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

              FIFTY-SECOND BIENNIAL REPORT
THE NORTH CAROLINA
OFFICE OF
ARCHIVES AND HISTORY
2006-2008
BIENNIAL REPORT
OFFICE OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY
July 1, 2006–June 30, 2008
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: With a six-week expedition in the fall of 2006 and twelve weeks of field
work in 2007, the staff of the Queen Anne’s Revenge Shipwreck Project of the Office of State Archaeology
has excavated approximately half of the shipwreck site in Beaufort Inlet. Twenty-four cannon have been
located amidst the wreckage, of which ten have been recovered. All images by the Office of Archives and
History. (2) In 2007, the Office of Archives and History carried the State’s newly recovered copy of the
Bill of Rights to the people with a seven-city tour of an exhibit titled Liberty and Freedom: North Carolina’s
Tour of the Bill of Rights. In March 2008, after five years of litigation, the State was finally awarded
ownership of the invaluable document. (3) Tremendous progress was made toward the eventual
reconstruction of Fort Dobbs, the French and Indian War site near Statesville. Prints of this artistic
conception of the fort, painted by Robert Steele, were sold as a fund-raiser by the historic site’s support
group. (4) The Archives and History/State Library Building in Raleigh underwent a radical trans-formation
as it was remodeled to accommodate employees of the Department of Cultural Resources who
were displaced from their offices in historic Raleigh houses. The ceiling of the State Archives Search
Room was lowered but the lateral dimensions of the room were enlarged by the renovation. (5) The
collaborative traveling exhibit, Mysteries of the Lost Colony and A New World: England’s First View of
America, attracted more than 58,000 visitors to the North Carolina Museum of History during a three-month
appearance. The exhibit showcased the British Museum’s complete collection of John White’s
drawings of the North Carolina coast.
FIFTY-SECOND BIENNIAL REPORT
OF THE
NORTH CAROLINA
OFFICE OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY
July 1, 2006
through
June 30, 2008
Raleigh
Office of Archives and History
North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
2009
© 2009 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
KENNETHHOWARD
Director
NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL COMMISSION
JERRY C. CASHION (2013)
Chairman
ALAN D. WATSON (2009)
Vice Chairman
EMERITI: N. J. Crawford, H. G. Jones, William S. Powell, Max R. Williams
Millie M. Barbee (2011) Paul D. Escott (2013) Barbara B. Snowden (2013)
Mary Lynn Bryan (2011) B. Perry Morrison Jr. (2011) Richard Starnes (2011)
Kemp P. Burpeau (2009) Freddie L. Parker (2013) Harry L. Watson (2011)
CONTENTS
Deputy Secretary’s Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Division ofHistorical Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Education Branch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Research Branch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
WesternOffice ofArchives andHistory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Archives and Records Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Historical Publications Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Office of StateArchaeology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
StateHistoric PreservationOffice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Division of StateHistoric Sites and Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
East Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Piedmont Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
West Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
MuseumandVisitor Services Section. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
North Carolina TransportationMuseum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Roanoke Island Festival Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
State Capitol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Tryon PalaceHistoric Sites&Gardens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Division of StateHistoryMuseums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
North CarolinaMuseumofHistory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Mountain Gateway Museum and Heritage Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Museumof theAlbemarle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Museumof the Cape FearHistorical Complex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
North Carolina Maritime Museum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Graveyard of theAtlanticMuseuminHatteras. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Appendixes
ADMINISTRATION
1. TheNorth CarolinaHistorical Commission . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
2. Appropriations and Expenditures, July 1, 2006–June 30, 2008. . . 99
3. Appropriations and Expenditures, 1958–2008 . . . . . . . . . . . 100
4. Roster of Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
5. Publications of StaffMembers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
6. Complete List of Publications Issued by the
Office ofArchives andHistory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
DIVISION OF HISTORICAL RESOURCES
7.NewHighwayHistoricalMarkersApproved. . . . . . . . . . . . 140
8.Accessions by theArchives and Records Section . . . . . . . . . 142
9.UnderwaterArchaeology Permits Issued . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
10.Historic Preservation FundGrants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
11. Certified Local Governments in North Carolina
as of June 30, 2008 (map) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
12. Certified LocalGovernments inNorth Carolina (list) · · · · · · · 233
13. Local Historic Preservation Commissions in North Carolina
as of June 30, 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
14. Historic Preservation Rehabilitation Tax Credit Projects
Reviewed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
15. North Carolina Properties and Districts Listed on the
National Register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
DIVISION OF STATE HISTORIC SITES AND PROPERTIES
16.Accessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
17.Attendance at StateHistoric Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
18. Special Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
19. Contributions of Time and Funds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
20. USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial Revenues . . . . . . . 268
21. Planning and Construction Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
22. Unpublished Archaeological, Historical, and Technical Reports . 270
23. Roanoke Island Commission Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
24. Tryon Palace CommissionMembers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
25. USS North Carolina Battleship Commission Members . . . . . . 274
DIVISION OF STATE HISTORY MUSEUMS
26.Accessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
27. Public Impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
28. Exhibits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
29. Public Presentations, Consultations, and Technical Assistance . . 290
Biennial Report
Office of Archives and History
July 1, 2006–June 30, 2008
Administrative Organization
Office of Archives and History
North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
June 30, 2008
*Oversight by commissions
**Affiliate organization
Deputy Secretary
Archives and History
Jeffrey J. Crow
Director
David L. S. Brook
Director
Keith A. Hardison
Director
Kenneth B. Howard
Division of
Historical Resources
Administration
Education Branch
Federation of N.C. Historical
Societies**
Research Branch
Western Office
Archives and Records Section
Historical Publications Section
Office of State Archaeology
State Historic Preservation
Office
Division of
State History Museums
N.C. Museum of History
(Raleigh)
Mountain Gateway Museum
and Heritage Center
(Old Fort)
Museum of the Albemarle
(Elizabeth City)
Museum of the Cape Fear
Historical Complex
(Fayetteville)
N.C. MaritimeMuseum
(Beaufort)
Southport Branch
Graveyard of the Atlantic
Museum
Division of State Historic
Sites and Properties
East Historic Sites Region
Museum and Visitor Services
Section
North Carolina Transportation
Museum
Piedmont Historic Sites Region
Roanoke Island Festival Park*
Tryon Palace Historic Sites &
Gardens*
USS North Carolina Battleship
Memorial*
West Historic Sites Region
BIENNIAL REPORT OF THE
OFFICE OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY
July 1, 2006–June 30, 2008
Jeffrey J. Crow, Deputy Secretary
The Office of Archives and History remained a vibrant and effective organization
during the biennium. New initiatives in a number of areas marked the reporting period.
At the same time the staff continued to deliver services with great efficiency and
exceptional performance.
During the biennium the Department of Cultural Resources chose as its themes
“History Happens Here” and “Telling Our Stories.” The continuing chronicle of North
Carolina’s copy of the Bill of Rights seemed to capture those themes perfectly. In 2007
the Office of Archives and History took an exhibit of the Bill of Rights to the people of
the state. Titled Liberty and Freedom: North Carolina’s Tour of the Bill of Rights, the
exhibit featured a lively design by the North CarolinaMuseum of History and a skilled
interpretation by the State Archives. The exhibit visited seven cities, stretching from
Wilmington, Fayetteville, and Edenton in the east, to Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro,
and Asheville in thewest. In addition, at each site a scholar in history or law presented a
keynote address on one or more rights protected by the Bill of Rights. Those lectures
will be edited and published in the next biennium.
In the meantime five long years of litigation over the Bill of Rights ended inMarch
2008. The Wake County Superior Court awarded ownership of the document to the
State ofNorth Carolina. After thousands of hours of assiduous research and preparation
by staff of the Office of Archives and History and the Attorney General’s Office, both
federal and state courts recognized North Carolina’s superior claim, first to possession
of the document and then to ownership.
The successful replevin of public records ran like a leitmotiv through the reporting
period. The deputy secretary addressed the subject, with particular emphasis on the Bill
of Rights, at the joint meeting of the Society of American Archivists and the National
Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators (NAGARA) in
Washington, D.C., in August 2006 and then again at the meeting of NAGARA in
Kansas City, Missouri, in July 2007. At nearly the same time, litigation to retrieve a
Confederate flag captured by Union forces at Petersburg, Virginia, in April 1865
reached a conclusion in the North Carolina Court of Appeals. The federal government
returned thirty-two Confederate flags to the state in 1905. The flags remained in the
custody of the Hall of History and the North Carolina Historical Commission until the
1960s, when one of the Eighteenth Regiment flags disappeared. The Wilson County
Superior Court returned the flag to theNorth CarolinaMuseum ofHistory in 2005, and,
in a unanimous decision, the North Carolina Court of Appeals upheld that decision in
March 2008.
Less dramatic but equally as important, the Archives and Records Section
continued to conquer the frontiers of electronic records. Every archivist and records
manager in the nation face the same challenge.Most records are now “born digital,” but
preserving them not just for future generations but even for a few years can be a
daunting task. The section has worked within state government and with other states to
find solutions to preserve e-mail and other electronic records. At the same time the
section has made thousands of records available through the World Wide Web.
The State Archives and the State Historical Records Advisory Board tackled
another important issue with a grant from the National Historical Publications and
Records Commission: disaster preparedness. At a statewide meeting in Raleigh in
November 2007, nearly three hundred participants attended sessions about building
networks among emergency management agencies and cultural institutions that
administer official records, special collections, and documentary materials. Under the
same grant, workshops offering further training began in the spring of 2008.
The agency experienced a number of transitions as thirty-year veterans of Archives
and History retired. Notable departures included Elizabeth F. Buford, director of the
Division of State History Museums and former deputy secretary of the department;
Archie Smith, manager of Town Creek Indian Mound State Historic Site; Raymond
Beck, manager and historian of the State Capitol State Historic Site; and George
Stevenson, everyone’s indispensable archivist, from the Archives and Records Section.
During the same period, two new division directors brought fresh ideas and bold
leadership to their programs. Keith A. Hardison assumed responsibility for the Division
of State Historic Sites and Properties, and Kenneth B. Howard succeeded Betsy Buford
in the Division of State History Museums.
The Division of State History Museums had a busy biennium with the removal of
old exhibits and installation of new ones. Especially noteworthy was the exhibit,
Mysteries of the Lost Colony and A New World: England’s First View of America from
the British Museum. At the heart of the exhibit were more than seventy watercolor
drawings by John White from his voyages to the New World in the 1580s. It was the
first time in more than forty years that all ofWhite’s drawings were on display outside
England. The new Museum of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City also opened its doors
and mounted a major new exhibit, Our Story, on the history of northeastern North
Carolina. The Office of Archives and History additionally prepared a feasibility study
for the North Carolina Historical Commission to consider acquisition of the Graveyard
of the Atlantic Museum on Hatteras Island. With the commission’s approval and
funding from the General Assembly, the museum joined the division in 2008.
The Division of State Historic Sites and Properties enjoyed a surge in overall
attendance during the biennium. Both the Charlotte Hawkins BrownMuseum and Fort
Dobbs State Historic Site worked hard on long-range plans. The only state historic site
devoted specifically to black history received generous appropriations from the General
Assembly to renovate the deteriorating buildings on the campus. Plans proceeded to
build a colonial fort and a visitor center at North Carolina’s only state historic site
documenting the French and Indian War. Construction of the first permanent visitor
center at Horne Creek Living Historical Farm also was scheduled for early in the next
biennium. Perhaps the greatest success story occurred in New Bern where a
combination of public and private funding will build a $60 million North Carolina
History Education Center. It is scheduled to open in time for the three-hundredth
anniversary of New Bern in 2010.
Under the steady hand of Dr. David Brook, the Division of Historical Resources
(DHR) enjoyed notable successes in programs in addition to archives and records.
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Deputy Secretary’s Report
In 2007 the General Assembly allocated funding for a reactivated North Carolina
Cemetery Survey and Stewardship Program. Through the combined efforts of the
Archives and Records Section and the Office of State Archaeology, the cemetery
program began to take shape in the second year of the biennium with two new hires and
preliminary planning.
On the maritime side of archaeology, the Queen Anne’s Revenge (QAR) shipwreck
remains one of the most visible archaeological sites in the world. Archaeologists
estimate that they have now recovered about one-third of the purported flagship of the
pirate Blackbeard. The QAR lab to conserve artifacts at East Carolina University has
outgrown its space. Efforts will be made to lease additional space. Before it became a
pirate vessel, the QAR had participated in the slave trade. A one-day symposium at the
North CarolinaMaritimeMuseum in Beaufort in February 2007 drew a capacity crowd
to explore the connection between slavery and piracy.
The Historical Publications Section published a number of important new titles,
including volume 11 of the Colonial Records of North Carolina, a book of essays on
Nathaniel Macon to commemorate his 250th birthday in 2008, a history of Hayes
Plantation near Edenton, and a history of the Civilian Conservation Corps in North
Carolina. The appearance of volume 16 of North Carolina Troops, 1861–1865: A
Roster late in the reporting period had an immediate impact on the section’s revenue. In
fact, for the second year of the biennium, sales rose by more than 16 percent.
The Historic Preservation Office (HPO) continued to offer expert advice and
assistance on a wide range of issues to citizens of North Carolina and to administer the
popular program of tax credits for rehabilitation of historic properties. Peter Sandbeck,
deputy state historic preservation officer, also took on the role of the department’s
liaison with the Natural Heritage Trust Fund. As a result, many worthy projects
received critical funding to preserve green space and to protect historical resources. The
department also assumed responsibility for restoring the Lake Mattamuskeet Lodge, a
property listed in the National Register of Historic Places, after it was transferred from
the federal government to the state. Once restoration is complete, the North Carolina
Wildlife Resources Commission will manage the lodge. The HPO also made progress
in establishing a GIS database to record more than two thousand National Register
properties in the state.
The sale of state properties in Raleigh’s Blount Street Historic District required the
transfer of thirty-four DHR staff members to the renovated Archives and History/State
Library Building. Although the move facilitated program coordination, the need to
carve out new space for the relocated DHR personnel, in addition to nearly two dozen
Arts Council staff members, took a heavy toll in reduced storage and workspace.
Meanwhile, the deputy secretary continued to serve as secretary to the Blount Street
Advisory Committee to assure the protection of National Register properties in the
district.
Internal reorganization within the deputy secretary’s office reflected the department-wide
responsibilities being assumed by certain staff members. Jo Ann Williford,
formerly assigned to DHR, now reports to the deputy secretary as education supervisor
for the entire department. Generous funding from the General Assembly enabled
Ms.Williford to conduct National History Day statewide and to plan summer institutes
for teachers. LeRae Umfleet, along with the Office of Archives and History, received
3
Deputy Secretary’s Report
an Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History for the
Wilmington Race Riot report. She left the Research Branch, however, to become the
department’s chief curator of collections. In that capacity she assists the deputy
secretary in accessioning and de-accessioning artifacts for all of Archives and History.
She also has worked with other parts of the department to establish uniform standards
for describing collections in a data warehouse.
During the reporting period the deputy secretary continued to serve on the
Interagency Leadership Team (ILT) with ten other federal and state agencies. The ILT
has improved communication among agencies, streamlined procedures for
environmental review of transportation projects, and promoted better long-range
planning at the municipal and local levels. The deputy secretary also established the
CivilWar 150 Committee to begin planning for the sesquicentennial of the CivilWar.
Keith Hardison and Michael Hill, supervisor of the Research Branch, co-chair the
committee. The committee chose as its themes freedom, sacrifice, and memory;
designed a logo; and developed aWeb site. In addition, the deputy secretary serves as
the state’s liaison to the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. His other
professional activities included service on the C. VannWoodward Prize Committee for
the best dissertation on southern history, sponsored by the Southern Historical
Association, and the Richard Leopold Prize Committee for the best book by a public
historian, sponsored by the Organization of American Historians.
After the severe budget cuts in the early part of this decade, the Office of Archives
and History has stabilized. Growth is evident in several areas, especially for new
facilities and for repairs and renovations to historic buildings and visitor centers.Yet the
traditional programs sometimes continue to suffer from a lack of funding. The inability
to compete with salaries in the private sector or in other states creates turnover in the
staff.Most employees have a passion for history, believe in themission of Archives and
History, and consider public service a calling. Therein lies the strength and future of the
agency.
4
Deputy Secretary’s Report
DIVISION OF HISTORICAL RESOURCES
David L. S. Brook, Director
Major activities involved facility upgrades, expanded applications of information
technology, policy studies, new program initiatives, existing program expansion, and
the acquisition of documents fundamental to the state’s history. Long-awaited
construction began on the historic Robert Lee Humber House, the headquarters in
Greenville of the Eastern Regional Office of the Office of Archives and History,
administered through the division’s State Historic Preservation Office. Through their
review of architectural plans, Raleigh-based and Western Office historic preservation
and archives and records staff members helped to lay the groundwork for the
renovation of the 17,380-square-foot Oteen Center in Asheville. Construction is
scheduled to begin in the fall of 2008. Oteen, a very sturdy and historic brick structure
that once served as a Veterans Administration nurses’ dormitory, is slated to house the
Western Office and a records center for western North Carolina. In Raleigh, the State
transferred to the Archives and History/State Library Building thirty-four division staff
members formerly housed in buildings in the Blount Street Historic District that are
being renovated and sold by the State. That staff consolidation has facilitated better
program coordination but has also created a severe lack of space for storage, meetings,
and work.
The Archives and Records Section rendered invaluable research for the Governor’s
E-mail Records Review Panel. That section also made significant strides in expanding
public access to the state’s historical documents through digital postings on the Web.
Likewise, the State Historic Preservation Office completed GIS mapping of all of its
National Register listings in seventy-five counties, and the Office of State Archaeology
(OSA) began work with the Information Technology (IT) Division of the Department
of Cultural Resources (DCR) on a complete restructuring of OSA’s archaeological
collections management systems.
The Queen Anne’s Revenge (QAR) Shipwreck Project underwent a major
expansion of staff, facilities, and fieldwork that resulted in the excavation of
approximately 50 percent of the shipwreck site. The Historical Publications Section
broke new ground by expanding the types of sale items to include Discover N.C. Craft
Knowledge Cards, the NC in Tune CD, and QAR-themed Under the Black Flag prints
and note cards.
In executing the recommendations of the House Committee on Abandoned
Cemeteries, the division successfully launched the North Carolina Cemetery Survey
and Stewardship Program, a joint undertaking of the OSA and the Archives and
Records Section.With the help of the DCR IT Division, the military archivist began to
compile electronically a roster of North Carolina men and women who served during
WorldWar I, in anticipation of the one-hundredth anniversary of that war. On the other
hand, a shortage of staff continued to stymie efforts to record and transcribe the
recollections of North Carolina’s World War II veterans, who are rapidly dying off.
Thus, much of that collective historical memory is being lost.
Archives and Records Section staff members provided full service to the State’s
successful legal campaign to recover the long-lost North Carolina copy of the Bill of
5
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Among the ten new titles published by the Historical Publications Section
were two volumes prepared by the Research Branch: The Governors of North Carolina, edited by Michael
Hill, and the tenth edition of the Guide to North Carolina Highway Historical Markers. (2) Planning
progressed for the renovation of the Oteen Center, a former nurses’ dormitory at the Veterans’
Administration hospital near Asheville, to be the permanent headquarters for the Western Office of the
Office of Archives and History and a regional records center. (3) The newly formed Education Branch
conducted National History Day in North Carolina during each year of the biennium. June Atkinson,
state superintendent of public instruction, assisted David Brook (left), director of the division, and Jeffrey
Crow (right), deputy secretary of the Office of Archives and History, in presenting the awards in April
2007. (4) Twenty-eight markers were approved for addition to the Highway Historical Marker Program.
This marker near the former site of Hart’s Mill in Orange County was dedicated in August 2007. (5) The
State Historic Preservation Office facilitated the addition of 103 properties in 49 counties to the National
Register of Historic Places, including the Thomas W. Raoul House in Asheville (pictured).
Rights (BOR). The Office of Archives and History’s complementary public education
program in 2007 of scholarly lectures and display of the BOR raised awareness
throughout the state about the document’s place in history and the democratic principles
that it underpins. The State Archives also acquired important personal and professional
papers that relate to the founding, development, and operation of the former Black
Mountain College.
The division director continued to serve on the Interagency Leadership Team for
transportation planning, and as the department’s environmental sustainability officer.
During the biennium he also participated in the deliberations of the House Committee
on Abandoned Cemeteries and helped to craft implementing legislation and policies.
EDUCATION BRANCH
During this biennium a new Education Branch was formed within the deputy
secretary’s office of the Office of Archives and History, consisting of the education
supervisor, an outreach coordinator, and an office assistant. This branch conducts the
National History Day program in North Carolina, oversees the work of the Federation
of North CarolinaHistorical Societies, and collaborates with educators from each of the
divisions to provide educational materials and programs throughout the state.
The education supervisor led teacher workshops at the Social Studies and Middle
School conferences in both years of the biennium and conducted additional workshops
in conjunction with Teaching American History grants in Windsor, Raleigh, and
Sanford. She also served as state coordinator for National History Day in North
Carolina. New schools were added to the program in each year of the biennium.
Regional districts were sponsored by the Cape Fear Museum in Wilmington, East
Carolina University in Greenville, Elon University, the University of North Carolina at
Charlotte, and theWestern Office of Archives and History in Asheville. The number of
participants at the state competition was 254 in 2007 and 262 in 2008. The state
coordinator continued to serve as chair of the Executive Council of State Coordinators
at the national level.
The Education Office coordinated presentations by division educators to home-school
groups in Raleigh, Hickory, and Charlotte. Educators also shared a booth at the
conference for the National Association for Gifted Children held in Charlotte in
November 2006. A series of lesson plans on the Gilded Age in North Carolina was
developed by the educators and made available to teachers. Planning for a summer
teacher institute also began during the biennium.
The Federation of North Carolina Historical Societies cosponsored with the North
Carolina Literary and Historical Association an annual meeting each year of the
biennium, held in Raleigh in 2006 and in Asheville in 2007. The Albert Ray Newsome
Awards for outstanding achievement in the preservation of local history were awarded
to the Lower Cape Fear Historical Society and the Cashiers Historical Society in 2006
and to the Lincoln County Historical Association in 2007.
In cooperation with NC ECHO, the federation offered regional workshops in the
spring of 2007 in Fayetteville, Lincolnton, and Washington, which focused on
designing attractive exhibits on a budget and the basics of a good Web page. In 2008
workshops presented in Fremont, High Point, and Morganton examined the basics of
7
Division of Historical Resources
collections care and on the grants and other programs offered by the North Carolina
Humanities Council. A fall 2007 workshop held in conjunction with the federation’s
annual meeting in Asheville helped participants learn how to develop a living history
program. The outreach coordinator wrote a short article based on this workshop that
was published in the February 2008 issue of Dispatch, the newsletter of the American
Association for State and Local History. She also redesigned and expanded the
Federation Bulletin, which continued to be published quarterly. The federation made
interest-free loans to the following organizations for publications produced during the
reporting period: Wayne County Historical Association; the Preservation Society of
Chapel Hill; theHistorical PreservationGroup of Lenoir County; Cooleemee Historical
Association; and the Historical Preservation Foundation of North Carolina.
RESEARCH BRANCH
Research Support Activities
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. The signal achievements for the
biennium were the enhancement of the historical marker Web site and the preparation
of The Governors of North Carolina, a volume of sketches published by the Historical
Publications Section in the spring of 2007. The ninety-nine essays, extending from John
White to Michael Easley and arranged alphabetically, were the work ofmembers of the
branch, past and present, including Wilson Angley, Jerry L. Cross, Dennis F. Daniels,
Michael Hill, and Ansley Wegner. The book replaced North Carolina Governors,
edited by Beth Crabtree, originally published in 1958 and last revised in 1974.
Over the course of the biennium, renewed effort went toward a six-hour public
television film about state history in collaboration with UNC-TV. The objective is to
create a high-quality production using on-location footage, historic photographs and
other images, interviews with historians, narrated excerpts of letters and diaries, and
period music. In 2007 Horizon Productions contracted to prepare a fifteen-minute film
on the Roanoke Voyages as a pilot for the full production, and an advisory panel of
professional historians met to guide the project. Jerry C. Cashion, Harry Watson, and
Pamela Grundy serve on the board. In the summer of 2008, internMichael Brandon of
the University of North Carolina at Greensboro surveyed archival holdings to create an
image database for the producers.
The branch undertook the establishment of a North Carolina history listserv on
H-Net. By the end of the biennium, H-NC had approximately two hundred subscribers.
At the request of the Secretary’s Office, the supervisor met quarterly with the
Agricultural Advancement Consortium. The branch’s administrative assistant chaired
the departmental committee on equal employment opportunity and assisted DCR
administration on special projects. One of the research historians chaired the
department’s worksite wellness committee. At the request of the Secretary’s Office,
staff members prepared biographical sketches for the annual North Carolina Awards
program. For the General Assembly, the staff drafted biographical sketches of African
American and female legislators in conjunction with the commissioning of portraits.
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Staff members consulted with Tom Earnhardt, producer and host of Exploring North
Carolina on UNC-TV, regarding content of upcoming shows.
For the Governor’s Office, the staff prepared a resolution concerning the fiftieth
anniversary of public school desegregation. For the Deputy Secretary’s Office, the
supervisor compiled details about Abraham Lincoln’s connections with North Carolina
and assisted in planning an upcoming symposium. Staff members participated in the
CivilWar Trails effort and reviewed essays for signs mounted under that program. An
outgrowth of that effort was detailed examination of the history of a monument in
Hertford dedicated to the memory of African American troops who fought for the
Union.
Responding to a legislative request, staff members collaborated with the Eastern
Band of Cherokee Indians on a brochure dedicated to the Rutherford Expedition of
1776. A similar effort in collaboration with the Society of the Cincinnati resulted in the
production of a brochure concerning the RevolutionaryWar. The staff also worked on a
feasibility study of the Revolutionary War Southern Campaign Heritage Area and
engaged in a similar study of Gullah-Geechee heritage.
Two specific research efforts entailed site visits at the request of local citizens. A
site in Rutherford County reputed to have been Biggerstaff Old Fields, the scene of the
hanging of nine Loyalists captured at the Battle of Kings Mountain, was investigated. In
Alamance County a tract believed to have been a campground used by Governor
Tryon’s troops prior to the Battle of Alamance was researched and visited.
For the State Historic Preservation Office, work included review of manuscripts
accompanying inventories of properties inGreene, Hyde, Jones, andWatauga counties.
For the State Archives, a researcher traveled to the National Archives to pursue details
regarding the theft of the State’s copy of the Bill of Rights from the State Capitol in
1865. Staff members also assisted with the tour and display of the document.
For the Division of State Historic Sites and Properties and the Division of State
HistoryMuseums, the supervisor engaged in committee efforts to study the Graveyard
of the Atlantic Museum and the North Carolina Maritime Museum, with focus on
development of the Gallants Channel property. Other work for historic sites included
preparation of reports concerning the 1781 battle at the House in the Horseshoe and the
role of Hessians in the Revolutionary War. Staff members assisted Tryon Palace
Historic Sites & Gardens by reviewing exhibit plans and copy for the planned History
Education Center.
The branch supervisor cochaired with archaeologist Charles Ewen of East Carolina
University a committee to plan a commemoration in October 2009 of the three-hundredth
anniversary of the publication of John Lawson’s A New Voyage to Carolina.
Arrangements were made to coordinate the Lawson program with the meeting of the
Society for the History of Discoveries in Raleigh. The supervisor also cochaired an
intra-agency committee to plan for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. Highlights
included two meetings of the academic advisory board comprised of historians Mark
Bradley, Paul Escott, Chris Fonvielle, Joseph Glatthaar, Susannah Lee, Freddie Parker,
John David Smith, and Richard Starnes. A Web site, www.nccivilwar150.com, and
poster were created. The branch’s information technology specialist continued to work
on the North Carolina Civil War atlas to be published by UNC Press.
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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 1936, to identify and mark sites of statewide historical significance.
In May 2008 Sewah Studios, the supplier of state markers, increased the cost per unit
from $1,325 to $1,425.
The Information Technology Branch of DCR assisted with development and
maintenance of aWeb site, www.ncmarkers.com,mounted in 2006. InternMatt Stokes
of the University of North Carolina at Asheville was employed for the summer months
of 2007 to write essays about marker topics. Intern Elizabeth Boak of the University of
St. Andrews (Scotland) did similar work in the summer of 2008. Students at Meredith
College who were enrolled in a public history course took on the drafting of essays as a
class assignment. The tenth edition of the Guide to North Carolina Highway Historical
Markers was published by the Historical Publications Section in April 2007.
Professors Jeff Broadwater of Barton College, Olen Cole Jr. of North Carolina
A&T State University, Dan Fountain of Meredith College, and Carole Troxler of Elon
University accepted appointments to five-year terms on the North Carolina Highway
Historical Marker Advisory Committee. Over the biennium the group held four
meetings. At those meetings members approved twenty-eight new markers (see
Appendix 7), bringing the total authorized since 1935 to 1,528. In addition, forty older
markerswere replaced, ten signs were returned to the foundry formounting-cap repairs,
and sixty-one spare posts were ordered. Over the twenty-four-month reporting period,
dedication and unveiling programs were held in Asheville, Cooleemee, Durham, Fort
Barnwell, Greensboro (2), Henderson, Hillsborough, Louisburg, North Wilkesboro,
Oak Island, Oxford, Pittsboro, Raleigh, Riverton, Rocky Mount, Salisbury, Tillery,
Wilkesboro, and Wilmington (2).
WESTERN OFFICE OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY
The Western Office continued in its mission to represent the Department of Cultural
Resources (DCR) in the western region, providing technical advice and assistance in
the areas of archives and records, historic preservation, archaeology, and museum
services. The office supervisor participated in the coordination of regional National
History Day activities, with other staff members providing assistance and serving as
judges. The daylong event was hosted by Cane Creek Middle School in 2007 and by
A. C. Reynolds High School in 2008. The supervisor also represented the agency on the
board of the Friends of Mountain History (FOMH). In association with the Western
Office, FOMH continued to build relationships with Advantage West, the Blue Ridge
National Heritage Area, and the North Carolina Division of Tourism, Film, and Sports
Development in order to promote and support historical and cultural projects in the
region.
During the 2006 session of the General Assembly, approximately $3.5 million was
allocated for renovation of the Oteen facility, which formerly housed the Western
Office. The building will again be home to theWestern Office and also contain the new
Western Regional Records Center. Architect Edwin Bouldin updated renovation plans
for the building, with ongoing plan reviews conducted by Western Office staff, the
State Historic Preservation Office, the DCR Capital Projects Unit, and the State
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Department of Insurance. At the end of the reporting period, plans were under review
by theDepartment of Insurance, with bidding and construction projected to begin in the
fall of 2008.
Photographic services provided by the archives and history assistant included
photography, processing, and print work forNationalRegister nominations and historic
architectural surveys, executed in coordination with State Historic Preservation Office
staff, consultants, and owners of historic properties. He executed extensive print work
for an upcoming publication about historic architecture inWatauga County, sponsored
by theWatauga County Historical Society. He provided artifact photography and film
processing and printing for the Office of State Archaeology, as well as for the
archaeology field school at Warren Wilson College. Local government agencies,
including Transylvania County libraries, the Henderson CountyHeritageMuseum, and
the Burke County Register of Deeds, received print services and consultation.
Photographic services for museum exhibit fabrication continued to be a function of the
staff photographer, with assistance given to the following individuals and organiza-tions:
Dr. Harley Jolley, in association with the release of his publication, “That
Magnificent Army of Youth and Peace”: The Civilian Conservation Corps in North
Carolina, 1933-1942; the City ofAsheville for theUSS Asheville exhibit; theMountain
Gateway Museum and Heritage Center for permanent and temporary exhibits; and the
Town of Granite Falls History and TransportationMuseum for inaugural exhibits at its
new facility.
Special activities undertaken by the office secretary included maintenance of
historic architectural survey, National Register, and restoration project files; data entry
for an archival records retention database; assistance to the staff photographer with
exhibit fabrication; and planning and registration for the regional History Day.
Archives and Records
The records management analyst conducted 702 records management and micro-graphic
consultations with various county and municipal agencies. He presented eight
workshops attended by approximately 225 local government employees on various
aspects of records and information management. He spoke at meetings of the North
Carolina Local Government Information Services Association, the North Carolina
Association of County Clerks, the North Carolina Association ofMunicipal Clerks, the
Southwest Education Alliance, and two meetings of the North Carolina Association of
School Business Officers. He assisted with projects to issue, update, and/or amend
records retention schedules for county health and sheriff ’s departments and regional
councils of government.
In the area of archival services, the recordsmanagement analyst provided assistance
regarding the arrangement, description, and/or preservation of archival collections
managed by the following historical organizations: Ashe County Historical Society;
Catawba County Genealogical Society; Transylvania County Historical Society; Town
of Granite Falls History and Transportation Museum (Caldwell County); Cleveland
County Historical Museum; African American Heritage Center (Rutherford County);
Swannanoa ValleyMuseum (Buncombe County); Buncombe County Library System;
Bob Moog Foundation (Buncombe County); Presbyterian Heritage Foundation
(Buncombe County); Burke County Historical Society; Highlands Historical Society
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(Macon County); and the Old Buncombe County Genealogical Society. He gave a
presentation at a statewide conference sponsored by the State Historical Records
Advisory Board on disaster preparedness and served as an instructor for the North
Carolina Preservation Consortium’s introduction to archives management workshop.
In addition, he attended annual and regional meetings of the Society of North Carolina
Archivists, the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, Friends of Mountain History, the
North Carolina Preservation Consortium, and the North Carolina Museums Council.
He also continued to serve on the board of the Mountain Area Cultural Resources
Emergency Network and as a judge for the regional History Day competition.
Lastly, the records management analyst assisted with the transfer to the State
Archives of 300 volumes and 250 cubic feet of court and land records scheduled for
permanent retention from the counties of Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus,
Lincoln, and Macon. These transfers included several volumes of land and court
records (dockets) dated 1770 to 1797 from the defunct county of Tryon.
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 627 documents relating to
construction projects in twenty-four counties. She reviewed 186 archaeological survey,
testing, and excavation reports. Forty archaeological site visits, site evaluations, and
field consultations were conducted in twelve counties. She maintained archaeological
site files and maps for the region and was assisted in this effort by an intern during the
summer of 2006.
The staff archaeologist provided assistance and support to the North Carolina
Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association and the Cherokee Tribal Preservation Office.
She provided planning assistance for museum exhibits in three counties, identified
artifacts collected by individuals on numerous occasions, and consulted with the
Research Branch and the Rutherford Trace Steering Committee about the development
of a brochure. She also continued to participate in public education activities in
association with the North Carolina Archaeological Society, and to answer inquiries
from private individuals concerning artifacts, archaeological sites, cemeteries, and
NativeAmerican history.Working with volunteers and students, the staff archaeologist
assisted with processing material from Spikebuck Town archaeological site in Clay
County and the Berry site in Burke County. In partnership with the North Carolina
Rock Art Survey, Jackson County, theWestern Carolina University Cherokee Studies
Program, and the Cherokee Tribal Preservation Office, theWestern Office established
an advisory group for the preservation and enhancement of Judaculla Rock.
State Historic Preservation Office
The staff preservation specialist responded to almost 1,300 requests for information
from the public and conducted approximately 138 site visits. She assisted in the
oversight of aHistoric Preservation Fund (HPF) grant-apportioned survey for the Town
of Black Mountain. She participated in the administration of two HPF grant-apportioned
National Register of Historic Places nominations: for the West Warren
Street district in Shelby and the East Main Street district in Brevard. Shemade National
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Register Advisory Committee presentations for twenty-eight National Register
properties and thirty Study List properties, among them the Graham County Court-house
and the Mars Hill College Historic District. Downtown commercial districts
represented in National Register nominations included Hendersonville, Lenoir,
Marshall, West Asheville, and West Jefferson. The preservation specialist reviewed
twelve Part I applications for rehabilitation tax credits and sixteen local historic
designation reports. She appeared at fifteen public and informational meetings and
served as a judge for the Cashiers Village Heritage Awards.
The restoration specialist for the Western Office provided technical assistance to
local governments, organizations, and private citizenswho own historic buildings in the
western region, responding to more than seven hundred requests for information. She
reviewed thirty-five federal and thirty-four state rehabilitation tax credit applications;
visited eighty tax credit project sites; reviewed nineteen environmental review projects;
and conducted sixty-three site visits for environmental review, grant, and easement
monitoring, and various restoration and rehabilitation projects. She provided ongoing
technical assistance to state historic sites in the western region, as well as to public and
private historic buildings and sites, such as the Carl Sandburg National Historic Site,
KingsMountainHistoricalMuseum, Penland School,Wilkes Presbyterian Church, and
the Smith-McDowell House Museum.
The restoration specialist appeared at seven public meetings, including information
sessions for National Register Historic Districts and the rehabilitation tax credit
programs, and for Historic Preservation Commission regional training sessions. She
was engaged in ongoing consultations with Preservation North Carolina regarding
building repair and rehabilitation issues, and in support of its endangered properties and
preservation easement programs. She participated on the environmental assessment
planning committee for the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, as a judge for the
regional History Day competition, and in preservation planning for Macon County’s
Cowee area as part of the Mountain Landscapes Initiative.
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ARCHIVES AND RECORDS SECTION
Jesse R. Lankford Jr., State Archivist and Records Administrator
This biennium was another productive and challenging one for the Archives and
Records Section. The return of the Bill of Rights and its subsequent statewide tour,
renovation of the Archives and History/State Library Building, and grant activities
were major focuses of the section during this reporting period.
OnMarch 24, 2008, Judge HenryW. Hight Jr. of theWake County Superior Court
approved a motion for summary judgment and decided that ownership of North
Carolina’s original copy of the Bill of Rights belonged to the State. Judge Hight’s
decision ended five years of litigation. After federal courts awarded possession of the
Bill of Rights to North Carolina, and the document was returned to the State in August
2005, the question of ownership still had to be decided. Judge Hight’s ruling ended any
other potential claims of ownership and awarded title of the document to the State of
North Carolina. After an absence of 143 years, North Carolina’s original copy of the
Bill of Rights now resides safely in the State Archives.
Beginning in February 2007, the Bill of Rights exhibit, Liberty and Freedom: North
Carolina’s Tour of the Bill of Rights, was taken on a statewide tour of seven cities—
Fayetteville,Wilmington, Edenton, Raleigh, Charlotte,Asheville, andGreensboro. The
exhibit also included an accompanying lecture series that highlighted the individual
rights guaranteed by this document.
A collaborative effort across all branches of the section reduced a backlog of
records in the Government Records Branch that were scheduled for destruction. From
March through October 2006, this resulted in the removal and authorized destruction of
35,693 cubic feet of records in the State Records Center and the rental warehouse
known as the Blount Street Annex (BSA).
During renovation work to install sprinklers in the State Archives’ stacks, which
began in the spring of 2006 and continued well into this biennium, archival records
were removed and temporarily stored in the State Records Center for their protection.
The Collections Branch supervisor chaired the committee that supervised the efforts to
movemore than thirty thousand cubic feet of records. After severalmonths of planning,
these effortswere completed through the hardwork of section staffmembers during the
major moving periods of January, March, May, and June 2007.
Archives and Records was actively engaged in two important grants funded by the
National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). The State
Historical Records Advisory Board (SHRAB) received $52,365 over two years to
support its Disaster Preparedness Training for Documentary Institutions project. As
part of this grant project, on November 14, 2007, the SHRAB hosted an all-day
conference, “Before Disaster Strikes: Networking to Protect Our Records,” at North
Carolina State University’s McKimmon Center. A total of 275 participants attended
this conference. Regional workshops focusing on disaster planning, preparedness,
recovery, and continuity of operations are part of this initiative as well.
The Government Records Branch also received a grant from the NHPRC for
$102,220 in partnership with the Kentucky and Pennsylvania state archives to develop
a program for preserving in an XML format e-mail of enduring value. Additionally, in
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the fall of 2007, the section began working collaboratively with the North Carolina
Collection of theUniversity ofNorth Carolina at ChapelHill on a three-yearNC ECHO
grant to digitize and make available online the map holdings at UNC-Chapel Hill, the
Outer Banks History Center inManteo, and the State Archives. In the summer of 2007,
the Information Technology Branch also undertook a pilot grant from NC ECHO to
work with the State Library of North Carolina to digitize and index thirty microfilm
reels of newspapers. The section’s contractual service with the Internet Archive to
capture and preserve selected state government Web sites was maintained throughout
the biennium.
Another major preservation initiative was the work on section and departmental
emergency preparedness planning. During the biennium the section’s disaster
preparedness and response plan was revamped. An additional pocket phone tree was
distributed to key section and departmental staff. Section staff members also assisted in
the development of the departmental Continuity of Operations Plan. Additionally,
Archives and Records engaged in several disaster preparedness initiatives directed by
the Council of State Archivists (CoSA). First, staff members participated in a hurricane
conference in the spring of 2006 in Atlanta. By the spring of 2008, a North Carolina
leadership team was formed to steer participation in the CoSA Intergovernmental
Preparedness for Essential Records (IPER) project. Representatives from the State
Archives, the Division of EmergencyManagement in the Department of Crime Control
and Public Safety, and theOffice of Information Technology Services now serve on the
team. During the next biennium this team will provide training for state and local
government officials on the identification and protection of vital records.
George Stevenson was honored with the Order of the Longleaf Pine in November
2006 for his years of service and particularly for the important role he played in
securing the return of North Carolina’s copy of the Bill of Rights. He retired from the
Special Collections Branch on January 1, 2008. In the Public Services Branch, Ron
Vestal retired after thirty years of service.
Archives and Records continued to receive valuable support from the Friends of the
Archives. Two successful annual meetings were held. On June 11, 2007, Karen Blum
and Dale Talbert of the State Attorney General’s Office presented a program on the
return of the Bill of Rights. On June 23, 2008, Kevin Duffus gave a presentation on his
new book about “Black Beard” the pirate.
Challenges confronting the section in the foreseeable future include developing a
strategy to preserve digital and electronic records; finding new sources of revenue for
program support to replace declining receipts; obtaining adequate physical facilities for
program operations; andmaintaining current staffing levels. Because of cuts exacted by
theGeneral Assembly, the section will start the new biennium with a $42,919 reduction
in its budget for fiscal year 2008–2009. The impact of career banding of the section’s
professional and supervisory personnel will be dealt with after the effective date of
September 1, 2008. The reports that follow from the section’s branches highlight the
many accomplishments during this reporting period and provide optimism for program
advancement in the next biennium.
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COLLECTIONS MANAGEMENT BRANCH
In Collections Management the beginning of the biennial period was dominated by
issues attending renovations to the Archives and History/State Library Building.
Branch staffmembersmoved back into renovated quarters in early December 2007. For
several months following the move, the staff worked on unresolved problems,
including the installation of sinks for the photography and conservation labs and
adequate ventilation for the toning processor and the conservation lab fume hoods.
CollectionsManagement was also heavily involved in organizing and executing the
massive shift of records in the Archives’ stacks during the installation of the sprinkler
system as part of the building renovation. Section administration determined that the
relocation of these records was the only way to protect them during the construction
process and the installation of stack sprinklers.
One of themajor initiatives of 2007 was the statewide tour of the Bill of Rights. The
branch manager helped plan the tour, including making advance site visits to all seven
locations. She also accompanied the document to each tour stop.
In the photography lab, preservation work was done on some important collections.
The photographer I completed the scanning and reformatting of the Barden Collection
in December 2006. He then finished work on theH.H. Brimley and the Carolina Power
and Light collections. During the latter part of the biennium, he began working on the
Department of Conservation and Development negative collection. He scanned all
negatives in each collection, created new negatives if the originals were damaged, and
rehoused the collections.
Throughout this reporting period, the photography lab staff performed the typical
photo shoots that customarily arise, including the North Carolina Awards, the awards
for the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, and the DCR employee
appreciation event. In addition, photo shoots for the Division of Historic Sites and
Properties greatly increased. The photographer I also photographed Superior Court
judges for the Supreme Court Library, the State Employees’ Awards for Excellence for
the Office of State Personnel, and the Heritage Awards for the North Carolina Arts
Council.
In other preservation work, land grants from Surry through Washington counties
were conserved, and land grants from Sampson through Wake counties were
microfilmed. North Carolina Supreme Court original case files were prepared and
filmed for the spring 1952 term through the spring 1958 term. Eighteen newspaper titles
were microfilmed by branch staff.
This biennium also saw nearly all of the Imaging Unit databases that tracked
security film converted from the old Aviion server to the SQL server by the
departmental information technology staff. At the end of the reporting period, only the
database-tracking state agency microfilm remained on the old server. Branch staff
received permission to charge for all services that produced microfilm either via a
traditional camera or the Document Archive Writer (DAW), and that change was
communicated to state and local officials in the spring of 2008. By the end of the
biennium, the ImagingUnit staffwas adept at utilizing all the scanners and theDAW.
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GOVERNMENT RECORDS BRANCH
The Government Records Branch (GRB) confronted a number of issues during the
biennium. These involved new and continuing initiatives in the collection and
preservation of archival electronic records; use of GRB spaces for a temporary shift of
approximately two-thirds of the Archives’ collections resulting from renovations in the
Archives and History/State Library Building; and responses by the staff to the
deliberations and findings of the Governor’s E-mail Records Review Panel. At the
same time, the branch consulted with and advised state and local government agencies
and state-supported universities on various issues, including the public records law,
records retention scheduling, document management, electronic records management,
and recording technology issues for all media.
The statistical record of the branch showed an impressive volume of activities and
services.Archivists in the branch’s Local RecordsUnit and StateAgency Services Unit
processed 568 cubic feet of records and handled 739 reference requests. The branch’s
records analysts scheduled or amended 4,730 series in state agency, local government,
and university schedules; held 3,449 consultations; and hosted 130 workshops attended
by 2,790 state agency or local government personnel. The State Agency Services Unit
handled 9,040 reference requests. More than 18,731 cubic feet of recordswere received
for storage in SRC facilities, and 18,581 cubic feet of records were destroyed in
accordance with authorized schedules. At the end of the biennium, the branch was
storing 147,157 cubic feet of records. The Local Records Unit continued to work with
the Collections Management Branch microfilming staff to preserve the minutes of
county and municipal governing boards. Staff members prepared and filmed 221
batches of county and municipal minutes. The Local Records Unit staff also collected
2,014 cubic feet of county records that will be processed and accessioned into the State
Archives. Family Search (Genealogical Society of Utah) volunteers completed the
arrangement and description of archival records from five counties and microfilmed
records from thirteen counties.
The Electronic Records Unit continued its collaboration with the State Library of
North Carolina and collectedWeb sites from state agencies, boards, and commissions.
This effort resulted in the accession by the State Archives of 14,260,072 Web-based
documents and 2.5 terabytes of information. The branch also continued to archive
electronic mail, and, by the end of the biennium, the Archives had accessioned 54,514
e-mailmessages (2.76 gigabytes). Additionally, the Electronic Records Unit continued
its work in testing a methodology for the preservation of electronic mail, using a
collaborative grant (with Kentucky and Pennsylvania) totaling $102,220 from the
National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) to develop and
test an e-mail collection and preservation tool.
The collection and preservation of archival geospatial data and information became
another major objective, as the unit staff began work in the second half of the biennium
on a Library of Congress National Digital Information and Infrastructure Preservation
Partnership (NDIIPP) grant to preserve geospatial records. This $625,000 grant
involved a partnership with the N.C. Center for Geographic Information and Analysis
and the states of Utah andKentucky. In response to a directive of the Governor’s E-mail
Records Review Panel (March–May 2008), unit staff members designed an online
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tutorial—nowavailable on the branch’sWeb site—for themanagement of e-mail under
the public records law.
The branch head continued to serve as vice-chair of the Secretary of State’s
Electronic Recording Council (ERC), which deals with standards for the electronic
recordation of land and property transactions, in which he was assisted by the head of
the Electronic Records Unit (who was also involved with the Advisory Council on
Electronic Notarization Standards) and the head of the Local Records Unit. The final
report of the ERC contained a standard formanagement and preservation of digital data
that was developed by GRB staff members.
The activities of the Local Records Unit featured the shift of 2,230 cubic feet of
records from the Old Records Center to themore stable environmental conditions of the
State Records Center (SRC). The unit also completed an inventory of all county records
housed in both the SRC and the Blount Street Annex. Unit staff members completed a
revision of the County Records Guide, with the final draft to be submitted to the
Historical Publications Section in the next biennium. In October 2007, the head of the
Local Records Unit delivered a workshop on the management of public records at the
National League of Cities/Risk Information Sharing Consortium annual meeting in
Savannah, Georgia. With the Western Office records management analyst, she also
participated in the statewide disaster planning and preparation conference held at North
Carolina State University in November 2007.
After several years of work by archivists at University of North Carolina (UNC)
System institutions and the head of the State Agency and University Records Unit, a
revised UNC General Records Retention and Disposition Schedule was approved in
2007, replacing the 1991 edition. In 2007 the General Schedule for State Agency
Records was also amended with the inclusion of several new series, in particular aWeb
Site File series covering state agency Web sites. The annual meeting of chief records
officers was held on April 24, 2008, and featured a discussion of public records issues
led by David Lawrence, the distinguished UNC professor of public law and
government. Schedules written for state agencies, local governments, and the UNC
System since 2002 have been made available on the branch’s Web site. As part of the
response to the findings of the Governor’s E-mail Records Review Panel, a
concentrated effort was undertaken by the State Agency andUniversityRecordsUnit to
review, scan, and download all completed state agency schedules since the 1980s for
eventual placement on the Web.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY BRANCH
The Information Technology (IT) Branch continued oversight of the online catalog,
Manuscript and Archives Reference System (MARS); digitization of historical
documents and materials in the State Archives for public access; and creation of online
finding aids to the holdings of the Archives. The MARS database increased by an
additional 18,042 record descriptions, with 54,421 document images connected to
them, bringing the total of record descriptions to 456,011.
The branch conducted scanning, quality control, and indexing for 34,040 images.
These included statewide and county maps from colonial times to the present (3,625
images); the 1885 series of Confederate pension applications (15,000); county alien and
naturalization registers (1,234); World War I posters (135); and marriage bonds from
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1741 to 1868 for the counties of Bertie through Cabarrus (14,040). In addition to
scanning original documents, the IT Branch encoded sixty-seven finding aids for
collections at the State Archives and nine finding aids for the Outer Banks History
Center, making them available on the Internet. These included finding aids to
photograph collections, private manuscript collections, and state agency records,
including the records of Gov. Terry Sanford.
The IT Branch participated in several imaging grants during this biennium. The first
was an NC ECHO grant in collaboration with North Carolina State University. Titled
“Green and Growing,” this was a history of home demonstration and the 4-H youth
development in North Carolina. The branch contributed 1,075 images from the Jane
McKimmon Collection, in particular the “Tomato Booklets” made by various girls’
clubs. The second project was an NC ECHO grant, partnering with the North Carolina
Collection at UNC-Chapel Hill. This three-year project will produce a comprehen-sive,
online collection of historic maps of North Carolina on the Web at
http://www.lib.unc.edu/dc/ncmaps. The third project is a Library Services and
Technology Act grant to digitize and index the Western Carolinian, 1820–1844; the
Carolina Watchman, 1832–1898; and the Archives’ collection of eighteenth-century
newspapers.
Information Technology collaborated with the Digital Information Management
Program of the State Library of North Carolina in the digital Web exhibit, From
Crossroads to Capital: The Founding and Early History of Raleigh, N.C. OtherWeb
site improvements included an expansion of the photo gallery to include more of the
photographs available at the Archives; an exhibit on Works Progress Administration
Projects in North Carolina, 1933–1941; and another titled Democracy and the Media,
which examined critical periods in the history of politics and the media in North
Carolina. The branch launched the North Carolina State Government Web Site
Archives, which allows viewing of state agencyWeb sites dating from the fall of 2005
to the present, whether the sites still exist or not. Two newWeb sites relating to specific
projects were developed: GeoMAPP, which describes a project to capture and preserve
geospatial records; and Electronic Media Credit Application (EMCAPP), which
describes the NHPRC-funded project to capture and preserve state government
officials’ e-mail. Finally, branch staff members worked with the Outer Banks History
Center (OBHC) to revise its Web site in April 2007.
The Archives and Records Web site averaged 48,733 visitors a month, with
2,896,152 hits for the biennium. Another addition to the section’s Web site was the
blog, “History4All” (http://history4all.blogspot.com), launched in March 2007. It is
used to quickly get news out to the public concerning changes in operating hours, the
availability of new collections, the addition of finding aids to the Web site, and other
timely information, such as photographs of the renovations to the Archives and
History/State Library Building. The blog experienced an average of 7,123 unique
visitors a month, including 1,478 returning visitors, and it is anticipated that the blog
will be a major outreach tool for the section.
PUBLIC SERVICES BRANCH
The number of researchers in the Search Room continued to decline during this
biennium, with 12,907 visitors, compared to 17,286 in the previous biennium, a 25
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percent decrease. The Search Room was intermittently closed for renovations for a total
of seventeen weeks during 2007, which adversely impacted the number of patrons
using the facility that year. Search Room researchers used 36,857 Fibredex boxes and
volumes and 54,501 reels of microfilm. Branch staff members made 402,083
Xerographic copies and handled 13,349 phone calls. Mail inquiries numbered 15,014
and e-mail inquiries 22,819, for a total of 37,833 research requests, down only 2,097
from the previous biennium. The trend of remote research—using the Internet, phone,
and mail, instead of visiting the Archives—continued. Public Services handled 1,801
requests for transcripts, 91 requests for veterans’ records, and 772 requests for
unprocessed county records.
Staff members supported departmental programs, such as History Bowl (Division
of State Historic Sites and Properties), History Day (Division of Historical Resources),
and Tar Heel Junior Historians (North Carolina Museum of History), by serving as
judges. The branch celebratedArchivesWeek in October 2006 with exhibits and tours.
Outreach activities in Public Services included forty-one presentations, twenty-three
tours and Search Room displays, and seven workshops. Nine groups came to the
Archives to conduct research. In 2007 and 2008, the branch supervisor attended the
Social Studies and Middle School conferences, each of which resulted in hundreds of
contacts with teachers around the state. In 2006 the branch supervisor attended the
annual conference of teachers of gifted and talented students. Public Services is
receiving more requests from teachers for presentations and workshops on how to use
the records held by the StateArchives. Therefore, the branch offered several workshops
for teachers during this biennium.
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT BRANCH
The ResourceManagement Branch continued to provide support, communication, and
outreach services within the section. The supervisor of the branch resigned on May 1,
2008, to accept the supervisory position for NC ECHO in the State Library of North
Carolina.
The registrar began utilizing a new database for accessioning in late 2007. The
Access database enables the registrar to more easily enter and collect data, which can
later be downloaded into various reports. During the biennium there were 1,877
accession entries by the State Archives. Details of these accessions appear in
Appendix 8.
At the Outer Banks History Center (OBHC), requests for information increased
slightly during this biennium. The staff handled 4,693 requests, including 1,173 on-site
researchers, 1,768 on-site short answer assists, 1,382 by phone, 343 by e-mail and fax,
and 27 by correspondence. This equates to 2,941 on-site and 1,752 remote assists. An
estimated 50,485 people visited the exhibits in the History Center Gallery. A total of
2,319 images were reproduced for customers, including 1,184 photographic
reproductions and 1,135 images scanned and printed.
In January 2007 the center’s staff, administrators in Raleigh, and selected OBHC
Associates board members met for a strategic planning retreat. The resulting plan
identified improvements to collection access, raising public awareness of the center,
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and space utilization as three primary areas to address. A customer service survey was
implemented in February 2007.
After four years with only three staff positions at the OBHC, a position that had
been lost in 2003 was reinstated, effective October 1, 2007. Two archives and history
assistants began work on that same date. Care of holdings was enhanced in February
2007 by major repair and upgrading of the HVAC system using repair and renovation
funds. In the spring of 2007, the Halon fire suppression system’s electronic panel was
also replaced.
The OBHC acquired organizational papers of the Outer Banks Forum, the
Elizabethan Gardens, Dunes of Dare Garden Club, Dare County Master Gardeners
program, and the First Flight Society. Personal papers donated included additions to the
collections of David Stick and his parents, Frank and Maud Stick; botanist Barton
Bauers; and photographer Aycock Brown. Four oral history interviewswere conducted
by the archives and history assistants.
While no new catalog records were entered into the MARS database during this
biennium because of an inability to access the cataloging system from Manteo, many
preliminary records were drafted for future data entry. Processing archival collections,
creating finding aids, encoding finding aids into EAD format, and updating indexes and
inventories for all holdings were emphasized. Archival processing was completed on
three major collections, and processing was ongoing for more than a dozen more.
Finding aids were written for six photography collections for future encoding into EAD
format, and legacy finding aids were encoded for fourteen collections. Gift agreements
were secured for two collections that had been on long-term loan.
In December 2007 the center sought the expertise of Steven Weiss, sound and
image librarian at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to assess the
preservation status of its audiovisual holdings. Through the Frank Stick Trust, the Stick
family donated $10,000 towards digital reformatting and indexing of oral history
interviews. In addition, the North Carolina Museum of Art Conservation Lab restored
three Frank Stick paintings; two others are undergoing treatment, using a $15,000
donation from the Frank Stick Trust. Through the trust, the Stick family has donated an
additional $10,000 to address the care of remaining works.
Three exhibits were on view in the History Center Gallery during the biennium.
Freedom’s Voice: Celebrating the Black Experience on the Outer Banks,which opened
on June 1, 2006, was extended by popular demand through February 28, 2007. You
Will Be Remembered: A Lost Colony Retrospective was produced in partnership with
the Seventieth Anniversary Reunion Committee of the Roanoke Island Historical
Association. Tony Award-winning designerWilliam Ivey Long presented “Interpreting
History: 70 Years of American Design at The Lost Colony—1937-2007” at the exhibit
opening. InMarch 2007, a fire destroyedmost of the vintage costumes at theWaterside
Theatre. Fortunately, a handful of early costumes were then on loan to the OBHC for
this exhibit, so they were spared. The Outer Banks Now and Then: Where We Are,
WhereWe’ve Been opened on February 29, 2008. The exhibit, to be on display through
December 31, 2008, showcases change and continuity within the cultural and
environmental contexts of the Outer Banks.
In April 2007 and 2008, center staff and volunteers hosted a booth at the annual
Land of Beginnings Festival. In 2008 an educational hands-on activity was offered at
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the OBHC booth during the Children’s Faire. In September 2007 and 2008, the center
participated in the annual Roanoke Island Freedmen’s Colony Remembrance
Celebration by furnishing a booth with panels from the 2006 exhibit, Freedom’s Voice:
Celebrating the Black Experience on the Outer Banks; copies of CivilWar etchings and
maps; and, in 2007, two costumed interpreters depicting the New York Zouaves, Ninth
New York Regiment.
The OBHCAssociates held an Elegant Evening of Jazz fund-raiser on December 1,
2006, and Antiques Appraisal Fair fund-raisers on April 21, 2007, and April 19, 2008.
At the associates’ annualmeeting inApril 2008, the LoisW. BradshawVolunteer of the
Year Award was established, and Mrs. Bradshaw was presented the inaugural award.
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS BRANCH
One of the most significant events in the Special Collections Branch during the
biennium was the retirement of private manuscripts archivist George Stevenson on
January 1, 2008. Prior to his retirement, he spent considerable time conducting research
and providing other valuable assistance to the State Attorney General’s Office in its
efforts to recover the Bill of Rights. He also completed arrangement and description
work and finding aids for seven collections of papers. In addition, the Howard Jones
Papers (P.C. 649), held since 1915 on loan, was renegotiated as a gift, and its appraisal
was completed.
Another important event for the branch and the section was the acquisition of the
personal and professional papers of Theodore and Barbara Loines Dreier, which relate
to the founding, development, and operation of Black Mountain College. The
organization records archivist was assigned the arrangement and description of this
collection; she continued this work when she was selected as private manuscripts
archivist on April 1, 2008, to fill the vacancy occasioned by George Stevenson’s
retirement.
The organization records archivist edited and reprinted a brochure she had
previously written titled, A Guide to Donating Your Organizational Records to the
North Carolina State Archives, which is designed to assist organizations that are
considering placing their records in the State Archives. The records of five new
organizations and additions to the records of six already in Archives custody were
received during the biennium. The organization records archivist continued to
collaborate with the project manager of the Women Artists Archives National
Directory (WAAND) at RutgersUniversity. The StateArchives is listed onWAAND’s
promotional brochure as one of twelve prominent participating institutions, and the
directory’s Web site featured the papers of Black Mountain College artist Mary
Gregory during the spring and summer of 2008. The archivist also supervised three
interns during the reporting period.
The military collection archivist played a leading role in planning and developing
an online roster of North Carolina men and women who served during World War I.
During the biennium the military collection archivist received 415 requests from the
public; sent or received 1,026 pieces of correspondence; copied 151 photographs;
conducted or received 82 veterans’ interviews; accepted 87 new collections and 13
additions to existing collections; and gave 26 presentations. Project volunteers and two
state government interns helped process collections.
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The Non-textual Materials Unit assisted 314 researchers and handled 10,680
requests, resulting in 2,166 orders for copies. The unit head completed and submitted a
successful grant proposal to the National Film Preservation Foundation to fund the
preservation and reformatting of the H. Lee Waters films of Hillsborough. The
agency’s presence on theWorldWideWeb was increased through the initiative of the
unit head in launching a State Archives page on the Flickr online photograph-sharing
site. Full descriptions of more than one thousand photographs were posted on this site
during the biennium. The unit head supervised volunteers and four graduate student
interns who processed and created EAD finding aids for several photograph
collections.
In addition to administrative duties, the Special Collections Branch supervisor
continued to make progress on theMap Collection, having reclassified, described, and
indexed in MARS 512 maps. The supervisor also began working with the section’s
Information Technology Branch manager and the project librarian on the joint NC
ECHO grant-funded map digitization project.
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HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS SECTION
Donna E. Kelly, Administrator
Receipts for the Historical Publications Section totaled $162,155.81 for the first year
and $189,200.73 for the second, for a two-year total of $351,356.54, up slightly (10
percent) from the last report. Credit card sales, which account formost of the individual
orders, totaled $58,426.31 in the first year and $59,688.12 in the second, representing
34 percent of total receipts. Revenue generated from the online store totaled
$58,069.69, a 13 percent increase from the last biennium. This included $27,831 for the
first year and $30,238.69 for the second year, an average of $2,419.57 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 68,511 publications as follows:
Documentary volumes (includes governors�� books) 1,437
Carolina Comments index (limited stock) 86
Books, pamphlets (booklets), and Roster addenda 32,709
Maps, charts, and documents (many sold separately) 3,703
Publications catalogs 28,019
Biennial reports (limited stock) 40
Back issues of the Review 773
Back issues of Carolina Comments 582
Posters 730
The online store continued to provide a convenient way for customers to place
orders. There were 1,597 orders placed (a 17.5 percent increase over the previous
biennium), averaging 67 per month; 3,995 items sold, averaging 167 per month; 1,966
separate titles sold, averaging 82 permonth; and 249,086 page views, averaging 10,379
per month. The decrease in page views from the last biennium likely represents more
targeted searching by customers because of expanded marketing and advertising.
During this biennium several issues arose concerning facility maintenance,
operation, and equipment. Because of minor fire code infractions, all of the boxed
negatives had to be removed from the top shelves in the warehouse. In addition, several
vents needed to be sealed, and the stock had to be relocated temporarily while that work
was being done. In the process, some of the old, warped wooden shelving was replaced
by metal shelving obtained from the Charlotte Hawkins BrownMuseum via the Office
of State Archaeology. That office also provided a new display case for the front lobby,
several small bookcases, and metal cabinets, furniture no longer needed after its move
from Blount Street. In addition to these gifts, the section purchased a new fax machine,
a scanner, and a tent for outdoor exhibits. Through the financial assistance of the
Division of Historical Resources and the Archives and Records Section, a new phone
system was installed in the spring of 2007.
Marketing activities accelerated during the second half of the biennium. As part of
the inventory shift, the permanent collection was downsized, causing several out-of-print
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titles and first editions to become available for sale. An advertisement for the 2008
catalog was placed in Carolina Country magazine, resulting in boosted sales. The
online store was revamped, and book sets were offered at discounted prices. The
catalog order form was coded so as to better track orders. One radio interview and one
television interview (OPEN/Net, February 19, 2008) occurred in the past two years.
Mass mailings were streamlined and expanded by using postcards, which was more
cost effective than sending printed flyers.
Several additions that were printed or produced outside the sectionweremade to the
inventory during the biennium. These included fifteen titles written or edited by Jo
White Linn, including a sixteen-year run of the Rowan County Register; the QAR
Under the Black Flag prints and note cards; the Discover N.C. Craft Knowledge Cards;
and the NC in Tune CD. In addition to ten new titles and eleven reprints published,
twelve titleswent out of print (seeAppendix 6). The Pirates of Colonial North Carolina
was printed for the twenty-second time, and an indexwas added.Atotal of 8,603 copies
of The North Carolina State Fair was removed from the warehouse and returned to the
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, making room on the shelves for
boxes of books that had previously been stored on pallets or on the floor.
Certain of the aforementioned items were added to the section’s inventory through
publishing agreements with the North Carolina Arts Council, the Coe Foundation for
Archaeological Research, the Friends of the Archives, the North Caroliniana Society,
the Office of State Archaeology, and the State Employees’ Credit Union. A contract
with JSTOR to make the North Carolina Historical Review available online was
pending at the close of the biennium.
It is becoming more commonplace for books to be digitized and made available
online. Moreover, digital files are replacing negatives in the printing industry. But
because the section is so dependent upon receipts, it has turned down requests from the
Genealogical Society of Utah and other organizations to post some of the section’s
books online. On the other hand, since the governors’ papers are given away rather than
sold, the section has agreed to allow the North Carolina Collection at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill to digitize and post online pre-1950 volumes of that
series.
Afew personnel changes took place in the last two years. The part-time information
and communications specialist I retired on May 31, 2007. The positionwas upgraded to
full-time status, which accounts for the increased marketing activity. A processing
assistant IV in the Archives and Records Section was promoted into that position,
effective June 1, 2007. The editor II of themodern governors’ papers was reassigned to
the Archives and Records Section, effective June 1, 2008. That position remained
vacant at the end of the biennium, but permission to fill it had been granted.
ADMINISTRATIVE BRANCH
The section administrator served on the Bill of Rights tour planning committee, the
CivilWar SesquicentennialCommittee, and the Project Green Task Force. She spoke to
the Wilmington Rotary Club on August 1, 2006. As administrator she proofread all
publications produced during the biennium; saw three titles through press; and helped
sell books at various meetings. She also proofread material for other DCR agencies,
including DCR Administration, the Archives and Records Section, and the Research
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Branch of the Office of Archives and History. She completed training to be a core user
of the BEACON system and, along with the marketing specialist, began training in the
three-year DCR Leadership Development Program.
The administrative secretary II and the processing assistant III managed the
section’s daily operations by preparing budget reports, ordering supplies, maintaining
mailing lists, and handling all requests and orders via phone, fax, e-mail, in person, and
online. They prepared 324 purchase requests, handled 5,759 pieces of mail, and
processed 4,433 orders.
In the first year of the biennium, the part-time information and communications
specialist I promoted four new titles, three reprints, and special sales through press
releases, flyers, review copies, book displays, paid advertisements, articles in
newsletters and other publications, e-mail, the section’sWeb site, and the online store.
She oversaw the design and distribution of the 2007 publications catalog. She also
planned and staffed several book exhibits, including the 2007 Social Studies
Conference and workshops for home schoolers and gifted children. In the second year
of the biennium, the new full-time marketing specialist promoted six new titles, six
reprints, one map, and one poster through the various media listed above. He updated
information on all of the section’s titles listed in the Bowker Books-in-Print database
and established an Amazon.com Advantage Account through which more than half of
the section’s titles are now available. Themarketing specialist helped design the covers
of three new titles and wrote back-cover text for three reprints. He edited entries, added
new material, selected graphic art, designed layout and cover, and oversaw distribution
of the 2008 publications catalog. He planned, mounted, and staffed ten off-site book
exhibits, including the 2007 Fort Dobbs Trade Faire, the 2008 Social Studies and
Middle School conferences, and two North Carolina Genealogical Society Speakers’
Forums. He assumed responsibility for both the daily maintenance of the section’s
online store and for all section copyright matters, including registration of new titles.
The digital editor II typeset and scanned images for all of the publications produced
by the section during the past two years. Material typeset included eight issues each of
Carolina Comments and the North Carolina Historical Review, two catalogs, ten new
titles, new front matter for nine reprints, and the 2004-2006 biennial report. She
maintained the section’sWeb site and assisted with the Yahoo online store by entering
new descriptions and copy written by the marketing specialist. The digital editor sent
out notifications of special sales or new publications by e-mail, saving the section
hundreds of dollars in postage. Ongoing projects of this position included collating a
cumulative index to the Review to be placed on theWeb site, assisting with marketing
activities, shifting books in the stock room, and preparing materials for mailing.
The section proofreader (editor I) coedited volume 13 of Records of the Moravians
in North Carolina. She also edited and proofread all issues of the North Carolina
Historical Review and Carolina Comments, seven of the ten new titles, and frontmatter
and/or indexes for all nine of the reprints.Work on volume 2 of The Papers of William
Woods Holden was complete except formaking final corrections to the frontmatter and
in the third set of page proofs, and editing the index.
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CIVILWAR ROSTER BRANCH
Volume 16 of North Carolina Troops, 1861–1865: A Roster was published in June
2008. The volume comprises a footnoted history of Thomas’s Legion and rosters of the
legion field and staff, the infantry regiment,Walker’s Battalion, Levi’s Battery, and the
Indian Battalion. The book also includes four photographs of members of the legion
and two maps. A publicity mailing, via postcard, was sent to 2,200 addresses, and a
press release was sent to newspapers in the areas where members of Thomas’s Legion
once lived.
Work on volume 17 of North Carolina Troops is substantially complete. It will
include a history of the North Carolina Junior Reserves and rosters of the three
regiments and four battalions of junior reserves. Volume 17 will be published in the
next biennium, when funding becomes available.
Work has begun on volume 18 of North Carolina Troops, which will include a
history of the North Carolina Senior Reserves and rosters of the five regiments and
three battalions of senior reserves. Drafts of the Fourth and Fifth regiments’ rosters
have been completed, based on information found in the National Archives compiled
service records. Much of the research into the history of the senior reserves has also
been completed.
GENERAL PUBLICATIONS AND PERIODICALS BRANCH
In the General Publications and Periodicals Branch, the editor III compiled and edited
the Fifty-first Biennial Report of the North Carolina Office of Archives and History,
July 1, 2004, through June 30, 2006, and edited and saw through press eight issues of
and two annual indexes to Carolina Comments. He saw through press and prepared the
index for Hayes: The Plantation, Its People, and Their Papers, by John G. Zehmer. He
transcribed, annotated, and indexed two nineteenth-century diaries of Columbus L.
Turner; the volume was at the printer when the biennium closed. He also copy edited
two other manuscripts: a series of lectures from the 2007 tour of the Bill of Rights and
an archaeological history of Brunswick Town. He appraised three other book-length
manuscripts, as well as twenty potential articles for the North Carolina Historical
Review. For the Archives and Records Section, he proofread the text of two online
exhibits. He also arranged and described the four Fibredex boxes of Chowan County
and Edenton District Superior Court records that were transferred from the Cupola
House Association to the State Archives in the last biennium. In addition, he facilitated
the transfer of files concerning theGranville land office fromGeorge Stevenson, retired
archivist, to the Colonial Records Project.
The documentary editor II continued editing a history of Dorothea Dix Hospital,
which is scheduled for publication in the next biennium. As part of his continuing work
on The Papers of James Iredell, the editor researched and wrote annotations for the
fourth volume. He also began work on the Skinner family papers, a collection of letters
fromthe antebellumperiod and the CivilWar. He compiled the “Selected Bibliography
of Completed Theses and Dissertations Related to North Carolina Subjects” for the
January 2007 and January 2008 issues of the North Carolina Historical Review.
Eight issues of the North Carolina Historical Review (July and October 2006;
January, April, July, and October 2007; and January and April 2008) were published.
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[The subscriptions decreased slightly from the previous bienniumto an average of 926.]
These issues consisted of 196 book reviews, 1 review essay, 20 articles, 4
bibliographies (2 for North Carolina-related books and 2 for North Carolina-related
theses and dissertations), and 2 indexes. The editor II assigned book reviews, wrote
cutlines, edited articles and book reviews, designed covers, selected illustrations,
ordered review copies, handled correspondence, and saw all eight issues through press.
During the biennium 46manuscripts were received for consideration. Of those, 19 were
accepted, and 27 were rejected. Members of the Advisory Editorial Committee and
other readers evaluated 42 articles submitted to the Review.
The editor II also saw through press and publication Nathaniel Macon of North
Carolina: Three Views of His Character and Creed, byWilliam S. Price Jr. She served
as a board member and attended the 2006 annual meeting of the Conference of
Historical Journals, and served as a council member of the Historical Society of North
Carolina. Dr. William L. Barney of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
completed his term on the Advisory Editorial Committee on June 30, 2007, and was
succeeded by Dr. Gail O’Brien, professor emerita, North Carolina State University.
Dr. Cynthia A. Kierner of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte completed her
term on June 30, 2008, and will be replaced by Dr. Bradford J. Wood of Eastern
Kentucky University.
The editor I saw through press a revised edition of The Old North State Fact Book.
She spent much of the period editing Randolph County: A Brief History, whichwas at
the printer at the end of the biennium, and the Wilmington Race Riot Commission
Report (posted online in May 2006) for conversion to book format. Her other projects
included helping the administrative secretary II with binding the North Carolina
Historical Review, as well as assisting with organizing, inventorying, and cleaning the
stock room. She also served on the State Employees’ Combined Campaign and the
DCR Wellness Committee.
SPECIAL PROJECTS BRANCH
The Special Projects Branch released one new title during the biennium. Edited by the
branch head (editor III) and the immediate past editor of the Colonial Records Project,
The Church of England in North Carolina: Documents, 1742–1763, volume 11 of The
Colonial Records of North Carolina [Second Series], was published in October 2007.
The editor III completed the appendixes, annotations, and index; selected illustrations;
edited the introduction; and saw the documentary through press. He then resumed
annotation of the text of the final Church of England volume, 1764–1789. A grant from
the North Carolina Society of the Cincinnati made possible the purchase of microfilm
of the Pennsylvania Chronicle, 1767–1774, allowing the search for North Carolina
references in colonial and revolutionary newspapers to continue. Late in the biennium,
George Stevenson, who retired from the State Archives as private manuscripts
archivist, transferred his document and research files on the Granville proprietary to the
branch; these materials will appear in a future volume. Contracts were signed with
Roderick S. Speer and Suzy Barile to edit the papers of Richard Caswell, to be
published as part of The Colonial Records of North Carolina [Second Series].
The modern governors’ documentaries editor II secured photographs for the fourth
volume of the papers of Gov. James Baxter Hunt Jr. and had nearly finished annotating
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themanuscript by the end of the biennium.He also continued compiling speeches, press
releases, letters of appointment, executive orders, and research materials for two
volumes on the administration of Gov. Michael Francis Easley.
The assistant colonial records editor I completed documentary research,
transcription, and selection of documents, and began writing the text for a soft-cover
volume concerning Native Americans. In addition he completed copy editing for a
manuscript on theWar of the Regulation to be published in the next biennium.He aided
in proofreading and indexing volume 11 of The Colonial Records of North Carolina
[Second Series] and in locating and transcribing colonial newspaper articles to be
posted on the Web and for use in future documentaries.
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OFFICE OF STATE ARCHAEOLOGY
Stephen R. Claggett, State Archaeologist
Planning for and execution of the long-anticipated move of the agency’s central office
to the Archives and History/State Library Building dominated much of the staff ’s
activity during the biennium.Outside themid- to late-2007 window of those operations,
Office of State Archaeology (OSA) staff members continued to provide a wide variety
of public and agency services for archaeological site protection, technical assistance,
records and collections management, environmental review, and public education. The
appended report describes similar accomplishments for the Underwater Archaeology
Branch (UAB), including the significant strides made by the Queen Anne’s Revenge
Shipwreck Recovery Project.
Notable accomplishments during the period include creation of the division’s
abandoned cemetery and cemetery stewardship program; the time-consuming
transition to BEACON, the state’s new personnel and time management program;
acquisition of a new research vessel (R/V Snap Dragon II) for the UAB; and the
aforementioned move of OSA’s Blount Street offices, which included transfer of
archaeological collections to the Lane Street laboratory, following asbestos
decontamination operations.
OSA staffing levels remained steady throughout the biennium, although a number
of temporary employees, interns, and public volunteers were engaged in several
program areas. The new cemetery program resulted in the addition of one new
permanent staff archaeologist (Dr. Kevin Donald) to the roster.Mary Barnes represents
Archives and Records in the program, which is a joint undertaking between the two
sections of the Division of Historical Resources. Aside from organizational tasks
involving new offices, equipment, and supplies, the cemetery program staff undertook
an aggressive agenda of contacting local cemetery preservation groups, reconstituting
decades-old files from OSA and Archives and Records, and creating a comprehensive
database for new and old cemetery records.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) continued its support
of three temporary employees at OSA’s main office and the research center, who
provided excellent service on tasks associated with records management and
conservation and analysis of archaeological artifact collections. Two student summer
interns likewise assisted OSA staff with office and fieldwork assignments involving
analysis of geological and artifact specimens, and OSA Web site and technical report
database upgrades.OSA andNCDOTarchaeologists alsoworked together on a number
of transportation projects in the Uwharrie National Forest and road improvements
adjacent to the eighteenth-century Tuscarora War fort site of Neoherooka in Greene
County.
Activities related to OSA’s legal and regulatory roles, and for inter- and intra-agency
ventures, were many and varied. At the request of the Secretary’s office, final
revisions were made to administrative procedures, which should streamline the
language of OSA rules and—significantly—merge permits for land and underwater
archaeology on state lands into a single coherent system. Legal requirements for
applicants’ criminal background checks (through the State Bureau of Investigation)
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have encountered problems, especially an approximate 50 percent rejection rate, caused
not by criminal records, but because fingerprinting methods by local law enforcement
offices do not meet SBI standards. This has slowed the overall permit application
issuance rate, as numerous reapplications have been necessary. Twelve new
Archaeological Resource Protection Act permits were issued during the period;
underwater permits are enumerated in the UAB report.
An improved system of intra-agency service delivery was implemented by OSA,
particularly with the Division of State Historic Sites and Properties and the several
branches of the Division of State History Museums. Technical assistance and direct
archaeological investigations were provided during the period to Reed Gold Mine,
Historic Edenton, Bentonville Battlefield, Fort Dobbs, Somerset Place, Brunswick
Town/Fort Anderson, and the State Capitol complex. Direct assistance through grants
administration and on-site investigations was also extended to the Endor Iron Furnace
property in Lee County. Archaeology projects involving museums included ones at
Mountain GatewayMuseum and Heritage Center,Museum of the Cape Fear Historical
Complex, and the Museum of the Albemarle, as well as loans of artifacts and textual
input for the very successful Mysteries of the Lost Colony exhibit at the North Carolina
Museum of History in Raleigh.
Under direction of the state archaeologist, the OSA Research Center in Raleigh and
the UAB and QAR Project conservation laboratories began work with DCR’s
Information Technology Division on a complete restructuring of archaeological
collections management systems. This will entail standardizing and converting
database systems fromWindows Access® formats to a Re:discovery Proficio® system.
The new system will enhance collections accounting and reporting functions, as well as
more transparent exchange of information and artifact loans among OSA, DCR history
museums, and state historic sites. The research center also imported major artifact
holdings from theWestern Office, occasioned by plans to renovate the Oteen Center in
Swannanoa.
Efforts to develop a statewide geographic information system for archaeology
continued with submittals of technical and funding proposals. OSA efforts to secure
support through NCDOT and the Federal Highway Administration have been
redirected fromyears past, since the statewide GIS initiatives have been taken up by the
Center for Geographic Information and Analysis of the Department of Environment
and Natural Resources. To date, the OSA has met with no success in those efforts.
Environmental review work of examining development plans and recommending
archaeological surveys or mitigative excavations of endangered sites remains a central
element of OSA operations. The OSA worked closely with a variety of agencies and
“clients” during this period, including the U.S. Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune
(comprehensive resource plans and base operations); the U.S. Department of
Agriculture Forest Service (timber sales and road construction, as well as compre-hensive
plans for Uwharrie and Croatan national forests); the U.S. Army at Fort Bragg
(multiple site investigations); the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (relicensing
of hydroelectric facilities); the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (relicensing of
Shearon Harris nuclear power plant); as well as smaller developments like the Macon
County Airport expansion, sewer system improvements in Whittier, and Currituck
County developments near the late prehistoric Baum Site (31CK9).
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Stimulated by the officemove from Blount Street, OSA staffmembers, interns, and
volunteers strove to reduce the volume and vulnerability of environmental review files,
site records, technical reports, and library materials, through an aggressive, if not
draconian, program of disposition, digitization, and even disposal. Archives and
Records Section personnel helped immensely with site form and environmental review
file digitization.
Public archaeology projects were undertaken on a number of fronts, with
cooperative ventures involving colleges and universities, including Peace College,
North Carolina State University (NCSU), East Carolina University (ECU), Wake
Forest University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. OSA staff
members lent help to DCR History Day competitions as judges and participated in and
organized professional conferences, like the Southeastern Archaeological Conference.
Preparations are under way for a North Carolina Coastal Plain Archaeology conference
at ECU in October 2008. The Research Center staff maintained active roles with the
North Carolina Center for Forensic Sciences, NCSU, the State Bureau of Investigation,
and the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office. Classroom and field training, laboratory
analyses of forensic data, and investigations of active crime scenes are all part of that
program.
A very limited allocation of federal Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) grantmonies
to archaeology projects restricted OSA work with grants during the period. Neverthe-less,
staff members worked closely with local sponsors and consulting archaeologists
on projects in Orange and Lee counties. Very few Certified Local Governments (who
capture the lion’s share of HPF grant funds, by regulation) expressed interest in
archaeological studies, further depressing the ability of theOSA to provide assistance.
Many, if not most, of the OSA activities enumerated above involve direct technical
assistance to the public, government agencies, and academic institutions. A few other
projects bear mention, even though they fall somewhat outside the realms of
environmental review or public education. Loss of the historic Latta House in Raleigh
led to numerous consultations by a deputy state archaeologist with the Latta House
Foundation and city planners. The state archaeologist and the OSA representative in the
WesternOffice similarly aided the Little Tennessee [River] Land Trustwith acquisition
and protection of several significant properties in western North Carolina. The national
Archaeological Conservancyworked with OSA, the State Historic Preservation Office,
and the State Property Office to claim ownership of the Wilson Site, a major Indian
village site (sixty-plus acres) near Wilson. The ongoing departmental push to devise a
workable, sustainable development plan for the Gallants Channel property as an annex
to the North CarolinaMaritimeMuseum in Beaufort benefited from input of OSA and
UAB staffmembers. Needless to say, the QAR Project and the thousands of eighteenth-century
maritime artifacts it yields will play no small role in the museum’s future.
Program statistics that partially capture OSA accomplishments during the biennium
include more than 2,000 individuals treated to public presentations; 1,230 technical
assistance requests met; 5,093 environmental review projects; more than 40 site
inspections or excavations accomplished; and 8 quarterly newsletters prepared and
mailed for the North Carolina Archaeological Society. All program areas benefited
directly or indirectly from the efforts of OSA public volunteers, who contributed more
than 7,500 hours of loyal, patient, enthusiastic support for North Carolina archaeology.
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NORTH CAROLINA UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY BRANCH
and QUEEN ANNE’S REVENGE SHIPWRECK PROJECT
The Queen Anne’s Revenge (QAR) Shipwreck Project underwent major expansion of
staff, facilities, and fieldwork during the biennium. In the fall of 2006 the department
created four new permanent positions dedicated to the QAR project—a project
archaeologist, two assistant conservators, and an archaeological technician responsible
for digital data management and Web site outreach. Working closely with East
Carolina University’s administrative staff, the QAR conservation laboratory, located on
ECU’sWestern Research Campus, achieved a five-fold increase of its indoor lab space.
In addition, the lab purchased an industrial radiography system that will be used to
X-ray the thousands of concretions recovered from the shipwreck.
With adequate staff and lab space in place, UAB and QAR project staff began full-scale
recovery operations at the shipwreck with a six-week field project in the fall of
2006 and a twelve-week expedition in 2007. Those projects resulted in the completion
of 156 five-by-five-foot excavation units—approximately 50 percent of the shipwreck
site. Artifacts recovered during the fieldwork include a six-pounder cannon, the ship’s
sternpost, 1,400 concretions, 40 ceramic sherds, 130 glass shards, 120 copper alloy
objects, ballast stones, and hundreds of thousands of lead shot. The North Carolina
Division of Marine Fisheries, Cape Fear Community College, the North Carolina
Division of Parks and Recreation, and the U.S. Coast Guard provided invaluable vessel
and logistical support for the field projects.
The QAR staff enhanced public outreach efforts by offering the highly successful
Dive Down program, which presents recreational divers the opportunity to learn
about Blackbeard and the QAR project and to participate in a closely monitored dive
on the shipwreck site. Project staff continued to update the QAR’s Web site
(http://www.qaronline.org/) by completely upgrading the artifact section and adding
four newsletters, twenty-three field reports, two conservation reports, and twelve
technical reports and bulletins. TheWeb site averaged 6,100 hits per month for a total
of 146,498 for the biennium.
In addition to work at the QAR site, UAB staff members participated in sixty-seven
field projects and site inspections. Many of those projects involved working with
private groups and individuals to investigate sites throughout the state, including
shipwrecks in the Roanoke, Tar, and Pasquotank rivers and Currituck Sound. TheUAB
also worked with North Carolina State Parks personnel to determine if low water levels
in Lake Phelps were impacting the dugout canoes at Pettigrew State Park and to recover
a two-million-year-old fossilized whale skull from Lake Waccamaw State Park. The
purchase of a new twenty-three-foot Parker boat greatly improved the UAB’s field
capabilities. That boat replaces the research vessel, Snap Dragon, which had provided
faithful service since 1988.
In January 2007 QAR andUABstaffmembers participated in a daylong symposium
at the Society for Historical Archaeology Conference inWilliamsburg that reported on
nearly ten years of research at the QAR shipwreck site. Staff members also presented
papers at the 2006 and 2007 meetings of the North CarolinaMaritime History Council;
the 2007 Burnside Expedition Symposium in Elizabeth City; the 2008 meeting of the
Connecticut Friends of State Archaeology; the 2008 Middle Atlantic Archaeological
Conference in Ocean City, Maryland; and the 2008 Florida Underwater Archaeology
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Symposium. In April 2008, the QAR Conservation Laboratory hosted a public open
house that attracted more than six hundred visitors. In addition, UAB and QAR staff
members gave 60 presentations and tours, attended by 2,973 individuals, to various
school, civic, and professional groups. During the biennium, 17,108 visitors toured the
underwater archaeology exhibit building at Fort Fisher. TheUABissued 27 underwater
archaeological permits (see Appendix 9), and the staff responded to 538 requests for
technical assistance and information. Volunteers contributed 2,147 hours assisting in
all aspects of the UAB and QAR programs.
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STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE
Peter Sandbeck, Administrator and Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer
The biennium brought renewed levels of funding for the core activities of the State
Historic Preservation Office (HPO), following a five-year period of declining support
at both the state and federal levels. Federal Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) grant
assistance increased by approximately 13 percent over the two-year period, growing to
$1,482,348 from the $1,305,550 received during the last biennium. This was a
welcome turn of events but still far below the total of $1,643,331 received during the
period 2000–2002. The increase did enable the section to provide additional matching
grants for architectural survey and National Register projects and permitted the HPO to
once again fill the crucial preservation planner position, one of three eliminated as a
result of earlier cuts.
In 2007 the HPO was successful in applying for and obtaining grants totaling
$150,000 to fund comprehensive architectural surveys in four counties in the
northeastern region. An initial award of $75,000 from the PreserveAmerica program of
the National Park Service was matched by a $75,000 grant from the Golden LEAF
Foundation, providing funding for surveys of Beaufort, Bertie, Hertford, and
Northampton counties, scheduled to begin in August 2008. The survey findings will be
integrated into regional efforts to develop heritage tourism plans for those counties.
The HPO’s major effort to fully implement Geographical Information Systems
(GIS) mapping for new survey projects proved to be challenging but rewarding. The
GIS project manager successfully completed the mapping of all National Register
properties and districts for seventy-five counties, with an anticipated completion date of
October 2008 for the full state. New GIS map data was developed during each
countywide survey or survey update, resulting in full GIS maps for Currituck, Forsyth,
and Wake counties, with additional mapping implemented for seven citywide surveys
and National Register nominations. The GIS mapping project is closely linked to the
ongoing efforts of state government’s Interagency Leadership Team (ILT), a partner-ship
of agency heads from DCR, the North Carolina Department of Transportation
(NCDOT), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the
Federal Highway Administration (FHA), which has established a goal of developing a
statewide series of GIS maps and databases to expedite the review and permitting of
highway construction projects. TheHPO was awarded a grant of $8,500 fromDENR to
develop fullmap layers for all historic properties in the eleven-county Sandhills region.
The period brought sweeping technological changes for both staff members and
project consultants, as the HPO switched to the full use of digital photography for all
survey and National Register projects. This has produced significant enhancements to
the HPO’s traditional film-based survey photography system, with benefits including
instant turnaround time, generally higher quality images, and the ability to readily
utilize images for presentations and public programs. The staff developed image quality
and file-naming standards and protocols to ensure that all incoming digital imagesmeet
program requirements and are consistent with state and national standards.
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ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW BRANCH
The HPO, along with the Office of State Archaeology (OSA), handled 6,369 projects
under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and North Carolina
General Statute 121-12(a). This included 5,900 new projects. Approximately one-tenth
of the projects were for cellular communications towers and colocations of additional
antennae on existing towers. As in the previous biennium, the Environmental Review
staff continued to work on a multitude of complex and long-term projects, including
seven hydroelectric projects owned by Duke Energy and Alcoa that were undergoing
relicensing by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; and affordable housing
projects, funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development through the
Community Block Grant and HOME programs. Economic development projects,
funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Agency, and new
banks in Salemburg, Four Oaks, and Edenton, which resulted in the loss of historic
properties, appear to foreshadow changes that are coming to the state’s small-town
Main Streets. As follow-up to the flooding in western counties during the previous
biennium and the closeout of projects in the east, the HPO continued to work closely
with the Division of Emergency Management as it moved to demolish or elevate more
than one hundred buildings in flood-prone areas.
The HPO and OSA continued to work with NCDOT, the FHA, and the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers to develop a programmatic agreement that would allow NCDOT
staff to take on greater responsibility for carrying out Section 106 and 121-12(a)
reviews for several categories of transportation projects. The agreement was signed,
and the parties, with the exception of the Corps of Engineers, are working to develop
the requisite trainingmaterials and report guidelines. The HPO began working with the
North Carolina Turnpike Authority on its several projects and continued coordination
on the Petersburg-to-Raleigh segment of the East Coast High Speed Rail and with the
City of Charlotte on its light-rail lines. Two highway projects that have been
particularly time consuming during the reporting period were the crafting of a
memorandum of agreement for the Greenville Southwest Bypass, which will adversely
affect the Renston Rural Historic District in Pitt County, and the replacement of the
Bonner Bridge in Dare County.
Replacement of sidewalks at the State Capitol, through a transportation
enhancement grant, provided a unique opportunity for HPO and OSA staff members to
undertake joint archaeological testing on Union Square to determine what were most
likely the original sections of paving and so inform the selection of the appropriate
aggregate mix for the new panels. In conjunction with the sidewalks, project studies
were begun to upgrade the design of the handicapped ramp to the east entrance of the
Capitol.
GRANTS ADMINISTRATION AND COMMISSION SERVICES BRANCH
During the biennium, the HPO benefited from an increase of approximately 13 percent
in the federal Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) allocation to the state, enabling an
increase in pass-through grants for local projects. The federal FY 2007 allocation of
$718,028 supported $86,900 in pass-through grants for eight local projects in Certified
Local Government (CLG) communities, as well as funding to assist rural comprehen-sive
architectural surveys in Bertie and Northampton counties. The FY 2008 allocation
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was increased to $764,360 and supported the award of $84,000 in grants for seven CLG
projects, along with one rural comprehensive architectural survey in Hertford County.
This marked the first time in several grant cycles that funding was made available to
assist non-CLGgrant requests.Alist of the HPF grant-assisted local projects is found in
Appendix 10.
The HPO assisted recipients of federal Save America’s Treasures grants with the
preparation of required easement agreements to assure the preservation of the
properties. The state accepted fifty-year easements for the Harper House in Catawba
County, the Penland School in Mitchell County, the Carnegie Library at Johnson C.
Smith University in Charlotte, and the Yancey Collegiate Institute in Burnsville,
Yancey County.
CLG and local preservation commission activity continued to increase. HPO grants
and preservation commission services staff provided more than eight hundred
consultations to local governments, preservation commissions, and citizens seeking
information and guidance on protecting local historic properties and districts through
local ordinances. New commissions serve Albemarle, Boone, Harnett County,
Henderson County, Laurinburg, Oakboro, Oxford, Rutherfordton,Warren County, and
Warrenton. Three local governments—Cleveland County, the City of Lexington, and
the Town ofMooresville—joined the CLG program, bringing to sixty-one the number
of CLGs in North Carolina. (Lists of CLGs and local historic preservation commissions
appear in Appendixes 12 and 13, respectively.) The HPO reviewed ten local historic
district designation or boundary change reports and seventy-five local landmark
reports.
The HPO completed the revision of North Carolina’s historic preservation plan, the
culmination of more than two years of staff effort. The final report incorporates the
combined input of hundreds of citizens, community leaders, and volunteers from
various areas of the preservation field. The new plan has been posted on the HPO’s
Web site. One of the primary recommendations of the report was a strong directive for
the HPO to increase communication with and training for preservationists at the local
levels. In response, branch staff members collaborated with the University of North
Carolina Institute of Government in Chapel Hill to create a popular new online listserv
dedicated to local commissions and their staffs, hosted on Institute of Government
servers.
The branch lost a tremendous storehouse of institutional knowledge with the
retirement of Melinda C. Coleman, who served from 1991 to 2002 as preservation
planner, then as branch supervisor until 2008. The local commission and CLG program
benefited greatly from the re-establishment of the preservation planner position,
abolished in 2002 as a result of budget cuts.
SURVEY AND PLANNING BRANCH
Technological advances and new sources of funding enabled the Survey and Planning
Branch to make notable strides in expanding the statewide architectural survey and
processing National Register nominations. The ongoing refinement of the newly
developed Access-based survey database, and the requirement that it be used in
conjunction with GIS mapping technology for all survey work, entailed a thorough
revision of the architectural survey manual, Practical Advice for Recording Historic
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Resources, completed in early 2008. The receipt of federal Preserve America and state
Golden LEAF Foundation grants made it possible to initiate several new
comprehensive architectural surveys for the first time in many years, while the addition
of a National Register and survey specialist funded by rehabilitation tax credit
application fees resulted in greater efficiency in reviewing nominations.
The survey program continued to focus on both completion of the first sweep of the
statewide architectural survey and the updating of existing surveys in areas
experiencing strong development pressures. Grant-funded survey projects carried out
by CLGs during the period included completion of the final phase of theWake County
survey update; the municipal survey of Black Mountain; the continuation of multiyear
updates of the surveys of Forsyth County and Greensboro; and initiation of a multiyear
comprehensive survey of Beaufort County, beginning with the municipalities. Thanks
to the Preserve America and Golden LEAF Foundation grants, comprehensive surveys
of Bertie, Hertford, and Northampton counties got under way. The HPO also oversaw
the completion of the locally funded survey of Currituck County. Comprehensive
surveys have now been completed in seventy-two counties. I