North Carolina’s role in the war. On February 12, 2009, Archives and History hosted a one-day symposium on the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. Eager participants filled the auditorium in the North Carolina Museum of History. Two months earlier the distinguished historian Dan Carter presented a lecture at the State Capitol commemorating the bicentennial of Andrew Johnson’s birth. Speakers at the Lincoln conference included Paul Escott, John David Smith, and Heather Williams (foreground); and Jeffrey J. Crow, Loren Schweninger, and William C. Harris (rear). Joseph Glatthaar was not present for the photograph.
Another extremely popular symposium in October 2009 reflected on the 300th anniversary of the publication of John Lawson’s A New Voyage to Carolina. More than two hundred people attended the two-day conference, held at both the State Capitol and the North Carolina Museum of History.
Among many other exhibits, the North Carolina Museum of History mounted two major ones, the first devoted to Blackbeard, piracy, and artifacts from what is thought to be the shipwreck of the Queen Anne’s Revenge; and the second to Thomas Day, the free African American cabinetmaker. Meanwhile, the new $60 million history center at Tryon Palace neared completion with exhibits devoted to regional history and an interactive family center re-creating an 1835 village in eastern North Carolina. A new visitor center opened at Horne Creek Living Historical Farm, while other museums and state historic sites mounted new exhibits or erected wayside exhibits.
New publications included a book published by the University of North Carolina Press to accompany the Thomas Day exhibit; A Day of Blood, based on the 2006 Wilmington Race Riot (1898) report; and the seventeenth volume in the estimable Civil War roster series.
Three commissions have long been a part of the Department of Cultural Resources, but only the Tryon Palace Commission traditionally has reported to the director or deputy secretary of Archives and History. Secretary Carlisle asked the deputy secretary to assume oversight of the semiautonomous Roanoke Island Commission and the Battleship North Carolina Commission. Then in February 2009 the newly created African American Heritage Commission was sworn in. Those four commissions—in addition to the North Carolina Historical Commission—occupied much of the deputy secretary’s time during the reporting period.
In a remarkable shift in policy, the North Carolina Historical Commission lifted its moratorium on further monuments on Union Square to allow consideration of memorials to African Americans, women, and American Indians. For many years visitors to the State Capitol have raised questions about the lack of representation of minorities. A special study committee reported to the historical commission that spaces on the Capitol grounds as well as within the Capitol could accommodate new memorials. The historical commission agreed and opened a process for consideration of new memorials on those topics only.
With appropriated dollars so precious, Archives and History increasingly has looked for funding from outside sources, especially federal agencies. The State Historical Records Advisory Board received a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to fund a traveling archivist program. Under that grant more than forty small institutions around the state received the services of a professional archivist to learn how to care for their collections. Similarly, a two-year grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services provided for regional workshops on disaster preparedness and conservation of collections. The State Archives proved especially adept at forming partnerships nationwide to promote digitization of its collections.
The deputy secretary is blessed with a strong management team at every level. In particular division directors David Brook, Ken Howard, and Keith Hardison provide exceptional service to the people of North Carolina and manage the state’s historic resources with great skill. Their skills will be tested all the more as Archives and History enters unwelcoming territory ravaged by budgetary storms.
EDUCATION BRANCH
Jo Ann Williford, Supervisor
The education supervisor served as state coordinator for National History Day in North Carolina. She led teacher workshops at the Social Studies and Middle School conferences in 2009 and at the Social Studies conference in 2010. New schools were added to the History Day program in each year of the biennium, and a number of school visits were conducted to explain the fundamentals of the National History Day program.
An exhibit created by students at Rose High School in Greenville for the 2009 state competition of
National History Day in North Carolina.The University of North Carolina at Greensboro took over coordination of the Central Piedmont District previously operated by Elon University. Other regional districts were sponsored by the Cape Fear Museum in Wilmington (Southeast District); East Carolina University in Greenville (Northeast District); University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Southwest Piedmont District); and the Western Office of Archives and History in Asheville (Western District). The number of participants at the state competition was 317 in 2009 and 293 in 2010. The state coordinator, having served two two-year terms as chair of the Executive Council of State Coordinators at the national level, ended her tenure following the 2009 national competition.
In April 2009, students gathered in the Museum of History auditorium waiting to hear the results of the state competition of National History Day in North Carolina.
During the biennium the Education Office coordinated with educators from the Division of State History Museums and the Division of State Historic Sites and Properties to plan and conduct summer teacher institutes. Twenty-eight teachers attended “Happy Days are Here Again: The Great Depression and Recovery in North Carolina” in July 2009, and thirty teachers participated in “The Civil War: Practical Applications for Your Classroom” in July 2010. Presenters included staff of the Office of Archives and History as well as visiting scholars.
The Federation of North Carolina Historical Societies offered eight workshops during the biennium. In fall 2008, the Federation offered “Hands-On History: Object-Based Learning and Craft Activities,” a workshop, held in Raleigh, focused on engaging visitor interest through the use of objects. In spring 2009, the Federation presented “Engaging Volunteers for a Lasting Relationship, and Recruiting New Members to Your Cultural Organization” in Murfreesboro, Pittsboro, and Lincolnton. The November 2009 workshop “Marketing Our History” was held in New Bern, and the spring 2010 workshops “Hands-On History” and “Marketing Our History” were offered in Tarboro, Lenoir, and Asheboro.Teachers attend a lecture during the July 2008 institute sponsored by the Office of Archives and History.
In 2008 and 2009, the Federation co-sponsored annual meetings in conjunction with the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association. The Federation presented the Albert Ray Newsome Award to four historical organizations in recognition of outstanding work preserving local history. The Greensboro Historical Museum and the Phoenix Society for African American Research won the Newsome awards in November 2008 at the meeting in Raleigh, and the Duplin County Historical Society and the Gates County Historical Society won in November 2009 at the meeting held in New Bern. The Coinjock Ruritan Club received an honorable mention in 2009.
Federation of North Carolina Historical Societies board chair Barbara Snowden holds up the Watauga County Historical Society’s The Architectural History of Watauga County, published with the help of a Federation loan.
Eight issues of the Federation Bulletin, a quarterly newsletter, were published and sent to Federation members. Interest-free loans were made to the Watauga County Historical Society and the Wayne County Historical Association to assist with historical publications produced during the reporting period. In September 2008 Laura Ketcham, the outreach coordinator for the Office of Archives and History, chaired the session “Interpreting Slavery at Historic Sites” at the annual meeting of the American Association for State and Local History in Rochester, New York.ROANOKE ISLAND FESTIVAL PARK
Kimberly A. Sawyer, Interim Executive Director
Roanoke Island Festival Park, located on twenty-seven acres in Manteo, during the biennium continued to fulfill the mission of the Roanoke Island Commission, that being to involve residents and visitors of all ages in a creative and stimulating exploration of Roanoke Island’s historical, cultural, and natural resources. Located five miles from Nags Head, a major tourist destination for the East Coast, the park draws North Carolinians as well as visitors from all states and some international tourists. The centerpiece of the park, an interactive family attraction that celebrates the first English settlement in America, is the Elizabeth II, a representation of one of the seven English ships from the Roanoke Voyages of 1585. Kimberly A. Sawyer served as interim director during the reporting period.
The Elizabeth II, based upon a sixteenth-century ship associated with
the Roanoke Voyages, is the centerpiece of Roanoke Island Festival Park.
The newest exhibit, the American Indian Town, opened in December 2009. Situated in an outdoor venue, the exhibit allows visitors to learn about Coastal Algonquian culture and discover longhouses, a dance circle, planting and harvesting area, and a work shelter. The display offers activities such as rope making, mat and basket weaving, net mending, food preparation, tanning hides, and fishing.
The American Indian Town features two re-created longhouses.At the Settlement Site visitors experience life in
the first English outpost in the New World.
In 2009, in a renovation of the 240-seat film theater, a middle row of seats was moved to the end of the seated aisles to allow for a center aisle, thereby creating an easier entrance and exit for visitors. Also added was a set of steps for the stage, for safety purposes, which created two sets of steps at the front of the stage. An addition of a platform provided easy moving of the piano, allowing more room for performances. The venue is used to show the docu-drama, The Legend of Two Path, and hosts the Roanoke Island Festival Park Performance Series featuring opera, jazz, dance, classic American plays, children’s shows, blue grass, and international music.
The film theater welcomed guests for special programming.
Late in 2008, renovations were made to the stage area of the outdoor pavilion to increase the quality of performances and to upgrade the space available for performers’ backstage needs. The new stage, made of Brazilian walnut, was raised three feet and a suspended sprung floor was installed for dance performances and to ensure better sight lines for the audience. For the comfort of performers, a retractable glass window staves off the wind and provides for a clear view of the Roanoke Sound. The roof was raised and cedar shakes added. A new wing, featuring four dressing rooms with an office-storage area and restrooms, was added. At stage right, a larger storage area, sound room, and mechanical room completed the area. Power and lighting were upgraded, and new loading docks were constructed for easier and safer loading and unloading for performances.The North Carolina Symphony performed in the outdoor pavilion.
A new program, beginning in the fall of 2009, draws upon North Carolina’s best young talent. The Roanoke Island Festival Park Performance Series offers year round music, dance, drama, opera, and children’s shows for the community and visitors to enjoy. The series invites performing arts departments from all campuses of the University of North Carolina system to participate.
Eco-tourism continues to be a point of emphasis at the park. The boardwalks and natural surroundings have long been an attraction to visitors and locals. Two additions in 2009 have added to the experience of exploring the natural beauty of Roanoke Island and encouraging a healthy life-style. A kayak launch was added to the existing boardwalk system. The park partnered with the Friends of Elizabeth II, the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources Recreational Trails Program, OBX Paddlers, and the Albemarle Resource Conservation and Development Council for the construction of the kayak launch. The park partnered with the North Carolina Coastal Federation and local volunteers to create a 1,200-square-foot rain garden near the pavilion grounds, which will help keep the surrounding waters free of pollution.
The park is embarking on a review of operations to insure that all departments are functioning at a maximum level. The Education Department will see continued growth with a concentration on increasing group tour visitation, both youth and adults, during the summer and other seasons. The development of way-finding signage and an upgrade to the Roanoke Adventure Museum and Welcome Center will enhance the visitor experience and provide more educational opportunities.
TRYON PALACE
Kay P. Williams, Director
Philippe Lafargue, Deputy Director
During the biennium, the reporting relationship of Tryon Palace, Roanoke Island Festival Park, and the Battleship North Carolina changed from reporting to the Division of State Historic Sites and Properties to reporting to the Office of Archives and History. All three of the units are commission-based historic attractions. Tryon Palace embarked on a project to re-brand the museum to include the North Carolina History Center. Key decisions included changing the name of the museum from Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens to Tryon Palace. Similarly, the name of the Palace was changed from Tryon Palace to the Governor’s Palace, which opened an opportunity to interpret the Gov. Josiah Martin administration and the period of early statehood.
On April 23, 2009, Tryon Palace held its Golden Jubilee 50th Anniversary Celebration, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Palace to the public on April 8, 1959. The Tryon Palace Commission hosted the jubilee event for North Carolinians with strong connections to Tryon Palace through the years. The evening included special remarks on the history of the museum and plans for the future, a reception for the opening of the exhibition Hats Off to the Dreamers, and a dinner celebrating 50 years of history education for North Carolina.
A total of thirty-two bid packages were received and the contract was awarded to Clancy & Theys in July 2008 for the construction of the North Carolina History Center. In early August, Clancy & Theys coordinated a day-long meeting with architects, engineers, environmental consultants, and staff from the State Construction Office, Department of Cultural Resources Capital Projects office, North Carolina Department of Transportation, and Tryon Palace. Final details were reviewed, schedules updated, and a completion target date of May 26, 2010, was set.
By June 30, 2010, construction on the North Carolina History Center was largely complete.
On October 14, 2008, the first of more than 600 pilings for the North Carolina History Center was pounded into place. Over 3,000 loads of fill dirt were brought in to build up low-lying areas and to seal contaminated areas. Through the winter of 2009, difficulties and delays were encountered during the driving of the foundation pilings. Several steel pilings failed the uplift test and had to be replaced with concrete pilings. The adjustments caused a delay that resulted in a slight postponement of the original opening date. A cistern, with a capacity of over 26,000 gallons, was installed to become the primary source for landscape irrigation.
In the months that followed, construction was at full speed. Steel beams were erected and fireproofed, and masons built indoor and outdoor walls with a combination of cinder blocks and bricks. Windows and doors were roughed in. A maze of electrical and data conduits, along with fire suppression pipes, was installed. The period also saw the South Front Street overhead utilities changed to underground utilities.
During the spring of 2009, bids were received and awarded for exhibits fabrication. Exhibits quickly became a primary focus once the building was under way. Selected artifacts, graphics, and interpretive panels were reviewed. Exhibit layouts were adjusted to improve visitor flow. Extensive work was accomplished with the development content of the History Navigator (handheld device). Samples of architectural details, graphic panels, videos, and other content for the Pepsi Family Center were reviewed.
The privateering play area is just outside the North Carolina History Center.
By the end of the biennium, the History Center had reached the stage of construction in which focus could be placed on finishing touches such as carpet, paint, trim work, and ceiling tiles, and punch list items were resolved.
A dedicated team of Tryon Palace staff contributed an enormous number of hours to review, support, and move forward the building construction and exhibits fabrication projects so the North Carolina History Center could be opened in October 2010 in time to serve as a venue for many of New Bern’s 300th anniversary events.
Several other major projects were completed during the period. The Pollock Street enhancement project, which brought improvements to Pollock Street from Eden Street to Metcalf Street, was concluded. The project, funded in part by a North Carolina Department of Transportation enhancement grant, allowed for utilities to be placed underground and for the installation of new handicapped accessible curbs and pedestrian street lights.
The entire IT infrastructure was upgraded by Information Technology Services with the installation of a new server and new fiber optic cables between buildings, an upgrade of all computer office cable connections, and the migration of all data information to a new server. The Daves House and the Dixon House dependencies were re-roofed. The installation of an air conditioning system in the palace attic was completed.
The role of African Americans in eighteenth-century New Bern is interpreted in the Kitchen Office.
An organizational study was undertaken in late 2009 to prepare Tryon Palace for the opening of the North Carolina History Center in the fall of 2010. By the end of the biennium, Tryon Palace’s organizational structure was comprised of five branches: Public Services, Business Services, Facilities Services, Education Services, and Collections Services.
The new branches encompass the following functions:
• Public Services: marketing and communications, public relations, development, grant writing, coordination of the Tryon Palace Council of Friends, volunteer administrative support, special events, visitor services, program support, and museum store operations.
• Business Services: accounting/finance, human resources, security operations, planning services, and administrative support for staff, Tryon Palace Commission, and Kellenberger Historical Foundation operations.
• Facilities Services: buildings maintenance and repair, housekeeping, gardens design, maintenance, education, and management of properties and transportation systems.
• Education Services: living history programs, tour operations, African American interpretation, programs and outreach, educational research, costume interpretations, design, fabrication, overall development, and management of children and adult education programs.
• Collections Services: exhibitions design and fabrication, collections management, acquisition of objects and de-accession and sale of objects, curation of historic architecture and management of architectural collections, library and records management, conservation of historic objects, and collections research.
Public Services Branch
Capital campaign commitments continued to grow, reaching $59,130,189 as of June 30, 2010, and nearly reaching the $60.6 million goal for the North Carolina History Center. Beginning with the first gifts in 2000, the campaign’s commitments included $42.7 million from the State of North Carolina, $1.5 million from the City of New Bern, and $1.3 million from Craven County, with the remainder from individuals, federal grants, foundations, and corporations. During the biennium, total new campaign pledges totaled $1,767,729. Total grants and cash gifts received totaled $4,762,025. A gift of property, valued at $705,000, from Progress Energy also was received. The public phase of the campaign, “Making History for All the People,” was initiated and carried out in the eighteen months leading to the October 2010 opening of the North Carolina History Center.
Story time at Tryon Palace has long been a favorite activity.
Tryon Palace’s nonprofit corporation, the Tryon Palace Council of Friends, continued to provide financial support for Tryon Palace programs, services, and activities, including funding for the volunteer program and the fund-raising assistant. The Friends raised $180,000 in calendar year 2009. On June 30, 2010, the Friends membership consisted of 671 households and 1,086 members. The Friends continued to publish the quarterly Palace magazine, which served to promote preparations for the North Carolina History Center opening and provided an annual report to donors.
Additions to the Tryon Palace Web site during this period included podcasts, videos, a section for teachers, and a virtual walking tour of the museum campus. The first E-Blast Newsletter was sent to over 1,700 e-mail addresses in September 2008. Web site hits continued to increase. In 2009, a Tryon Palace Facebook® page was launched as a networking tool to help promote products, events, news, and services to all generations, especially the younger ones. Efforts were made to increase cooperative advertising with local and state organizations. Media outreach continued to focus on a broader geographic reach in North Carolina and the region. A relationship with Our State magazine staff was fostered leading to an advertising campaign in the magazine. Existing brochures were updated, and a New Bern Academy walking tour booklet and the fife & drum corps brochure were added.
The Tryon Palace Fife & Drum Corps adds pomp to the ceremonies at Tryon Palace.
In preparation for the History Center opening, the Tryon Palace Commission hired Ross Harris Partners of Greensboro to develop a plan for a new Tryon Palace brand to gracefully include both the historic area and the History Center. The rebranding phase consisted of designing a new signature that uses historical elements but also communicated a more contemporary image created with two components—a mark and a logotype. The mark was inspired by a detail from the main gates of the Governor’s Palace, and the logotype was intended to serve as a bridge between the old and the new, the traditional and the contemporary. For much of the biennium, the grant administrator/Palace magazine editor position was vacant, creating a challenge for development staff to meet the capital campaign goals.
Business Services Branch
The major focus of the Business Services Branch, in preparation for the opening of the North Carolina History Center, was staff recruitment, training, organizational restructuring, and the coordination of operational transition planning and implementation. In February 2009, a transition planning retreat was held on site, and twenty-seven staff members worked together as a team to define transition issues and solutions.
The Security Unit, within the Business Services Branch, continued its focus on the protection of all Tryon Palace buildings, artifacts, and other assets as well as providing for visitor and staff safety. Tryon Palace security also assumed some of the responsibility for security checks of the construction site during the building of the North Carolina History Center. Students set sail on the Snapdragon at the North Carolina History Center’s Pepsi Family Center.
The Accounting Unit was instrumental in supporting the management and reporting of capital campaign funding and expenditures for the North Carolina History Center. Human resources and accounting also supported the transition of permanent and temporary staff to the new BEACON system, requiring considerable training of Tryon Palace staff designated as time administrators as well as overall training of the Tryon Palace staff.
Facilities Services Branch
During the biennium, repairs were completed to porches and shutters of many of the historic houses, both for preservation and safety and severe weather preparedness. The building trades staff provided support for roofing projects at the Daves House and dependency buildings behind the Dixon House. They also supported the installation of new fiber optic wiring in preparation for a new server as well as the replacement of the heating and air conditioning system in the Palace attic. Repairs and renovations to the first floor of the Jones House were completed as well as a major cleaning of the Hay House. More than thirty cracked and broken window panes on the Palace first floor were replaced. In addition, the staff participated in the design, planning, and construction of the 50th anniversary exhibit on the Palace second floor and the installation and dismantling of the John Lawson exhibit at the visitor center.Quilt making in the Hay House at Tryon Palace.
The Gardens staff continued to work on the sixteen acres of gardens at Tryon Palace. Seasonal plantings and heirloom plants were planted and rejuvenated to maintain the beauty of the gardens. In honor of the City of New Bern’s 300th anniversary, some of the gardens were planted in the colors of the New Bern flag (red and yellow). Trees and shrubs planted along Tryon Palace streets have flourished and become part of the landscape.
Clermont Plantation, a 51-acre property on Brice’s Creek and the Trent River, was bequeathed to the Tryon Palace Council of Friends in 2008 by longtime owner Hughrena MacDonald and turned over to the State of North Carolina in 2009. The property provides an opportunity for Tryon Palace to advance its heritage plant program and its sustainable gardening practices. The important and diverse history of the property includes American Indian occupation, early settlement and colonial period activity, and Civil War occupation. The sepulcher on the property holds the grave of Richard Dobbs Spaight, North Carolina signer of the U.S. Constitution and the first native-born governor of North Carolina. The property was the site of Camp Amory during the Federal occupation of New Bern from 1862 to 1865.
The curator of gardens gave a number of lectures to local schools, garden clubs, and other interested groups. Walking tours continued to be popular. Students from local high schools volunteered in the gardens. Tryon Palace garden staff also supported local events such as the New Bern “ghostwalk” and the New Bern spring homes and gardens tour. The garden lecture series, funded by the Harold H. Bate Foundation, included a variety of well-attended lectures.
Efforts to make the gardens more energy efficient continued with the replacement of the greenhouse roof with energy efficient material. Other sustainable actions included changing to electric mowers and introducing additional water conservation measures. The Gardens staff continued to be a leader in sustainable landscape management practices in support of the Department of Cultural Resources landscape management plan. Education Services Branch
Educational programs and outreach continued to be of primary importance to Tryon Palace’s mission with active participation in seasonal interpretive events including the annual “ghostwalk,” MUMfest, Fourth of July celebration, Stanly-Spaight duel, Festive Holiday Kick-Off Weekend, and Christmas candlelight tours. Other events and programs hosted at the Palace included Free Day, Girl Scout Day, Colonial Life Day Camp, Home School Days, Elderhostel group programs, and a Saturday sampler program series. All educational and outreach programs were enhanced through additional first-person character interpretation and more hands-on, interactive activities that focused on specific themes that tied into other Tryon Palace projects, publications, and exhibits.
The U.S. Marine Corps Band entertained as part of the summer concert series.
New educational programs were offered in efforts to reach out to a more diverse audience and appeal to broader interests of visitors, including Tryon Palace theater programs; Tryon Fun Tuesdays for children ages 8 to14; Tryon Tales for Tots, a series of programs for pre-schoolers and parents; Regency Twelfth Night Celebration, introduced in January 2010; The Palace, by George!, a new interpretive event in honor of George Washington’s birthday; and New Bern Occupied, a Civil-War focused weekend.
Tryon Palace staff also took part in community, regional, and state activities and events, sponsoring many special events in conjunction with the year-long celebration of New Bern’s 300th anniversary. The support included the active participation of Tryon Palace character interpreters, the fife & drum corps, and the Jonkonnu troupe in the 300th anniversary program. Such events included Duffest, the New Bern Antiques Show, the 300th Anniversary Jubilee parade, and the Governor’s Conference on Tourism and Hospitality held in New Bern in March 2010.Jonkonnu, a traditional dance with West African origins, is celebrated each December.
The lecture series proved to be an important community outreach and a benefit for adult visitors. Lecture series offerings represented a diverse range of interests and included: the African American series, the Gardens series, the lunchtime series presented by staff on a range of topics of historical interest, and a special series offered during evenings and weekends.
During the biennium, the New Bern Academy was temporarily closed due to staffing reductions and relocation of some of the artifacts on display to the North Carolina History Center.
Collections Services Branch
The staff developed, fabricated, and installed on the second floor of the Governor’s Palace the exhibit, Hats Off to the Dreamers: Rebuilding and Furnishing Tryon Palace, commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Tryon Palace.
A collaborative effort with the Historical Museum of Bern, Switzerland, to develop an exhibition celebrating the 300-year relationship between the two cities was undertaken during this period. The exhibit opened in Bern, Switzerland, in December 2009 drawing a large number of visitors. After closing in May, it traveled to New Bern where it was retrofitted for the Duffy Exhibition Gallery in the North Carolina History Center.
The John Lawson exhibit, developed by Tryon Palace staff to become part of a larger traveling Lawson exhibit in North Carolina, was put on display in the Visitors Center. The exhibit, Discovering the New World: Early Naturalists’ Accounts of the People, Flora, and Fauna of North Carolina was of great interest to visitors and the local community. Tryon Palace collaborated with the New Bern-Craven County Public Library on the National Endowment for the Humanities exhibit Forever Free on display from November 2009 to January 2010.A costumed interpreter leads a basket-making class.
Objects acquired through gifts and purchases were selected to support house museums, for future display in the Regional History Museum in the North Carolina History Center, and for an expanded presentation of life in New Bern during the Civil War at the New Bern Academy Museum. Acquisition of new objects is an ongoing process, with the Collections Unit actively seeking objects with a North Carolina history, through various sources in order to enhance the mission of Tryon Palace.
The multi-year process to deaccession artifacts from the Palace Collection ended with a successful auction of thirty-four carpets and one case piece, with proceeds going directly to a fund to be used solely for acquisition of other artifacts and for conservation of historic objects already in the Tryon Palace Collection. During the biennium, ninety-two volumes were accessioned into the Gertrude S. Carraway Research Library through acquisition and donation. Additions include new scholarship on the decorative arts, history, and the natural sciences.
The inventory of collections objects on display in period rooms on the first floor of the Palace and the John Wright Stanly House was completed, and room inventory books containing catalog information and photographs were prepared.
The conservation staff facilitated the moving of hundreds of artifacts out of harm’s way in the Palace attic during the air conditioning project and the resetting of the attic area after the project was completed. The conservator facilitated the packaging and shipping of artifacts and materials for the anniversary exhibition, 300 Years in New Bern, to Bern, Switzerland. The conservator identified conservation needs and treatment options and managed treatment reports for historic objects intended for display in the North Carolina History Center. Among the activities in the Pepsi Family Center is the harvest of naval stores to make turpentine.
During the biennium, the Collections staff extensively reviewed more than 3,500 pages of content for the interpretive panels for the Regional History Museum at the North Carolina History Center. The staff also finalized artifact selection for inclusion in the exhibition’s glass cases and completed the research and writing of case and object labels. For the Pepsi Family Center, the staff carried out research to identify historically accurate models for reproduction exhibit features, furniture, and accessories; reviewed numerous drafts for scripts; and provided comments for scripts for interactive voices (virtual docents).
USS NORTH CAROLINA BATTLESHIP MEMORIAL
Capt. Terry A. Bragg, USN (Ret), Executive Director
The USS North Carolina Battleship Commission continued to exercise its statutory duties and responsibilities for the operation, maintenance, and preservation of the battleship North Carolina as a self-sufficient enterprise activity of the State of North Carolina. In spite of constrained tourism travel and bookings, the battleship continues to prosper with more than 200,000 paid visitors each year. Efforts to diversify the battleship experience as a “non-sacred” memorial; tourist attraction; and center for science, technology, engineering, and math for school-age and adult learning programming have resulted in 2010 being the best financial operating year since the ship was relocated to Wilmington forty-nine years ago. Core obligations to the visitor experience, including maintenance and preservation of the ship, programming for local audiences, expansion of museum services, and marketing, remain central to the commission’s management and funding of the ship’s operations. Also, significant support for the community and the military, particularly the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, continued throughout the period.
Maintenance and preservation of the battleship and other support elements remained a focus of the commission. The maintenance and museum staffs, battleship volunteers, and volunteers in the USS North Carolina Living History program undertook projects to refurbish spaces along the tour route to enhance the visitor experience, including the sick bay dentist office, the visitor center lobby and exhibit hall, pilot house and chart house, and twenty-millimeter gun mount repair shop. The maintenance staff also worked on a long list of nonstructural repair projects including renovations to the exterior bathrooms in the visitor center, renovations to the executive officer’s stateroom, and shore power cable replacement. Contractors continued a multiyear project by virtue of which spaces throughout the ship are undergoing asbestos re-encapsulation and repair. The U.S. Navy retains a proprietary interest in the battleship and inspects the ship each year to verify that it is maintained in a proper manner, along with ensuring visitor safety. The battleship satisfactorily passed both inspections.
Maintenance work on the battleship is ongoing and never ending.
The Battleship Commission continued its strategic focus on higher level complex capital projects to maintain the battleship. Toward that end the group retained an architectural firm to plan projects funded from Operation Shipshape 1998 to include repairs to the starboard bow, renovations to support overnight camping, and taking the ship’s wardroom back to its World War II-era look. Planning continues, and the projects are fully funded with best estimates that the repairs and renovations will be executed in 2011.
Programs offered during the biennium reached a broad base of visitors. For more than forty years, the annual Memorial Day observance at the battleship has been honored with the presence of an active duty flag or general officer to provide the “in memoriam” remarks for 600 to 700 guests. The Independence Day fireworks viewed by 75,000 visitors; the Battleship Half Marathon, with more than 1,600 runners, and the Beach to Battleship Triathlon, with over 1,500 runners, were all successful events. Likewise the Living History Crew’s Battleship Alive weekends and the new volunteer interpreters’ Battleship 101 summer weekend program reached wide audiences. Ghost Ship, a new and expanded holiday program, welcomed more than 7,000 visitors in each of the last two years. A large crowd attended Memorial Day ceremonies at the USS North Carolina in 2010.
Museum services offered new programming for adults and children. A series of in-depth programs for adults, Hidden Battleship, Firepower, and Power Plant, reached new audiences. An expanded hands-on education program was developed for Scout groups across the state. Museum services continued to interpret the battleship for the more than 200,000 visitors by maintaining and enhancing tour route signage. A restored 26-foot motor whaleboat display was opened to the public, adding a new dimension to the visitor’s battleship experience.
Friends of the Battleship, a support organization, was revitalized in 2010. Many in the region enthusiastically answered the call to serve on the Friends’ board. They crafted a new memorandum of agreement, formed program and membership committees, began work on a new brochure, and provided funding for enhancements to the visitor center exhibit hall.
The commission’s efforts to market and promote the battleship were assisted with the continued re-airing of the Ghost Hunters television program that premiered in August 2005, Ghost Hunters Academy, Japanese public television, and a local film titled Pirates in Chains. The Warner Brothers’ television production, One Tree Hill, which entered its eighth season, also enhanced visibility for the USS North Carolina. Battleship Park is the site for an outdoor basketball court in that series. Numerous authors and researchers utilized the battleship’s photograph and archival collections for book and magazine publications. A new brochure, visitor’s handout, and Web site were launched in 2010, along with a new presence on social media networks. Advertising increasingly shifted from print format to the Internet.
Community support continued throughout the biennium. One highlight was the battleship’s partnership with the City of Wilmington, U.S. Cellular, Food Lion, WGNI-FM, and WECT-TV for the battleship-produced fireworks show, Battleship Blast, as the climax of Wilmington’s Family Fourth Celebration. Now in its fourteenth year and listed as one of Coastal Living’s Top 10 places to watch Fourth of July fireworks, it is the largest Independence Day fireworks display in North Carolina and the coastal Carolinas, observed by approximately 75,000 on the downtown riverfront and televised live.Fireworks commemorate the Fourth of July for visitors to the battleship.
Support for the U.S. military continued, particularly the Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, and Homeland Security units, mostly at no cost to the individuals or units. Traditional ceremonies included reenlistments, promotions, and retirements, with attendance for as many as 200 guests being common. The battleship again hosted a naturalization ceremony for U.S. military personnel. The secretary of the navy visited the battleship to commemorate the U.S. Navy’s 2010 birthday anniversary.
Having established a successful self-supporting business model, the Battleship Commission will continue to offer visitation as a memorial; as a tourist attraction; and as a center of science, technology, engineering, and math for the visiting public. In addition, the commission has reviewed dry-docking alternatives and approved the option to repair the ship’s hull in Wilmington rather than at an out of state dry-dock. Over the next few years, the fund-raising committee will attempt to raise the estimated $15 million for construction of a cofferdam and to replace the deteriorating hull plate on the ship’s hull.DIVISION OF HISTORICAL RESOURCES
David L. S. Brook, Director
The purpose of the Division of Historical Resources is to collect, preserve, and utilize the state’s historic resources so that present and future residents may better understand that history. Accordingly, the division preserves and protects the state’s documents and records, and its historically and archaeologically significant properties. In addition, the division strives to generate public awareness of North Carolina history through educational and publications programs and to foster public and private stewardship of historical resources through planning assistance, technical services, and training.
Highlights of the biennium included capital improvements for regional offices in Greenville and Asheville; new levels of educational outreach throughout the division; increased stimulation of the creative economy through historic preservation; the establishment of a Blackbeard’s/Queen Anne’s Revenge Initiative to focus planning and coordination on that project; the discovery of the state’s oldest shipwreck that dates from the 17th century; the application of archaeological science to the needs of contemporary society in the areas of climate change and law enforcement; the creation of a new Archives and Records Management Fund (ARM)—the brainchild of State Archivist Jesse R. (Dick) Lankford; and the addition to the division of the Collections Management Branch in the spring of 2010. At the same time division programs, especially the Historical Publications Section and the Cemetery Survey and Stewardship program, suffered the first major budgetary blows triggered by the most serious economic downturn since the Great Depression.
Overall the observed trends of the period are the increasing use of receipted funds such as the ARM fund and federal grants to underwrite program operations. In addition, cooperative opportunities with other agencies within and without the division are being utilized at an increasing level, as in the case of a new collaborative project by the Information Management Branch of the Archives and Records Section with partners UNC-Charlotte and North Carolina State University. That initiative, funded by a Library Science and Technology Act grant through the State Library of North Carolina, is digitizing architectural drawings and photographs relating to renowned North Carolina architects.
In addition, a number of experienced, long-term employees left the division’s service. Richard Lawrence, head of the Underwater Archaeology Branch, retired near the end of the period, and Mark Wilde-Ramsing assumed interim duties. In the Western Regional Office, John L. Beaver, supervisor, retired, and Ralph (Jeff) Futch Jr. became regional supervisor. A milestone also occurred in the Government Records Branch of the Archives and Records Section with the retirement of Ed Southern, branch head, in June 2009, and the subsequent extended temporary replacement by two co-acting branch heads, Becky McGee-Lankford and Kelly Eubank, through the end of the biennium.
Finally, for much of the period the division director continued to serve as he had since 2003 on the Interagency Leadership Team for transportation planning, and since 1998 as the department’s Environmental Sustainability Officer. He stepped down from those tasks, however, to allow more time for chairing the department’s World War I Centennial Planning Committee and the War of 1812 Bicentennial Planning Committee. Serving with Dr. David Brook (center) on the War of 1812 Bicentennial Committee are Jim Greathouse (seated), Josh Howard, Si Harrington, Beth Hayden, Tom Belton, Joe Porter, Keith Hardison, Charlotte Carrere, and Lindley Butler.
COLLECTIONS MANAGEMENT BRANCH
LeRae Umfleet, Supervisor
The Collections Management Branch promotes an agency-wide approach to best practices regarding stewardship of cultural heritage collections entrusted to the department, facilitates departmental relationships and collaboration regarding object care and exhibition, and ensures quarterly review by the North Carolina Historical Commission. The branch, which held twelve meetings in 2009 and 2010, assisted the Historical Commission in reviewing proposed accessions and deaccessions for the Museum of History, the Museum of the Albemarle, the Maritime Museum, State Historic Sites, the Mountain Gateway Museum and Heritage Center, and the Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex.
The branch also works to make available the collections of Department of Cultural Resources (DCR) to the public through the Web. The “Search our Collections” feature found on the main DCR Web site showcases the collections of the Museum of History and its branches, plus those of State Historic Sites, the North Carolina Maritime Museum, and Tryon Palace. A recent review of visits to the Web site shows that nearly 18,000 users visited the DCR collections search page in the last year. The branch will be working to bring the database records concerning the collections of the Queen Anne’s Revenge shipwreck and the Office of State Archaeology into an up-to-date collections management software package, also enabling those collections to be searchable online: http://collections.ncdcr.gov/dcr/NCDCRSearch.aspx.
Lastly, the branch seeks to answer the statutory charge given to DCR to assist citizens of the state to preserve, care for, and exhibit the objects and papers of our collective history through the North Carolina Connecting to Collections (C2C) initiative. The C2C project is funded by two grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Beginning in 2009, the branch hosted regional forums and workshops for cultural heritage institutions in Asheville, Greensboro, Greenville, and Raleigh.Logo adopted by the Connecting to Collections program.
Over 200 participants attended the workshops. Topics covered included disaster preparedness, basic conservation care of collections, digitization, and collections management policies and procedures. All meetings included a component to encourage regional and statewide networking among the participants. Over the next two years, the C2C initiative will offer approximately twenty-one more workshops throughout the state on objects collections care, care of photographs and paper, digitization projects, and disaster preparedness.
RESEARCH BRANCH
Michael Hill, Supervisor
The Research Branch, a special projects office comprised of a supervisor, two research historians, and an administrative assistant, supported the Department of Cultural Resources (DCR), the Office of Archives and History and its various sections, other state government agencies, the media, and the public. A highlight of the biennium was a conference, organized in conjunction with East Carolina University, to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the publication of John Lawson’s A New Voyage to Carolina. The program, held on October 9-10, 2009, at the North Carolina Museum of History and the State Capitol featured ten speakers, Tom Shields and Charlie Ewen of East Carolina University, Lindley Butler of Wentworth, Kathy McGill of Oakton (Virginia), Vince Bellis of Greenville, Mark Simpson of Winston-Salem, Perry Mathewes of Norfolk, John Hairr of Lillington, Bea Latham of Bath, and, as keynote, Mark Laird of Toronto. Among the 211 registered attendees were members of the Society for the History of Discoveries (SHD), who selected Raleigh as the site for their own fiftieth anniversary conference, as a follow on to the Lawson program. The branch supervisor acted as co-chair of the Lawson planning committee and host for the members of the SHD.Presenting at the Lawson conference on October 9-10, 2009, were (left to right) Mark Simpson, Mark Laird, Vince Bellis, Charlie Ewen, Perry Mathewes, Tricia Samford, Lindley Butler, Tom Shields, John Hairr, Bea Latham, Jeffrey J. Crow, and Kathy McGill.
Lindley Butler presented an overview of Lawson’s times to conference attendees gathered
in the House Chamber of the State Capitol.
The branch supervisor co-chaired an intra-agency committee planning for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. Staff members continued to add to the Web site, www.nccivilwar150.com, with a detailed essay posted about John Brown and connections of two members of his raiding party with North Carolina. Late in the biennium public attention was drawn to an ambitious effort to analyze the state’s Civil War dead as part of the planned North Carolina Civil War Atlas. The branch continued to review additions to the Civil War Trails marker program with about two hundred in place by the end of the biennium.
As a prelude to the sesquicentennial observance of the war, the Office of Archives and History staged a one-day conference dedicated to Abraham Lincoln on the 200th anniversary of his birth, February 12, 2009. Speakers were William C. Harris of North Carolina State University, Paul D. Escott of Wake Forest University, John David Smith of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Loren Schweninger of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and Joseph T. Glatthaar and Heather A. Williams, both of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.For the Deputy Secretary’s Office, the branch supervisor completed two reports to extend planning at museums and historic sites. The first, issued in September 2008, was the product of a committee of twelve to study the future of the North Carolina Maritime Museum and prepare recommendations regarding the development of the Gallants Channel property. The assignment for the Maritime Museum Review Committee was to devise the best possible plan for use of the Gallants Channel tract.
The second report, submitted to the North Carolina Historical Commission in May 2010, recommended that the commission lift its moratorium on placement of memorials on the Capitol grounds but that exceptions be limited to the commemoration of African Americans, women, and American Indians. Moreover, the Capitol Memorial Study Committee recommended placement of plaques dedicated to the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Nineteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution inside the Capitol opposite the staircase in the west wing. Considerable effort went toward garnering public input into the process, with public hearings in February 2010 at the Young Men’s Institute Cultural Center in Asheville, in the House Chamber of the State Capitol in Raleigh, and at East Carolina University in Greenville.
A research historian in the branch served as liaison to the National Park Service working on a proposed heritage area dedicated to the Southern Campaign of the Revolutionary War. South Carolina took the lead in the effort, but owing to the participation of staff members from Archives and History, North Carolina had a place and a voice at the table. Planning progressed toward commemoration in 2013–2015 of the War of 1812.
As an intra-agency effort involving the Office of State Archaeology and Historic Sites, the branch engaged in an effort to document the Battle of Alamance and investigate the battlefield. In a series of site visits, involving volunteers and college students, a staff historian determined that a series of military encounters occurred on the property, including a Revolutionary War skirmish and a Civil War encampment in addition to the 1771 climactic battle between Regulators and the army of Gov. William Tryon.
Over the course of the biennium, continued effort went toward a six-hour public television film about state history in collaboration with UNC-TV. Horizon Productions completed the first hour, covering prehistory through the Tuscarora War, but budget constraints hampered further work.
The branch supervisor acted as the department’s rule-making coordinator, taking responsibility for Administrative Code reviews and changes. The branch continued work on a North Carolina history listserv on H-Net. At the request of the Secretary’s Office, staff prepared biographical sketches for the annual North Carolina Awards program. Also, at the request of the Secretary’s Office, a research historian in the branch chaired the departmental committees on worksite wellness and the Combined Campaign.
For the State Historic Preservation Office, work included review of manuscripts accompanying inventories of properties in Bertie, Brunswick, Greene, and Northampton counties. A staff historian dedicated three months to preparing an in-depth history of Hertford County to accompany an architectural inventory of that area.
Staff members assisted Tryon Palace Historic Sites and Gardens by reviewing exhibit plans and copy for the new History Education Center. Particular attention went toward preparation of text and panels for the Bern/New Bern exhibit and toward review of plans for the regional history exhibit.For the Governor’s Office, the branch supervisor, using the fuller texts found in The Governors of North Carolina, prepared edited biographical sketches of all governors since statehood for posting on the Web site of Gov. Beverly Perdue. In addition, he appeared in a short video production about Gov. Terry Sanford for the same Web site.
North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program
The Office of Archives and History and the Department of Transportation, marker program cosponsors, continued a robust effort to maintain and further develop the program, started in 1935, to identify and mark sites of statewide historical significance. The first meeting of the advisory committee took place in the fall of 1935, and the first marker was dedicated on January 10, 1936, at Stovall in Granville County. Consequently, the program, as the biennium ended, approached its seventy-fifth anniversary.
It was remarkable to have three of Lunsford Richardson’s grandsons at the marker dedication. They are (left to right) Fred Preyer, Lunsford Richardson, and Norris Preyer.
The Research Branch, with the assistance of the Information Technology Branch of the DCR, continued to update and improve the Web site, www.ncmarkers.com, completing work on the essays on the site and adding Google Earth and Facebook® features. The tenth edition of the Guide to North Carolina Highway Historical Markers, published in 2007, continued to be a best seller for the Historical Publications Section.
Professors Gail O’Brien of North Carolina State University, Chris Fonvielle of the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Mark Thompson of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and Kelli Walsh of Fayetteville State University accepted appointments to five-year terms on the North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Advisory Committee. Over the biennium the group held three meetings. At those meetings members approved twenty-six new markers, bringing the total authorized since 1935 to 1,552. In addition, thirty-nine older markers were replaced, sixteen signs were returned to the foundry for mounting-cap repairs, and forty-four spare posts were ordered.Plott family members and schoolchildren gathered for dedication of the marker on the grounds
on Hazelwood Elementary School near Waynesville in June 2009.
Over the twenty-four-month reporting period, dedication and unveiling programs were held in Asheville (2), Carthage, Charlotte (2), Chimney Rock, Clemmons, Durham, Greensboro (3), Hillsborough, Louisburg, Lumberton, Maxton, Morganton, Raleigh (3), Southport, Washington, and Waynesville.
WESTERN OFFICE
Jeff Futch, Regional Supervisor
Almost thirteen years after the Department of Cultural Resources (DCR) acquired the building commonly referred to as the “Oteen Center” from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and General Services Administration, work began in June 2009 to renovate the facility to be the new permanent home of the department’s Western Office. Located in the east Asheville community of Oteen and completed in 1933, the three-story, 17,380 square foot Georgian-style former black nurses’ dormitory is located in the northwest corner of the Veterans Administration Hospital Historic District.
Renovation work on the Oteen Center, future home to the Western Office, commenced in June 2009.
The DCR connection to the building dates to 1978 when an agreement between Cultural Resources and Western Carolina University allowed the then newly established “Western Office” to occupy space on several floors of the building. When the university ended its lease with the federal government in 1992, the Western Office was forced to move. Once the general contractor, Davie Construction Company of Clemmons, completes the project, the Western Office will realize a homecoming that at times seemed impossible to imagine.During the biennium, the Western Office continued to coordinate North Carolina’s Western District National History Day competitions and assisted with promotion, recruitment of judges, student registration, and various other logistics. For both 2009 and 2010, the competitions were held at Charles D. Owen High School in Buncombe County. Over the two year period approximately five hundred middle and high school students participated in all categories, including the newest and most interactive category, that beingWeb site design.
In January 2010 cultural and heritage tourism officers with the DCR Information and Marketing Services office began working from the Western Office to serve the twenty-five westernmost counties. The positions support the department’s programs and initiatives and collaborate with regional partners like the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, Friends of Mountain History, North Carolina Department of Commerce, HandMade in America, and the Appalachian Sustainable Agricultural Project to help build western North Carolina’s creative economy.
In addition to focusing on the Oteen Center renovation project, the regional supervisor attended annual and regional meetings of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area and served on the boards of Friends of Mountain History and the Mountain Area Cultural Resources Emergency Network. He also attended the Blue Ridge Parkway’s 75th anniversary ceremonies. He provided archival and museum management consultative services to the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site (Henderson County); Friends of DuPont State Forest (Henderson County); Friends of Silvermont (Transylvania County); Glenwood Baptist Church (McDowell County); Henderson County Public Library; Historic Carson House (McDowell County); Mountain Heritage Center at Western Carolina University (Jackson County); North Carolina Museum of Handicrafts (Haywood County); Transylvania County Heritage Museum; Tryon Riding Club (Polk County); Vance Birthplace (Buncombe County); and Old Buncombe County Genealogical Society.
The regional supervisor assisted the Center for Diversity Education at the University of North Carolina at Asheville and Buncombe County Public Libraries with a traveling exhibit entitled, Forever Free: Lincoln’s Journey to Emancipation. He helped present a disaster recovery workshop sponsored by the Mountain Area Cultural Resources Emergency Network entitled, “When it Counts: Handling Historical Materials in a Disaster”; and presented a workshop on the care and handling of archival materials to both the Transylvania County Heritage Museum and Genealogical Society.
Exhibit and/or photographic assistance were extended to the Town of Granite Falls; Smith McDowell House, Asheville; and the Burke County Historical Society, Morganton. Photographic reproduction work was provided to Friends of Mountain History for its project “That’s a Long Row to Hoe!” and to the Rutherford County Historical Society for its book, Spindale: The Story of a Southern Textile Town, by Robin Lattimore.
Following the retirement of John L. Beaver in November 2008, Ralph (Jeff) Futch Jr. was promoted from a records management analyst II position to regional supervisor in December 2009, and Virginia L. Daley was hired in April 2010 to fill the vacant records management position.
Archives and Records
Archives and records activities during the biennium were marked by staffing changes. In addition to his records management analyst responsibilities, Jeff Futch assumed the role of interim office manager in April 2009 and officially was promoted to office manager in December 2009. In April 2010 Virginia Daley was hired to fill the vacant position. Collectively the analysts conducted 656 records management and imaging consultations with county and municipal agencies throughout western North Carolina.
The analysts presented eleven workshops attended by approximately 360 local government employees on aspects of records and information management, including scanning and digital imaging of public records. Ms. Daley spoke at the District 2 meeting of the North Carolina Association of Register of Deeds, and both analysts assisted with projects to issue, update, and/or amend records retention schedules for county sheriff’s departments, local education agencies, and tax administration. Both also worked on updates and revisions to the municipal retention schedule.
Ms. Daley gave a talk sponsored by the Transylvania County Library on genealogical research and historic homes in Brevard. She served as a reviewer for the North Carolina Preservation Consortium’s grant program supporting preservation needs in state libraries and archives, historical societies, and museums, and participated in an E-Discovery workshop sponsored by the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Together the analysts facilitated the transfer of 268 volumes and 276 cubic feet of records scheduled for permanent retention in the State Archives from the counties of Buncombe, Cleveland, Haywood, Lincoln, Macon, McDowell, Rutherford, and Yancey. These include major transfers of court records from McDowell and Rutherford counties, as well as significant nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century records from various offices in Buncombe County.
Office of State Archaeology
The staff archaeologist provided technical assistance to contractors, managers, planners, state agencies, and archaeologists in twenty-four western North Carolina counties, and completed environmental review of 525 documents relating to construction projects in twenty-four counties. She reviewed 146 archaeological survey, testing, and excavation reports. Twenty-nine archaeological site visits, site evaluations, and field consultations were conducted in eleven counties. She also maintained archaeological site files, reports, and maps for the region.
In collaboration with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, she supervised Youth Involvement Office intern Anna Peitzman, who correlated archaeological site records of the Tribal Preservation Office with those of the Western Office. Working with the two offices, Ms. Peitzman assessed the conditions and significance of major Cherokee Indian village sites, and made preliminary recommendations for nominations to the National Register of Historic Places.
The staff archaeologist continued to participate in public education activities in association with the North Carolina Archaeological Society, and to answer inquiries from private individuals concerning artifact identification, archaeological sites, cemeteries, and Native American history and prehistory. She addressed a class of Western Carolina University students on procedures for completing state archaeological site forms, talked to Cherokee students attending an archaeological field school about Office of State Archaeology resources and programs, and met with a fourth-grade class to discuss North Carolina prehistory and archaeology. She also mentored a Buncombe County high school student as part of her senior project on archaeology. She delivered a presentation on archaeology and related state and federal legislation at the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee Cultural Resource Management Workshop, and gave a paper on Early Woodland period research in western North Carolina at the Appalachian Summit Archaeology Symposium in Boone.
Planning activities for preservation and restoration of Judaculla Rock continued in partnership with the North Carolina Rock Art Survey, Jackson County Parks and Recreation, and the Cherokee Tribal Preservation Office. As a result, preliminary archaeological work was conducted by Stratum Unlimited to enable engineers to avoid significant archaeological deposits during the design of landscape modifications to eliminate continued accumulation of sediments around the important petroglyphs. The new Judaculla Park Design will improve public access and provide interpretation, while protecting the petroglyph boulder itself for future generations.
Archaeologists conducted data recovery at Judaculla Rock prior to restoration work on the petroglyphs.
In preparation for the Western Office’s move to Oteen, the staff archaeologist consolidated and secured boxed artifacts stored at the office’s current location in Biltmore Village. She also assisted with the design and layout of the new archaeology lab at the Oteen Center.
State Historic Preservation Office
The preservation specialist responded to over 1,200 requests for information from the public and conducted approximately forty site visits over the reporting period. She assisted in oversight of one Transportation Enhancement Assistance (TEA) grant funded re-survey of the historic resources in Asheville city limits, one Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) grant apportioned city survey, and four HPF grant apportioned National Register of Historic Places nominations.Lynncote, residential property in Tryon, recently was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Twenty-two National Register properties and nineteen study list properties were presented to the National Register Advisory Committee. The specialist reviewed twenty-three Section 106 environmental review projects and three Part I applications for rehabilitation tax credits. The specialist reviewed and commented on seven local designation reports, spoke at fifty public informational meetings, and served as a judge during regional National History Day competitions.
Jennifer Cathey and Rebecca Johnson, preservationists in the Western Office, surveyed fire damage
at the Richmond Hill Inn in March 2009.
The restoration specialist provided technical assistance to local governments, organizations, and private citizens who own historic buildings in the western region, responding to more than 600 requests for information. She reviewed 37 federal and 30 state rehabilitation tax credit applications, conducted 55 visits to active and proposed tax credit project sites, reviewed 30 environmental review projects, and conducted 50 site visits for environmental review, grant and easement monitoring, and various restoration and rehabilitation projects. The restoration specialist provided ongoing technical assistance to private community groups such as the Bethel Rural Heritage Association (Haywood County), Friends of Silvermont (Brevard), and to the Carl Sandburg National Historic Site in Flat Rock.
She appeared at fourteen public meetings, including training sessions for Certified Local Governments and Historic Preservation Commissions, and provided technical assistance to Historic Preservation Commissions in Waynesville, Asheville, and Transylvania County. She served on Asheville’s Downtown Master Plan Historic Preservation Committee, and continued to coordinate with regional staff of Preservation North Carolina in support of its Endangered Properties and preservation easement programs. She provided ongoing technical assistance for the rehabilitation of the Oteen Center, the former nurses’ quarters that will house the Western Office of the Department of Cultural Resources.
ARCHIVES AND RECORDS SECTION
Jesse R. Lankford Jr., State Archivist
During the biennium the Archives and Records Section engaged in multiple initiatives involving collaboration and outreach, dealt with major budget cuts; and received an important new statutory funding source. Changes in organizational names and policies occurred; numerous initiatives or projects were begun, continued, or completed; and new online resources were made available to the public.
A major highlight of the reporting period was the implementation of a new funding source for the section. Beginning October 1, 2009, an Archives and Records Management (ARM) fund was instituted, whereby revenue from a fee on deeds was statutorily designated for services, staffing, and purchases for the Archives and Records Management program. ARM receipts brought in $933,852.35 worth of funding between October 1, 2009, and June 30, 2010.
The ARM fund rapidly became a critical source of support for Archives and Records. Legislative appropriations for the section were reduced markedly due to budget cuts in FY 2009–2010 and even more so in FY 2010–2011, with funding for four positions lost and about $70,000 remaining in appropriations for section operations. At the end of the biennium about 25 percent (approximately $880,000) of section funding—including rent for the Blount Street warehouse, equipment, maintenance agreements, supplies, and twelve positions—had been shifted from legislative appropriations to ARM receipts.
In the area of collaboration, the Council of State Archivists (CoSA) Intergovernmental Preparedness for Essential Records (IPER) project continued during the reporting period. A summit meeting to help plan IPER initiatives was held in Atlanta on July 21–22, 2008. The primary goal of the three-year project is to develop and provide training to state and local governments concerning protection of records before, during, and after disasters. The GeoMAPP (Geospatial Multistate Archive and Preservation Partnership) continued as well. A meeting was held September 15–17, 2009, in which project partners from Kentucky and Utah met with representatives from the Archives and Records Section to develop standards for the archival preservation of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) maps. Archives and Records’ share of the Library of Congress grant funding for GeoMAPP was $78,300.
The section made use of social networking tools to expand outreach services, including the creation of a blog (http://ncarchives.wordpress.com) and a Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Raleigh-NC/NC-State-Archives-and-Records-Section/119904548024750?ref+sgm). During both years of the biennium, the State Archives continued to participate in American Archives Month as designated by the Society of American Archivists (SAA). Archives Week was celebrated October 19–25, 2008, and October 18–24, 2009. Activities consisted of home movie screenings, exhibits, open houses, and presentations by the staff. Gov. Beverly Perdue signed a state proclamation designating October 18–24, 2009, as Archives Week in North Carolina, and the State Archives presented several public programs including the exhibit, Extraordinary People in Ordinary Documents and Treasures of the State Archives.
A notable outreach event during the reporting period occurred May 13–16, 2009, when the National Genealogical Society’s Family History Conference was held in Raleigh. State Archives staff members Mary Barnes, Debbi Blake, Chris Meekins, and Druscie Simpson presented papers. Nearly eight hundred participants from the conference also visited the State Archives.
A letter written by John Adams in 1776 detailing his “Thoughts on Government,” part of the holdings of the State Archives, was exhibited at the State Capitol, July–September 2009.
Tours of the section provided outreach opportunities for many groups, including registers of deeds and their staff members, law enforcement officers from Kosovo, librarians from Russia, members of the General Assembly, and even fourth graders from Wiley Elementary, who visited the Collections Management Branch and viewed the Bill of Rights. Planning efforts for a Bill of Rights exhibit came to fruition with the formal planning of the display of the document in New Bern scheduled for the town’s 300th anniversary jubilee celebration in the next biennium.
Staff presented several papers at national conferences. Druscie Simpson and Dick Lankford presented papers at the National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators (NAGARA) meeting, July 23–26, 2008; Kim Cumber presented a paper at the Society of American Archivists (SAA) meeting in August 2009; Sarah Koonts participated in a panel discussion at SAA in August 2009; and Kelly Eubank presented papers at NAGARA, SAA, and the Best Practice Exchange meetings.
During the biennium, the Information Technology Branch changed its name to the Information Management Branch to better reflect its focus. The Outer Banks History Center Associates changed its name to Friends of the Outer Banks History Center.Several policy and technology changes took place that impacted the section. Beginning July 1, 2008, the Collections Management Branch began charging to produce microfilm for state and local agencies. Changes in technology, coupled with decreased visitation to the Search Room, reduced receipts from copy services and microfilm duplicates. Also, more researchers are using digital cameras instead of paying to have copies made.
A new initiative enlarged the section’s responsibilities under Executive Order No. 18, calling for an e-mail archiving system. Continuing and improved projects consisted of an update to the municipal records schedule by the Government Records Branch and the redesign and launching of a new version of the Manuscript and Archives Reference System (MARS) on July 1, 2009.
To complete the 2007–2009 grant to the State Historical Records Advisory Board (SHRAB) initiative, a new Web site was revised, redesigned, and launched (http://www.history.ncdcr.gov/SHRAB/default.htm) in July 2009 to feature a disaster preparedness component. Another grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission awarded in 2009 for $66,397 (NHPRC—$33,166; matching $33,231) provided funds for a pilot Traveling Archivist Program (TAP). The goals of the TAP were to provide qualifying institutions with onsite instruction and demonstration about the proper care and handling of records and archival materials; to conduct a basic collections assessment and recommendations for short- and long-term preservation planning for each institution; and to equip each institution with basic supplies and resources.
Andrea Gabriel, of the Archives staff, and Hal Keiner, project archivist, presented a well-received report describing the TAP and its progress at the annual meeting of the Society of North Carolina Archivists in October 2009. In March 2010, the SHRAB reviewed and revised its strategic plan and established goals to guide its work through 2013. The SHRAB acknowledged the value of maintaining focus on its original goals—self-sufficiency, disaster preparedness, and field services—while updating the strategies through which to achieve them.
Important new digital initiatives were started during the reporting period. A comprehensive database of all state agency records retention schedules, as well as tutorials for state employees, was launched on the Government Records Branch Web site; numerous collections were posted on a new online repository (http://digital.ncdcr.gov) in cooperation with the State Library; six new Web sites were created; an internal online accessions database was developed; and a description of organization records was made available electronically for the first time.
Several long-term projects came to fruition during the biennium. Conservation and filming work on the decades-long Secretary of State land grant project was completed; scanning and preservation of the Conservation and Development iconographic collections were finished; the North Carolina Maps digitization project (http://www.lib.unc.edu/dc/ncmaps/) was completed in June 2010; and acquisition and/or arrangement and description of several key collections took place.
Many new collections were added to the Archives holdings. Among them were the records of the American Lung Association and the Joe M. McLaurin Collection. Progress was made toward finalizing an agreement for the papers of William Thornton, former NASA astronaut. The McLaurin and Thornton donations included funding support for their arrangement and description. One hundred and thirty-seven reels of U.S. Colored Troops microfilm from the National Archives were purchased with ARM receipts. The annual inventory of Archives holdings was conducted, January 12-14, 2009.The section developed a new online accessioning system. There were a total of 2,909 accession entries for the State Archives and a total of 314 for the Outer Banks History Center, bringing the section total to 3,223. Accession entries increased by over 21 percent, due in large part to the new system.
Statistical measures for the section during the biennium included $282,837.80 in receipts (search fees, photographic services, digital images, and documents copied); 13,990 researchers visited the Search Room and used 46,998 reels of microfilm and 42,796 unique records; 32,928 requests for information by e-mail, fax, and postal mail were handled; 15,408 audiovisual and iconographic requests were handled; and 2,344 post-secondary school transcripts were prepared.
Photographer Bruce Roberts shared his most memorable photographs at the Friends of the Archives annual program on June 29, 2010.
Support groups provided invaluable assistance during the biennium. On April 25, 2009, the OBHC Associates held an antiques appraisal fair. On June 29, 2009, the Friends of the Archives (FOA) sponsored a program about the North Carolina Map Project and Bruce Roberts photography. On February 27, 2010, the OBHC Associates hosted a premiere of the documentary film about the Pea Island Lifesavers. The Archivist of the United States, David Ferriero, presented a program at the June 14, 2010, meeting of the Friends of the Archives. The FOA sponsored staff appreciation lunches both years of the biennium.Archivist of the United States David Ferriero addressed the Friends of the Archives annual program on June 14, 2010.
The Cemetery Survey and Stewardship Program, initiated in 2008, was discontinued in 2010 because of its loss to budget cuts. At the end of the biennium, staffing and operational support for the Western Regional Archives at Oteen were on hold, and several other potential budget cuts had been proposed to help meet the continuing revenue shortfall for state government funding.
Sorely needed imaging equipment and 16mm and 35mm archive writers were obtained for the Collections Management Branch. The section management team participated in a two-day strategic planning retreat held at Yates Mill Pond on April 27–28, 2010. The completed plan (http://www.archives.ncdcr.gov/policies/2010-2013_archivesrecords_strategic-plan.pdf) details the goals and objectives for Archives and Records through 2013.
Personnel-related activities included career banding of all section archivists and records management analysts, effective September 1, 2008. On October 17, 2008, George Stevenson Jr., former staff member, received the Thornton W. Mitchell Award from the Society of North Carolina Archivists. After a too brief retirement George died on September 23, 2009. Ed Southern retired as head of the Government Records Branch on June 1, 2009.
Secretary of Cultural Resources Linda A. Carlisle (left) spoke at the Friends of the Archives luncheon on May 26, 2010.Collections Management Branch
In Collections Management, the biennial period continued to be marked by ongoing issues from building renovations. The issues occurred throughout all areas occupied by the section, impacting the long-term preservation of the collections. Sarah Koonts, branch manager, attended weekly meetings with construction staff. She and other staff were consulted on renovation issues and monitoring in the vaults. During the two years there were issues with the installation of the building air handlers, air conditioning units in both vaults, conservation lab fume hood, and a new sub-basement fire suppression system. In addition, there were ongoing problems with high humidity in the stacks, lack of chilled water supply to all air handlers, dangerously hot water in the branch areas, excessively hot and cold office areas, and a continuing problem with foul odors in branch areas during cold weather. At the close of the biennial period not all of the problems were resolved, including periodic humidity problems in the Archives stacks and the odor problem in the Collections Management Branch work areas. After renovation in the building was finished, conditions in the stacks remain problematic while the new vaults had better environmental control overall.
Because the new air handlers were installed within the vaults, storage space was reduced in both areas. The new units were installed between December 2008 and June 2009. During the biennium, branch staff worked hard to shift records in the sub-basement vault to accommodate the construction of the new HVAC unit. They also shifted almost 40,000 reels of state agency film up to the new basement vault. All county film in drawers was shifted, compacted, and inventoried.
Beginning on July 1, 2008, the branch began billing for all film produced for state and local agencies, regardless of the process to produce the film. In the past only duplicate reels incurred a charge. Prices for the filming were calculated to include the cost of the reel, processing, and a box or label. Agencies adapted easily to the new charges.
In early 2010 Collections Management was able to obtain several pieces of equipment to expand and speed up their services to state and local agencies. An SMA 51 archive writer was purchased to produce 35mm film from oversized images. A Kodak i780 scanner was purchased to replace the aging one used for scanning local records. A Zeutschel OS11000A1 scanner was purchased to replace the last functioning MRD preservation microfilming camera used by the branch. As the branch added new equipment, the staff began to do more and more with agencies who wanted digital images converted to film. In the last two years major conversion projects were undertaken for the Durham County Department of Social Services and a number of registers of deeds. In addition, an increasing number of the films produced in the branch started with digital images that were converted to film.
In addition to the equipment changes in Collections Management, there were a number of personnel changes during the end of the biennial period. After staffing stability for a number of years, the branch lost a vacant processing assistant position in 2008 when Alison Thurman took a position in the Search Room. Three other branch staff retired in late 2009 and early 2010, including Gina Fry, head of the Imaging Unit, and Enno Wulff and Bob Harrelson, both of whom worked in the processing and duplication laboratory. All three of the positions were filled by the close of the period.
A major shift in projects occurred when conservation and filming work on the Secretary of State land grant project was finished by the end of the biennium. Branch staff had been involved in the preparation, conservation, foldering, arranging, and filming of those records for several decades.There were several large preservation initiatives during this period. Sarah Koonts served on the steering committee for the department’s Connecting to Collections working grant from IMLS. That grant included several regional meetings on preservation. In addition, she was the first president of the newly formed Triangle Area Cultural Resources Emergency Network (TACREN). The group, sponsored by the North Carolina Preservation Consortium and the National Alliance for Response initiative, formed to create a network of preservation professionals willing to assist cultural institutions with emergencies impacting their collections.
The largest ongoing project of the biennium was the Intergovernmental Preparedness for Essential Records (IPER) project sponsored by the Council of State Archivists with a grant from FEMA. The project developed webinars for all fifty states and territories to use in training state and local records custodians in the identification and protection of essential records. Rebecca Paden, Imaging Unit supervisor, served on the instructional team. Between 2008 and 2010 there was a national IPER conference, numerous leadership and instructional team meetings, and many publicity products and conference calls about the project.
Ms. Koonts gave presentations on the IPER project to the state agency COOP coordinators (November 2008 and April 2010), the spring North Carolina Emergency Management Association’s All Hazards conference (March 2009), the Chief Records Officers’ meeting (April 2009), the State Emergency Response Commission (July 2009), and the Raleigh Alliance for Response meeting (October 2009). She also prepared webinar publicity and reviewed the content of the courses in draft form. Rebecca Paden, Becky McGee-Lankford, and Debora Antley (ITS) attended the train-the-trainers institute. There were numerous instructional team practices leading up to planned delivery of the IPER webinars beginning in the fall of 2010.
In addition to the presentations listed above, Ms. Koonts also made presentations to the Youngsville Women’s Club in 2008, a South Carolina SHRAB conference in 2008, and the 2009 annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists. Mat Waehner of the Photography Lab gave lectures on preserving personal digital images to the public during Archives Week of 2009 and for a Connecting to Collections workshop in 2010.
Photographer Mat Waehner of the Collections Management Branch delivered
a lecture about digital photography during Archives Week, October 19–25, 2009.Alan Westmoreland and Bill Garrett continued to photograph a number of events and people, including the annual North Carolina Awards, awards for the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Preservation North Carolina conference, and many other occasions such as retirements, tours, and other departmental events. In March 2010 Mr. Westmoreland documented the Bentonville battle reenactment, which is held every five years. Mr. Garrett photographed the Blount Street houses and properties in Lenoir and Jones counties. He edited images for the Forsyth County survey of historic properties.
Mat Waehner continued work on preserving a number of iconographic collections. During the biennium he finished scanning the Bicknell Collection scrapbook. He also finished work scanning and preserving the massive Conservation and Development iconographic collections. When completed, there were 46,246 images scanned taking up 836 gigabytes of storage. He also scanned the Cooper Collection, the Farrell Collection, the Georgia Historic Society Postcard Collection, and the James Dodge Collection album of Blue Ridge Parkway photographs. Mr. Westmoreland worked on devising methodologies for digitizing some of the Archives’ largest maps, including the 6.5' x 4.5' 1854 Pearce’s Map of North Carolina and a 1900 map showing Old Topsail Inlet to Cape Fear. He stitched the images together because there was no other equipment in the department to digitize such large and fragile original maps.
While work ended during the biennium on long-term projects, such as the land grants, the addition of new equipment meant that Collections Management staff also was looking for new projects and initiatives to meet the needs of modern records and service delivery models for archival collections. The OS11000A1 scanner should be used soon for dual preservation reformatting and imaging projects for the Archives’ collections. The SMA 51 will allow the section to begin accepting more electronic public records for reformatting to film, including electronically filed records for large agencies, such as DENR. Fewer traditional photographic prints are produced, but branch staff has become skilled in digitizing historic images and oversized materials.
Government Records Branch
The Government Records Branch’s (GRB) accomplishments in the biennium of 2008–2010 included both new and continuing initiatives: the continued collection and preservation of archival electronic records; working with the Governor’s Office and ITS to implement an e-mail archiving system throughout the executive branch of government in accordance with Executive Order No. 18, issued July 7, 2009 by Gov. Beverly Perdue; and the retirement of Ed Southern, branch head, in June 2009 and the subsequent extended temporary replacement by two co-acting branch heads (Becky McGee-Lankford and Kelly Eubank) through the end of the biennium.
In addition, the branch expanded its services to state and local agencies by placing four online tutorials on the GRB Web site so that all employees of state and local government would have access to the substantive workshops offered by the branch (the tutorials now available online include e-mail; managing public records for state and local agencies; managing electronic records; and social networking Web sites for state agencies). In addition, the branch published best practice guidelines for social media and e-mail usage to assist state and local agencies in the management of these records. At the same time the branch continued to consult and advise upon issues arising within state and local government and state-supported universities.
The statistical record of the branch for the biennium reflects the scope and volume of activities and services. Archivists in the branch (Local Records Unit and State Agency Services Unit) processed 547 cubic feet of records and handled 866 reference requests. The branch’s records analysts scheduled or amended a total of 5,293 records series in state agency, local government, and university schedules, and held 7,173 consultations. The increased focus on outreach and education paid off with 204 workshops in the biennium, attended by 5,173 state agency or local government personnel. The State Agency Services Unit handled 11,441 reference requests. Over 20,900 cubic feet of records were received for storage in State Records Center (SRC) facilities, and 8,531 cubic feet of records were destroyed in accordance with authorized schedules. At the end of the biennium, the branch stored a total of 149,954 cubic feet of records.
The Local Records Unit continued to work with Collections Management Branch microfilming staff in the preparation and microfilming of 182 batches of county and municipal minutes. Local Records Unit staff also collected 2,624 cubic feet of county and court records that will be accessioned into the State Archives. Family Search (Genealogical Society of Utah) volunteers continued to assist in the arrangement and description of permanently valuable local records, as well as the creation of security microfilm copies of select local records.
The Electronic Records Unit continued its collaborations with state entities including the State Library of North Carolina and collected Web sites from state agencies, boards, and commissions. During the biennium, the unit transferred 3.5 terabytes of data (24,803,079 files). The files comprised state agency Web sites, social media Web sites, geospatial information, files from Gov. Michael F. Easley’s office, and the audio session recordings from the 2008 session of the General Assembly. Under Executive Order No. 18, Ms. Eubank, head of the Electronic Records Unit, served as the DCR representative on the team that selected the e-mail archiving solution for the state.
The unit also continued to co-lead the Geospatial Multi-State Archives and Preservation Partnership (GeoMAPP), funded by the Library of Congress’s National Digital Information Infrastructure Preservation Program. Staff from North Carolina, Kentucky, and Utah is investigating the challenges related to the preservation of geospatial information. The North Carolina group actively engaged local and state agencies in North Carolina as well as national organizations in the geospatial and archival communities.
In September 2009, Ms. McGee-Lankford, head of the Local Records Unit, was appointed to serve on the Secretary of State’s Electronic Recording Council (ERC), which continues to deal with standards for the electronic recording of land and property transactions in North Carolina. She also contributed her expertise to council discussions and presented a paper at a digitization workshop in November 2008.
Records retention and scheduling activities in the Local Records Unit consisted of a major update of the municipal schedule, which had not been updated since 1997. Records retention scheduling activities in the State Agency and University Records units saw amendments to the General Schedule for State Agency Records implemented in both years of the biennium. The amendment in 2010 included a new series scheduling the 10-year retention of e-mail in accordance with the dictates of Executive Order No. 18. Significantly, the biennium also saw the successful launching on the GRB Web site of all approved state agency records retention schedules in a comprehensive database allowing for easy searching and retrieval of state agency schedules by citizens and government employees. The annual Chief Records Officers’ (CRO) meeting held on April 15, 2010, was expanded to include public information officers and chief information officers to hear a timely presentation by Kara Millonzi, professor at the UNC School of Government, on new rules and responsibilities in the area of electronic discovery (e-discovery).In addition to the branch’s routine work, the State Records Center underwent asbestos abatement from April through July 2009. Branch staff assisted in the relocation of records in the affected areas. Also, the State Records Center and the Blount Street Annex experienced a total of five water-leak events during this biennium requiring staff time and resources to mitigate.
Information Management Branch
The Information Management Branch (formerly the Information Technology Branch) underwent several important changes during the biennium. Due to the completion of the consolidation of departmental technology support with ITS, all technology-based responsibilities of the branch for the Archives and Records Section ended, except for the management of section Web sites. The change enabled the branch to focus more on providing better access to information held in the custody of the State Archives.
A primary change in providing access to archival material was the transfer of the online catalog, Manuscript and Archives Reference System (MARS), from an application called ENCompass, designed by Endeavor Infosystems, Inc., to an application based on an SQL server and Visual Basic, developed by programmers on staff within the department. ExLibris, the parent company for the ENCompass system, announced that it would no longer support the application after July 2009. DCR programmers developed an in-house application that was launched July 1, 2009. The biennium has seen many improvements, corrections, and updates to the new system. MARS provides access to more than 620,175 record descriptions and 119,279 digital images of documents in the custody of the Archives.
The indexing of the Secretary of State land grant records continued throughout this biennium, with 17,533 new entries being described in MARS. More than 55 reels of land grant records microfilm were also checked for accuracy and quality. Druscie Simpson, branch manager, presented two digitization workshops. On May 7, 2010, she spoke to a group of librarians about exploring North Carolina history digitally.
Another responsibility of the branch is to conduct the scanning, quality control, and indexing of digital copies to provide Internet access to records in the custody of the Archives. During the biennium, branch staff scanned more than 86,117 pages of archival material. Many of the images became new collections available via the Internet: Black Mountain College Publications (523 images; 78 documents); Variety Vacationland (1,130 images); North Carolina Family Records Online (8,504 images; 1,356 files); Confederate Pensions Act of 1885 (15,350 images); North Carolina Maps (3,000 images); and North Carolina Newspapers (23,000 images). The Black Mountain College Publications collection, the Variety Vacationland collection, and the North Carolina Family Records Online collection are all located in the new Archives/State Library Digital Collections repository located at http://digital.ncdcr.gov. The Confederate Pensions are located within the MARS database; the North Carolina Maps are located at http://www.lib.unc.edu/dc/ncmaps/; and the Newspapers collection may be viewed at http://archives.ncdcr.gov/newspaper/index.html.
Other records have been scanned, but either the collection is not finished or is in the queue to be uploaded in the department’s online digital collections’ application. They include: Alienation and Naturalization Papers (9,874 images); Cohabitation Bonds (1,209 images); Marriage Bonds—Cabarrus through Chatham counties (20,428 images); and historic Governors’ Papers (795 images).
In addition to being responsible for digitizing documents and making them available via the Internet, the Information Management Branch also handles the creation and maintenance of new websites for the Archives and Records Section. During the biennium, the branch created the following new websites: 1) Educational Resources, created by intern Carrie Misenheimer during the summer of 2009; 2) GeoMAPP, Geospatial Multistate Archive and Preservation Partnership Web site for the distribution of best practices and standards developed by the Library of Congress’s NDIIPP program to promote partnerships in the preservation of geospatial data; 3) Genealogical Research in the North Carolina State Archives, originally created for the National Genealogical Society annual conference held in Raleigh in May 2009, but revised after the conference as a tutorial in conducting research in the Archives; 4) May Day 2009, for disaster relief planning; 5) North Carolina Newspaper Digitization Project, featuring newspapers from cities and towns in North Carolina from 1752 to the 1890s; and 6) Views from Variety Vacationland, utilizing historic North Carolina Travel and Tourism photographs.
With the development of the new websites, the Information Management Branch also created a North Carolina State Archives’ blog and posted more than 145 new Encoded Archival Description finding aids. With all the online Web-based resources, the Archives and Records Section received more than 481,024 unique visitors to its Web sites, drawing over 1,102,244 hits.
The branch participated in several grants during the biennium. The first was a special grant from the State Library of North Carolina to finish digitizing and indexing the Western Carolinian, 1820–1844; the Carolina Watchman, 1832–1898; and the Archives’ collection of eighteenth-century newspapers. The second was an NC Exploring Cultural Heritage Online (ECHO) grant partnering with the North Carolina Collection at UNC-Chapel Hill. The three-year project was finished in June 2010 and resulted in a comprehensive online collection of historic maps of North Carolina through the Web at http://www.lib.unc.edu/dc/ncmaps. The third grant, again an NC ECHO digitization grant, is a collaborative project with UNC-Charlotte and North Carolina State University to digitize architectural drawings and photographs relating to renowned North Carolina architects.
Finally, the State Archives developed a partnership with the State Library of North Carolina during the biennium to work together on the complex issues concerning the creation, preservation, and long-term access to digital resources in the custody of the sister institutions. Among the results was the State Library’s application of CONTENTdm to provide access to many of the digital collections both agencies have created. In addition, the collaboration hopes to develop a strong preservation program for these electronic resources. The partnership includes members of the Information Management Branch and the Government Records Branch.
This biennium has witnessed a lot of changes to the Information Management Branch, both in losing responsibilities relating to technology support and in gaining many responsibilities regarding digitization, access, and preservation of electronic resources. There has been tremendous progress made in the amount of digitization completed and in the launching of many new digital collections online. This period should be considered a very successful two years.
Public Services Branch
The number of researchers in the Search Room increased during the biennium to 13,990, up from 12,907 in the previous biennium—an increase of 1,083 researchers. In May 2009 the National Genealogical Society held its annual meeting in Raleigh, and the Search Room saw a surge in researchers during that week. During the biennium, Search Room researchers used 42,796 Fibredex boxes and volumes and 46,988 reels of microfilm. Branch staff members made 346,085 Xerographic copies and handled 15,735 phone calls. Mail inquiries numbered 11,465, and e-mail numbered 21,463, for a total of 32,928 research requests, down 4,905 from the previous biennium. The trend of researchers attempting to do their research from a distance, using the Internet, phone, and mail, rather than coming to the Archives, continues. Another trend affecting the Search Room receipts is that of researchers bringing digital cameras. The result was that staff makes fewer photocopies as technology improves and more people rely on cameras for copies. Staff members handled 2,344 requests for transcripts, as well as 78 veterans’ records requests, and 1,057 requests for unprocessed county records during the biennium.
Branch staff members supported department programs, such as History Day and the Tar Heel Junior Historian Association, by serving as judges. The branch worked closely with the DCR Education Committee to conduct the summer Teacher Institute, held both years.
Public Services staff provided outreach activities that included 46 talks, 33 tours and Search Room displays, and 5 workshops. A total of 24 groups came to the Archives to conduct research, which is a marked increase from last biennium’s 9 groups. In 2009 and 2010 Debbi Blake, branch manager, attended the Social Studies Conference and the Middle School Conference, which resulted in increased contact with teachers around the state. The branch now receives many requests for talks and workshops from teachers on how they can use the records held by the North Carolina State Archives in their classrooms. For several years a member of the branch has been creating lesson plans for teachers. The section developed a Web site on which five lesson plans were posted, with the intent to post more. The section also created a committee to plan activities for the Civil War 150 commemoration, and Chris Meekins serves on Archives and History’s full committee. Plans include exhibits and lectures beginning in 2011. Mr. Meekins also spoke at two Civil War Trails marker dedications in 2008.
Debbi Blake of the Public Services Branch delivered a lecture about research in primary sources to participants in the “Reach to Teach” program, February 23, 2009.
The Cemetery Survey and Stewardship Program was staffed in 2008 as a joint effort between Archives and Records and the Office of State Archaeology. Mary Barnes, program coordinator, received calls, letters, and in-office visits relating to cemeteries in 87 counties. The office received 267 phone calls, 305 letters (281 e-mails and 24 via regular mail), 239 completed cemetery survey forms, and 13 volumes of cemetery transcriptions. In addition, the office arranged meetings with twenty-one in-office visitors and/or Search Room visitors, five trips to six cemeteries to consult or gather information on cemeteries, and four presentations at statewide meetings and conferences. Data on a total of 356 survey forms was entered into an Access database. News articles appeared in newspapers, magazines, and various professional newsletters. In addition to outreach, Ms. Barnes reorganized project files, prepared finding aids, and arranged and described disinterment/reinterment permits. The Cemetery Survey and Stewardship Program was not funded by the General Assembly, and the program ceased near the end of the biennium because of budget cuts.Resource Management Branch
The Resource Management Branch continued to provide accessioning, grant development and management, support, outreach, and basic archival services and programs at the Outer Banks History Center in Manteo. Andrea Gabriel, former supervisor of the branch, returned to the position in November 2008. Ms. Gabriel was elected to the Friends of the Archives Board and also was elected chair of the DCR Project Green Taskforce.
A new online accessions database was developed to automate the accessions process, creating online accessions records and eliminating most paperwork. The new system enables archivists to enter accession data for the seventeen series of archival materials received by the State Archives, data that is then assembled into accession and monthly reports according to archival standards. The new database allows staff members to conduct detailed searches for accessioned items, add material to previously accessioned records, and print contracts from the entries. Boyd Cathey, section registrar, provided training to State Archives staff members who now enter accession records directly into the searchable database.
Approximately 55,322 people were served through the Outer Banks History Center (OBHC) exhibits and public programs, most of whom were walk-through visitors to the gallery and Roanoke Island Festival Park. A total of 2,849 reference questions were addressed; 8,081 images were reproduced for customers; 48 online finding aids were completed; 218 records were entered into MARS; 5,432 items were re-housed; and 13 reels and 74 audio cassettes were transferred to digital medium. As a partner in the North Carolina Maps project (http://www.lib.unc.edu/dc/ncmaps/), the Outer Banks History Center cataloged and added to the collection 119 maps. The Outer Banks History Center expanded access to its collections, services, and activities with a Flickr site (http://www.flickr.com/photos/obhc/) and a Facebook® page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Manteo-NC/Outer-Banks-History-Center/178414201526?v=photos) launched in the fall of 2009.
The OBHC expanded public programming with a summer and fall series of “History in Your Hands” workshops with presentations from professional archivists, conservators, and curators. The History Center Gallery opened two new exhibits, Preserving Timeless Treasures: The Outer Banks History Center Turns 20, celebrating the Center’s twentieth year of operation; and Bruce Roberts, Photojournalist: 50 Years of Capturing Change, showcasing the work of photographer Bruce Roberts and sponsored in part by Our State magazine. An exhibit at the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island featured several Frank Stick paintings loaned from the Center’s holdings.
Throughout 2009, the Outer Banks History Center celebrated its twentieth anniversary with programming and activities. The Outer Banks History Center Associates hosted a luncheon to honor founder David Stick in May. Mr. Stick’s death in June 2009 was deeply felt by the OBHC staff, those in the Department of Cultural Resources with whom he worked to establish the Center, and his friends and colleagues throughout the region and state. The Outer Banks History Center with the National Park Service assisted the Stick family in his memorial service.
A grant from the Outer Banks Community Foundation for $11,285 helped to fund other public programs and twentieth anniversary observances including workshops, the production of a booklet, Outer Banks History Center: An Overview, a guide to the OBHC describing its research collections, and an upgrade of audiovisual equipment for the History Center Gallery.
The History Center expanded access to more than two dozen manuscript collections through a $40,327 grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Kelly Grimm, project archivist, arranged and described 150 cubic feet of materials, developed twenty-five online finding aids, and created an online exhibit for the Mann and Midyett Family Papers: (http://www.obhistorycenter.ncdcr.gov/exhibits/mann_midyett/index.html). The Mann and Midyett families have had a long presence in northeastern North Carolina with roots reaching back to the early eighteenth century. Among the collections added to the Center’s holdings were records of the League of Women Voters of Dare County; Chicamacomico Historical Association; C. D. Mann General Merchandise; People’s Ice and Storage; the papers of Washington Baum, Horace C. Dough, and the Meekins Family; and a photograph of the Tate Family and the Lawrence Family.
One of the highlights of the biennium was the premiere in the Roanoke Island Festival Park Indoor Theatre of the documentary film, Rescue Men: The Story of the Pea Island Life Savers, by DreamQuest Productions. Hosted by the Outer Banks History Center Associates, the event drew more than 250 people. Special guests included Senator Marc Basnight and Rear Admiral Stephen W. Rochon, United States Coast Guard (Retired), Director of the Executive Residence & Chief Usher of the White House. The Outer Banks History Center staff provided research assistance to the film producers and helped to organize and promote this event, which was emceed by curator KaeLi Spiers. As part of the department’s “Second Saturdays” programming, the Center complemented Festival Park’s showing of the film with an exhibit of original documents and historical literature from the Pea Island and other lifesaving stations.
In June of 2010 the Outer Banks History Center Associates, the 501(c)(3) support group, changed its name to the Friends of the Outer Banks History Center, and a formal memorandum of agreement was instituted delineating the roles and responsibilities of the Friends and the Department of Cultural Resources. The Friends continued to support the OBHC by hosting exhibit opening receptions, special events, and an annual Coastal Antiques Appraisal Fair.
Along with many Outer Banks organizations, the Outer Banks History Center participated in the annual Land of Beginnings Festival for 2009 and 2010. The OBHC personnel and volunteers staffed a booth at the Children’s Faire and annual Living Legend Community Luncheon. In 2009, staff created a coloring book based on photographs held at the Center, and the Center hosted an Author’s and Producer’s Roundtable, featuring nationally known writers and film/video producers. In 2010 staff designed a local history trivia game. In 2010, the Center hosted an evening storytelling session, and provided expertise and resources for a “Then and Now” photography competition.
In September 2008, Sarah Downing, previously employed at the Center, joined the staff as assistant curator, and Stuart Parks joined as an archives and history assistant.
Special Collections Branch
In addition to administrative duties, James Sorrell, branch manager, continued to make progress with the map collection, having reclassified and described and indexed 1,965 maps in MARS. The biennium also saw the successful completion of the North Carolina Maps digitization project, a three-year collaborative effort between the North Carolina State Archives, the North Carolina Collection at UNC-Chapel Hill, and the Outer Banks History Center. Mr. Sorrell actively assisted in the acquisition of the F. V. and Lavonia I. Allison Papers, including the records of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People; the Joe M. McLaurin History Collection containing local history and genealogical material relating to Richmond County; and the Overhills Papers relating to the management of the Rockefeller estate in Harnett County. Negotiations for the collections was ongoing for a number of years, and their successful acquisition was an important accomplishment for the section. Mr. Sorrell also actively participated in the strategic planning efforts of the branch and supervised the practicum of an N.C. State University graduate student.
Fran Tracy-Walls, private manuscripts archivist, spent considerable time during the biennium completing the arrangement and description, including the creation of an online finding aid, for the Theodore and Barbara Dreier Black Mountain College Collection, a major project involving most members of the branch staff at various times. Nevertheless, finding aids were prepared for thirty-four additional collections; and collection level descriptions of all microfilmed private collections and account books were prepared and entered into MARS. Ms. Tracy-Walls also successfully completed the Department of Cultural Resources Leadership Development Program. In addition to volunteers, she supervised the work of two interns.
Gwen Mays, organization records archivist, wrote and entered into MARS collection level descriptions for all the organization records in Archives custody, marking the first time that collection call numbers and collection level descriptions of all organization records had been made available electronically. In addition, the records of 19 new organizations were received, and the arrangement and description of 25 collections was completed. The organizations archivist served as treasurer of the Society of North Carolina Archivists during the biennium, and supervised the practicum work of two graduate students in the N.C. State University public history program.
Si Harrington, military collection archivist, made important contributions toward departmental initiatives by serving on the Civil War Tourism Council, the World War I Centennial Committee, and the War of 1812 Bicentennial Committee. During the biennium, Mr. Harrington received 1,857 requests from the public, sent and received 846 pieces of correspondence, arranged and described 137 collections, and gave 12 presentations. He also supervised the work of numerous project volunteers.
The Non-Textual Materials Unit assisted 511 researchers, handled 15,057 requests from the public, and completed the arrangement and description of ten collections. Kim Cumber, unit head, presented a paper, “Processing the Raleigh News & Observer Collection—A User Driven Approach,” at the 2009 Society of American Archivists annual meeting in Austin, Texas. She also coordinated with N.C. State University to host “Home Movie Day” at the State Archives as part of the 2008 and 2009 Archives Week celebrations, and continued to serve on the NC ECHO Advisory Committee during the biennium. In conjunction with Mr. Sorrell and Mr. Harrington, Ms. Cumber began a project using ARM fee funds to digitize audio and video taped veteran interviews in the military collection. In addition to volunteers, she supervised four interns and the practicum of an N.C. State University graduate student.
HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS SECTION
Donna E. Kelly, Administrator
The Historical Publications Section experienced decreased sales during the 2008–2010 biennium. Receipts totaled $177,019 for the first year and $165,450 for the second year, for a two-year total of $342,469, down by 3 percent from the last report. Credit card sales, which account for most of the individual orders, totaled $59,189 the first year and $60,678 the second, the combination of which represents 35 percent of the total receipts. Revenue generated from the online store totaled $62,165, a 7 percent increase from the last biennium. This included $28,423 for the first year and $33,742 for the second year, for an average of $2,590 per month.
Publications produced during the period, as well as those that went out of print, are listed in Appendix 6. The section sold or distributed 51,309 publications as follows:
Documentary volumes (includes governors’ books) 1,937
Documentary sets or combos (new statistic) 329
Carolina Comments index (limited stock) 35
Books and pamphlets (booklets) 22,093
Maps, charts, and documents (many sold separately) 3,751
Publications catalogs 20,045
Biennial reports (limited stock) 62
Back issues of the Review 768
Back issues of Carolina Comments 884
Posters 954
Other (Under the Black Flag note cards and prints,
CDs, and knowledge cards) 91
The online store continued to provide a convenient way for customers to place orders. There were 1,763 orders (9% increase), averaging 74 per month; 3,945 items sold, averaging 164 per month; 1,755 separate titles sold, averaging 73 per month; and 216,343 page views, averaging 9,014 per month.
Increased marketing activity was a highlight of the period. Book exhibits and book signings continued to bring in much-needed revenue. Three items of note stand out. On March 17, 2010, 164 copies of Haven on the Hill: A History of North Carolina’s Dorothea Dix Hospital were sold at an author’s speaking event on the Dix campus, setting a record for single-title sales in a three-hour period. In May 2009, the National Genealogical Society held its annual Family History Conference in Raleigh. Over $3,000 in sales was generated during the five-day event (May 12–16, 2009). December 2009 marked a milestone in the history of the online store. A total of $8,152 was generated—the most revenue received in one month since the online store was established in September 2003.
On a more somber note, the biennium was marred by severe budget cuts. Funding for a receipts-based editor I position in the General Publications and Periodicals Branch was discontinued in 2008. In addition to the drastic reduction in appropriations, new cost-saving measures were put into place, ranging from eliminating travel to printing copies on both sides of colored paper to conserve white paper. Because of the downturn in the economy, receipts languished, particularly in the last quarter of the reporting period. On March 17, 2010, a recommendation from the Office of State Budget and Management suggested that the section go to an all-receipts-based budget, which would essentially shut down all editorial operations. Thankfully, the section was able to survive by eliminating funding for several positions as well as suspending or transferring programs to other areas within Archives and History.With a reduced budget and staff, new policies were implemented in the section. The program to exchange scholarly journals was discontinued, as was the practice of providing gratis copies of Carolina Comments to libraries and other repositories. Because of a decrease in subscriptions, the number of North Carolina Historical Reviews printed was lowered, as was the number of copies of Carolina Comments. Subscription prices were modified to add a tier for institutions and libraries. Specific policies concerning usage fees and copyright were also standardized. Instead of printing and mailing flyers to announce new publications, postcards and e-mail were used as a means of communication.
A Day of Blood: The 1898 Wilmington Race Riot by LeRae Umfleet, underwritten by the African American Heritage Commission, examines the only successful coup d’état in U.S. history.
Because appropriated funding was cut so severely, other funding sources were pursued. The Paul Green Foundation provided a $4,000 grant to help print Watering the Sahara. The African American Heritage Commission gave a $7,000 grant toward publications relating to African Americans. Historical Commission chairman Jerry Cashion paid $1,263 to have the 2006–2008 biennial report printed. A $1,600 check from the North Carolina Association of Dealers in Antiques allowed the section to reprint Thomas Day, and a $500 grant from the Society of the Cincinnati covered a reprint