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THE LIBRARY OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF
NORTH CAROLINA
AT CHAPEL HILL
THE COLLECTION OF
NORTH CAROLINIANA
G906
N87h2
V.37
1976/78
UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL
00033953865
FOR USE ONLY IN
THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION
Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive
in 2009 witii funding from
Ensuring Democracy tiirougii Digital Access (NC-LSTA)
http://www.archive.org/details/biennialreportof197678nort
BIENNIAL REPORT
DIVISION OF ARCHIVES
AND HISTORY
July 1, 1976-June 30, 1978
During the biennium the North Carolina Historical Commission celebrated its seventy-fifth
anniversary on March 7, 1978. One of the day's highlights was the unveiling of a por-trait
of Dr. Christopher Crittenden, director of Archives and History from 1935 to 1968.
Pictured {left to right) are Mrs. Ann Crittenden Witt, Mrs. Christopher Crittenden, and
Mrs. Carolyn Hunt, wife of tiovernor James B. Hunt, Jr.
THIRTY-SEVENTH BIENNIAL REPORT
OF THE
NORTH CAROLINA
MVISION OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY
July 1, 1976
through
June 30, 1978
Raleigh
Division of Archives and History
Department of Cultural Resources
1979
Department of Cultural Resources
Sara W. Hodgkins, Secretary
Division of Archives and History
Larry E. Tise, Director
North Carolina Historical Conmission
Sarah M. Lemmon, Chairman
Gertrude S . Carraway
T. Harry Gat ton
Raymond Gavins
Samuel W. Johnson
Frontis W. Johnston
H. G. Jones
J. C. Knowles
R. M. Lineberger
Clyde M. Norton
John E. Raper, Jr.
To Sarah M. Lenmon, Chairman; T. Harry Gatton, Vice Chairman^
and Gertrude S. Carraway, H„ G. Jones, Samuel W. Johnson,
John E. Raper, Jr., Clyde M. Norton, Raymond Gavins,
R. M„ Lineberger, Frontis W. Johnston, and J„ C. Knowles,
Commissioners
:
I have the honor to submit the following report of the North
Carolina Division of Archives and History, Department of Cultural
Resources, for the period July 1, 1976-June 30, 1978.
In connection with the presentation of this biennial report
to the commission, I should take note of the fact that during the
course of this biennium the North Carolina Historical Commission
celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary of service to the people
of North Carolina. In line with the practice which was begun by
the first secretary of the commission in 1907 of preparing a biennial
report to the commission, I have the pleasure as the present
secretary to the commission and as the director of the staff of the
commission in the Division of Archives and History to present to you
this thirty-seventh consecutive and uninterrupted biennial report
on our activities and accomplishments.
I should comment that during this most recent two year segment
of our common seventy-five year history the Division of Archives
and History has enjoyed one of its most productive periods. Although
there have been seasons of frustration, I believe I can state without
qualm as I did two years ago that the division is still viewed as one
of the two or three most outstanding state historical agencies in the
nation. Our program is again setting precedents which are being
adopted in many areas throughout America. That we are able to do so
is in great measure a tribute to the firm and constant support given
by the Historical Commission to continued professional integrity and
historical authenticity in all segments of the program.
Larry E. Tise
Director and Secretary ex officio
July 1, 1978
NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL COMMISSION
109 E. Jones Street
Raleigh, N. C 27611
H M. LEMMON
lirman
lRRY GATTON
e Chairman
ly E. TISE
retary (ex of(icio)
"RUDE S. CARRAWAY
lOND GAVINS
EL W. JOHNSON
ITIS W. JOHNSTON
JONES
KNOWLES
LINEBERGER
)E M. NORTON
E. RAPER, JR.
To His Excellency
James B. Hunt, Jr.
Governor of North Carolina
Sir:— In line with the practice of the North Carolina
Historical Commission from its creation in 1903 until it
became the State Department of Archives and History in 1943
and with the subsequent practice of the Department (Division)
of Archives and History, I have the honor to submit herewith
for your Excellency's consideration the Thirtyseventh Biennial
Report of the North Carolina Division of Archives and History
for the period July 1, 1976-June 30, 1978.
I am pleased to report to you on behalf of the members of the
North Carolina Historical Commission that the Division of
Archives and History has acquitted its responsibilities as
North Carolina's historical agency quite well during the past
two years, making it a distinct pleasure to transmit to you
this report as the most recent addition to a distinguished series,
Respectfully,
yC^/^^t^t.^^^ /vy. ,^?!^7'Vj^*t^i
Sarah M. Lemmon
Chairman
Raleigh, North Carolina
July 1, 1978
CONTENTS
Director's Report 1
Archaeology and Historic Preservation Section 17
Archives and Records Section 35
Historical Publications Section 55
Historic Sites Section 65
North Carolina Museum of History 87
State Capitol/Visitor Services Section 97
Tryon Palace Section Ill
APPENDIXES:
ADMINISTRATION
I. The North Carolina Historical Commission 119
II. Appropriations and Expenditures, 1976-1978 120
III. Appropriations and Expenditures, 1930-1978 121
IV. Roster of Employees, Showing Name and Title (and
Period of Service If Less Than the Full Biennium) . 123
V. CETA Employees with Date of Initial Employment . . . 136
VI. Publications of Staff Members lAO
ARCHIVES AND RECORDS
VII. Accessions, July 1, 1976-June 30, 1978 150
VIII. Local Records Microfilm Operations 199
IX. Records Disposition and Servicing in the State
Records Center 200
X. State Records Microfilm Project Production 202
XI. Newspapers Microfilmed during Biennium 204
MUSEUM OF HISTORY
XII. North Carolina Museum of History Accessions 206
HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS
XIII. Historical Publications Section 216
XIV, Complete List of Publications Issued by the
Division of Archives and History, 1976-1978 . . . 218
ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION
XV. Field Services 223
XVI. Grants-in-Aid 236
XVII. Legislative Grants-in-Aid for Restoration and
Preservation Projects, 1976-1977 237
XVIII. Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service Grants,
1976-1978 240
XIX. New Highway Historical Markers Approved 243
XX. Status of North Carolina Properties with Respect to
the National Register of Historic Places .... 245
HISTORIC SITES
XXI. Attendance at State Historic Sites 252
XXII. Capital Improvements at State Historic Sites,
1976-1978 253
XXIII. New Federal Preservation Grants, 1976-1978 .... 255
BIENNIAL REPORT
DIVISION OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY
July 1, 1976-June 30, 1978
SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AND THE FOURTH QUARTER
AT THE NORTH CAROLINA DIVISION OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY
Larry E. Tise, Director
This thirty-seventh biennial report of North Carolina's state
historical agency constitutes the culmination of seventy-five
years of constant service on the part of the North Carolina Divi-sion
of Archives and History and its parent governing body the
North Carolina Historical Commission. The report also marks the
launching of a new era in the life of the agency and its entry
into the fourth quarter of a full century of service. Although
two years ago when we submitted our thirty-sixth biennial report
it did not seem that there were many directions in which we could
go to enhance further our comprehensive state historical program,
time and experience showed that we were able to explore a variety
of new directions that make it possible for us to continue to
claim that ours is the most outstanding and fullest state
historical program in America.
Seventy-fifth Anniversary
The highlight of the 1976-1978 biennium was the conclusion of
our first three-quarters of a century of service. The anniversary
came on March 7, 1978, the seventy-fifth recurrence of the date on
which the North Carolina General Assembly finally approved an act
establishing the North Carolina Historical Commission. Building
upon the brief historical statement that we included in our thirty-sixth
biennial report, we decided to make the seventy-fifth anni-versary
a day that would be remembered for years to come. We
invited some of the outstanding leaders from throughout the nation
in the various fields of public history to share the day with us
and to help us recount the growth and development of the North
Carolina Historical Commission and the State Department of Archives
and History. We also invited those people who had been associated
with the staff over the years to spend the day with us participat-ing
in a variety of special programs, events, displays, speeches,
and meals. The day concluded with a reception and a banquet co-sponsored
by the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association
after which noted historian and close friend of the division, John
Hope Franklin, delivered an address that will long be remembered as
a revealing portrayal of the life and purposes of the agency.
Franklin's address and the others given during the day were gath-ered
and edited for publication in a book titled Public History in
North Carolina, 1903-1978. The book, scheduled for publication in
the next biennium, will also contain other memorabilia on the day
and will be available from the Division of Archives and History.
Since the book will contain much about our past, our recent experi-ences,
and where we are headed in future years, I would like to
make the book, by reference, a part of this thirty-seventh
biennial report.
Thirty-seventh Biennial Report
North Carolina Historical Commission
In our thirty-sixth report, we described in some detail the
reemergence of the North Carolina Historical Commission, the ex-pansion
of its authority as one of the major regulatory commis-sions
of North Carolina state government, and its important role
in guiding and protecting the professionalism and professional
interests of the Division of Archives and History. During the
course of the biennium, this pattern continued apace. Indeed,
the General Assembly of 1977 took steps both to enlarge the com-mission
and to expand its responsibilities and authorities.
Chapter 513 of the 1977 Session Laws expanded the membership of
the commission from seven to eleven and gave the commission
authority to review and advise on the development of the division's
program and on the performance of the division and the director.
Moreover, the commission was granted authority to serve as a
search conmiittee to identify those persons who might qualify to
serve as director whenever a vacancy occurs in that position.
The expansion of the commission and its authorities was
coupled with the appointment of new members and a new chainnan.
Dr. Sarah M. Lemmon, dean of continuing education at Meredith
College, was appointed to the commission on November 17, 1977,
and became only the tenth chairman of the commission since 1903
and the first woman to serve in that capacity. Mr. T. Harry
Gatton, affable and steady chairman of the commission from 1972
to 1977, was reappointed to membership on the commission and was
elected vice-chairman when the commission met on November 17, 1977.
Dr. Gertrude Carraway, originally appointed to the commission in
February, 1942, and now that person who has served longest on the
commission, also was reappointed for another six-year term. Other
new members of the commission were Mr. Samuel W. Johnson, an
attorney of Rocky Mount and Hamilton; Mr. John E. Raper, an
attorney of Fayetteville and a relative of Charles Lee Raper, one
of the earliest members of the commission from 1905 to 1907;
Dr. H. G. Jones, curator of the North Carolina Collection at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, former director of
the Department of Archives and History and second former head of
the agency to return for service on the historical commission
(R. D. VI. Connor, first secretary of the commission, 1903-1921,
served as commission chairman from 1942 to 1950) ; and former state
Senator Clyde M. Norton, a businessman from Old Fort and longtime
friend of the Division of Archives and History.
Under the guidance of Dr. Lemmon, the commission entered
during the biennium into increasingly broader areas of service to
the agency, particularly in the areas of archaeology and historic
preservation. Along with two additional persons—Dr. Joffre Coe,
an archaeologist from the University of North Carolina, and
William W. Dodge, an architect from Raleigh—the commission con-stituted
the State Professional Review Committee for nominations
to the National Register of Historic Places. The work of the
Director's Report 3
commission grew to the point that by 1977 it became necessary for
the commission to meet six times a year and to hold special meet-ings
to review pending legislation and contested cases under the
provisions of G.S. 121-12 (a) or the commission's protective role
in historic preservation. Dr. Lemmon divided the commission into
functioning committees for the first time and asked members of the
commission to develop special expertise in those areas of their
greatest interest.
NEl^ DIRECTIONS AND NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS
Partly as a result of increasing funds available to the divi-sion
from nonstate grants and partly as a result of a new period
of increased support from the General Assembly, the division was
able to head in several new directions and to achieve several
major goals during the biennium.
Two major gifts of real property were made during the biennixnn.
In the summer of 1976, the Liggett Group, parent company of the
Liggett and Myers Tobacco Company, a longtime supporter of the
division's programs, presented the division with 71 acres at the
heart of the historic Bennehan-Cameron Plantation in Durham County.
Known historically as Stagville, the plot of land and the struc-tures
thereon were devoted to the establishment of what is known
as the Stagville Center for Historic Preservation, a teaching and
research facility for historic preservation education and tech-nology.
While the Liggett Group provided initial funding for the
operation of this unique center, the General Assembly within a year
began to provide funds for Stagville 's operation and development.
A second major gift came from Southern Railway Company in the form
of the heart of its massive Spencer Shops facilities at Spencer,
North Carolina. Developed in the 1890s as Southern Railway's cen-tral
maintenance facility for steam locomotives, the property
contains some of the most extensive and significant railroading
facilities extant in the South. Funds for the initial operation
and planning of the site were provided by the 1977 session of the
General Assembly. By the end of the biennium extensive plans had
been developed to preserve and develop the huge backshop, round-house,
and other structures on the 90-acre site as a North Carolina
Transportation History Museum under the auspices and direction of
the Historic Sites program.
During the biennium the division was involved in a number of
controversial projects or pursuits that demanded a good deal of
time and attention and that have ended or seem to be headed toward
happy endings. The first concerned the Civil War ironclad Monitor.
Under the terms of a cooperative agreement with the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) the division has a number of
responsibilities for the management of the Monitor Marine Sanctuary,
resting place of the famous U.S.S. Monitor. In the summer of 1976
the division found itself the object of public attack by researchers
seeking access to the sanctuary with incomplete research plans.
Following this unhappy episode, we took measures to ensure that our
role in managing the Monitor in the future would be positive and
4 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report
assertive. In the fall of 1976 we revised our agreement with NOAA
to provide the division with a larger role in planning research
activities. In the fall of 1977 we laid plans for the development
of a master research plan for future activities at the Monitor
site. As a part of the planning process a national conference on
the Monitor was held in April, 1978, at our building in Raleigh,
and a series of other meetings was held to ensure that the resul-tant
plan could achieve a national consensus. To make certain that
we assisted in the development of appropriate research activities,
we asked Governor James B. Hunt, Jr., to establish a Monitor
R^esearch Council to provide a focus for both citizen and researcher
efforts in promoting research and development. By the conclusion
of the biennium these efforts were well under way and were setting
the stage for a long overdue clarification of responsibilities in
the Monitor Marine Sanctuary.
We were similarly involved in what is known as the "New River
Controversy." Although we were rather late in becoming involved in
the dispute concerning the development of the New River Valley by
the Appalachian Power Company, our contributions to the cause
likely provided the needed fuel to save the valley. Until the case
had become ensnarled in the courts, no intensive survey of the his-torical
and archaeological resources of the valley had been con-ducted.
Our crash survey program launched in the spring of 1976
resulted in the identification of numerous structures and sites that
were eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic
Places. These findings, when combined with other earlier arguments
for the preservation of the valley, gave the impetus for final pas-sage
by Congress of a bill to make the river valley a National
Scenic River.
The controversy that will likely be longest remembered and that
will likely have the greatest long-term impact on the shape and
practice of public history in the United States concerned the case
of the State of North Carolina v. B. C. West, Jr. The North Caro-lina
Supreme Court in the spring of 1977 ruled that public records
could not be alienated from public ownership without appropriate
legal action to sever such ownership. In cases where such owner-ship
had not been severed the state has the right and the responsi-bility
to replevin or recover public records that may be out of
custody. This landmark decision was the first clear-cut instance
in which a court in the United States had defined precisely the
nature of a public record and had upheld the authorities of public
ownership. The outcome of the case resulted in the return of a
number of documents that bore the signature of William Hooper; in-directly
in the recovery of a much more valuable letter written by
George Washington; and quite directly in a national dispute among
archivists and manuscript dealers as to the handling of public
records that are found to be out of custody.
Beyond such controversial involvements as the foregoing, the
division during the biennium was able to accomplish a great deal in
bringing its programs closer to the people of North Carolina. Early
Director's Report 5
in the bienniiim we began to stress the importance of developing
educational programs in all areas of the division whereby useful
instruction could be given students, historians, and the general
public in dealing with all aspects of public history. What began
as a series of tentative workshops has now grown into a full-blown
annual offering of dozens of courses, workshops, seminars, confer-ences,
and symposia. And along with the development of such events
in all parts of the program we have attempted to define ways in
which volunteers and student interns can be actively involved in
our day-to-day work. Finally, we have developed a variety of
mechanisms and special offices to assure that we will have direct
and effective contact with the intended audience.
The primary foci of these developments have been the Federa-tion
of North Carolina Historical Societies and the North Carolina
Institute of Applied History. In the summer of 1977 we were able
to add to our staff a coordinator to handle both of the special
organizations and to become our chief contact with historical
societies and organizations throughout North Carolina and with the
history departments at colleges and universities throughout the
state. By the end of the biennium more than sixty historical organ-izations
had become participating members in the federation and more
than thirty colleges and universities had joined the institute.
Through the former we are now able to communicate and work quite
directly with historical organizations in providing services that
will help them to develop and achieve their local objectives.
Through the latter we are now able to communicate and work directly
with college and university history departments in developing course
work, internship training opportunities, and special programs in the
areas of public and applied history.
While we were in the process of developing educational pro-grams,
we were also seeking to bring our services and presence much
closer to the people in North Carolina who needed them. After a
year of planning the General Assembly in its 1978 session provided
for the establishment of a Western North Carolina Office of the
Division of Archives and History to be located in Asheville with a
complement of professionals who could both serve the region and who
could bring to the westernmost region of the state many of the pro-grams
and services of the division in Raleigh. At the same time
provisions were made for the establisbjnent of a Northeastern North
Carolina Historical Places Office in Edenton whose purpose is to
work closely with historic sites and museums in the Albemarle
region in the development and promotion of the extensive histor--
ical resources in the area. Both offices were in the process of
establishment by the conclusion of the biennium.
In addition to these special programs and offices, the division
continued to develop a relationship with those citizens directly
interested in and supportive of special areas of the program. Dur-ing
the biennium the fledgling Museum of History Associates organi-zation
came into full fruition and became one of the leading his-torical
organizations in North Carolina. Another organization, the
6 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report
Friends of the Archives, emerged to give special support and
encouragment to the archives and records programs of the division.
Other organizations previously established developed rapidly and
began making essential contributions in terms of financial support,
special projects, promotion, and gifts to the programs of the divi-sion.
Among these were the State Capitol Foundation, the Stagville
Center Corporation, and the Transportation History Corporation
(connected particularly with Spencer Shops) . A much closer work-ing
relationship was developed with two of the longstanding state-wide
membership history organizations, the North Carolina Literary
and Historical Association and the Historic Preservation Society
of North Carolina. All of these organizations participated fully
and helpfully in the development of the division's now broad-based
educational and public service programs.
Another organization that emerged fully during the course of
the biennium and whose future role in North Carolina historical
affairs promises to be great was the Historic Preservation Fund of
North Carolina, Inc. Chartered initially in the fall of 1975, the
organization was not able to get into its work for more than a
year as its tax-exempt status was questioned by the Internal Rev-enue
Service. Nevertheless, the division continued to work with
the organization, first in providing assistance in clarifying the
tax status of the fund, in providing technical assistance to the
fund, and in providing it financial support. The purpose of this
nonprofit organization is to create a large and flexible revolving
fund that can be used to acquire and dispose of historic proper-ties
in a manner that will secure their permanent preservation.
In order to achieve this objective, the division is closely con-nected
with the management of the fund through the membership of
the director and the chairman of the North Carolina Historical
Commission on the fund's board of directors, through the adminis-tration
of a two-year $100,000 state grant, appropriated by the
General Assembly, for the use of the fund, and through a memoran-dum
of agreement between the division and the fund that makes
varying sums of money available for the use of the fund on a
short-term basis annually from grant funds received by the divi-sion
from the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service.
Through this latter agreement the fund receives an amount of money
specified each year for use in acquiring historical properties.
At the end of the year the fund must repay 75 percent of the grant
funds for reuse in other grants for historic properties.
Also in connection with our efforts to provide significant
educational opportunities for the general public was a symposium
in June, 1977, on the study and writing of North Carolina history.
The event held over the course of two days was an attempt to under-take
a full-scale assessment of what has been written on North
Carolina history in the past and of the various interpretations
that have been placed on the state's history. The major desired
result of the symposium was to identify those areas of the state's
history that have not received adequate study and those areas that
are in need of reinterpretation. One of the by-products of the
Director's Report 7
symposium was the acceptance of the papers presented for publica-tion
by the University of North Carolina Press. To be titled
Writing North Carolina History and to be issued in 1979, the voliune
should be a useful guide for years to come for both students and
scholars interested in North Carolina history.
While we have been greatly concerned with our educational pro-grams
and our services to the public, we have also concerned our-selves
heavily with the budget and management of the programs of
the division. The Division of Archives and History has grown very
rapidly over a period of about ten years in terms of staff, budget,
and programs. By the mid-1970s it had become virtually a unique
organization in the world of state history programs. It was one of
only four or five such agencies in the nation that combined under
one umbrella all of a state's concerns with history. Because of
this uniqueness, there are few, if any, models around the nation
that can be used to give shape to the division's programs. Indeed,
almost every step we take is pace setting and is likely to be used
by other states as a model to be copied. In dealing with our own
budgetary, management, and program concerns, we are virtually on
our own without any comparable programs for comparison.
Realizing the extent to which we have grown, we have used this
biennium to look carefully at our budgetary needs and management
practices. In terms of internal management we have made a number
of changes that hopefully will result in a more coordinated and
efficient program. In the early part of the biennium we prepared
for adoption by the historical commission a full slate of rules
and regulations concerning every aspect of our program and as re-quired
by the North Carolina Administrative Procedures Act. As a
result of this activity, we now have formal guidelines for all of
our programs on the manner in which they should relate to the pub-lic
and the manner in which the programs are to be operated. Fol-lowing
a lengthy and detailed study by a staff program and manage-ment
committee, we made a number of administrative changes in the
organization of the division, and we defined various management
roles much more precisely than had been done in the past. The
organization of the division following the exercise is reflected in
an organizational chart attached to this report.
The most important organizational change was the unification
of the Archaeology Section and the Historic Preservation Section
into what we are now calling the Archaeology and Historic Preserva-tion
Section. This change was necessitated in part by the fact
that all programs in the combined section are part of what is other-wise
known as the State Historic Preservation Office as necessitated
by the Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and by North Carolina's
participation in that program. Although some of the staff and
programs that are eligible for participation in this program remain
in the Historic Sites Section, the bulk of the staff and programs
that are a part of the national program are now consolidated in
the new section. At the same time, other elements of the program
that had been located outside the sectional structure of the
8 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report
division were moved Into the new section. Including federal and
state grants management in the area of historic preservation and
environmental review. The position of assistant director for
preservation programs was abolished and all personnel who had been
under the supervision of this person were moved into the new
section.
In connection with the same study, we made a number of role
changes that are now in use. The former assistant director for
general programs became the sole assistant director. Some of the
responsibilities that had been given to this assistant director
were moved into the appropriate section and the position took on
greater responsibility in certain areas of day-to-day operations.
The assistant director was given day-to-day supervisory authority
over the Tryon Palace Section and over the State Capitol/Visitor
Services Section. He was also given general authority in all
matters relating to personnel grievance and intradivisional person-nel
relations, in all matters relating to the division's educa-tional
programs including supervision of the coordinator of
services to historical organizations and to colleges and univer-sities,
and in all matters relating to our administrative
procedures
.
The role of section chief was also refined so that it became
clear that section chiefs had definite responsibility for day-to-day
budget and personnel management within their sections and that
all their operations were subject to a greater involvement of their
staffs in planning activities and programmatic decision making.
The programmatic section chiefs (Archives and Records, Archaeology
and Historic Preservation, Historic Sites, Historical Publications,
and Museum of History) in connection with the director and assis-tant
director became in essence a program council for the division
as a whole to consider on a frequent basis matters of inter-sectional
or divisional concern.
In connection with these changes we also began a program to
do a better job of familiarizing divisional staff with the pro-grams
and personnel of the division and with the general responsi-bilities
and objectives of the division. Under the tutelage of
Jerry C. Cashion of the staff, an in-house course in North Carolina
history was begun that all staff must take if they have not had such
a course as part of their educational training. A new round of
staff breaks was directed toward sharing with others on the staff
the programs and operations of various parts of the division.
Orientation programs and materials were prepared for the use of
new members of the staff.
In the area of staffing and personnel in the division we have
been blessed with both continuity and outstanding performance in
almost every area of the program. I cannot say enough about the
dedicated work of our assistant director and our section chiefs.
Director's Report 9
In each of them I am convinced that we have one of the most out-standing
public historians in their respective fields of special-ization
in the nation. Dr. Thornton W. Mitchell in Archives and
Records has proved himself a most outstanding practitioner of the
role of state archivist both in maintaining the quality and in
developing the productiveness of the program. Memory F. Mitchell
in Historical Publications has maintained the quality of our his-torical
publications across the board and has continued to make
her program with limited resources quite productive. Richard W.
Sawyer, Jr., and his assistant administrator Lawrence G. Misen-heimer
have taken a program that was foundering in 1975 and have
made it one of the most efficient in the division. John D.
Ellington in the Museum of History has done likewise and has taken
a broad and long look at the future of the museum. Under his
effective leadership I am convinced that the museum will over a
period of years achieve a proper and long-delayed destiny of ser-vice
to North Carolina. Samuel P. Townsend at the State Capitol
and the Capital Area Visitor Center has taken a few limited re-sources
and in a brief period has built the programs at both
facilities into models of their type. He and his staff, in con-nection
with the State Capitol Foxindation, have brought this pro-gram
to the level it should maintain for many years. At Tryon
Palace Donald R. Taylor has continued to maintain the high level
of administration and program development that this unique historic
site should enjoy.
Our only area of major staff turnover has been in the area of
Archaeology and Historic Preservation. In the spring of 1977,
Dr. Stephen Gluckman, the first head of our Archaeology Section,
submitted his resignation to return to teaching in Florida. Under
his guidance the archaeology program had developed rapidly in many
areas and was ready for a period of consolidation and careful man-agement.
The need was well provided by Ms. Jacqueline R. Fehon,
who, though youthful, proved quickly to be a good program adminis-trator
of this difficult area. With the consolidation of the
Archaeology and Historic Preservation sections into one section in
the summer of 1977, Mr. Brent D. Glass, previously assistant direc-tor
for preservation programs, became the administrator of the
Archaeology and Historic Preservation Section. Ms. Janet Seapker,
previously administrator of the Historic Preservation Section,
became the head of our state and federal grants programs. Later
in the biennium the Archaeology Branch of this section was divided
into two components with Ms. Fehon as the head of the Archaeology
Branch and Mr. Gordon P. Watts, Jr., as head of the Underwater
Archaeology Branch. Following this realignment of staff and pro-grams,
I am pleased to report, the program in this area quickly
moved into an efficient operating mode under the careful leader-ship
of Mr. Glass, who rapidly proved his ability to manage one of
the largest and most complex components of the division's programs.
Under our new mode of operation our assistant director.
Dr. William S. Price, Jr., has proved time and again his ability
to adapt to the needs of the division's program and has shown
10 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report
great dedication and devotion to maintaining the qualitative as
well as the quantitative aspects of the program. In the special
areas that were assigned to him, he has demonstrated great effi-ciency
and creativity in dealing with sometimes quite complex
problems
.
The area of budget is, of course, one of our major ongoing
concerns. Although there is much we can do and have done to
generate nonstate support for our programs through grants, gifts,
receipts for services and products, and support from our various
citizen groups, we are ultimately at the mercy of the General
Assembly when it comes to our core operating budget and to our
basic capital improvement and maintenance budgets. At the begin-ning
of the biennium we estimated that about 73 percent of our
budget came from direct appropriations, while the remaining 27
percent derived from grants, gifts, receipts, and other financial
support. At the conclusion of the biennium the proportion of
appropriations to receipted funds had not changed appreciably.
We began the biennium in a dismal financial posture. We had
just completed a fiscal year that saw a freeze on many basic ex-penditures.
As a result of the freeze and the mandatory reversion
of some funds we had planned on using in the 1975-1976 fiscal year,
we started the biennium already far behind in some basic program
obligations. And some of these obligations—such as funds for
moving our state records into a new building—could not be carried
out until additional funds were appropriated.
Although we requested the 1977 session of the General Assembly
to replace some of the funds that had been lost, we were not suc-cessful
in securing the most needed appropriations. Instead the
General Assembly appropriated more new funds for history programs
than had ever been known in the history of the program. By the
time the 1977 session had concluded, the legislature had appropri-ated
more than $3 million in new program funds for the 1977-1979
biennium. But most of the funds were for the purpose of establish-ing
new programs or were for grants to nonstate history programs.
When the General Assembly reconvened for its short session in 1978,
we were much more successful in getting some funds for our most
basic needs. For the first time in a decade every area of the pro-gram
received some badly needed additional support. But again the
legislature made a quantum increase in funding for history pro-grams
as it appropriated approximately $800,000 in new money for
history programs for the 1978-1979 fiscal year. Again, much of
the new money was for new programs and for grants for nonstate
history projects.
Much of the new funding came for the expansion of our Historic
Sites program, staffing at particular sites, and funds for specific
capital improvements at individual sites. In addition, we re-ceived
funding to expand our staff and programs in the area of
historic preservation technical assistance and underwater archae-ology.
Small additions were made to the operating budgets of the
Director's Report 11
Archives and Records Section (moving funds and temporary salaries),
Historical Publications (editorial assistant for Colonial Records
project), and the Museum of History (funds to print the Tar Heel
Junior Historian)
.
But in addition to these small increases, most new funds went
for new programs: operating budget for Stagville Center; operating
and planning budget for Spencer Shops; operating budget for a rail-roading
museum in the Seaboard Coastline Building in Raleigh;
operating budget for the State Capitol and for the Capital Area
Visitor Center; operating budget for the Western North Carolina
Office of the Division of Archives and History; operating budget
and grants program for the Northeastern Historic Places Office;
funding for the preparation of a dictionary of biography for the
North Carolina General Assembly, 1665-1977; funding for the His-toric
Preservation Fund of North Carolina; funding for the opera-tions
and investigations of a special Committee for the Study of
Abandoned Cemeteries; funding for the preparation of a portrait
exhibit on North Carolina governors elected by the people; and
funds for the installation of a security system in the Tryon
Palace Complex. These new wrinkles in the program, along with
innumerable special conditional and unconditional grants for non-state
history programs and projects, indicated a new era in which
the General Assembly demonstrated a willingness to support history
programs even though some of the funds did not go as they should
have into the support of some of the division's basic programs.
With these new infusions of support funds and with individual
creativity, our various programs were able to achieve a good deal
during the course of the biennium. As always, we have maintained
as best we could our basic programs in archives and records manage-ment,
in publishing good historical works, in developing and oper-ating
our historic sites, in surveying and preserving archaeolog-ical
sites and historic properties, and in developing historical
museums including the Museum of History. Among the highlights of
the programs from my perspective in this regard were the following:
In the Archives and Records Section we basically tried to keep
our heads above water as the results of the nation's bicentennial,
the Roots phenomenon, and the explosion in the creation of public
records in North Carolina became manifest. The reversion of our
funds for the move into the new State Records Center meant that the
move would be a cloud over the state records program for the re-mainder
of the biennixim. With grants and special funding for the
preparation of a new guide to private manuscript collections in the
archives, for the copying of nitrate negatives, and for the prepa-ration
of a directory of the General Assembly, however, the program
was able to launch into some new areas of concern. TTiis program is
the one that is most in need of additional operating support in
coming years
.
In the area of archaeology and historic preservation, we ex-perienced
our greatest expansion and some of our greatest diffi-culties.
With the expansion of the federal preservation program.
12 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report
it became necessary for us to expand our staffing just to be able
to deliver services in all of the areas added to the program by
Congress or the Department of the Interior. Making use of special
grants from the Soil Conservation Service and the Administrative
Offices of the Courts, however, we were able to complete massive
surveys of the Tar-Neuse River Basin and of the state's court-houses
and judicial facilities. Special excavation projects at
the Seaboard Building site, at Fort Branch, at the State Capitol,
and at the Monitor site constituted some of the major projects
completed in the area of archaeology. During the biennium a num-ber
of special preservation problems were encountered and solved,
notably in the case of Ivey Hill in Halifax County and the Dodd-
Hinsdale House in Raleigh.
Historical Publications continued a quite even course in the
production of publications of all types . During the biennium we
were able to issue the first two volumes of the Papers of James
Iredell, and the fifth and sixth volumes respectively of the
Colonial Records and the Civil War Roster. With the assistance of
a special appropriation from the General Assembly, years of work
on the Edivondston Diary was nearing completion, as was work on the
gubernatorial papers of James E. Holshouser, Jr. This program
also needs early additional operational support if we are ever to
conclude the colonial records project and if we are to maintain
the level of publications production we have enjoyed in the past.
In the area of Historic Sites the biennium was one of con-cluding
a number of older projects and the launching of another
generation of site developments. During the two-year period five
historic sites were dedicated and additional buildings were dedi-cated
at Historic Halifax. The sites dedicated were Fort Dobbs at
Statesville; the Thomas Wolfe Memorial in Asheville; Reed Gold Mine
in Cabarrus County; Duke Homestead at Durham; and the first phase
of Stagville Center in Durham County. Comprehensive plans were
completed for the next stage of development projects at Spencer
Shops, Historic Bath, and Duke Homestead. Major development work
continued at a number of sites.
For the Museum of History the biennium was one of major plan-ning
along with some notable accomplishments. A good exhibit on
200 years of fashion opened early in the biennium. This was fol-lowed
by an outstanding exhibit on North Carolina furniture. The
latter exhibit was accompanied by an outstanding catalog that will
become a regular feature of future major exhibits. As the bien-nium
closed a major exhibit on the black presence in North Carolina
was being completed with the support of a grant from the National
Endowment for the Humanities. Although the museum has accomplished
much in recent years, it is clear that if it is to play its proper
role in the history programs of North Carolina it will need and
must have expanded facilities in the near future and that it will
need to have additional support to operate a major state museum of
history.
Director's Report 13
The biennium was the first full two-year period for the State
Capital Area Visitor Center. Both achieved an initial basic oper-ating
budget during the biennium. The Capitol received a new and
welcome infusion of interest when Governor Eunt decided to make
his office again in the Capitol, toaintaining a tradition as old
as the Capitol building itself. The division and the Capitol
staff oversaw the furnishing of the governor's office and met a
very short timetable quite well in doing so. The Visitor Center
quickly became one of our programs of which we are quite proud.
The patronage of the Visitor Center grew swiftly so that by the
end of the biennium we were able to serve thousands of visitors
and visiting groups by letter, phone, and in person virtually
weekly
.
The biennium was one of even development at Tryon Palace.
During the two-year period the palace program and development
entered into a new phase as Mrs. May Gordon Kellenberger, chief
benefactress of the palace development, died in May, 1978. Her
death meant that the palace would enter into a new phase of devel-opment
under new leadership in the Tryon Palace Commission. But
it also meant that in death she would continue to influence the
palace program. Through her will Mrs. Kellenberger made provision
for the establishment of a trust that could be used in part to
support the palace and other historic programs in the area of New
Bern and Craven County.
Future Needs
We concluded the biennium quite aware that some needs must be
met in the near future if we are to continue to deliver the best
in public history to the people of North Carolina. Although the
detailed needs of the division's programs would fill many pages, I
will mention here only the most glaring, and the ones which, if
they are not addressed, will greatly hamper the even development
of our program over the next several years.
1. Facility Needs ; In order to ensure that we will continue
to have space to house the State Archives, to display the massive
collections of the Museum of History, and to house the basic admin-istrative
functions of the programs of the Division of Archives and
History, we must have in the near future the full use of the
Archives and History/State Library Building. Appropriate facili-ties
must be secured for the State Library so that the Museum of
History can have adequate display and storage space on the first
floor and mezzanine areas of the building and so that the State
Archives will have adequate stack storage space and space for the
expansion of the Search Room area. If a separate State Library
Building cannot be secured in the near future, it will be necessary
to consider additions to the building to provide the necessary
storage and exhibit areas.
In addition to these needs at the Archives and History/
State Library Building, it is mandatory that sufficient space to
14 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report
house the Archaeology and Historic Preservation Section's pro-grams
soon be secured. Although funds were appropriated by the
1975 session of the General Assembly for the creation of an archae-ology
laboratory, the expropriation of the intended space for
other uses has hampered the development of this program severely.
The old Health Building in Raleigh has been set aside for the use
of these programs; its renovation and development at the earliest
possible time must be one of our major objectives. At the same
time, facilities must be provided for our underwater archaeology
program. State funds have never been provided for an adequate
laborator^'^. Instead, mem.bers of the staff of the program have
literally had to build their own facilities as best they could.
This oversight must be corrected by providing a facility worthy of
one of the largest underwater archaeology programs in the nation
that would be capable of dealing with the thousands of shipwrecks
and submerged archaeological sites off the coast of North Carolina.
2. Operational Support ; Although we have been encouraged by
the support given by the General Assembly to history programs in
recent years, we have been troubled by the fact that most of the
new funding has gone into the creation of new programs and into
the support of nonstate history programs. If we are to continue
to have a model basic state history program, the General Assembly
must be persuaded to put a greater portion of its appropriations
into the operations of the archives and records program, the pub-lication
of historical works, and the operations of the Museum of
History and our twenty-three state historic sites. It does us no
good to have funding for special projects when we cannot maintain
our basic statutory functions.
3
.
Integrated Program Thrust : Equally as important as our
need for facilities and basic operational support is our need to
continue to have an integrated and focused state history program
thrust. There is a tendency encouraged by program specialization
and by the nature of the funding support we receive for our pro-grams
to head in a variety of different directions. There is a
tendency for our work in historic presei~vation and archaeology to
translate itself into conservation, for our archival and records
work to translate readily into business records management, for
our historic sites development program to translate into localism,
for our museum programs to translate into a big museumi mentality,
and for our historical publications program to translate into pub-lications
that are marketable. I trust that despite these trends
our focus is still primarily on the subject, discipline, and pur-suit
of history and not one of the thousands of other pursuits
that are replicated in other disciplines and programs throughout
the world. With a decline of interest in history in the public
schools, in colleges and universities, and in other formal pro-grams,
it has become increasingly difficult for us to maintain our
focus directly on history. But with the support and encouragement
of historians and others who are interested in authentic, accurate,
and significant history, I trust that during the next biennium we
will be able to achieve a new integrated program thrust for all of
the programs of the division.
Director's Report 15
************
As is traditional I will conclude this report with some
reference to my own activities as a historian. I have attempted
to maintain a lively interest in and pursuit of history, which is
my professional calling. During this two-year period I have taken
a number of opportunities to serve in a number of capacities on
the national level in the interests of the profession of history
and of public history. Since February, 1976, I have served on the
Board of Directors of the National Conference of State Historic
Preservation Officers and have thereby participated fully in the
development of the federal historic preservation program. Since
February, 1977, I have served as chairman of a committee on fed-eral
rules and regulations concerning archaeology and historic
preservation and through the work of that committee have been able
to oversee the revision of all federal regulations concerning
these areas. Since the latter months of 1977, I have served as
chairman of the Historic Preservation Task Force of the National
Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History, in which
capacity I have been able to partake fully in the emergence of a
concern for public history among the traditional historical organ-izations.
Since January, 1977, I have served as a member of the
Archives Committee of the Commission on Archives and History of
the United Methodist Church. In this capacity I was given the
task of preparing a master records management plan for the church
that has subsequently been adopted and employed in developing the
archival programs among United Methodists. In the spring of 1978
I was appointed to the Historic Preservation Committee of the
Organization of American Historians, and to the International
Archival Affairs Committee of the Society of American Archivists.
On these committees I trust that the good experiences we are
having in North Carolina can be expanded to influence the shape of
history on the national level.
On the state level, too, I have taken part extensively in a
number of organizations. I currently serve as secretary-treasurer
of the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association, an awe-some
task previously handled by other directors of Archives and
History. I also serve as a director of a number of statewide his-torical
organizations, which consumes a great deal of energy but
has thus far proved well worth the time. Among them are the His-toric
Preservation Society of North Carolina, the Historic Preser-vation
Fund of North Carolina, the Stagville Corporation, the
Museum of History Associates, the Friends of the Archives, the
State Capitol Foundation, and others. I also participate as fully
as possible in the operations of the myriad statewide committees
and commissions that have been established by statute in North
Carolina.
As frequently as possible among other responsibilities I take
opportunities to give addresses on history. I have participated
heavily in the various local humanities programs in the state, in
16 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report
the annual meetings of local historical organizations, and in
delivering speeches at dedicatory ceremonies for a host of his-torical
endeavors. I delivered an address on proslavery history
at the 1977 session of the Southern Historical Association and an
address on the status of historic preservation in America at the
1978 annual meeting of the National Conference of State Historic
Preservation Officers.
I have finally attempted to maintain a pattern of historical
research and writing. During the biennium Jeffrey J. Crow and I
were able to bring forth from the University of North Carolina
Press our book entitled The Southern Experience in the Airerican
Revolution. I was able to write a number of articles that were
published in The State, Carolina Comments, Three Forks of Muddy
Creek, and The Monitor: Its Meaning and Future. 1 was able to
prepare eight book reviews for our North Carolina Historical
Review, Agricultural History, the American Historical Review, and
History: Reviews of New Books. Additionally, I was able to make
some progress on several long-term research and writing projects
that will unfold in future years
.
************
I would like to conclude this report with a special word of
gratitude to all those special coteries of people who continue
with the same fervor as their predecessors did in 1903 to assure
that North Carolina shall have an outstanding public history pro-gram:
the staff of the division, the members of the historical
commission, Goveimor Hunt and his administration, and the leaders
and members of all those historical organizations around North
Carolina who have dedicated themselves, as have we, to the preser-vation,
study, interpretation, and understanding of North Carolina's
past.
ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION SECTION
Brent D. Glass, Administrator
The Archaeology and Historic Preservation Section was orga-nized
in the summer of 1977 to combine the Archaeology Section,
Historic Preservation Section, and an administrative program
previously located in the director's office. The new section
functions as the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and
is responsible for the administration and operation of state
and federal programs relating to archaeology and historic
preservation.
The most significant development in the administration of
the program during the biennium has been in the area of grants
management. Building upon the concept of cooperative inven-tories
with local governmental units begun in 1975, the section
established a grants program for survey and planning activities
to correspond with the existing acquisition and development pro-gram.
These matching grants are made available through the
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service (HCRS). Surveys
of architectural, historic, and archaeological resources, as
well as planning studies and publications, are eligible
projects. For fiscal year 1978 forty-five applications repre-senting
$500,000 in projects were submitted. Of these,
tv7enty-five were awarded for $140,850. Orientation meetings
were held with grant recipients, and the first projects began
in June, 1978.
For acquisitions and development grants, $169,050.90 of
reimbursements were made to grant recipients during 1976-1977;
during the 1977-1978 fiscal year $244,246.86 of reimbursements
were made (see Appendixes XVTI and XVIII)
.
Because the Policies Regarding North Carolina State Grants-in-
Aid for Historic Preservation were considered antiquated and
insufficient to administer acquisition grants and those involving
revolving funds, separate procedures and agreement contracts
were drawn and approved by the North Carolina Historical Com-mission
and are now in use. Other measures aimed at making
the flow of money and paper more efficient have been established.
Primarily these have taken the form of standardized letters to
grant recipients and monitoring charts. The grants-in-aid
administrator, Janet K. Seapker, reviewed and commented on
proposed regulations for the administration of grant funds from
HCRS, U.S. Department of the Interior. During each fiscal year
the application for federal funds was revised and sent to
owners of National Register properties. A reproducible mailing
list of National Register property owners has been devised and
will greatly speed the mailing process in future years.
18 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report
Planning commenced for an upcoming Southeastern Regional Con-ference
of SHFO staffs. A lengthy questionnaire about grants
administration was sent to each state from which the program
agenda will be derived.
In January, 1977, the position of environmental review
coordinator was created to oversee the expanding review
program. The position was placed in the director's office,
working with the reviewers in the Historic Preservation Section
and in the Archaeology Section. With the reorganization of
August, 1977, the coordinator position became a part of section
administration, with review functions both for structures and
for archaeological sites carried out in branches of the
section.
The review of federally funded, licensed, or approved
projects, primarily through the Office of Management and
Budget's A-95 notification process, continued at a rapid pace.
During the biennium, the section reviewed the following
projects: 5,013 Notifications of Intent to Apply for Assis-tance;
about 400 Environmental Impact Statements; 309 project
descriptions from the North Carolina Department of Transpor-tation;
over 600 dredge-and-f ill applications in a one-year
period; and additional projects on federally owned properties
and others discussed below. The review of a great number of
projects is preceded by telephone or written inquiries. Appli-cations
for Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD)
Community Development Block Grants, proposed highway projects,
and subdivision proposals continued to outnumber other reviews.
A great deal of staff time is spent during two major
funding periods of each year in reviewing numerous applications
for Communitv Development Block Grants (CDBG) . Since many of
the projects included in these applications pertain to area-wide
rehabilitation and demolition, particular attention is paid
to identifying the presence of significant structures in each
target area. In addition, these projects involve activities
which can severely damage or destroy significant archaeological
resources. A comprehensive review of these applications is
therefore undertaken. Because HUD has, by regulation, assigned
its review responsibilities to the individual grant applicants,
the environmental review staff must work with individual appli-cants
step by step, rather than with the federal agency.
The environmental review staff works closely with the
North Carolina Department of Transportation (DOT) and the
Federal Highway Administration (FHwA) in most stages of the
highway construction planning process. The staffs of all these
offices are involved in. ongoing consultations to develop and
implement procedures which will adequately identify, and then
protect, significant architectural and archaeological resources
which may be affected by proposed highway improvements. This
procedure results in surveys of archaeological resources in
Archaeology and Historic Preservation 19
highway rights-of-way and in the inventory of metal truss
bridges cosponsored by the Department of Transportation and the
division. The staff reviewed and supported several applications
for funds to rehabilitate early twentieth-century hotels in the
larger cities for use as housing.
Environmental review also included local public works
sponsored by the Economic Development Administration, HUD's
701 Comprehensive Planning Assistance Grants, guidelines pro-posed
under the Coastal Area Management Act, and the activities
of the Land Policy Council. Efforts continued to implement the
provisions of Executive Order XVI (1976). A major achievement
under this program was an agreement with the North Carolina
Department of Insurance to expand the provisions of the state
building code to include consideration of historic buildings
for adaptive use as well as those used for public display.
The Division of Archives and History is responsible for the
de^^ignation of historic properties under the building code.
Other review activities included certification of significance
and rehabilitation under the provisions of the Tax Reform Act
of 1976. Nine applications for certification of rehabilitation
were received, eight applications for certification of sig-nificance,
and one application for certification of state and
local historic district statutes. Because the statute is new,
most activity was in answering requests for information.
The division received over fifty of these requests.
The section created a public education program in the summer
of 1977. The purpose of the program is to develop, disseminate,
and distribute information related to the work of the Archaeology
and Historic Preservation Section and to encourage local govern-ments
and preservation organizations to sponsor workshops and
conferences in this field. The program coordinator, Greer
Suttlemyre, is the section representative for a variety of
educational activities in the division and department, including
Stagville Preservation Center, the Federation of North
Carolina Historical Societies, and the Historic Preservation
Society of North Carolina, Inc. Major conferences were held
each spring in Wilmington (1977) and Winston-Salem (1978) in
cooperation with the Historic Preservation Society. The
section produced a display documenting the work of the
archaeology and historic preservation program for exhibit in
the Museum of History in conjunction with the seventy-fifth
anniversary of the division. The section cosponsored con-ferences
on the Monitor, historic properties and historic
district commissions, and conducting historic properties
inventories. A one-week course in preservation planning
was offered in cooperation with the School of Design of North
Carolina State University and Stagville Center. In addition,
the section began special workshops for Councils of Government
and state agencies. Section publications included inventories,
archaeological reports, and information brochures including a
20 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report
section brochure.
ARCHAEOLOGY BRANCH
The biennium 1976-1978 has been an active and challenging
one for the Archaeology Branch. During this time the
archaeology program was reorganizpd to form a branch of the
Archaeology and Historic Preservation Section. Since the re-organization
staff efforts have been devoted to the develop-ment
of new programs and to the integration of archaeological
activity around the state with that of the State Historic
Preservation Office.
The biennium saw, for the first time, the initiation of a
statewide archaeological survey program. Initial fieldwork in
the program was in the form of surveys of five DOT construction
projects. The highway surveys, a cooperative effort of the
North Carolina Department of Transportation and the North
Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, allowed the testing
and evaluation of the preliminary statewide survey plan. In
addition, the first HCRS matching grants for archaeological
surveys were awarded during the biennium.
The branch initiated centralization of information related
to archaeological sites presently known in North Carolina during
the reporting period. Contractual agreements have been reached
with St. Andrews Presbyterian College, Wake Forest University,
and Appalachian State University to duplicate their archaeologi-cal
data. In addition, the site files of the Research Labora-tories
of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill are being duplicated. To date, an estimated 6,700
recorded sites have been incorporated into the branch files as
the result of duplication activities.
The process of transferring all site file data to computer
form has begun. To date, 1,259 sites have been recorded on our
new computerized site forms. A total of 125 sites have been
coded and stored on magnetic tape. Approximately 200 additional
sites from New Hanover County have been entered into the Land
Resources Information Service (LRIS) . Additional information
concerning soil types, road networks, areas which have been
surveyed for archaeological properties, drainage systems, and
land use criteria in New Hanover County have also been entered
into LRIS. This information, together with archaeological
site data, will be used to conduct a pilot study of the utility
of LRIS for developing models of archaeological site location on
a statewide basis.
The laboratory services, field services, and environmental
review programs conducted operations as usual. In addition,
new programs were initiated in the areas of public education
and National Register of Historic Places.
Archaeology and Historic Preservation 21
The A-95 review staff reviewed 3,290 projects during the
reporting period. Comments indicating the need for archaeo-logical
assessment surveys were returned on 498 of these. A
total of 1,282 previously unknown archaeological sites were
discovered and recorded as a result of surveys conducted.
Field services provided by the branch ranged from intensive
archaeological surveys to brief on-site inspections (see
Appendix XV) • Most field services were provided in conjunction
with the grant-in-aid program. Additional services were pro-vided
at the request of the National Park Service, North
Carolina Department of Transportation, North Carolina Department
of Parks and Recreation, and the Survey and Planning Branch.
During the reporting period sixty-two field inspections were
conducted by staff archaeologists. Reconnaissance surveys were
conducted for seven projects. Four intensive surveys were
carried out during this period. Excavations were conducted at
the Palmer-Marsh House at Bath State Historic Site, the Belden-
Horne House in Fayetteville, the Seaboard Coast Line Building,
and at the State Capitol.
In response to public interest, the branch established an
evening work/ training session at the branch laboratory.
Interested citizens in the Raleigh area may now participate
in and learn about laboratory activities on Wednesday evenings
between 5 and 9 P.M. A regular series of presentations on
archaeological topics has been established. The series is
presented on a bimonthly basis.
The branch has been active in developing criteria for
evaluating significance of archaeological sites, nominating
of significant sites to the National Register, and instructing
the state's archaeologists in the use of HCRS matching grants
for archaeological research and excavation. Twenty-six
archaeological sites and districts have been approved by
the State Professional Review Committee for nomination to the
National Register during the biennium. Sixteen additional
archaeological sites and districts were recommended to the
study list.
The North Carolina Archaeological Council produced seven
issues of Publications in Arohaeology during the biennium. The
branch also published the report of the excavations at the
Seaboard Coast Line Building conducted by the branch in 1977.
Three articles were prepared by staff members for the
Tar Heel Junior Historian. These articles covered the New
River survey conducted in 1976, the recovery of a dugout
canoe from the Neuse River in 1978, and the proposed cultural
resource management plan developed by branch staff for the
Bennetts Creek Natural and Scenic Rivers Master Plan. Reports
of current research conducted by the branch were prepared for
22 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report
Ameviaan Antiquityj the journal of the Society for American
Archaeology, and the Society for Historical Archaeology
Newsletter. A description of the dugout canoe recovery was
prepared for Popular Arohaeotogy magazine.
SURVEY AND PLANNING BRANCH
Thp biennium has seen perhaps more changes in the inventory
and registration program than any comparable period for many
years; these changes arise both from conscious decisions to
modify the approach of the program and from the demands of
changing legislation, federal programs, and the public.
A new direction has been taken in the inventory process,
with the purpose of expanding the statewide inventory at a
faster rate, encouraging local participation, and providing
greater amounts of local funding for federal survey and
planning grants. As noted in the previous biennial report,
the branch began in 1976 a program of inventories funded
jointly by the division and the locality. This was done first
on a small scale and informal basis; cooperative inventories
were accomplished in Rowan, Iredell, and Guilford counties
and the communities of Smithfield, Hamilton, Southport, Ashe-ville,
and Raleigh. In all cases but Guilford consultants were
employed by this agency and some expenses borne by the com-munity;
in Guilford, two Raleigh personnel were sequentially
involved in the project. As of June 30, 1978, publications
for the Raleigh and Smithfield projects were available; Iredell
and Guilford were in the final stages of publication; Hamilton
was being edited; and Rowan and Asheville were being written.
Southport was not yet completed. Also, in 1977, Cumberland
County received legislative funding to conduct an inventory;
this is the first such funding of its kind in the state. An
architectural historian and a historian are currently doing
this work.
While this first group of projects was useful and produc-tive,
it was but a start. Late in 1977, a wider approach was
begun, which involved HCRS survey and planning funds to com-munities,
institutions, and other organizations to undertake
survey and planning activities. Over 1,000 applications were
sent out, and about fifty full applications returned. Adminis-tration
and survey staff devoted much of early 1978 to develop
this new component of the program. As of June 30, 1978, the
first stage of the first fiscal year's grants had been completed
(see Appendix XVIII)
.
As in earlier years, specific thematic inventories have
been conducted as well. In cooperation with the Administrative
Office of the Courts and the North Carolina State University
School of Design, the branch conducted an inventory of historic
courthouses in the state for use in a larger study of court
Archaeology and Historic Preservation 23
functions. This work was done during 1978, and although a
draft document has been published, the final document con-cerning
courthouses has not been published yet. As a result of
this work, increased attention to preservation values in court-houses
has developed; a recent issue of the North Cccpolina
Arohi-teat on courthouses included two preservation-related
sections.
During the summers of 1976 and 1977, the division co-sponsored
recording projects which were conducted in cooperation
with the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) and the
city of Winston-Salem. Measured drawings, historical reports,
and technical photographs were produced for twelve sites in-cluding
a cotton press, two cotton mills, a tobacco warehouse,
two gold mine sites, a hydroelectric facility, and a terra-cotta
manufacturing plant. The drawings, photographs, and
historic reports will be deposited in the Library of Congress
and in the North Carolina State Archives. In addition to the
recording projects, the study team conducted planning studies
of a textile mill in Winston-Salem and the railroad repair
shops in Spencer. The purpose of these studies was to evaluate
the tax incentives for rehabilitation of historic properties.
Expanding upon the work done earlier in cooperation with
HAER, three projects are currently under way. Working in
cooperation with the Department of Transportation and this
agency, a consultant is now compiling an inventory of metal
truss bridges, one of the most widely endangered species of
historic engineering in the state. A consultant is also
continuing the earlier inventory of the state's historic rail-road
structures, and a CETA employee is engaged in continuing
the general HAER inventory.
A massive special inventory project was conducted in
1976-1977: a reconnaissance inventory of the historic resources
of the Tar-Neuse River Basin encompassing twenty-nine counties.
Done in cooperation with the Soil Conservation Service, which
published the resultant volumes, this intensive project was
headed by a permanent staff member and involved two to three
additional consultants. It not only identified several hundred
additional sites but also improved inventory archival systems.
Several processes evolved in the project which are now models
for future work.
As a result of the increased inventory work and the
generation of vast quantities of new files, the demand for a
better file and retrieval system intensified. An immediate
improvement has come with the purchase and installation of a
system of hanging files. Further improvement is expected when
the data retrieval system is inaugurated and put into effect.
A survey staff member has worked with the Archaeology Branch
to develop the most useful computer form possible for the type
of data contained in and desired from these files.
24 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report
Registration
Continuing a trend begun in the past biennium, the regis-tration
process has been shaped by many factors, not least
among them the following: changing views of the meaning and
application of the criteria for listing in the National
Register; intensified demand for and resistance to National
Register listing stimulated by the Tax Reform Act of 1976;
more complex notification processes required by federal regu-lations;
more complex review processes by the State Profes-sional
Review Committee also required by federal regulations;
fuller and more detailed information, especially concerning
district nominations and the delineation and justification of
acreage and boundaries, required by the National Register in
response to the needs of the Tax Reform Act. These changes
have naturally affected the quantity of National Register
nominations produced. Ninety nominations, including ten
districts, have been submitted. Also two districts—Blount
Street in Raleigh and the Bennehan-Cameron Plantation in
Durham County—were prepared but not nominated. Twenty-six
determinations of eligibility were prepared as well. The
properties nominated to the National Register by the state and
those approved for listing by the National Register during the
biennium are noted in Appendix XX.
RESEARCH BRANCH
During the biennium the Research Branch was reorganized
to better equip it to respond to all of the documentary his-torical
research needs of the enlarged Archaeology and Historic
Preservation Section. In addition, one member of the branch
spends half time on historical research for the Historic Sites
Section. A research trainee joined the staff in November, 1977.
Grant-in-Aid Researoh
Supervision of research and review of the reports were con-ducted
for seven projects prepared by contractual researchers:
William King House (Bertie County) , New Bern Academy (Craven
County), Burke County Courthouse in Morganton, Burwell School
Dependencies (Orange County) , Smith-McDowell House (Part I) in
Asheville, Richmond Hill Law School (Yadkin County), and the
Marks House (Stanly County) . Also research was supervised on
the Cabinet of Minerals and the State Library Room in the
Capitol. Contractual researchers began or continued work on
documenting four grant-in-aid projects: Harmony Hall (Lenoir
County), David Caldwell Log College (Guilford County), de Rosset
House (New Hanover County) , and Fort Defiance (Caldwell County)
•
Special Research
In response to letters, telephone inquiries, and staff
requests, information was supplied on approximately 2,000
subjects. The branch assisted the North Carolina Historical
Archaeology and Historic Preservation 25
Commission in the preparation of grant-in-aid bills and resolu-tions
pertaining to memorials. Research assistance was also
provided in preparation for the celebration of the seventy-fifth
anniversary of the commission. A documentary historical research
report on the Palmer-Marsh House was completed for the Historic
Sites Section. A report on the Bonner House at Historic Bath
State Historic Site is in progress.
National Register
The branch prepared statements of historical significance
for five historic district nominations and forty-one individual
properties (see Appendix XX)
.
Archaeology
Supportive historical research was conducted on the fol-lowing
archaeological projects: South and Black rivers survey,
Ahoskie bypass survey, Ashe-Wilkes highway survey, Weldon
Cemetery, William S. Primrose, Waccamaw and Caruso Island,
Capitol (Union) Square, Interstate 40 corridor, and U.S. 321
relocation. Information was furnished to the Underwater
Archaeology Branch on the Neuse publication and shipwrecks
involving the Seaman and the Francis Waters.
North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program
The North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Advisory
Committee held only two meetings during the biennium due to a
lack of funds. Sixty-four marker requests were considered by
the committee; sixteen of these were approved (see Appendix XIX),
and forty-eight were either deferred or rejected. The research
supervisor has authorized 111 reauests for marker replacement,
repair, removal, maintenance, or relocation. The Research
Branch received 109 proposals for new markers and numerous
requests for information pertaining to the existing highway
historical markers. A survey of marker purchases (1935-1978)
was conducted for the Department of Transportation. The
research supervisor completed a revised guide to the Highway
Historical Markers.
Historic Albemarle Tour
On July 14, 1977, the North Carolina Historical Commission
designated the Elizabethan Gardens for inclusion in the tour.
As of this report, ten sites and/or organizations have been
approved to be marked under this program.
RESTORATION AND PRESERVATION SERVICES BRANCH
During the first six months of the biennium there were only
two professionals working with the state and HCRS grant-in-aid
projects, special state-owned projects, and local and privately
owned historic structures. In January, 1977, a temporary
position was created to assist with the increased number of
26 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report
projects. The 1977 General Assembly added two and one-half
restoration specialist positions for a total of four and one-half
professionals to work with the grant projects and other
projects (the half position is shared with the Survey and
Planning Branch) . From the fall of 1977 the increase in pro-fessional
positions made it possible to divide the preservation
projects into geographical areas and to reduce the project
responsibility for each specialist. This increased the efficiency
and quality of the branch's services to the state and HCRS grant-in-
aid projects.
In February, 1978, thirty-five HCRS grants were awarded, of
which twenty- two went to new preservation projects. With the
new projects a total of sixty-one state and federal projects
were funded.
Interest in the preservation of historic structures in-creased
at all levels (state and KCRS grants; special state-owned
project; and local and privately owned buildings). The
staff continued to place highest priority on state and HCRS
grant projects and special state-ovmed projects (see
Appendixes XVI, XVII, and XIX).
Completed or significant phases of restoration were
finished on seventeen preservation projects. These projects
included: Fort Defiance interior restoration, completed in
June, 1978; President Andrew Johnson Birthplace, completed in
June, 1977; Mordecai office dependency, completed in June,
1977; Beaufort Old Burying Ground restoration of 100 tombstones,
completed by the fall of 1977; Coor-Gaston House, completed in
May, 1978; Hezekiah Alexander Springhouse, completed in the
summer of 1977; de Rosset House roof, completed June, 1978;
Estey Hall stabilization, completed in the fall of 1977; Fort
Macon, completed in April, 1977; Monroe City Hall, completed in
May, 1978; Smith-McDowell House exterior, completed in summer
of 1978; William King House, moved March 22, 1978, to Hope
Plantation; Richmond Hill Law School second phase of the ex-terior
restoration, completed except for final painting; Joel
Lane House—protective fence, completed in February, 1978;
Buck Spring Log Corncrib and Smokehouse, completed and dedicated
in the summer of 1976; Wright Tavern electrical and mechanical
systems installation, completed in the spring of 1977; and
Van der Veer House electrical and mechanical systems installa-tion,
completed in June, 1978.
Looal Preservation Projects
The need to provide technical services to locally and
privately owned preservation projects has increased
dramatically. The restoration specialists provide advice
through letters, telephone contact, and site visits whenever
possible. The staff is increasingly called upon to review
projects that are submitted to our section for environmental
review. Technical advice and review were given to the
Archaeology and Historic Preservation 27
following projects:
The Bennett Bunn House in Wake County; Haywood Hall in
Raleigh, Wake County; Joslah Bell House in Beaufort, Carteret
County; the Clarke House in New Bern, Craven County; the
Appolis Dride House in Currituck County; the Ebenezer Log
Church in Chatham County; the James Bell House in Camden County;
the Crawford House in Salisbury, Rowan County; the George
Johnson House in Franklin County; the Ramsey House in Hills-borough,
Orange County; the Strickland House in Franklin
County; the Cabarrus County Courthouse in Concord, Cabarrus
County; the First Presbyterian Church Session House in New
Bern, Craven County; Old Yadkinville Jail, Yadkin County; two-room
schoolhouse in Pine Hall, Stokes County; Milford in
Camden, Camden County; Ferebee Farmhouse, Camden, Camden County;
the Masonic Temple in Camden, Camden County; storefront rehabili-tation
for Webb, Lee, Davis and Gibson in Rockingham, Richmond
County; Roberts-Carter House, Gates County; NCNB Bank Building,
Durham, Durham County; Shelton House, Waynesville, Haywood
County; Funderburk buildings, Matthews, Mecklenburg County;
Cumberland Firestone Company and Vapo Pest Warehouses,
Fayetteville, Cumberland County; Womacks Mill, Caswell County;
Firehouse in Henderson, Vance County; Train Station, Burlington,
Alamance County; Sir Walter Hotel, Raleigh, Wake County; Boyd
House, Southern Pines, Moore County; S.R. 1009 widening.
Union County; Clay County Courthouse, Hayesville, Clay County;
Old Jail, Statesville, Iredell County; London House, Pittsboro,
Chatham County; Hall House, Warrenton, Warren County; Buncombe
County Courthouse, Buncombe County; Ivy Hill, Halifax County;
Inkwell House, Hyde County; Flowers Farm Cotton Press, Anson
County; White Oak Plantation in Mecklenburg County; the John
Blue House in Scotland County; Shell Castle in Halifax County;
Korner's Folly in Kernersville, Forsyth County; the Anderson
House in Durham, Durham County; the Smith House in Perquimans
County; and the Holbrook House in Wilkes County.
UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH BRANCH
The Underwater Archaeological Research Branch has under-gone
an expansion of both staff and activities during the
biennium. In 1976 the permanent staff was increased from two
to four, and this number was recently increased to seven.
This is complemented by a staff of fifteen employees funded
under the CETA program. In February, 1978, the underwater
program was reorganized, upgraded from a unit, and placed
directly under the administrator of the Archaeology and
Historic Preservation Section. At the time of the reorganiza-tion,
Gordon P. Watts, Jr., underwater archaeologist for the
unit, was named as head of both the Underwater Archaeological
Research Branch and the Preservation Laboratory.
28 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report
The staff of the Underwater Archaeology Branch has
organized, supervised, and participated in numerous survey
projects during this reporting period. In July and August,
1976, in conjunction with the Field School in Underwater
Archaeology which was sponsored jointly with the University of
North Carolina at Wilmington, several previously located ship-wreck
sites were examined. These included sites located in the
vicinity of Topsail, Masonboro, and Carolina Beach inlets,
Wrightsville Beach, and Fort Fisher. A survey of ships remains
on and adjacent to Eagles Island was carried out, as was site
testing of prehistoric habitation areas at Lake Waccamaw. In
September, 1976, the branch conducted an on-site reconnaissance
at the Pickett Site, the remains of what may be a Union gunboat
which exploded and sank in the Tar River near Washington, North
Carolina, in 1862.
Also in September, 1976. planning and preparations for the
Fort Branch Survey and Recovery Project were begun. Fort Branch,
a Confederate fortification situated on the Roanoke River in
Martin County, was selected as the site of the 1977 Field School
in Underwater Archaeology since it was known that several cannons
and carriages, in addition to small artifacts, were in the river
adjacent to the fortification. Because looting at the site had
been a persistent problem, recovery of the material was deemed
essential. Planning for the project continued for the next
eleven months. During July and August, 1977, the Fort Branch
Survey and Recovery Project, the largest project of its kind to
be undertaken in North Carolina since the recovery of material
from the blockade-runner Modern Greece in 1962, was successfully
carried out. The project was conducted in four phases: his-torical
research, which had begun nearly a year earlier; a
magnetic survey of the river in order to locate concentrations
of artifacts; recovery of materials from the river; and preser-vation
of the recovered material, which was to be completed at
a later date. With vital assistance from the Army Reserve, the
project culminated with the recovery of four cannons, all
mounted on carriages, and one empty gun carriage from the
Roanoke River.
Also during the summer of 1977, the division cosponsored
reconnaissance and recovery operations at the Monitor Marine
Sanctuary along with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, and the Harbor Branch Foundation. A photo-grammetric
survey was conducted, and a ferrous metal plate and
brass navigation lantern were recovered. Also retrieved was an
underwater camera system which was lost at the site in 1973.
A special grant of CETA funds in July, 1977, resulted in
the creation of the New Hanover County Archaeological Survey
Team. The responsibility of the nine-member team was to locate,
identify, and assess archaeological resources in the county.
The survey was completed in July, 1978. Other survey activities
Archaeology and Historic Preservation 29
conducted in the first-half of 1978 included a survey and in-vestigation
of magnetic anomalies on Masonboro Island under a
Memorandum of Agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The remains of a shipwreck which was uncovered at Kitty Hawk
during a winter storm were partially excavated, measured, and
photographed during May, 1978.
In addition to conducting survey activities, the Underwater
Archaeological Research Branch had provided various technical
services during the past two years. In March, 1977, at the
request of the Corps of Engineers, staff members assisted in
site testing at an extensive prehistoric site situated on the
Cape Fear River in New Hanover County. In May, 1977, the
Historic Sites Section requested the examination of a nine-teenth-
century house foundation located on property adjacent to
the grounds of Tryon Palace. An extensive project was begun in
September, 1977, at the Fort Fisher State Historic Site. In
conjunction with the Historic Sites Section, excavation was
undertaken on a gun emplacement and the remains of a bombproof
room associated with one of the Civil War mounds. This work is
still in progress.
In March, 1978, Leslie Bright, staff preservationist,
provided assistance in the recovery of a dugout canoe from the
N'^use River at the request of the Archaeology Branch. During
May staff members organized and supervised the removal of a
large portion of a shipwreck which had washed up on a beach at
Nags Head. Also during May, a portion of a shipwreck which was
uncovered on the beach near New River Inlet was excavated.
The Preservation Laboratory of the Underwater Archaeologi-cal
Research Branch has processed and preserved numerous arti-facts
from various collections during the biennium. Among the
materials to receive treatment were two dugout canoes recovered
from Lake Waccamaw during the 1975 Field School in Underwater
Archaeology and approximately 200 small artifacts recovered
during the Fort Branch Project. Also preserved were the four
cannons from Fort Branch and a cannon carriage recovered from
that site by salvors in 1972 and subsequently awarded to the
state. The five cannon carriages recovered in 1976 have been
disassembled and are currently undergoing preservation. Addi-tionally,
a collection of twenty-four artifacts which were
recovered from a colonial house were processed at the request of
the Archaeology Branch. Approximately twenty-four artifacts
from Reed Gold Mine, including an assayer's furnace and a dredge
bucket, were processed. In addition, the remains of a stamp
mill, which were exposed during an archaeological excavation at
Reed Gold Mine, were preserved in situ. Forty-nine artifacts
from the Modem Greece collection also received treatment, as
did the dugout canoe recovered from the Neuse River. Staff
members have been involved in preparations to begin electrolysis
on two 32-pounder cannons which were recovered in 1962 from the
U.S.S. Peterhoff, a Union vessel sunk in the vicinity of Fort
30 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report
Fisher during the Civil War.
Since December, 1977, when North Carolina assumed an
expanded role of leadership in matters relating to the Monitor^
the activities of the Underwater Archapological Research Branch
have centered on coordinating the production of a master
planning document to serve as a guideline for future research
and recovery operations at the Monitor site. A final draft
document is expected to be completed by October of 1978. In
conjunction with the preparation of this document, staff
members have attended and participated in several meetings
relative to the Monitor. These included a meeting held in
Raleigh on January 20, 1978, with representative's from various
agencies and institutions in North Carolina in order to discuss
an initial draft of the document; a meeting of the Monitor,
Technical Advisory Committee, held in Raleigh on February 16,
1978; and the National Conference on the Monitor, which was
held in Raleigh, April 2-4, 1978.
In June, 1978, eleven samples were cut from the hull
plate which was recovered from the Monitor site in August,
1977. The samples were distributed to various institutions
in the eastern United States where studies of various material
strength, corrosion, and conservation will be performed. This
information will also be reported for inclusion in the planning
document.
The Underwater Archaeological Research Branch has been
involved in a variety of other activities. In conjunction with
the environmental review process, a total of 1,097 permit
applications were processed. Comments were returned on twenty-six
of these. Thirty local areas were examined in order to
assess potential impact, and twenty-eight new sites were
located as a result of these examinations.
A publication titled The Blockade Runner MODERN GREECE
and. Her Cargo was completed. This volume presents a compre-hensive
history of the vessel and documentation of the arti-facts
which have been recovered from the site during the past
sixteen years. A series of bibliographies have been produced,
including one on sources in the libraries and collections of
Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill which relate to submerged cultural resources in North
Carolina; another which relates to various aspects of eastern
North Carolina (anthropological, archaeological, botanical,
historical, etc.); and a third which relates to the Monitor.
An increased emphasis on public education and information
led to greatly expanded public contact during this reporting
period. In May, 1977, the Underwater Archaeological Research
Branch and the Fort Fisher Marine Resources Center sponsored
a symposium in underwater archaeology. Ten guest speakers,
including staff members, presented programs on various topics
Archaeology and Historic Preservation 31
to an audience of approximately 100 persons. A total of 197
requests for information received replies, and staff members
have presented a total of forty-seven programs on underwater
archaeology and preservation to interested organizations and
institutions
.
Current planning activities include preparations for the
initiation of a phased statewide survey of navigable waters in
North Carolina in order to locate, identify, and assess the
significance of the state's submerged archaeological sites.
Historical research for this project has been under way since
O'^tober, 1977. The survey will provide information which is
vital to the management and protection of North Carolina's
submerged cultural resources.
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
A. L. Honeycutt, Jr., Margaret L. Stephenson, and Edward F.
Turberg attended the 1976 Annual General Meeting of the Associa-tion
for Preservation Technology in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada,
September 28-October 3, 1976.
Janet K. Seapker, Catherine W. Bishir, and C. Greer
Suttlerayre, Jr., attended the annual meeting of the National
Trust for Historic Preservation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
October 28-30, 1976.
James Shive and Jacqueline Fehon attended the South-eastern
Archaeological Council meeting in Tuscaloosa, Alabama,
January 4-9, 1977.
Jerry C. Cashion, Jerry L. Cross, Joe A. Mobley, and
Jim L. Sumner attended the annual meeting of the Southern
Historical Association in Atlanta, Georgia, November 11-13,
1976.
Gordon Watts, Leslie Bright, Richard Lawrence, John
Clauser, and Sara Van Arsdale attended joint meetings of the
Society for Historical Archaeologists 'and the International
Conference on Underwater Archaeology in Ottawa, Ontario,
January 4-9, 1977.
Ms. Seapker, Ms. Bishir, Brent D. Glass, F. Langdon
Edmunds, Michael T. Southern, H. McKelden Smith III, Stephen J.
Gluckman, Timothy A. Thompson, and Mr. Honeycutt attended the
Annual State Historic Preservation Officers conference in
Washington, D.C., February 27-March 2, 1977.
Ms. Fehon and Dolores A. Hall attended the forty-second
annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in
New Orleans, Louisiana, April 28-30, 1977.
32 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report
Mr. Smith, Mr. Glass, and Mr. Southern attended the Sixth
Annual Conference of the Society of Industrial Architecture in
Wilmington, Delaware, April 28-May 1, 1977.
Peter B. Sandbeck and Mr. Honeycutt attended the Annual
General Meeting of the Association for Preservation Technology
in Cleveland, Ohio, September 25-October 2, 1977.
Ms. Seapker, Ms. Bishir, Ms. Edmunds, Mr. Smith, Mr. Suttle-myre,
Mr. Turberg, and Mr. Glass attended the annual meeting of
the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Mobile, Alabama,
October 13-15, 1977.
Thomas Burke attended the annual Southeastern Archaeological
Council in Lafayette, Louisiana, October 27-29, 1977.
Mr. Cashion, Mr. Mobley, and Mr. Sumner attended the annual
meeting of the Southern Historical Association in New Orleans,
Louisiana, November 9-12, 1977.
Mr. Clauser, Mr. Watts, Mr. Bright, and Mr. Lawrence
attended the annual meeting of the Society for Historical
Archaeology held in San Antonio, Texas, January 3-8, 1978.
Mr. Glass, Ms. Seapker, Mr. Southern, Ms. Edmunds, and
Ms. Fehon attended the annual meeting of State Historic Pre-servation
Officers and Federal Representatives held in
Washington, D.C., February 25-March 1, 1978.
Mark Mathis attended the Mid-Atlantic Archaeological
Conference in Rehoboth, Delaware, March 17-19, 1978.
Mr. Glass and Anthony 0. James attended the Seventh
Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial Archaeology
held in Louisville, Kentucky, and Cincinnati, Ohio,
March 30-April 2, 1978.
Davyd Foard Hood attended the annual meeting of the
Society for Architectural Historians held in San Antonio,
Texas, April 5-10, 1978.
David R. Black attended the Preservation Alumni Convoca-tion,
1978, at the Graduate School of Architecture and Planning,
Columbia University, New York, New York, April 13-17, 1978.
Ms. Fehon, Mr. Burke, Mr. Mathis, Ms. Hall, Thomas
Scheitlin, and Linda Pinkerton attended the Forty-third
Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology held
in Tucson, Arizona, May 3-7, 1978.
Archaeology and Historic Preservation 33
The Underwater Archaeology Branch participated in the removal of shipwreck remains
at Nags Head {left), while the U.S. Army assisted the underwater archaeologists in rais-ing
a canrton at Fort Branch (right).
John W. Clauser, Jr., explained the archaeological dig he supervised at the State
Capitol to (left to right) Dr. Larry E. Tise, Ray Wilkinson of WRAL-TV, and Governor
James B. Hunt, Jr. Dr. Tise served as a moderator for a session of the national conference
on the Monitor.
A grant-in-aid was used to move the eighteenth-century William King House in Bertie
County.
34 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report
The rupture of a steam line in the mechanical room of the new State Records Building
on the morning of February 4, 1977, did severe damage to equipment and facilities, but no
records were lost.
ARCHIVES AND RECORDS SECTION
Thornton W. Mitchell, Adm-Cn-Cstrator and State Archivist
The last week of January and the first week of February,
1977, were both of unusual importance to the Archives and Records
Section. The former concluded on January 30 with the showing of
the final episode of the television production of Alex Haley's
Roots, and the latter ended with an explosion of a steam line in
the mechanical room of the new State Records Center Building.
Both of these events had approximately the same impact on the
section.
The upward movement of the work load of the State Archives
Search Room did not, of course, begin with the showing of Roots.
In fact, both the number of patrons using the Search Room and the
number of letters that required either a response or the furnish-ing
of copies of documents had started to increase as the Amer-ican
Revolution Bicentennial approached, and the effects of this
demand for services had been felt in the State Archives several
years before Roots. The Haley saga, however, accelerated inter-est,
and because North Carolina was one of the major routes of
migration from the colonial east to the western part of the conti-nent,
more and more persons interested in their families turned
to the State Archives for information, ^oth the number of visi-tors
and the number of letters seeking genealogical information
increased significantly during the biennium. Since there has
been only a minor increase in the staff of the Search Room since
the archives moved into the Archives and History/State Library
Building in 1969, the reference archivists found it virtually
impossible to handle the increased work load.
The Search Room staff is responsible for three functions:
providing service to patrons; answering letters of inquiry; and
maintaining the records in the stacks in proper condition. The
requirements of the visitors must, of necessity, come first; and
with an average of sixty-five patrons in the Search Room daily
during the biennium, little time was left for the other functions.
Letters are normally answered in three weeks, but during the
biennium the period required for a response frequently stretched
into six weeks or more. Because of these demands, the responsi-bility
of the State Archives for the records in its custody of
necessity received the lowest priority, and even minor repairs
were often delayed until major restoration of the documents
concerned was required.
Although the state accepted the State Records Center in
36 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report
September, 1975, at the time of acceptance the basement levels of
the building were in the process of being shelved and it was not
until late in 1976 that construction of the shelving on the
fourth floor levels began. In addition to the fact that the new
building did not have sufficient shelving to hold the records
that were located in the old records center on West Lane Street
when the move from the old to the new location began soon after
the building was accepted, the manner in which the move was han-dled
in order to provide space for the State Printing Office
required additional shifting of the records, which caused prob-lems
in keeping the finding aids and shelf lists in correct order.
Shelving of the fourth levels, which utilized surplus shelving
from the old records center, was finally completed on February 3,
1977. Early in the morning of February 4, a steam line in the
mechanical room of the new records center ruptured, sending live
steam throughout the entire building.
By the time the break was discovered in the freezing cold of
early morning, the cameras, the equipment, the tube system, the
ventilating system, and the boxes of records had been cooking in
300-degree steam for approximately two hours. Although boxes
were wet and labels came unglued, although the tube system re-quired
months to repair, and although eighteen months later water
was still in the ventilating system, no records were lost or
damaged. The most serious loss was to the microfilm cameras, two
of which were removed from service because of damage to the wir-ing
and corrosion of moving parts. Problems with the ventilating
system have not been satisfactorily resolved, and both humidity
and temperature have varied to the point of endangering the
records in storage during the past eighteen months.
Other than these two dramatic events, the section continued
to grow during the biennium and, within the limits of its staff
and inadequate budget, it continued to serve the people of North
Carolina. As noted above, demands on the Archives Branch cur-tailed
many of the activities normally carried on by that branch;
further reorganization of state government slowed the records
scheduling activities of the State Records Branch. In addition,
the necessity of the State Records Center operating out of two
locations required adjustments in all aspects of the work load of
the center. Funds provided by the 1978 session of the General
Assembly will permit completion of the move and the work load of
the center should smooth out considerably. Microfilming of
essential county records continued, although increasing demands
were made on tne Local Records Branch for records management
assistance by the counties and municipalities of the state. Lack
of adequate storage space also slowed the transfer of valuable
county records to the section, where they are processed and pre-pared
for the archives by the Local Records Branch. Duplication
of the core collection of county microfilm continued although
this project will come to an end about January 1, 1979. The core
has caused excessively inflated receipts by the section, which
now faces the ordeal of tightening its belt and living within the
Archives and Records 37
limitations of its appropriated funds.
The case of State of North Carolina v. s. C. West, Jr.
was brought to a successful conclusion, representing the first
major success of a replevin action in modem times. Following
the finding for the defendant in the Pasquotank County Superior
Court in October, 1975, the state appealed and in November, 1976,
the Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the superior court.
Dr. West then appealed to the state Supreme Court, which upheld
the decision of the Court of Appeals in June, 1977. The deci-sions
of the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court held that
public records are public property and that mere possession does
not constitute ownership. Both courts ruled that public records
can be alienated only by authority of the sovereignty that
caused them to be created. The two documents that were at issue
in the case were returned to the state in September, 1977. One
result of the decision of the state Supreme Court in the West
case was the return of the letter of George Washington to the
governor and Council of State of North Carolina, August 26, 1790,
upon which discovery action in federal courts in New York had
been unsuccessful on procedural grounds. The state, on the sug-gestion
of the U.S. Court of Appeals, had taken the case to the
New York Supreme Court, when Coudert Brothers, representing the
person who had the letter in his possession, initiated action
for settlement of the matter out of court. After extensive
negotiations, which moved rapidly after the West decision, the
letter was returned to the state in July, 1977.
In February, 1978, the Friends of the Archives, Inc., was
incorporated as a support organization for the North Carolina
State Archives and the programs of the Archives and Records
Section. At an organization meeting in April, former Gov.
Robert W. Scott was elected president and Mrs. Margaret Hofmann
was named vice-president. Dr. Mitchell will serve, ex officio,
as secretary-treasurer. The purpose of the organization is to
support the programs of the section and to provide funds for
projects which cannot be funded through regular budgetary chan-nels.
A membership campaign is planned for the beginning of the
next fiscal year.
The Archives and Records Section consists of four branches,
three of which are located in the Archives and History/State
Library Building.
The Arch-ives Branch is responsible for the North Carolina
State Archives, including the Search Room and the Microfilm Read-ing
Room, and in addition to conducting educational activities
assists patrons to obtain information from records and manu-scripts
in the custody of the archives. Mr. Paul P. Hoffman is
head of the Archives Branch.
The State Records Branch, which is located in the State
38 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report
Records Center at North Blount and East Lane streets and which
also occupies space at 120 West Lane Street, is the principal
records management agency for state agencies and institutions.
It administers the State Records Center and operates a central
microfilming service for state agencies. Mr. Ronald E.
Youngquist is head of the State Records Branch.
The Local Records Branch is responsible for records manage-ment
activities for county and municipal governments. It also
transfers to the State Archives permanently valuable records of
local agencies no longer required in current operations and
microfilms for security purposes the permanently valuable records
remaining in county and municipal offices. Mr. Frank D. Gatton
is head of the Local Records Branch.
The Technical Services Branch consists of the Newspaper
Microfilming Project, the Document Restoration Laboratory, and
the Microfilm Processing Laboratory and furnishes supporting and
technical services to the other branches. Mr. Roger C. Jones is
head of the Technical Services Branch.
ARCHIVES BRANCH
The work of the Archives Branch during the biennium was
heavily weighted toward providing reference services to the
public. The demand for these services was so great that at times
all other activities of the branch ceased. In September, 1977,
a new program to prepare for publication of biographical sketches
and portraits (where possible) of state legislators, 1665-1978,
was implemented. This program, created by legislative mandate,
is progressing well and copy for the first volume, 1963-1978, is
expected to be ready for the printer by June, 1979. The bio-graphical
publication has increased the staff of the branch by a
single archivist I position. The biennium has been successful
for the Archives Branch in that the demand for reference services
has been met despite the impairment which this demand has caused
to the arrangement and description and publication programs.
The number of researchers served in the Search Room in-creased
by 28 percent over the 1974-1976 biennium to a total of
31,141 or an average of 65 per day. This figure represents an
increase of 140 percent over the period when the new facility
was opened in 1969. The number of letters received increased by
17 percent over the previous biennium to 24,678, an increase of
127 percent since the new building was occupied. During the
period 1969-1978 no full-time additions have been made to the
Search Room staff, and the additional staff necessary to handle
the increasing volume has been drawn from other units of the
branch. Mr. George Stevenson replaced Miss Irene Yarbrough as
Search Room Supervisor in May, 1977.
Archives and Records 39
A side effect of the increased use of the records in the
archives has been a great increase in the wear and tear upon them.
To ameliorate this situation by providing time during regular
working hours for the identification and maintenance of heavily
worn records and finding aids, the secretary of cultural re-sources
has approved the closing of the Search Room on Mondays
beginning in July, 1978. The hours that the archives will be
open to the public will, thereby, be reduced from 56 1/2 per week
to 47. Closing on Mondays should provide added time to reply to
letters in a timely fashion as well.
Accessions of records and manuscripts numbered 669, down
slightly from the previous biennium. Among significant state
records accessioned or arranged and described were the public
records of the Governor's Office, 1975-1976; records of the
Advancement School in Wins ton- Salem; opinions and nonopinions
of the Attorney General; an important miscellaneous series of the
Supreme Court ,1764-1937; records of the Board of Paroles:
Pardons, Paroles, Commutations, 1925-1972, and Pardons to Parol-ees,
1917-1954. Also, several additions were made to the collec-tion
of records assembled on the Equal Rights Amendment, includ-ing
tape recordings of hearings before the North Carolina House
of Representatives and Senate. The historical records relating
to weather in North Carolina from the U.S. Department of Commerce,
National Climatic Center in Asheville, constituted another impor-tant
accession.
Some significant additions to the collection of unofficial
records and manuscripts during the biennium or collections
arranged and described included: the painter Hobson Pittman's
papers; the Congressman Roy Taylor Papers, 1959-1976; some papers
of Gov. Daniel Fowle; and the surviving records of the now de-funct
Southwood College, Salemburg. Significant additions to the
iconographic collection included: Department of Conservation and
Development Photographic Files, 1937-1961; the Charles Anderson
Farrell Photograph Collection (relating to coastal North Caro-lina),
1935-1941; and a series of sound recordings entitled,
"Bull City Blues: A Study of the Black Musical Community that
Existed in Durham, N.C., in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s."
A long-term and important project, the preparation of an
index to North Carolina marriage bonds, 1741-1868, was completed,
and the index is available on microfiche. This project, begun in
1973, makes available the first continuous index to approximately
350,000 names on a statewide basis and serves to help determine
the residence of people in North Carolina in the period covered.
In conjunction with completion of the index, an Archives Informa-tion
Circular, An Index to Marriage Bonds Filed in the North
Carolina State Archives, which explains the index, was published.
Since assuming responsibility for the division's audiovisual
and iconographic materials, the Archives Branch has made
40 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report
significant progress in establishing control over these records.
A $15,000 grant from the National Historical Publications and
Records Commission was received for copying nitrate, glass, and
deteriorated safety negatives in the Albert Harden Photograph
Collection. Duplication of the Barden negatives is well under
way and should be completed by December, 1978. The subject card
catalog to the photograph collections was completely revised and
expanded which has greatly facilitated research in the icono-graphic
records. A valuable series of photographs transferred
from the old Department of Conservation and Development has also
been arranged and is now available for use. These photographs
occupy 113 fibredex boxes, date from 1937 to 1961, and cover a
myriad of activities in North Carolina.
The archives education program continued apace with four
Workshops for Beginning Genealogists and two Institutes for
Advanced Researchers held. These activities were continuously
oversubscribed, and they drew high praise from those who attended.
A nonprofit support organization, the Friends of the Archives,
was founded in the spring of 1978 to aid the archives. It will
assume responsibility for future workshops and institutes as an
organizational function. The archives continued its cooperation
with the Division of Community Colleges by providing instruction
in the field and at the archives for the program on local history
and biography.
The Archives Branch participated in the seventy-fifth anni-versary
of the Division of Archives and History on March 7, 1978,
with the preparation of a special exhibit and catalog of the
exhibit. The exhibit and catalog entitled. Autographs of Men
Who Served as President of the United States from the Collec-tions
of the North Carolina State Archives, were received enthusi-astically.
It is hoped that the exhibit may be presented at
other places, but the high value of the collection presents a
problem in providing adequate security.
A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities made
possible initial work on the revision of the Guide to Private
Manuscript Collections beginning in December, 1976. The guide
has been out of print for some time but has remained in high
demand from the public. The revision should be ready for the
printer in mid-1979.
Two selective guides have been published in 1977 by the
branch: Introductory Guide to Indian-Related Records (to 1876)
in the North Carolina State Archives, by Donna Spindel, and A
Selective Guide to Women-Related Records in the North Carolina
State Archives, by Catherine E. Thompson. Both of these guides
were prepared by interns rather than by the regular staff. The
limited demand that has developed for guides of this nature makes
them difficult to justify from a cost standpoint.
Archives and Records 41
Despite the solid accomplishments of the Archives Branch,
the preparation of the records of the state and of private manu-scripts
for use has faltered seriously because of the time and
effort required to maintain adequate reference services. The
branch is at a critical point which requires resolution if its
accomplishments are to remain balanced.
STATE RECORDS BRANCH
Early in the morning of February 4, 1977, a steam valve
ruptured in the mechanical equipment room of the State Records
Center Building. A piece of the ruptured valve flew upwards,
striking and breaking the steam line above the valve and adding
to the force and volume of the live steam already filling the
room.
The internal alarm systems worked as evidenced by the auto-matic
closing of the dampers in the air handling ducts and in
the automatic shutting-down of each air handling unit. Unfor-tunately,
the alarm system was not connected to the State Govern-ment
Security control board, so that the alarm sounded only in-side
the records center and was unheard elsewhere.
Steam escaping through the louvers in the north wall of the
Records Center Building was sighted during a routine patrol of
the Capitol Square area by the Capitol police and was then re-ported
to the State Government Security desk.
Inside the records center, the escaping steam was initially
dispersed throughout the building by the air handling equipment
and up the fresh-air shaft leading to the roof. After the air
handling unit shut down automatically, the pressure built up by
the escaping steam continued to drive the steam through the vent,
duct, and vacuum tube systems.
While there is no accurate way to determine the force of the
steam and the pressure built up in the room, the concrete-block
wall opposite the rupture has cracks in some of the blocks and
mortar. The foil shield of the insulation wrapped around the air
handling unit was blackened by the heat. Water vapor short-circuited
the electrical wiring of the smoke detection control
box. The power unit of the vacuum message system was filled with
steam, and water formed in the vacuiim tubes. The heat was so
intense that the leather parts in the vacuum system crystallized.
Twenty minutes after the sighting of the steam cloud envelop-ing
the north side of the building, the building was entered by
the security police and the head of the State Records Branch.
The stack areas could not be reached as the elevator was unsafe
to operate, and the fire tower doors could not be opened.
42 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report
Entry to the records center stacks was finally made through
the connecting tunnel from the Archives and History/ State Library
Building. Both the basement and the BA intermediate level were
relatively unaffected, except for obvious increases in tempera-ture
and humidity.
In the main floor office areas, all of the thermometers
were stuck at the 85-degree mark. Steam swirled in the halls.
Waterlogged ceiling tiles fell to the floor or sagged near the
dropping point. Water stood in the ceiling light fixture covers.
The humidity registered 100 percent throughout the area. Micro-film
camera covers, file cabinets, and other pieces of equipment
were dripping with water. The plastic light fixtures in the
rest rooms were distorted and bent by the heat.
The upper stack areas looked as if a rain squall had just
passed through. Beads of water stood on ceilings, walls, and
shelving. Water pooled on the floors; over 200 gallons were
later removed from one floor by vacuuming. The fourth floor door
handles were too hot to open.
By 7:30 A.M., after the staff worked straight through the
morning, the records center was ready for normal operations,
albeit operations without ceiling tiles and with many of the
staff in work clothes.
Regrettably, the records center did not escape without fur-ther
consequences. For example, all of the labels numbering each
location on each shelf on each floor, except the fourth floor and
4A level, began dropping off as the heat-baked adhesives failed.
All shelving had to be renumbered. Two cameras, both purchased
in the 1960s, succumbed to age, heavy use, and water damage from
the steam and had to be removed from service. These and other
petty annoyances, such as boxes collapsing from waterlogging and
labels falling off the boxes, continued to occur throughout the
period and hopefully are now over.
During the biennium, 102 records retention and disposition
schedules were completed by the records management analyst staff.
This was a threefold increase in the number of schedules written
in the previous biennium. To complete these scheduling projects,
38,524 cubic feet of records, the equivalent of the volume of
records contained in 5,503 four-drawer filing cabinets, were
inventoried, analyzed, and appraised. Again, this figure more
than tripled the volume of records evaluated in the previous
reporting period. Significantly, the number of assigned records
management analysts remained the same as previously authorized
until May, 1977. For the remaining fourteen months of the bien-nium,
five rather than six analysts were assigned.
Amendments to existing records disposition schedules gener-ated
by state agency reorganizations, new or discontinued
Archives and Records 43
programs, or by transfer of functions and supporting records
totaled 121.
There were forty-four file studies completed, and the result-ant
file systems were installed by or under the supervision of
the analysts as part of the program to provide assistance to
state agencies in the efficient and economical use of records.
With a small staff, it was impossible to meet all of the requests
for filing assistance made by agencies. Consequently, the real
job to be done was not accomplished in the Capitol Square area
nor in the regional and field offices of state government.
The single Correspondence Management Workshop conducted
during the biennium was held in January, 1977. Once again, the
staff available was inadequate to provide classroom instruction
and also perform the other functions of the records management
program. Contributing to the demise of the program was the con-tinued
inability to secure adequate printing funds or monies with
which to secure course materials and training aids.
The increased demands from state agencies for records man-agement
assistance was, for the most part, stimulated by the
opening of the Dobbs Building and the Archdale Building. Other
agency moves to new or different but always smaller offices con-tinuously
raised the question of what to do with the large volume
of records formerly maintained in relatively abundant office
space. This naturally prompted concentration on the records dis-position
aspects of the records management program: inventorying,
scheduling, transferring, and destroying records.
The press for space in the new agency offices caused a
ripple effect in the records center program and sporadic attempts
to complete the move to the new Records Center Building. The
space allocations for agency records in the records center were
built around the agency transfer patterns and statistics of the
previous fifteen years. The plan was dealt a severe blow when
some agencies began transferring an unprecedented volume of
records in order to fit into their new office locations. In some
instances, hundreds of cubic feet of additional records were
involved
.
After hours of refiguring space allocations and shifting the
stored records, adjustments were completed and order restored in
the plan. Working entirely within the resources of the assigned
records technician staff and the records center clerical staff, a
total of 24,786 cubic feet were moved in the remaining eighteen
months of the biennium. However necessary, this feat was accom-plished
at the expense of temporarily discontinuing the records
disposition audit program.
During the period that the records disposition audit program
was operated, forty-one agencies were provided with lists of
44 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report
overdue records disposition actions. As a result of these audit
lists and the explanation of the program and procedures by the
two records technicians, 1,925 cubic feet of records were identi-fied
to the agencies for transfer to the records center; 1,395
cubic feet of records were identified for immediate destruction
by the agencies; 787 cubic feet of records were boxed and removed
from agency offices by the records disposition staff; and 243
cubic feet of records were screened and destroyed in the agencies
by or under the supervision of the records disposition staff.
In 1,488 separate records transfer transactions, the State
Records Center received 29,795 cubic feet of semiactive and non-current
records from state agencies. This volume of records is
the equivalent of 4,256 four-drawer file cabinets and would re-quire
a minimum of 25,536 cubic feet of agency office space in
which to keep these records. In terms of cost-avoidance, the
new cabinets that will not have to be purchased and the addi-tional
office space which will not be required saved a total of
$553,280 which was available for other purposes.
Only 19,860 cubic feet of records were destroyed in the
State Records Center this biennium. The two principal reasons
for this relatively low figure were the termination of the
unexpired state contract for the sale and recycling of scrap
paper, which left the records center with no disposal system for
some five months, and the use of available personnel to move
records to the new records center.
Another factor contributing to the low number of records
destroyed was the substantial increase in the number of requests
for servicing of records stored in the center. A total of
160,770 requests for records or in
Object Description
Description
| Title | Biennial report of the North Carolina State Department of Archives and History |
| Other Title | Biennial report. |
| Creator | North Carolina. |
| Date | 1976; 1977; 1978 |
| Subjects |
North Carolina--History--Sources--Periodicals North Carolina--Antiquities--Periodicals African Americans Genealogy Arts Education Legislation United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783 |
| Place |
Raleigh (Wake County, N.C.) North Carolina |
| Time Period |
(1945-1989) Post War/Cold War period |
| Description | Issues for 1942/1944-1970/1972 have title: Biennial report of the North Carolina Department of Archives and History;Issues for 1972/1974- have title: Biennial report of the North Carolina Divison of Archives and History; Report year ends June 30. |
| Publisher | Raleigh :The Dept.,1944-1972. |
| Agency-Current | N.C. Department of Cultural Resources |
| Rights | State Document see http://digital.ncdcr.gov/u?/p249901coll22,63754 |
| Physical Characteristics | 15 v. :ill. ;23 cm. |
| Collection | Health Sciences Library. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| Type | text |
| Language |
English |
| Format |
Reports Periodicals |
| Digital Characteristics-A | 11399 KB; 290 p. |
| Series | Publications of the State Department of Archives and History.; Publications of the State Department of Archives and History. |
| Digital Collection |
Ensuring Democracy through Digital Access, a North Carolina LSTA-funded grant project North Carolina Digital State Documents Collection |
| Digital Format | application/pdf |
| Title Replaced By | North Carolina. Division of Archives and History..Biennial report of the North Carolina Division of Archives and History |
| Title Replaces | North Carolina. Historical Commission..Biennial report of the North Carolina Historical Commission |
| Audience | All |
| Pres File Name-M | pubs_edp_biennialreportarchiveshistory197678.pdf |
| Pres Local File Path-M | \Preservation_content\StatePubs\pubs_edp\images_master\ |
| Full Text | THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL THE COLLECTION OF NORTH CAROLINIANA G906 N87h2 V.37 1976/78 UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 00033953865 FOR USE ONLY IN THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2009 witii funding from Ensuring Democracy tiirougii Digital Access (NC-LSTA) http://www.archive.org/details/biennialreportof197678nort BIENNIAL REPORT DIVISION OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY July 1, 1976-June 30, 1978 During the biennium the North Carolina Historical Commission celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary on March 7, 1978. One of the day's highlights was the unveiling of a por-trait of Dr. Christopher Crittenden, director of Archives and History from 1935 to 1968. Pictured {left to right) are Mrs. Ann Crittenden Witt, Mrs. Christopher Crittenden, and Mrs. Carolyn Hunt, wife of tiovernor James B. Hunt, Jr. THIRTY-SEVENTH BIENNIAL REPORT OF THE NORTH CAROLINA MVISION OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY July 1, 1976 through June 30, 1978 Raleigh Division of Archives and History Department of Cultural Resources 1979 Department of Cultural Resources Sara W. Hodgkins, Secretary Division of Archives and History Larry E. Tise, Director North Carolina Historical Conmission Sarah M. Lemmon, Chairman Gertrude S . Carraway T. Harry Gat ton Raymond Gavins Samuel W. Johnson Frontis W. Johnston H. G. Jones J. C. Knowles R. M. Lineberger Clyde M. Norton John E. Raper, Jr. To Sarah M. Lenmon, Chairman; T. Harry Gatton, Vice Chairman^ and Gertrude S. Carraway, H„ G. Jones, Samuel W. Johnson, John E. Raper, Jr., Clyde M. Norton, Raymond Gavins, R. M„ Lineberger, Frontis W. Johnston, and J„ C. Knowles, Commissioners : I have the honor to submit the following report of the North Carolina Division of Archives and History, Department of Cultural Resources, for the period July 1, 1976-June 30, 1978. In connection with the presentation of this biennial report to the commission, I should take note of the fact that during the course of this biennium the North Carolina Historical Commission celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary of service to the people of North Carolina. In line with the practice which was begun by the first secretary of the commission in 1907 of preparing a biennial report to the commission, I have the pleasure as the present secretary to the commission and as the director of the staff of the commission in the Division of Archives and History to present to you this thirty-seventh consecutive and uninterrupted biennial report on our activities and accomplishments. I should comment that during this most recent two year segment of our common seventy-five year history the Division of Archives and History has enjoyed one of its most productive periods. Although there have been seasons of frustration, I believe I can state without qualm as I did two years ago that the division is still viewed as one of the two or three most outstanding state historical agencies in the nation. Our program is again setting precedents which are being adopted in many areas throughout America. That we are able to do so is in great measure a tribute to the firm and constant support given by the Historical Commission to continued professional integrity and historical authenticity in all segments of the program. Larry E. Tise Director and Secretary ex officio July 1, 1978 NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL COMMISSION 109 E. Jones Street Raleigh, N. C 27611 H M. LEMMON lirman lRRY GATTON e Chairman ly E. TISE retary (ex of(icio) "RUDE S. CARRAWAY lOND GAVINS EL W. JOHNSON ITIS W. JOHNSTON JONES KNOWLES LINEBERGER )E M. NORTON E. RAPER, JR. To His Excellency James B. Hunt, Jr. Governor of North Carolina Sir:— In line with the practice of the North Carolina Historical Commission from its creation in 1903 until it became the State Department of Archives and History in 1943 and with the subsequent practice of the Department (Division) of Archives and History, I have the honor to submit herewith for your Excellency's consideration the Thirtyseventh Biennial Report of the North Carolina Division of Archives and History for the period July 1, 1976-June 30, 1978. I am pleased to report to you on behalf of the members of the North Carolina Historical Commission that the Division of Archives and History has acquitted its responsibilities as North Carolina's historical agency quite well during the past two years, making it a distinct pleasure to transmit to you this report as the most recent addition to a distinguished series, Respectfully, yC^/^^t^t.^^^ /vy. ,^?!^7'Vj^*t^i Sarah M. Lemmon Chairman Raleigh, North Carolina July 1, 1978 CONTENTS Director's Report 1 Archaeology and Historic Preservation Section 17 Archives and Records Section 35 Historical Publications Section 55 Historic Sites Section 65 North Carolina Museum of History 87 State Capitol/Visitor Services Section 97 Tryon Palace Section Ill APPENDIXES: ADMINISTRATION I. The North Carolina Historical Commission 119 II. Appropriations and Expenditures, 1976-1978 120 III. Appropriations and Expenditures, 1930-1978 121 IV. Roster of Employees, Showing Name and Title (and Period of Service If Less Than the Full Biennium) . 123 V. CETA Employees with Date of Initial Employment . . . 136 VI. Publications of Staff Members lAO ARCHIVES AND RECORDS VII. Accessions, July 1, 1976-June 30, 1978 150 VIII. Local Records Microfilm Operations 199 IX. Records Disposition and Servicing in the State Records Center 200 X. State Records Microfilm Project Production 202 XI. Newspapers Microfilmed during Biennium 204 MUSEUM OF HISTORY XII. North Carolina Museum of History Accessions 206 HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS XIII. Historical Publications Section 216 XIV, Complete List of Publications Issued by the Division of Archives and History, 1976-1978 . . . 218 ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION XV. Field Services 223 XVI. Grants-in-Aid 236 XVII. Legislative Grants-in-Aid for Restoration and Preservation Projects, 1976-1977 237 XVIII. Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service Grants, 1976-1978 240 XIX. New Highway Historical Markers Approved 243 XX. Status of North Carolina Properties with Respect to the National Register of Historic Places .... 245 HISTORIC SITES XXI. Attendance at State Historic Sites 252 XXII. Capital Improvements at State Historic Sites, 1976-1978 253 XXIII. New Federal Preservation Grants, 1976-1978 .... 255 BIENNIAL REPORT DIVISION OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY July 1, 1976-June 30, 1978 SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AND THE FOURTH QUARTER AT THE NORTH CAROLINA DIVISION OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY Larry E. Tise, Director This thirty-seventh biennial report of North Carolina's state historical agency constitutes the culmination of seventy-five years of constant service on the part of the North Carolina Divi-sion of Archives and History and its parent governing body the North Carolina Historical Commission. The report also marks the launching of a new era in the life of the agency and its entry into the fourth quarter of a full century of service. Although two years ago when we submitted our thirty-sixth biennial report it did not seem that there were many directions in which we could go to enhance further our comprehensive state historical program, time and experience showed that we were able to explore a variety of new directions that make it possible for us to continue to claim that ours is the most outstanding and fullest state historical program in America. Seventy-fifth Anniversary The highlight of the 1976-1978 biennium was the conclusion of our first three-quarters of a century of service. The anniversary came on March 7, 1978, the seventy-fifth recurrence of the date on which the North Carolina General Assembly finally approved an act establishing the North Carolina Historical Commission. Building upon the brief historical statement that we included in our thirty-sixth biennial report, we decided to make the seventy-fifth anni-versary a day that would be remembered for years to come. We invited some of the outstanding leaders from throughout the nation in the various fields of public history to share the day with us and to help us recount the growth and development of the North Carolina Historical Commission and the State Department of Archives and History. We also invited those people who had been associated with the staff over the years to spend the day with us participat-ing in a variety of special programs, events, displays, speeches, and meals. The day concluded with a reception and a banquet co-sponsored by the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association after which noted historian and close friend of the division, John Hope Franklin, delivered an address that will long be remembered as a revealing portrayal of the life and purposes of the agency. Franklin's address and the others given during the day were gath-ered and edited for publication in a book titled Public History in North Carolina, 1903-1978. The book, scheduled for publication in the next biennium, will also contain other memorabilia on the day and will be available from the Division of Archives and History. Since the book will contain much about our past, our recent experi-ences, and where we are headed in future years, I would like to make the book, by reference, a part of this thirty-seventh biennial report. Thirty-seventh Biennial Report North Carolina Historical Commission In our thirty-sixth report, we described in some detail the reemergence of the North Carolina Historical Commission, the ex-pansion of its authority as one of the major regulatory commis-sions of North Carolina state government, and its important role in guiding and protecting the professionalism and professional interests of the Division of Archives and History. During the course of the biennium, this pattern continued apace. Indeed, the General Assembly of 1977 took steps both to enlarge the com-mission and to expand its responsibilities and authorities. Chapter 513 of the 1977 Session Laws expanded the membership of the commission from seven to eleven and gave the commission authority to review and advise on the development of the division's program and on the performance of the division and the director. Moreover, the commission was granted authority to serve as a search conmiittee to identify those persons who might qualify to serve as director whenever a vacancy occurs in that position. The expansion of the commission and its authorities was coupled with the appointment of new members and a new chainnan. Dr. Sarah M. Lemmon, dean of continuing education at Meredith College, was appointed to the commission on November 17, 1977, and became only the tenth chairman of the commission since 1903 and the first woman to serve in that capacity. Mr. T. Harry Gatton, affable and steady chairman of the commission from 1972 to 1977, was reappointed to membership on the commission and was elected vice-chairman when the commission met on November 17, 1977. Dr. Gertrude Carraway, originally appointed to the commission in February, 1942, and now that person who has served longest on the commission, also was reappointed for another six-year term. Other new members of the commission were Mr. Samuel W. Johnson, an attorney of Rocky Mount and Hamilton; Mr. John E. Raper, an attorney of Fayetteville and a relative of Charles Lee Raper, one of the earliest members of the commission from 1905 to 1907; Dr. H. G. Jones, curator of the North Carolina Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, former director of the Department of Archives and History and second former head of the agency to return for service on the historical commission (R. D. VI. Connor, first secretary of the commission, 1903-1921, served as commission chairman from 1942 to 1950) ; and former state Senator Clyde M. Norton, a businessman from Old Fort and longtime friend of the Division of Archives and History. Under the guidance of Dr. Lemmon, the commission entered during the biennium into increasingly broader areas of service to the agency, particularly in the areas of archaeology and historic preservation. Along with two additional persons—Dr. Joffre Coe, an archaeologist from the University of North Carolina, and William W. Dodge, an architect from Raleigh—the commission con-stituted the State Professional Review Committee for nominations to the National Register of Historic Places. The work of the Director's Report 3 commission grew to the point that by 1977 it became necessary for the commission to meet six times a year and to hold special meet-ings to review pending legislation and contested cases under the provisions of G.S. 121-12 (a) or the commission's protective role in historic preservation. Dr. Lemmon divided the commission into functioning committees for the first time and asked members of the commission to develop special expertise in those areas of their greatest interest. NEl^ DIRECTIONS AND NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS Partly as a result of increasing funds available to the divi-sion from nonstate grants and partly as a result of a new period of increased support from the General Assembly, the division was able to head in several new directions and to achieve several major goals during the biennium. Two major gifts of real property were made during the biennixnn. In the summer of 1976, the Liggett Group, parent company of the Liggett and Myers Tobacco Company, a longtime supporter of the division's programs, presented the division with 71 acres at the heart of the historic Bennehan-Cameron Plantation in Durham County. Known historically as Stagville, the plot of land and the struc-tures thereon were devoted to the establishment of what is known as the Stagville Center for Historic Preservation, a teaching and research facility for historic preservation education and tech-nology. While the Liggett Group provided initial funding for the operation of this unique center, the General Assembly within a year began to provide funds for Stagville 's operation and development. A second major gift came from Southern Railway Company in the form of the heart of its massive Spencer Shops facilities at Spencer, North Carolina. Developed in the 1890s as Southern Railway's cen-tral maintenance facility for steam locomotives, the property contains some of the most extensive and significant railroading facilities extant in the South. Funds for the initial operation and planning of the site were provided by the 1977 session of the General Assembly. By the end of the biennium extensive plans had been developed to preserve and develop the huge backshop, round-house, and other structures on the 90-acre site as a North Carolina Transportation History Museum under the auspices and direction of the Historic Sites program. During the biennium the division was involved in a number of controversial projects or pursuits that demanded a good deal of time and attention and that have ended or seem to be headed toward happy endings. The first concerned the Civil War ironclad Monitor. Under the terms of a cooperative agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) the division has a number of responsibilities for the management of the Monitor Marine Sanctuary, resting place of the famous U.S.S. Monitor. In the summer of 1976 the division found itself the object of public attack by researchers seeking access to the sanctuary with incomplete research plans. Following this unhappy episode, we took measures to ensure that our role in managing the Monitor in the future would be positive and 4 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report assertive. In the fall of 1976 we revised our agreement with NOAA to provide the division with a larger role in planning research activities. In the fall of 1977 we laid plans for the development of a master research plan for future activities at the Monitor site. As a part of the planning process a national conference on the Monitor was held in April, 1978, at our building in Raleigh, and a series of other meetings was held to ensure that the resul-tant plan could achieve a national consensus. To make certain that we assisted in the development of appropriate research activities, we asked Governor James B. Hunt, Jr., to establish a Monitor R^esearch Council to provide a focus for both citizen and researcher efforts in promoting research and development. By the conclusion of the biennium these efforts were well under way and were setting the stage for a long overdue clarification of responsibilities in the Monitor Marine Sanctuary. We were similarly involved in what is known as the "New River Controversy." Although we were rather late in becoming involved in the dispute concerning the development of the New River Valley by the Appalachian Power Company, our contributions to the cause likely provided the needed fuel to save the valley. Until the case had become ensnarled in the courts, no intensive survey of the his-torical and archaeological resources of the valley had been con-ducted. Our crash survey program launched in the spring of 1976 resulted in the identification of numerous structures and sites that were eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. These findings, when combined with other earlier arguments for the preservation of the valley, gave the impetus for final pas-sage by Congress of a bill to make the river valley a National Scenic River. The controversy that will likely be longest remembered and that will likely have the greatest long-term impact on the shape and practice of public history in the United States concerned the case of the State of North Carolina v. B. C. West, Jr. The North Caro-lina Supreme Court in the spring of 1977 ruled that public records could not be alienated from public ownership without appropriate legal action to sever such ownership. In cases where such owner-ship had not been severed the state has the right and the responsi-bility to replevin or recover public records that may be out of custody. This landmark decision was the first clear-cut instance in which a court in the United States had defined precisely the nature of a public record and had upheld the authorities of public ownership. The outcome of the case resulted in the return of a number of documents that bore the signature of William Hooper; in-directly in the recovery of a much more valuable letter written by George Washington; and quite directly in a national dispute among archivists and manuscript dealers as to the handling of public records that are found to be out of custody. Beyond such controversial involvements as the foregoing, the division during the biennium was able to accomplish a great deal in bringing its programs closer to the people of North Carolina. Early Director's Report 5 in the bienniiim we began to stress the importance of developing educational programs in all areas of the division whereby useful instruction could be given students, historians, and the general public in dealing with all aspects of public history. What began as a series of tentative workshops has now grown into a full-blown annual offering of dozens of courses, workshops, seminars, confer-ences, and symposia. And along with the development of such events in all parts of the program we have attempted to define ways in which volunteers and student interns can be actively involved in our day-to-day work. Finally, we have developed a variety of mechanisms and special offices to assure that we will have direct and effective contact with the intended audience. The primary foci of these developments have been the Federa-tion of North Carolina Historical Societies and the North Carolina Institute of Applied History. In the summer of 1977 we were able to add to our staff a coordinator to handle both of the special organizations and to become our chief contact with historical societies and organizations throughout North Carolina and with the history departments at colleges and universities throughout the state. By the end of the biennium more than sixty historical organ-izations had become participating members in the federation and more than thirty colleges and universities had joined the institute. Through the former we are now able to communicate and work quite directly with historical organizations in providing services that will help them to develop and achieve their local objectives. Through the latter we are now able to communicate and work directly with college and university history departments in developing course work, internship training opportunities, and special programs in the areas of public and applied history. While we were in the process of developing educational pro-grams, we were also seeking to bring our services and presence much closer to the people in North Carolina who needed them. After a year of planning the General Assembly in its 1978 session provided for the establishment of a Western North Carolina Office of the Division of Archives and History to be located in Asheville with a complement of professionals who could both serve the region and who could bring to the westernmost region of the state many of the pro-grams and services of the division in Raleigh. At the same time provisions were made for the establisbjnent of a Northeastern North Carolina Historical Places Office in Edenton whose purpose is to work closely with historic sites and museums in the Albemarle region in the development and promotion of the extensive histor-- ical resources in the area. Both offices were in the process of establishment by the conclusion of the biennium. In addition to these special programs and offices, the division continued to develop a relationship with those citizens directly interested in and supportive of special areas of the program. Dur-ing the biennium the fledgling Museum of History Associates organi-zation came into full fruition and became one of the leading his-torical organizations in North Carolina. Another organization, the 6 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report Friends of the Archives, emerged to give special support and encouragment to the archives and records programs of the division. Other organizations previously established developed rapidly and began making essential contributions in terms of financial support, special projects, promotion, and gifts to the programs of the divi-sion. Among these were the State Capitol Foundation, the Stagville Center Corporation, and the Transportation History Corporation (connected particularly with Spencer Shops) . A much closer work-ing relationship was developed with two of the longstanding state-wide membership history organizations, the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association and the Historic Preservation Society of North Carolina. All of these organizations participated fully and helpfully in the development of the division's now broad-based educational and public service programs. Another organization that emerged fully during the course of the biennium and whose future role in North Carolina historical affairs promises to be great was the Historic Preservation Fund of North Carolina, Inc. Chartered initially in the fall of 1975, the organization was not able to get into its work for more than a year as its tax-exempt status was questioned by the Internal Rev-enue Service. Nevertheless, the division continued to work with the organization, first in providing assistance in clarifying the tax status of the fund, in providing technical assistance to the fund, and in providing it financial support. The purpose of this nonprofit organization is to create a large and flexible revolving fund that can be used to acquire and dispose of historic proper-ties in a manner that will secure their permanent preservation. In order to achieve this objective, the division is closely con-nected with the management of the fund through the membership of the director and the chairman of the North Carolina Historical Commission on the fund's board of directors, through the adminis-tration of a two-year $100,000 state grant, appropriated by the General Assembly, for the use of the fund, and through a memoran-dum of agreement between the division and the fund that makes varying sums of money available for the use of the fund on a short-term basis annually from grant funds received by the divi-sion from the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service. Through this latter agreement the fund receives an amount of money specified each year for use in acquiring historical properties. At the end of the year the fund must repay 75 percent of the grant funds for reuse in other grants for historic properties. Also in connection with our efforts to provide significant educational opportunities for the general public was a symposium in June, 1977, on the study and writing of North Carolina history. The event held over the course of two days was an attempt to under-take a full-scale assessment of what has been written on North Carolina history in the past and of the various interpretations that have been placed on the state's history. The major desired result of the symposium was to identify those areas of the state's history that have not received adequate study and those areas that are in need of reinterpretation. One of the by-products of the Director's Report 7 symposium was the acceptance of the papers presented for publica-tion by the University of North Carolina Press. To be titled Writing North Carolina History and to be issued in 1979, the voliune should be a useful guide for years to come for both students and scholars interested in North Carolina history. While we have been greatly concerned with our educational pro-grams and our services to the public, we have also concerned our-selves heavily with the budget and management of the programs of the division. The Division of Archives and History has grown very rapidly over a period of about ten years in terms of staff, budget, and programs. By the mid-1970s it had become virtually a unique organization in the world of state history programs. It was one of only four or five such agencies in the nation that combined under one umbrella all of a state's concerns with history. Because of this uniqueness, there are few, if any, models around the nation that can be used to give shape to the division's programs. Indeed, almost every step we take is pace setting and is likely to be used by other states as a model to be copied. In dealing with our own budgetary, management, and program concerns, we are virtually on our own without any comparable programs for comparison. Realizing the extent to which we have grown, we have used this biennium to look carefully at our budgetary needs and management practices. In terms of internal management we have made a number of changes that hopefully will result in a more coordinated and efficient program. In the early part of the biennium we prepared for adoption by the historical commission a full slate of rules and regulations concerning every aspect of our program and as re-quired by the North Carolina Administrative Procedures Act. As a result of this activity, we now have formal guidelines for all of our programs on the manner in which they should relate to the pub-lic and the manner in which the programs are to be operated. Fol-lowing a lengthy and detailed study by a staff program and manage-ment committee, we made a number of administrative changes in the organization of the division, and we defined various management roles much more precisely than had been done in the past. The organization of the division following the exercise is reflected in an organizational chart attached to this report. The most important organizational change was the unification of the Archaeology Section and the Historic Preservation Section into what we are now calling the Archaeology and Historic Preserva-tion Section. This change was necessitated in part by the fact that all programs in the combined section are part of what is other-wise known as the State Historic Preservation Office as necessitated by the Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and by North Carolina's participation in that program. Although some of the staff and programs that are eligible for participation in this program remain in the Historic Sites Section, the bulk of the staff and programs that are a part of the national program are now consolidated in the new section. At the same time, other elements of the program that had been located outside the sectional structure of the 8 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report division were moved Into the new section. Including federal and state grants management in the area of historic preservation and environmental review. The position of assistant director for preservation programs was abolished and all personnel who had been under the supervision of this person were moved into the new section. In connection with the same study, we made a number of role changes that are now in use. The former assistant director for general programs became the sole assistant director. Some of the responsibilities that had been given to this assistant director were moved into the appropriate section and the position took on greater responsibility in certain areas of day-to-day operations. The assistant director was given day-to-day supervisory authority over the Tryon Palace Section and over the State Capitol/Visitor Services Section. He was also given general authority in all matters relating to personnel grievance and intradivisional person-nel relations, in all matters relating to the division's educa-tional programs including supervision of the coordinator of services to historical organizations and to colleges and univer-sities, and in all matters relating to our administrative procedures . The role of section chief was also refined so that it became clear that section chiefs had definite responsibility for day-to-day budget and personnel management within their sections and that all their operations were subject to a greater involvement of their staffs in planning activities and programmatic decision making. The programmatic section chiefs (Archives and Records, Archaeology and Historic Preservation, Historic Sites, Historical Publications, and Museum of History) in connection with the director and assis-tant director became in essence a program council for the division as a whole to consider on a frequent basis matters of inter-sectional or divisional concern. In connection with these changes we also began a program to do a better job of familiarizing divisional staff with the pro-grams and personnel of the division and with the general responsi-bilities and objectives of the division. Under the tutelage of Jerry C. Cashion of the staff, an in-house course in North Carolina history was begun that all staff must take if they have not had such a course as part of their educational training. A new round of staff breaks was directed toward sharing with others on the staff the programs and operations of various parts of the division. Orientation programs and materials were prepared for the use of new members of the staff. In the area of staffing and personnel in the division we have been blessed with both continuity and outstanding performance in almost every area of the program. I cannot say enough about the dedicated work of our assistant director and our section chiefs. Director's Report 9 In each of them I am convinced that we have one of the most out-standing public historians in their respective fields of special-ization in the nation. Dr. Thornton W. Mitchell in Archives and Records has proved himself a most outstanding practitioner of the role of state archivist both in maintaining the quality and in developing the productiveness of the program. Memory F. Mitchell in Historical Publications has maintained the quality of our his-torical publications across the board and has continued to make her program with limited resources quite productive. Richard W. Sawyer, Jr., and his assistant administrator Lawrence G. Misen-heimer have taken a program that was foundering in 1975 and have made it one of the most efficient in the division. John D. Ellington in the Museum of History has done likewise and has taken a broad and long look at the future of the museum. Under his effective leadership I am convinced that the museum will over a period of years achieve a proper and long-delayed destiny of ser-vice to North Carolina. Samuel P. Townsend at the State Capitol and the Capital Area Visitor Center has taken a few limited re-sources and in a brief period has built the programs at both facilities into models of their type. He and his staff, in con-nection with the State Capitol Foxindation, have brought this pro-gram to the level it should maintain for many years. At Tryon Palace Donald R. Taylor has continued to maintain the high level of administration and program development that this unique historic site should enjoy. Our only area of major staff turnover has been in the area of Archaeology and Historic Preservation. In the spring of 1977, Dr. Stephen Gluckman, the first head of our Archaeology Section, submitted his resignation to return to teaching in Florida. Under his guidance the archaeology program had developed rapidly in many areas and was ready for a period of consolidation and careful man-agement. The need was well provided by Ms. Jacqueline R. Fehon, who, though youthful, proved quickly to be a good program adminis-trator of this difficult area. With the consolidation of the Archaeology and Historic Preservation sections into one section in the summer of 1977, Mr. Brent D. Glass, previously assistant direc-tor for preservation programs, became the administrator of the Archaeology and Historic Preservation Section. Ms. Janet Seapker, previously administrator of the Historic Preservation Section, became the head of our state and federal grants programs. Later in the biennium the Archaeology Branch of this section was divided into two components with Ms. Fehon as the head of the Archaeology Branch and Mr. Gordon P. Watts, Jr., as head of the Underwater Archaeology Branch. Following this realignment of staff and pro-grams, I am pleased to report, the program in this area quickly moved into an efficient operating mode under the careful leader-ship of Mr. Glass, who rapidly proved his ability to manage one of the largest and most complex components of the division's programs. Under our new mode of operation our assistant director. Dr. William S. Price, Jr., has proved time and again his ability to adapt to the needs of the division's program and has shown 10 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report great dedication and devotion to maintaining the qualitative as well as the quantitative aspects of the program. In the special areas that were assigned to him, he has demonstrated great effi-ciency and creativity in dealing with sometimes quite complex problems . The area of budget is, of course, one of our major ongoing concerns. Although there is much we can do and have done to generate nonstate support for our programs through grants, gifts, receipts for services and products, and support from our various citizen groups, we are ultimately at the mercy of the General Assembly when it comes to our core operating budget and to our basic capital improvement and maintenance budgets. At the begin-ning of the biennium we estimated that about 73 percent of our budget came from direct appropriations, while the remaining 27 percent derived from grants, gifts, receipts, and other financial support. At the conclusion of the biennium the proportion of appropriations to receipted funds had not changed appreciably. We began the biennium in a dismal financial posture. We had just completed a fiscal year that saw a freeze on many basic ex-penditures. As a result of the freeze and the mandatory reversion of some funds we had planned on using in the 1975-1976 fiscal year, we started the biennium already far behind in some basic program obligations. And some of these obligations—such as funds for moving our state records into a new building—could not be carried out until additional funds were appropriated. Although we requested the 1977 session of the General Assembly to replace some of the funds that had been lost, we were not suc-cessful in securing the most needed appropriations. Instead the General Assembly appropriated more new funds for history programs than had ever been known in the history of the program. By the time the 1977 session had concluded, the legislature had appropri-ated more than $3 million in new program funds for the 1977-1979 biennium. But most of the funds were for the purpose of establish-ing new programs or were for grants to nonstate history programs. When the General Assembly reconvened for its short session in 1978, we were much more successful in getting some funds for our most basic needs. For the first time in a decade every area of the pro-gram received some badly needed additional support. But again the legislature made a quantum increase in funding for history pro-grams as it appropriated approximately $800,000 in new money for history programs for the 1978-1979 fiscal year. Again, much of the new money was for new programs and for grants for nonstate history projects. Much of the new funding came for the expansion of our Historic Sites program, staffing at particular sites, and funds for specific capital improvements at individual sites. In addition, we re-ceived funding to expand our staff and programs in the area of historic preservation technical assistance and underwater archae-ology. Small additions were made to the operating budgets of the Director's Report 11 Archives and Records Section (moving funds and temporary salaries), Historical Publications (editorial assistant for Colonial Records project), and the Museum of History (funds to print the Tar Heel Junior Historian) . But in addition to these small increases, most new funds went for new programs: operating budget for Stagville Center; operating and planning budget for Spencer Shops; operating budget for a rail-roading museum in the Seaboard Coastline Building in Raleigh; operating budget for the State Capitol and for the Capital Area Visitor Center; operating budget for the Western North Carolina Office of the Division of Archives and History; operating budget and grants program for the Northeastern Historic Places Office; funding for the preparation of a dictionary of biography for the North Carolina General Assembly, 1665-1977; funding for the His-toric Preservation Fund of North Carolina; funding for the opera-tions and investigations of a special Committee for the Study of Abandoned Cemeteries; funding for the preparation of a portrait exhibit on North Carolina governors elected by the people; and funds for the installation of a security system in the Tryon Palace Complex. These new wrinkles in the program, along with innumerable special conditional and unconditional grants for non-state history programs and projects, indicated a new era in which the General Assembly demonstrated a willingness to support history programs even though some of the funds did not go as they should have into the support of some of the division's basic programs. With these new infusions of support funds and with individual creativity, our various programs were able to achieve a good deal during the course of the biennium. As always, we have maintained as best we could our basic programs in archives and records manage-ment, in publishing good historical works, in developing and oper-ating our historic sites, in surveying and preserving archaeolog-ical sites and historic properties, and in developing historical museums including the Museum of History. Among the highlights of the programs from my perspective in this regard were the following: In the Archives and Records Section we basically tried to keep our heads above water as the results of the nation's bicentennial, the Roots phenomenon, and the explosion in the creation of public records in North Carolina became manifest. The reversion of our funds for the move into the new State Records Center meant that the move would be a cloud over the state records program for the re-mainder of the biennixim. With grants and special funding for the preparation of a new guide to private manuscript collections in the archives, for the copying of nitrate negatives, and for the prepa-ration of a directory of the General Assembly, however, the program was able to launch into some new areas of concern. TTiis program is the one that is most in need of additional operating support in coming years . In the area of archaeology and historic preservation, we ex-perienced our greatest expansion and some of our greatest diffi-culties. With the expansion of the federal preservation program. 12 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report it became necessary for us to expand our staffing just to be able to deliver services in all of the areas added to the program by Congress or the Department of the Interior. Making use of special grants from the Soil Conservation Service and the Administrative Offices of the Courts, however, we were able to complete massive surveys of the Tar-Neuse River Basin and of the state's court-houses and judicial facilities. Special excavation projects at the Seaboard Building site, at Fort Branch, at the State Capitol, and at the Monitor site constituted some of the major projects completed in the area of archaeology. During the biennium a num-ber of special preservation problems were encountered and solved, notably in the case of Ivey Hill in Halifax County and the Dodd- Hinsdale House in Raleigh. Historical Publications continued a quite even course in the production of publications of all types . During the biennium we were able to issue the first two volumes of the Papers of James Iredell, and the fifth and sixth volumes respectively of the Colonial Records and the Civil War Roster. With the assistance of a special appropriation from the General Assembly, years of work on the Edivondston Diary was nearing completion, as was work on the gubernatorial papers of James E. Holshouser, Jr. This program also needs early additional operational support if we are ever to conclude the colonial records project and if we are to maintain the level of publications production we have enjoyed in the past. In the area of Historic Sites the biennium was one of con-cluding a number of older projects and the launching of another generation of site developments. During the two-year period five historic sites were dedicated and additional buildings were dedi-cated at Historic Halifax. The sites dedicated were Fort Dobbs at Statesville; the Thomas Wolfe Memorial in Asheville; Reed Gold Mine in Cabarrus County; Duke Homestead at Durham; and the first phase of Stagville Center in Durham County. Comprehensive plans were completed for the next stage of development projects at Spencer Shops, Historic Bath, and Duke Homestead. Major development work continued at a number of sites. For the Museum of History the biennium was one of major plan-ning along with some notable accomplishments. A good exhibit on 200 years of fashion opened early in the biennium. This was fol-lowed by an outstanding exhibit on North Carolina furniture. The latter exhibit was accompanied by an outstanding catalog that will become a regular feature of future major exhibits. As the bien-nium closed a major exhibit on the black presence in North Carolina was being completed with the support of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Although the museum has accomplished much in recent years, it is clear that if it is to play its proper role in the history programs of North Carolina it will need and must have expanded facilities in the near future and that it will need to have additional support to operate a major state museum of history. Director's Report 13 The biennium was the first full two-year period for the State Capital Area Visitor Center. Both achieved an initial basic oper-ating budget during the biennium. The Capitol received a new and welcome infusion of interest when Governor Eunt decided to make his office again in the Capitol, toaintaining a tradition as old as the Capitol building itself. The division and the Capitol staff oversaw the furnishing of the governor's office and met a very short timetable quite well in doing so. The Visitor Center quickly became one of our programs of which we are quite proud. The patronage of the Visitor Center grew swiftly so that by the end of the biennium we were able to serve thousands of visitors and visiting groups by letter, phone, and in person virtually weekly . The biennium was one of even development at Tryon Palace. During the two-year period the palace program and development entered into a new phase as Mrs. May Gordon Kellenberger, chief benefactress of the palace development, died in May, 1978. Her death meant that the palace would enter into a new phase of devel-opment under new leadership in the Tryon Palace Commission. But it also meant that in death she would continue to influence the palace program. Through her will Mrs. Kellenberger made provision for the establishment of a trust that could be used in part to support the palace and other historic programs in the area of New Bern and Craven County. Future Needs We concluded the biennium quite aware that some needs must be met in the near future if we are to continue to deliver the best in public history to the people of North Carolina. Although the detailed needs of the division's programs would fill many pages, I will mention here only the most glaring, and the ones which, if they are not addressed, will greatly hamper the even development of our program over the next several years. 1. Facility Needs ; In order to ensure that we will continue to have space to house the State Archives, to display the massive collections of the Museum of History, and to house the basic admin-istrative functions of the programs of the Division of Archives and History, we must have in the near future the full use of the Archives and History/State Library Building. Appropriate facili-ties must be secured for the State Library so that the Museum of History can have adequate display and storage space on the first floor and mezzanine areas of the building and so that the State Archives will have adequate stack storage space and space for the expansion of the Search Room area. If a separate State Library Building cannot be secured in the near future, it will be necessary to consider additions to the building to provide the necessary storage and exhibit areas. In addition to these needs at the Archives and History/ State Library Building, it is mandatory that sufficient space to 14 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report house the Archaeology and Historic Preservation Section's pro-grams soon be secured. Although funds were appropriated by the 1975 session of the General Assembly for the creation of an archae-ology laboratory, the expropriation of the intended space for other uses has hampered the development of this program severely. The old Health Building in Raleigh has been set aside for the use of these programs; its renovation and development at the earliest possible time must be one of our major objectives. At the same time, facilities must be provided for our underwater archaeology program. State funds have never been provided for an adequate laborator^'^. Instead, mem.bers of the staff of the program have literally had to build their own facilities as best they could. This oversight must be corrected by providing a facility worthy of one of the largest underwater archaeology programs in the nation that would be capable of dealing with the thousands of shipwrecks and submerged archaeological sites off the coast of North Carolina. 2. Operational Support ; Although we have been encouraged by the support given by the General Assembly to history programs in recent years, we have been troubled by the fact that most of the new funding has gone into the creation of new programs and into the support of nonstate history programs. If we are to continue to have a model basic state history program, the General Assembly must be persuaded to put a greater portion of its appropriations into the operations of the archives and records program, the pub-lication of historical works, and the operations of the Museum of History and our twenty-three state historic sites. It does us no good to have funding for special projects when we cannot maintain our basic statutory functions. 3 . Integrated Program Thrust : Equally as important as our need for facilities and basic operational support is our need to continue to have an integrated and focused state history program thrust. There is a tendency encouraged by program specialization and by the nature of the funding support we receive for our pro-grams to head in a variety of different directions. There is a tendency for our work in historic presei~vation and archaeology to translate itself into conservation, for our archival and records work to translate readily into business records management, for our historic sites development program to translate into localism, for our museum programs to translate into a big museumi mentality, and for our historical publications program to translate into pub-lications that are marketable. I trust that despite these trends our focus is still primarily on the subject, discipline, and pur-suit of history and not one of the thousands of other pursuits that are replicated in other disciplines and programs throughout the world. With a decline of interest in history in the public schools, in colleges and universities, and in other formal pro-grams, it has become increasingly difficult for us to maintain our focus directly on history. But with the support and encouragement of historians and others who are interested in authentic, accurate, and significant history, I trust that during the next biennium we will be able to achieve a new integrated program thrust for all of the programs of the division. Director's Report 15 ************ As is traditional I will conclude this report with some reference to my own activities as a historian. I have attempted to maintain a lively interest in and pursuit of history, which is my professional calling. During this two-year period I have taken a number of opportunities to serve in a number of capacities on the national level in the interests of the profession of history and of public history. Since February, 1976, I have served on the Board of Directors of the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers and have thereby participated fully in the development of the federal historic preservation program. Since February, 1977, I have served as chairman of a committee on fed-eral rules and regulations concerning archaeology and historic preservation and through the work of that committee have been able to oversee the revision of all federal regulations concerning these areas. Since the latter months of 1977, I have served as chairman of the Historic Preservation Task Force of the National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History, in which capacity I have been able to partake fully in the emergence of a concern for public history among the traditional historical organ-izations. Since January, 1977, I have served as a member of the Archives Committee of the Commission on Archives and History of the United Methodist Church. In this capacity I was given the task of preparing a master records management plan for the church that has subsequently been adopted and employed in developing the archival programs among United Methodists. In the spring of 1978 I was appointed to the Historic Preservation Committee of the Organization of American Historians, and to the International Archival Affairs Committee of the Society of American Archivists. On these committees I trust that the good experiences we are having in North Carolina can be expanded to influence the shape of history on the national level. On the state level, too, I have taken part extensively in a number of organizations. I currently serve as secretary-treasurer of the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association, an awe-some task previously handled by other directors of Archives and History. I also serve as a director of a number of statewide his-torical organizations, which consumes a great deal of energy but has thus far proved well worth the time. Among them are the His-toric Preservation Society of North Carolina, the Historic Preser-vation Fund of North Carolina, the Stagville Corporation, the Museum of History Associates, the Friends of the Archives, the State Capitol Foundation, and others. I also participate as fully as possible in the operations of the myriad statewide committees and commissions that have been established by statute in North Carolina. As frequently as possible among other responsibilities I take opportunities to give addresses on history. I have participated heavily in the various local humanities programs in the state, in 16 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report the annual meetings of local historical organizations, and in delivering speeches at dedicatory ceremonies for a host of his-torical endeavors. I delivered an address on proslavery history at the 1977 session of the Southern Historical Association and an address on the status of historic preservation in America at the 1978 annual meeting of the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers. I have finally attempted to maintain a pattern of historical research and writing. During the biennium Jeffrey J. Crow and I were able to bring forth from the University of North Carolina Press our book entitled The Southern Experience in the Airerican Revolution. I was able to write a number of articles that were published in The State, Carolina Comments, Three Forks of Muddy Creek, and The Monitor: Its Meaning and Future. 1 was able to prepare eight book reviews for our North Carolina Historical Review, Agricultural History, the American Historical Review, and History: Reviews of New Books. Additionally, I was able to make some progress on several long-term research and writing projects that will unfold in future years . ************ I would like to conclude this report with a special word of gratitude to all those special coteries of people who continue with the same fervor as their predecessors did in 1903 to assure that North Carolina shall have an outstanding public history pro-gram: the staff of the division, the members of the historical commission, Goveimor Hunt and his administration, and the leaders and members of all those historical organizations around North Carolina who have dedicated themselves, as have we, to the preser-vation, study, interpretation, and understanding of North Carolina's past. ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION SECTION Brent D. Glass, Administrator The Archaeology and Historic Preservation Section was orga-nized in the summer of 1977 to combine the Archaeology Section, Historic Preservation Section, and an administrative program previously located in the director's office. The new section functions as the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and is responsible for the administration and operation of state and federal programs relating to archaeology and historic preservation. The most significant development in the administration of the program during the biennium has been in the area of grants management. Building upon the concept of cooperative inven-tories with local governmental units begun in 1975, the section established a grants program for survey and planning activities to correspond with the existing acquisition and development pro-gram. These matching grants are made available through the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service (HCRS). Surveys of architectural, historic, and archaeological resources, as well as planning studies and publications, are eligible projects. For fiscal year 1978 forty-five applications repre-senting $500,000 in projects were submitted. Of these, tv7enty-five were awarded for $140,850. Orientation meetings were held with grant recipients, and the first projects began in June, 1978. For acquisitions and development grants, $169,050.90 of reimbursements were made to grant recipients during 1976-1977; during the 1977-1978 fiscal year $244,246.86 of reimbursements were made (see Appendixes XVTI and XVIII) . Because the Policies Regarding North Carolina State Grants-in- Aid for Historic Preservation were considered antiquated and insufficient to administer acquisition grants and those involving revolving funds, separate procedures and agreement contracts were drawn and approved by the North Carolina Historical Com-mission and are now in use. Other measures aimed at making the flow of money and paper more efficient have been established. Primarily these have taken the form of standardized letters to grant recipients and monitoring charts. The grants-in-aid administrator, Janet K. Seapker, reviewed and commented on proposed regulations for the administration of grant funds from HCRS, U.S. Department of the Interior. During each fiscal year the application for federal funds was revised and sent to owners of National Register properties. A reproducible mailing list of National Register property owners has been devised and will greatly speed the mailing process in future years. 18 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report Planning commenced for an upcoming Southeastern Regional Con-ference of SHFO staffs. A lengthy questionnaire about grants administration was sent to each state from which the program agenda will be derived. In January, 1977, the position of environmental review coordinator was created to oversee the expanding review program. The position was placed in the director's office, working with the reviewers in the Historic Preservation Section and in the Archaeology Section. With the reorganization of August, 1977, the coordinator position became a part of section administration, with review functions both for structures and for archaeological sites carried out in branches of the section. The review of federally funded, licensed, or approved projects, primarily through the Office of Management and Budget's A-95 notification process, continued at a rapid pace. During the biennium, the section reviewed the following projects: 5,013 Notifications of Intent to Apply for Assis-tance; about 400 Environmental Impact Statements; 309 project descriptions from the North Carolina Department of Transpor-tation; over 600 dredge-and-f ill applications in a one-year period; and additional projects on federally owned properties and others discussed below. The review of a great number of projects is preceded by telephone or written inquiries. Appli-cations for Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Community Development Block Grants, proposed highway projects, and subdivision proposals continued to outnumber other reviews. A great deal of staff time is spent during two major funding periods of each year in reviewing numerous applications for Communitv Development Block Grants (CDBG) . Since many of the projects included in these applications pertain to area-wide rehabilitation and demolition, particular attention is paid to identifying the presence of significant structures in each target area. In addition, these projects involve activities which can severely damage or destroy significant archaeological resources. A comprehensive review of these applications is therefore undertaken. Because HUD has, by regulation, assigned its review responsibilities to the individual grant applicants, the environmental review staff must work with individual appli-cants step by step, rather than with the federal agency. The environmental review staff works closely with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHwA) in most stages of the highway construction planning process. The staffs of all these offices are involved in. ongoing consultations to develop and implement procedures which will adequately identify, and then protect, significant architectural and archaeological resources which may be affected by proposed highway improvements. This procedure results in surveys of archaeological resources in Archaeology and Historic Preservation 19 highway rights-of-way and in the inventory of metal truss bridges cosponsored by the Department of Transportation and the division. The staff reviewed and supported several applications for funds to rehabilitate early twentieth-century hotels in the larger cities for use as housing. Environmental review also included local public works sponsored by the Economic Development Administration, HUD's 701 Comprehensive Planning Assistance Grants, guidelines pro-posed under the Coastal Area Management Act, and the activities of the Land Policy Council. Efforts continued to implement the provisions of Executive Order XVI (1976). A major achievement under this program was an agreement with the North Carolina Department of Insurance to expand the provisions of the state building code to include consideration of historic buildings for adaptive use as well as those used for public display. The Division of Archives and History is responsible for the de^^ignation of historic properties under the building code. Other review activities included certification of significance and rehabilitation under the provisions of the Tax Reform Act of 1976. Nine applications for certification of rehabilitation were received, eight applications for certification of sig-nificance, and one application for certification of state and local historic district statutes. Because the statute is new, most activity was in answering requests for information. The division received over fifty of these requests. The section created a public education program in the summer of 1977. The purpose of the program is to develop, disseminate, and distribute information related to the work of the Archaeology and Historic Preservation Section and to encourage local govern-ments and preservation organizations to sponsor workshops and conferences in this field. The program coordinator, Greer Suttlemyre, is the section representative for a variety of educational activities in the division and department, including Stagville Preservation Center, the Federation of North Carolina Historical Societies, and the Historic Preservation Society of North Carolina, Inc. Major conferences were held each spring in Wilmington (1977) and Winston-Salem (1978) in cooperation with the Historic Preservation Society. The section produced a display documenting the work of the archaeology and historic preservation program for exhibit in the Museum of History in conjunction with the seventy-fifth anniversary of the division. The section cosponsored con-ferences on the Monitor, historic properties and historic district commissions, and conducting historic properties inventories. A one-week course in preservation planning was offered in cooperation with the School of Design of North Carolina State University and Stagville Center. In addition, the section began special workshops for Councils of Government and state agencies. Section publications included inventories, archaeological reports, and information brochures including a 20 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report section brochure. ARCHAEOLOGY BRANCH The biennium 1976-1978 has been an active and challenging one for the Archaeology Branch. During this time the archaeology program was reorganizpd to form a branch of the Archaeology and Historic Preservation Section. Since the re-organization staff efforts have been devoted to the develop-ment of new programs and to the integration of archaeological activity around the state with that of the State Historic Preservation Office. The biennium saw, for the first time, the initiation of a statewide archaeological survey program. Initial fieldwork in the program was in the form of surveys of five DOT construction projects. The highway surveys, a cooperative effort of the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, allowed the testing and evaluation of the preliminary statewide survey plan. In addition, the first HCRS matching grants for archaeological surveys were awarded during the biennium. The branch initiated centralization of information related to archaeological sites presently known in North Carolina during the reporting period. Contractual agreements have been reached with St. Andrews Presbyterian College, Wake Forest University, and Appalachian State University to duplicate their archaeologi-cal data. In addition, the site files of the Research Labora-tories of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are being duplicated. To date, an estimated 6,700 recorded sites have been incorporated into the branch files as the result of duplication activities. The process of transferring all site file data to computer form has begun. To date, 1,259 sites have been recorded on our new computerized site forms. A total of 125 sites have been coded and stored on magnetic tape. Approximately 200 additional sites from New Hanover County have been entered into the Land Resources Information Service (LRIS) . Additional information concerning soil types, road networks, areas which have been surveyed for archaeological properties, drainage systems, and land use criteria in New Hanover County have also been entered into LRIS. This information, together with archaeological site data, will be used to conduct a pilot study of the utility of LRIS for developing models of archaeological site location on a statewide basis. The laboratory services, field services, and environmental review programs conducted operations as usual. In addition, new programs were initiated in the areas of public education and National Register of Historic Places. Archaeology and Historic Preservation 21 The A-95 review staff reviewed 3,290 projects during the reporting period. Comments indicating the need for archaeo-logical assessment surveys were returned on 498 of these. A total of 1,282 previously unknown archaeological sites were discovered and recorded as a result of surveys conducted. Field services provided by the branch ranged from intensive archaeological surveys to brief on-site inspections (see Appendix XV) • Most field services were provided in conjunction with the grant-in-aid program. Additional services were pro-vided at the request of the National Park Service, North Carolina Department of Transportation, North Carolina Department of Parks and Recreation, and the Survey and Planning Branch. During the reporting period sixty-two field inspections were conducted by staff archaeologists. Reconnaissance surveys were conducted for seven projects. Four intensive surveys were carried out during this period. Excavations were conducted at the Palmer-Marsh House at Bath State Historic Site, the Belden- Horne House in Fayetteville, the Seaboard Coast Line Building, and at the State Capitol. In response to public interest, the branch established an evening work/ training session at the branch laboratory. Interested citizens in the Raleigh area may now participate in and learn about laboratory activities on Wednesday evenings between 5 and 9 P.M. A regular series of presentations on archaeological topics has been established. The series is presented on a bimonthly basis. The branch has been active in developing criteria for evaluating significance of archaeological sites, nominating of significant sites to the National Register, and instructing the state's archaeologists in the use of HCRS matching grants for archaeological research and excavation. Twenty-six archaeological sites and districts have been approved by the State Professional Review Committee for nomination to the National Register during the biennium. Sixteen additional archaeological sites and districts were recommended to the study list. The North Carolina Archaeological Council produced seven issues of Publications in Arohaeology during the biennium. The branch also published the report of the excavations at the Seaboard Coast Line Building conducted by the branch in 1977. Three articles were prepared by staff members for the Tar Heel Junior Historian. These articles covered the New River survey conducted in 1976, the recovery of a dugout canoe from the Neuse River in 1978, and the proposed cultural resource management plan developed by branch staff for the Bennetts Creek Natural and Scenic Rivers Master Plan. Reports of current research conducted by the branch were prepared for 22 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report Ameviaan Antiquityj the journal of the Society for American Archaeology, and the Society for Historical Archaeology Newsletter. A description of the dugout canoe recovery was prepared for Popular Arohaeotogy magazine. SURVEY AND PLANNING BRANCH Thp biennium has seen perhaps more changes in the inventory and registration program than any comparable period for many years; these changes arise both from conscious decisions to modify the approach of the program and from the demands of changing legislation, federal programs, and the public. A new direction has been taken in the inventory process, with the purpose of expanding the statewide inventory at a faster rate, encouraging local participation, and providing greater amounts of local funding for federal survey and planning grants. As noted in the previous biennial report, the branch began in 1976 a program of inventories funded jointly by the division and the locality. This was done first on a small scale and informal basis; cooperative inventories were accomplished in Rowan, Iredell, and Guilford counties and the communities of Smithfield, Hamilton, Southport, Ashe-ville, and Raleigh. In all cases but Guilford consultants were employed by this agency and some expenses borne by the com-munity; in Guilford, two Raleigh personnel were sequentially involved in the project. As of June 30, 1978, publications for the Raleigh and Smithfield projects were available; Iredell and Guilford were in the final stages of publication; Hamilton was being edited; and Rowan and Asheville were being written. Southport was not yet completed. Also, in 1977, Cumberland County received legislative funding to conduct an inventory; this is the first such funding of its kind in the state. An architectural historian and a historian are currently doing this work. While this first group of projects was useful and produc-tive, it was but a start. Late in 1977, a wider approach was begun, which involved HCRS survey and planning funds to com-munities, institutions, and other organizations to undertake survey and planning activities. Over 1,000 applications were sent out, and about fifty full applications returned. Adminis-tration and survey staff devoted much of early 1978 to develop this new component of the program. As of June 30, 1978, the first stage of the first fiscal year's grants had been completed (see Appendix XVIII) . As in earlier years, specific thematic inventories have been conducted as well. In cooperation with the Administrative Office of the Courts and the North Carolina State University School of Design, the branch conducted an inventory of historic courthouses in the state for use in a larger study of court Archaeology and Historic Preservation 23 functions. This work was done during 1978, and although a draft document has been published, the final document con-cerning courthouses has not been published yet. As a result of this work, increased attention to preservation values in court-houses has developed; a recent issue of the North Cccpolina Arohi-teat on courthouses included two preservation-related sections. During the summers of 1976 and 1977, the division co-sponsored recording projects which were conducted in cooperation with the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) and the city of Winston-Salem. Measured drawings, historical reports, and technical photographs were produced for twelve sites in-cluding a cotton press, two cotton mills, a tobacco warehouse, two gold mine sites, a hydroelectric facility, and a terra-cotta manufacturing plant. The drawings, photographs, and historic reports will be deposited in the Library of Congress and in the North Carolina State Archives. In addition to the recording projects, the study team conducted planning studies of a textile mill in Winston-Salem and the railroad repair shops in Spencer. The purpose of these studies was to evaluate the tax incentives for rehabilitation of historic properties. Expanding upon the work done earlier in cooperation with HAER, three projects are currently under way. Working in cooperation with the Department of Transportation and this agency, a consultant is now compiling an inventory of metal truss bridges, one of the most widely endangered species of historic engineering in the state. A consultant is also continuing the earlier inventory of the state's historic rail-road structures, and a CETA employee is engaged in continuing the general HAER inventory. A massive special inventory project was conducted in 1976-1977: a reconnaissance inventory of the historic resources of the Tar-Neuse River Basin encompassing twenty-nine counties. Done in cooperation with the Soil Conservation Service, which published the resultant volumes, this intensive project was headed by a permanent staff member and involved two to three additional consultants. It not only identified several hundred additional sites but also improved inventory archival systems. Several processes evolved in the project which are now models for future work. As a result of the increased inventory work and the generation of vast quantities of new files, the demand for a better file and retrieval system intensified. An immediate improvement has come with the purchase and installation of a system of hanging files. Further improvement is expected when the data retrieval system is inaugurated and put into effect. A survey staff member has worked with the Archaeology Branch to develop the most useful computer form possible for the type of data contained in and desired from these files. 24 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report Registration Continuing a trend begun in the past biennium, the regis-tration process has been shaped by many factors, not least among them the following: changing views of the meaning and application of the criteria for listing in the National Register; intensified demand for and resistance to National Register listing stimulated by the Tax Reform Act of 1976; more complex notification processes required by federal regu-lations; more complex review processes by the State Profes-sional Review Committee also required by federal regulations; fuller and more detailed information, especially concerning district nominations and the delineation and justification of acreage and boundaries, required by the National Register in response to the needs of the Tax Reform Act. These changes have naturally affected the quantity of National Register nominations produced. Ninety nominations, including ten districts, have been submitted. Also two districts—Blount Street in Raleigh and the Bennehan-Cameron Plantation in Durham County—were prepared but not nominated. Twenty-six determinations of eligibility were prepared as well. The properties nominated to the National Register by the state and those approved for listing by the National Register during the biennium are noted in Appendix XX. RESEARCH BRANCH During the biennium the Research Branch was reorganized to better equip it to respond to all of the documentary his-torical research needs of the enlarged Archaeology and Historic Preservation Section. In addition, one member of the branch spends half time on historical research for the Historic Sites Section. A research trainee joined the staff in November, 1977. Grant-in-Aid Researoh Supervision of research and review of the reports were con-ducted for seven projects prepared by contractual researchers: William King House (Bertie County) , New Bern Academy (Craven County), Burke County Courthouse in Morganton, Burwell School Dependencies (Orange County) , Smith-McDowell House (Part I) in Asheville, Richmond Hill Law School (Yadkin County), and the Marks House (Stanly County) . Also research was supervised on the Cabinet of Minerals and the State Library Room in the Capitol. Contractual researchers began or continued work on documenting four grant-in-aid projects: Harmony Hall (Lenoir County), David Caldwell Log College (Guilford County), de Rosset House (New Hanover County) , and Fort Defiance (Caldwell County) • Special Research In response to letters, telephone inquiries, and staff requests, information was supplied on approximately 2,000 subjects. The branch assisted the North Carolina Historical Archaeology and Historic Preservation 25 Commission in the preparation of grant-in-aid bills and resolu-tions pertaining to memorials. Research assistance was also provided in preparation for the celebration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the commission. A documentary historical research report on the Palmer-Marsh House was completed for the Historic Sites Section. A report on the Bonner House at Historic Bath State Historic Site is in progress. National Register The branch prepared statements of historical significance for five historic district nominations and forty-one individual properties (see Appendix XX) . Archaeology Supportive historical research was conducted on the fol-lowing archaeological projects: South and Black rivers survey, Ahoskie bypass survey, Ashe-Wilkes highway survey, Weldon Cemetery, William S. Primrose, Waccamaw and Caruso Island, Capitol (Union) Square, Interstate 40 corridor, and U.S. 321 relocation. Information was furnished to the Underwater Archaeology Branch on the Neuse publication and shipwrecks involving the Seaman and the Francis Waters. North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program The North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Advisory Committee held only two meetings during the biennium due to a lack of funds. Sixty-four marker requests were considered by the committee; sixteen of these were approved (see Appendix XIX), and forty-eight were either deferred or rejected. The research supervisor has authorized 111 reauests for marker replacement, repair, removal, maintenance, or relocation. The Research Branch received 109 proposals for new markers and numerous requests for information pertaining to the existing highway historical markers. A survey of marker purchases (1935-1978) was conducted for the Department of Transportation. The research supervisor completed a revised guide to the Highway Historical Markers. Historic Albemarle Tour On July 14, 1977, the North Carolina Historical Commission designated the Elizabethan Gardens for inclusion in the tour. As of this report, ten sites and/or organizations have been approved to be marked under this program. RESTORATION AND PRESERVATION SERVICES BRANCH During the first six months of the biennium there were only two professionals working with the state and HCRS grant-in-aid projects, special state-owned projects, and local and privately owned historic structures. In January, 1977, a temporary position was created to assist with the increased number of 26 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report projects. The 1977 General Assembly added two and one-half restoration specialist positions for a total of four and one-half professionals to work with the grant projects and other projects (the half position is shared with the Survey and Planning Branch) . From the fall of 1977 the increase in pro-fessional positions made it possible to divide the preservation projects into geographical areas and to reduce the project responsibility for each specialist. This increased the efficiency and quality of the branch's services to the state and HCRS grant-in- aid projects. In February, 1978, thirty-five HCRS grants were awarded, of which twenty- two went to new preservation projects. With the new projects a total of sixty-one state and federal projects were funded. Interest in the preservation of historic structures in-creased at all levels (state and KCRS grants; special state-owned project; and local and privately owned buildings). The staff continued to place highest priority on state and HCRS grant projects and special state-ovmed projects (see Appendixes XVI, XVII, and XIX). Completed or significant phases of restoration were finished on seventeen preservation projects. These projects included: Fort Defiance interior restoration, completed in June, 1978; President Andrew Johnson Birthplace, completed in June, 1977; Mordecai office dependency, completed in June, 1977; Beaufort Old Burying Ground restoration of 100 tombstones, completed by the fall of 1977; Coor-Gaston House, completed in May, 1978; Hezekiah Alexander Springhouse, completed in the summer of 1977; de Rosset House roof, completed June, 1978; Estey Hall stabilization, completed in the fall of 1977; Fort Macon, completed in April, 1977; Monroe City Hall, completed in May, 1978; Smith-McDowell House exterior, completed in summer of 1978; William King House, moved March 22, 1978, to Hope Plantation; Richmond Hill Law School second phase of the ex-terior restoration, completed except for final painting; Joel Lane House—protective fence, completed in February, 1978; Buck Spring Log Corncrib and Smokehouse, completed and dedicated in the summer of 1976; Wright Tavern electrical and mechanical systems installation, completed in the spring of 1977; and Van der Veer House electrical and mechanical systems installa-tion, completed in June, 1978. Looal Preservation Projects The need to provide technical services to locally and privately owned preservation projects has increased dramatically. The restoration specialists provide advice through letters, telephone contact, and site visits whenever possible. The staff is increasingly called upon to review projects that are submitted to our section for environmental review. Technical advice and review were given to the Archaeology and Historic Preservation 27 following projects: The Bennett Bunn House in Wake County; Haywood Hall in Raleigh, Wake County; Joslah Bell House in Beaufort, Carteret County; the Clarke House in New Bern, Craven County; the Appolis Dride House in Currituck County; the Ebenezer Log Church in Chatham County; the James Bell House in Camden County; the Crawford House in Salisbury, Rowan County; the George Johnson House in Franklin County; the Ramsey House in Hills-borough, Orange County; the Strickland House in Franklin County; the Cabarrus County Courthouse in Concord, Cabarrus County; the First Presbyterian Church Session House in New Bern, Craven County; Old Yadkinville Jail, Yadkin County; two-room schoolhouse in Pine Hall, Stokes County; Milford in Camden, Camden County; Ferebee Farmhouse, Camden, Camden County; the Masonic Temple in Camden, Camden County; storefront rehabili-tation for Webb, Lee, Davis and Gibson in Rockingham, Richmond County; Roberts-Carter House, Gates County; NCNB Bank Building, Durham, Durham County; Shelton House, Waynesville, Haywood County; Funderburk buildings, Matthews, Mecklenburg County; Cumberland Firestone Company and Vapo Pest Warehouses, Fayetteville, Cumberland County; Womacks Mill, Caswell County; Firehouse in Henderson, Vance County; Train Station, Burlington, Alamance County; Sir Walter Hotel, Raleigh, Wake County; Boyd House, Southern Pines, Moore County; S.R. 1009 widening. Union County; Clay County Courthouse, Hayesville, Clay County; Old Jail, Statesville, Iredell County; London House, Pittsboro, Chatham County; Hall House, Warrenton, Warren County; Buncombe County Courthouse, Buncombe County; Ivy Hill, Halifax County; Inkwell House, Hyde County; Flowers Farm Cotton Press, Anson County; White Oak Plantation in Mecklenburg County; the John Blue House in Scotland County; Shell Castle in Halifax County; Korner's Folly in Kernersville, Forsyth County; the Anderson House in Durham, Durham County; the Smith House in Perquimans County; and the Holbrook House in Wilkes County. UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH BRANCH The Underwater Archaeological Research Branch has under-gone an expansion of both staff and activities during the biennium. In 1976 the permanent staff was increased from two to four, and this number was recently increased to seven. This is complemented by a staff of fifteen employees funded under the CETA program. In February, 1978, the underwater program was reorganized, upgraded from a unit, and placed directly under the administrator of the Archaeology and Historic Preservation Section. At the time of the reorganiza-tion, Gordon P. Watts, Jr., underwater archaeologist for the unit, was named as head of both the Underwater Archaeological Research Branch and the Preservation Laboratory. 28 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report The staff of the Underwater Archaeology Branch has organized, supervised, and participated in numerous survey projects during this reporting period. In July and August, 1976, in conjunction with the Field School in Underwater Archaeology which was sponsored jointly with the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, several previously located ship-wreck sites were examined. These included sites located in the vicinity of Topsail, Masonboro, and Carolina Beach inlets, Wrightsville Beach, and Fort Fisher. A survey of ships remains on and adjacent to Eagles Island was carried out, as was site testing of prehistoric habitation areas at Lake Waccamaw. In September, 1976, the branch conducted an on-site reconnaissance at the Pickett Site, the remains of what may be a Union gunboat which exploded and sank in the Tar River near Washington, North Carolina, in 1862. Also in September, 1976. planning and preparations for the Fort Branch Survey and Recovery Project were begun. Fort Branch, a Confederate fortification situated on the Roanoke River in Martin County, was selected as the site of the 1977 Field School in Underwater Archaeology since it was known that several cannons and carriages, in addition to small artifacts, were in the river adjacent to the fortification. Because looting at the site had been a persistent problem, recovery of the material was deemed essential. Planning for the project continued for the next eleven months. During July and August, 1977, the Fort Branch Survey and Recovery Project, the largest project of its kind to be undertaken in North Carolina since the recovery of material from the blockade-runner Modern Greece in 1962, was successfully carried out. The project was conducted in four phases: his-torical research, which had begun nearly a year earlier; a magnetic survey of the river in order to locate concentrations of artifacts; recovery of materials from the river; and preser-vation of the recovered material, which was to be completed at a later date. With vital assistance from the Army Reserve, the project culminated with the recovery of four cannons, all mounted on carriages, and one empty gun carriage from the Roanoke River. Also during the summer of 1977, the division cosponsored reconnaissance and recovery operations at the Monitor Marine Sanctuary along with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Harbor Branch Foundation. A photo-grammetric survey was conducted, and a ferrous metal plate and brass navigation lantern were recovered. Also retrieved was an underwater camera system which was lost at the site in 1973. A special grant of CETA funds in July, 1977, resulted in the creation of the New Hanover County Archaeological Survey Team. The responsibility of the nine-member team was to locate, identify, and assess archaeological resources in the county. The survey was completed in July, 1978. Other survey activities Archaeology and Historic Preservation 29 conducted in the first-half of 1978 included a survey and in-vestigation of magnetic anomalies on Masonboro Island under a Memorandum of Agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The remains of a shipwreck which was uncovered at Kitty Hawk during a winter storm were partially excavated, measured, and photographed during May, 1978. In addition to conducting survey activities, the Underwater Archaeological Research Branch had provided various technical services during the past two years. In March, 1977, at the request of the Corps of Engineers, staff members assisted in site testing at an extensive prehistoric site situated on the Cape Fear River in New Hanover County. In May, 1977, the Historic Sites Section requested the examination of a nine-teenth- century house foundation located on property adjacent to the grounds of Tryon Palace. An extensive project was begun in September, 1977, at the Fort Fisher State Historic Site. In conjunction with the Historic Sites Section, excavation was undertaken on a gun emplacement and the remains of a bombproof room associated with one of the Civil War mounds. This work is still in progress. In March, 1978, Leslie Bright, staff preservationist, provided assistance in the recovery of a dugout canoe from the N'^use River at the request of the Archaeology Branch. During May staff members organized and supervised the removal of a large portion of a shipwreck which had washed up on a beach at Nags Head. Also during May, a portion of a shipwreck which was uncovered on the beach near New River Inlet was excavated. The Preservation Laboratory of the Underwater Archaeologi-cal Research Branch has processed and preserved numerous arti-facts from various collections during the biennium. Among the materials to receive treatment were two dugout canoes recovered from Lake Waccamaw during the 1975 Field School in Underwater Archaeology and approximately 200 small artifacts recovered during the Fort Branch Project. Also preserved were the four cannons from Fort Branch and a cannon carriage recovered from that site by salvors in 1972 and subsequently awarded to the state. The five cannon carriages recovered in 1976 have been disassembled and are currently undergoing preservation. Addi-tionally, a collection of twenty-four artifacts which were recovered from a colonial house were processed at the request of the Archaeology Branch. Approximately twenty-four artifacts from Reed Gold Mine, including an assayer's furnace and a dredge bucket, were processed. In addition, the remains of a stamp mill, which were exposed during an archaeological excavation at Reed Gold Mine, were preserved in situ. Forty-nine artifacts from the Modem Greece collection also received treatment, as did the dugout canoe recovered from the Neuse River. Staff members have been involved in preparations to begin electrolysis on two 32-pounder cannons which were recovered in 1962 from the U.S.S. Peterhoff, a Union vessel sunk in the vicinity of Fort 30 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report Fisher during the Civil War. Since December, 1977, when North Carolina assumed an expanded role of leadership in matters relating to the Monitor^ the activities of the Underwater Archapological Research Branch have centered on coordinating the production of a master planning document to serve as a guideline for future research and recovery operations at the Monitor site. A final draft document is expected to be completed by October of 1978. In conjunction with the preparation of this document, staff members have attended and participated in several meetings relative to the Monitor. These included a meeting held in Raleigh on January 20, 1978, with representative's from various agencies and institutions in North Carolina in order to discuss an initial draft of the document; a meeting of the Monitor, Technical Advisory Committee, held in Raleigh on February 16, 1978; and the National Conference on the Monitor, which was held in Raleigh, April 2-4, 1978. In June, 1978, eleven samples were cut from the hull plate which was recovered from the Monitor site in August, 1977. The samples were distributed to various institutions in the eastern United States where studies of various material strength, corrosion, and conservation will be performed. This information will also be reported for inclusion in the planning document. The Underwater Archaeological Research Branch has been involved in a variety of other activities. In conjunction with the environmental review process, a total of 1,097 permit applications were processed. Comments were returned on twenty-six of these. Thirty local areas were examined in order to assess potential impact, and twenty-eight new sites were located as a result of these examinations. A publication titled The Blockade Runner MODERN GREECE and. Her Cargo was completed. This volume presents a compre-hensive history of the vessel and documentation of the arti-facts which have been recovered from the site during the past sixteen years. A series of bibliographies have been produced, including one on sources in the libraries and collections of Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill which relate to submerged cultural resources in North Carolina; another which relates to various aspects of eastern North Carolina (anthropological, archaeological, botanical, historical, etc.); and a third which relates to the Monitor. An increased emphasis on public education and information led to greatly expanded public contact during this reporting period. In May, 1977, the Underwater Archaeological Research Branch and the Fort Fisher Marine Resources Center sponsored a symposium in underwater archaeology. Ten guest speakers, including staff members, presented programs on various topics Archaeology and Historic Preservation 31 to an audience of approximately 100 persons. A total of 197 requests for information received replies, and staff members have presented a total of forty-seven programs on underwater archaeology and preservation to interested organizations and institutions . Current planning activities include preparations for the initiation of a phased statewide survey of navigable waters in North Carolina in order to locate, identify, and assess the significance of the state's submerged archaeological sites. Historical research for this project has been under way since O'^tober, 1977. The survey will provide information which is vital to the management and protection of North Carolina's submerged cultural resources. PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES A. L. Honeycutt, Jr., Margaret L. Stephenson, and Edward F. Turberg attended the 1976 Annual General Meeting of the Associa-tion for Preservation Technology in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, September 28-October 3, 1976. Janet K. Seapker, Catherine W. Bishir, and C. Greer Suttlerayre, Jr., attended the annual meeting of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 28-30, 1976. James Shive and Jacqueline Fehon attended the South-eastern Archaeological Council meeting in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, January 4-9, 1977. Jerry C. Cashion, Jerry L. Cross, Joe A. Mobley, and Jim L. Sumner attended the annual meeting of the Southern Historical Association in Atlanta, Georgia, November 11-13, 1976. Gordon Watts, Leslie Bright, Richard Lawrence, John Clauser, and Sara Van Arsdale attended joint meetings of the Society for Historical Archaeologists 'and the International Conference on Underwater Archaeology in Ottawa, Ontario, January 4-9, 1977. Ms. Seapker, Ms. Bishir, Brent D. Glass, F. Langdon Edmunds, Michael T. Southern, H. McKelden Smith III, Stephen J. Gluckman, Timothy A. Thompson, and Mr. Honeycutt attended the Annual State Historic Preservation Officers conference in Washington, D.C., February 27-March 2, 1977. Ms. Fehon and Dolores A. Hall attended the forty-second annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in New Orleans, Louisiana, April 28-30, 1977. 32 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report Mr. Smith, Mr. Glass, and Mr. Southern attended the Sixth Annual Conference of the Society of Industrial Architecture in Wilmington, Delaware, April 28-May 1, 1977. Peter B. Sandbeck and Mr. Honeycutt attended the Annual General Meeting of the Association for Preservation Technology in Cleveland, Ohio, September 25-October 2, 1977. Ms. Seapker, Ms. Bishir, Ms. Edmunds, Mr. Smith, Mr. Suttle-myre, Mr. Turberg, and Mr. Glass attended the annual meeting of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Mobile, Alabama, October 13-15, 1977. Thomas Burke attended the annual Southeastern Archaeological Council in Lafayette, Louisiana, October 27-29, 1977. Mr. Cashion, Mr. Mobley, and Mr. Sumner attended the annual meeting of the Southern Historical Association in New Orleans, Louisiana, November 9-12, 1977. Mr. Clauser, Mr. Watts, Mr. Bright, and Mr. Lawrence attended the annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology held in San Antonio, Texas, January 3-8, 1978. Mr. Glass, Ms. Seapker, Mr. Southern, Ms. Edmunds, and Ms. Fehon attended the annual meeting of State Historic Pre-servation Officers and Federal Representatives held in Washington, D.C., February 25-March 1, 1978. Mark Mathis attended the Mid-Atlantic Archaeological Conference in Rehoboth, Delaware, March 17-19, 1978. Mr. Glass and Anthony 0. James attended the Seventh Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial Archaeology held in Louisville, Kentucky, and Cincinnati, Ohio, March 30-April 2, 1978. Davyd Foard Hood attended the annual meeting of the Society for Architectural Historians held in San Antonio, Texas, April 5-10, 1978. David R. Black attended the Preservation Alumni Convoca-tion, 1978, at the Graduate School of Architecture and Planning, Columbia University, New York, New York, April 13-17, 1978. Ms. Fehon, Mr. Burke, Mr. Mathis, Ms. Hall, Thomas Scheitlin, and Linda Pinkerton attended the Forty-third Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology held in Tucson, Arizona, May 3-7, 1978. Archaeology and Historic Preservation 33 The Underwater Archaeology Branch participated in the removal of shipwreck remains at Nags Head {left), while the U.S. Army assisted the underwater archaeologists in rais-ing a canrton at Fort Branch (right). John W. Clauser, Jr., explained the archaeological dig he supervised at the State Capitol to (left to right) Dr. Larry E. Tise, Ray Wilkinson of WRAL-TV, and Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. Dr. Tise served as a moderator for a session of the national conference on the Monitor. A grant-in-aid was used to move the eighteenth-century William King House in Bertie County. 34 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report The rupture of a steam line in the mechanical room of the new State Records Building on the morning of February 4, 1977, did severe damage to equipment and facilities, but no records were lost. ARCHIVES AND RECORDS SECTION Thornton W. Mitchell, Adm-Cn-Cstrator and State Archivist The last week of January and the first week of February, 1977, were both of unusual importance to the Archives and Records Section. The former concluded on January 30 with the showing of the final episode of the television production of Alex Haley's Roots, and the latter ended with an explosion of a steam line in the mechanical room of the new State Records Center Building. Both of these events had approximately the same impact on the section. The upward movement of the work load of the State Archives Search Room did not, of course, begin with the showing of Roots. In fact, both the number of patrons using the Search Room and the number of letters that required either a response or the furnish-ing of copies of documents had started to increase as the Amer-ican Revolution Bicentennial approached, and the effects of this demand for services had been felt in the State Archives several years before Roots. The Haley saga, however, accelerated inter-est, and because North Carolina was one of the major routes of migration from the colonial east to the western part of the conti-nent, more and more persons interested in their families turned to the State Archives for information, ^oth the number of visi-tors and the number of letters seeking genealogical information increased significantly during the biennium. Since there has been only a minor increase in the staff of the Search Room since the archives moved into the Archives and History/State Library Building in 1969, the reference archivists found it virtually impossible to handle the increased work load. The Search Room staff is responsible for three functions: providing service to patrons; answering letters of inquiry; and maintaining the records in the stacks in proper condition. The requirements of the visitors must, of necessity, come first; and with an average of sixty-five patrons in the Search Room daily during the biennium, little time was left for the other functions. Letters are normally answered in three weeks, but during the biennium the period required for a response frequently stretched into six weeks or more. Because of these demands, the responsi-bility of the State Archives for the records in its custody of necessity received the lowest priority, and even minor repairs were often delayed until major restoration of the documents concerned was required. Although the state accepted the State Records Center in 36 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report September, 1975, at the time of acceptance the basement levels of the building were in the process of being shelved and it was not until late in 1976 that construction of the shelving on the fourth floor levels began. In addition to the fact that the new building did not have sufficient shelving to hold the records that were located in the old records center on West Lane Street when the move from the old to the new location began soon after the building was accepted, the manner in which the move was han-dled in order to provide space for the State Printing Office required additional shifting of the records, which caused prob-lems in keeping the finding aids and shelf lists in correct order. Shelving of the fourth levels, which utilized surplus shelving from the old records center, was finally completed on February 3, 1977. Early in the morning of February 4, a steam line in the mechanical room of the new records center ruptured, sending live steam throughout the entire building. By the time the break was discovered in the freezing cold of early morning, the cameras, the equipment, the tube system, the ventilating system, and the boxes of records had been cooking in 300-degree steam for approximately two hours. Although boxes were wet and labels came unglued, although the tube system re-quired months to repair, and although eighteen months later water was still in the ventilating system, no records were lost or damaged. The most serious loss was to the microfilm cameras, two of which were removed from service because of damage to the wir-ing and corrosion of moving parts. Problems with the ventilating system have not been satisfactorily resolved, and both humidity and temperature have varied to the point of endangering the records in storage during the past eighteen months. Other than these two dramatic events, the section continued to grow during the biennium and, within the limits of its staff and inadequate budget, it continued to serve the people of North Carolina. As noted above, demands on the Archives Branch cur-tailed many of the activities normally carried on by that branch; further reorganization of state government slowed the records scheduling activities of the State Records Branch. In addition, the necessity of the State Records Center operating out of two locations required adjustments in all aspects of the work load of the center. Funds provided by the 1978 session of the General Assembly will permit completion of the move and the work load of the center should smooth out considerably. Microfilming of essential county records continued, although increasing demands were made on tne Local Records Branch for records management assistance by the counties and municipalities of the state. Lack of adequate storage space also slowed the transfer of valuable county records to the section, where they are processed and pre-pared for the archives by the Local Records Branch. Duplication of the core collection of county microfilm continued although this project will come to an end about January 1, 1979. The core has caused excessively inflated receipts by the section, which now faces the ordeal of tightening its belt and living within the Archives and Records 37 limitations of its appropriated funds. The case of State of North Carolina v. s. C. West, Jr. was brought to a successful conclusion, representing the first major success of a replevin action in modem times. Following the finding for the defendant in the Pasquotank County Superior Court in October, 1975, the state appealed and in November, 1976, the Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the superior court. Dr. West then appealed to the state Supreme Court, which upheld the decision of the Court of Appeals in June, 1977. The deci-sions of the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court held that public records are public property and that mere possession does not constitute ownership. Both courts ruled that public records can be alienated only by authority of the sovereignty that caused them to be created. The two documents that were at issue in the case were returned to the state in September, 1977. One result of the decision of the state Supreme Court in the West case was the return of the letter of George Washington to the governor and Council of State of North Carolina, August 26, 1790, upon which discovery action in federal courts in New York had been unsuccessful on procedural grounds. The state, on the sug-gestion of the U.S. Court of Appeals, had taken the case to the New York Supreme Court, when Coudert Brothers, representing the person who had the letter in his possession, initiated action for settlement of the matter out of court. After extensive negotiations, which moved rapidly after the West decision, the letter was returned to the state in July, 1977. In February, 1978, the Friends of the Archives, Inc., was incorporated as a support organization for the North Carolina State Archives and the programs of the Archives and Records Section. At an organization meeting in April, former Gov. Robert W. Scott was elected president and Mrs. Margaret Hofmann was named vice-president. Dr. Mitchell will serve, ex officio, as secretary-treasurer. The purpose of the organization is to support the programs of the section and to provide funds for projects which cannot be funded through regular budgetary chan-nels. A membership campaign is planned for the beginning of the next fiscal year. The Archives and Records Section consists of four branches, three of which are located in the Archives and History/State Library Building. The Arch-ives Branch is responsible for the North Carolina State Archives, including the Search Room and the Microfilm Read-ing Room, and in addition to conducting educational activities assists patrons to obtain information from records and manu-scripts in the custody of the archives. Mr. Paul P. Hoffman is head of the Archives Branch. The State Records Branch, which is located in the State 38 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report Records Center at North Blount and East Lane streets and which also occupies space at 120 West Lane Street, is the principal records management agency for state agencies and institutions. It administers the State Records Center and operates a central microfilming service for state agencies. Mr. Ronald E. Youngquist is head of the State Records Branch. The Local Records Branch is responsible for records manage-ment activities for county and municipal governments. It also transfers to the State Archives permanently valuable records of local agencies no longer required in current operations and microfilms for security purposes the permanently valuable records remaining in county and municipal offices. Mr. Frank D. Gatton is head of the Local Records Branch. The Technical Services Branch consists of the Newspaper Microfilming Project, the Document Restoration Laboratory, and the Microfilm Processing Laboratory and furnishes supporting and technical services to the other branches. Mr. Roger C. Jones is head of the Technical Services Branch. ARCHIVES BRANCH The work of the Archives Branch during the biennium was heavily weighted toward providing reference services to the public. The demand for these services was so great that at times all other activities of the branch ceased. In September, 1977, a new program to prepare for publication of biographical sketches and portraits (where possible) of state legislators, 1665-1978, was implemented. This program, created by legislative mandate, is progressing well and copy for the first volume, 1963-1978, is expected to be ready for the printer by June, 1979. The bio-graphical publication has increased the staff of the branch by a single archivist I position. The biennium has been successful for the Archives Branch in that the demand for reference services has been met despite the impairment which this demand has caused to the arrangement and description and publication programs. The number of researchers served in the Search Room in-creased by 28 percent over the 1974-1976 biennium to a total of 31,141 or an average of 65 per day. This figure represents an increase of 140 percent over the period when the new facility was opened in 1969. The number of letters received increased by 17 percent over the previous biennium to 24,678, an increase of 127 percent since the new building was occupied. During the period 1969-1978 no full-time additions have been made to the Search Room staff, and the additional staff necessary to handle the increasing volume has been drawn from other units of the branch. Mr. George Stevenson replaced Miss Irene Yarbrough as Search Room Supervisor in May, 1977. Archives and Records 39 A side effect of the increased use of the records in the archives has been a great increase in the wear and tear upon them. To ameliorate this situation by providing time during regular working hours for the identification and maintenance of heavily worn records and finding aids, the secretary of cultural re-sources has approved the closing of the Search Room on Mondays beginning in July, 1978. The hours that the archives will be open to the public will, thereby, be reduced from 56 1/2 per week to 47. Closing on Mondays should provide added time to reply to letters in a timely fashion as well. Accessions of records and manuscripts numbered 669, down slightly from the previous biennium. Among significant state records accessioned or arranged and described were the public records of the Governor's Office, 1975-1976; records of the Advancement School in Wins ton- Salem; opinions and nonopinions of the Attorney General; an important miscellaneous series of the Supreme Court ,1764-1937; records of the Board of Paroles: Pardons, Paroles, Commutations, 1925-1972, and Pardons to Parol-ees, 1917-1954. Also, several additions were made to the collec-tion of records assembled on the Equal Rights Amendment, includ-ing tape recordings of hearings before the North Carolina House of Representatives and Senate. The historical records relating to weather in North Carolina from the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Climatic Center in Asheville, constituted another impor-tant accession. Some significant additions to the collection of unofficial records and manuscripts during the biennium or collections arranged and described included: the painter Hobson Pittman's papers; the Congressman Roy Taylor Papers, 1959-1976; some papers of Gov. Daniel Fowle; and the surviving records of the now de-funct Southwood College, Salemburg. Significant additions to the iconographic collection included: Department of Conservation and Development Photographic Files, 1937-1961; the Charles Anderson Farrell Photograph Collection (relating to coastal North Caro-lina), 1935-1941; and a series of sound recordings entitled, "Bull City Blues: A Study of the Black Musical Community that Existed in Durham, N.C., in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s." A long-term and important project, the preparation of an index to North Carolina marriage bonds, 1741-1868, was completed, and the index is available on microfiche. This project, begun in 1973, makes available the first continuous index to approximately 350,000 names on a statewide basis and serves to help determine the residence of people in North Carolina in the period covered. In conjunction with completion of the index, an Archives Informa-tion Circular, An Index to Marriage Bonds Filed in the North Carolina State Archives, which explains the index, was published. Since assuming responsibility for the division's audiovisual and iconographic materials, the Archives Branch has made 40 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report significant progress in establishing control over these records. A $15,000 grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission was received for copying nitrate, glass, and deteriorated safety negatives in the Albert Harden Photograph Collection. Duplication of the Barden negatives is well under way and should be completed by December, 1978. The subject card catalog to the photograph collections was completely revised and expanded which has greatly facilitated research in the icono-graphic records. A valuable series of photographs transferred from the old Department of Conservation and Development has also been arranged and is now available for use. These photographs occupy 113 fibredex boxes, date from 1937 to 1961, and cover a myriad of activities in North Carolina. The archives education program continued apace with four Workshops for Beginning Genealogists and two Institutes for Advanced Researchers held. These activities were continuously oversubscribed, and they drew high praise from those who attended. A nonprofit support organization, the Friends of the Archives, was founded in the spring of 1978 to aid the archives. It will assume responsibility for future workshops and institutes as an organizational function. The archives continued its cooperation with the Division of Community Colleges by providing instruction in the field and at the archives for the program on local history and biography. The Archives Branch participated in the seventy-fifth anni-versary of the Division of Archives and History on March 7, 1978, with the preparation of a special exhibit and catalog of the exhibit. The exhibit and catalog entitled. Autographs of Men Who Served as President of the United States from the Collec-tions of the North Carolina State Archives, were received enthusi-astically. It is hoped that the exhibit may be presented at other places, but the high value of the collection presents a problem in providing adequate security. A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities made possible initial work on the revision of the Guide to Private Manuscript Collections beginning in December, 1976. The guide has been out of print for some time but has remained in high demand from the public. The revision should be ready for the printer in mid-1979. Two selective guides have been published in 1977 by the branch: Introductory Guide to Indian-Related Records (to 1876) in the North Carolina State Archives, by Donna Spindel, and A Selective Guide to Women-Related Records in the North Carolina State Archives, by Catherine E. Thompson. Both of these guides were prepared by interns rather than by the regular staff. The limited demand that has developed for guides of this nature makes them difficult to justify from a cost standpoint. Archives and Records 41 Despite the solid accomplishments of the Archives Branch, the preparation of the records of the state and of private manu-scripts for use has faltered seriously because of the time and effort required to maintain adequate reference services. The branch is at a critical point which requires resolution if its accomplishments are to remain balanced. STATE RECORDS BRANCH Early in the morning of February 4, 1977, a steam valve ruptured in the mechanical equipment room of the State Records Center Building. A piece of the ruptured valve flew upwards, striking and breaking the steam line above the valve and adding to the force and volume of the live steam already filling the room. The internal alarm systems worked as evidenced by the auto-matic closing of the dampers in the air handling ducts and in the automatic shutting-down of each air handling unit. Unfor-tunately, the alarm system was not connected to the State Govern-ment Security control board, so that the alarm sounded only in-side the records center and was unheard elsewhere. Steam escaping through the louvers in the north wall of the Records Center Building was sighted during a routine patrol of the Capitol Square area by the Capitol police and was then re-ported to the State Government Security desk. Inside the records center, the escaping steam was initially dispersed throughout the building by the air handling equipment and up the fresh-air shaft leading to the roof. After the air handling unit shut down automatically, the pressure built up by the escaping steam continued to drive the steam through the vent, duct, and vacuum tube systems. While there is no accurate way to determine the force of the steam and the pressure built up in the room, the concrete-block wall opposite the rupture has cracks in some of the blocks and mortar. The foil shield of the insulation wrapped around the air handling unit was blackened by the heat. Water vapor short-circuited the electrical wiring of the smoke detection control box. The power unit of the vacuum message system was filled with steam, and water formed in the vacuiim tubes. The heat was so intense that the leather parts in the vacuum system crystallized. Twenty minutes after the sighting of the steam cloud envelop-ing the north side of the building, the building was entered by the security police and the head of the State Records Branch. The stack areas could not be reached as the elevator was unsafe to operate, and the fire tower doors could not be opened. 42 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report Entry to the records center stacks was finally made through the connecting tunnel from the Archives and History/ State Library Building. Both the basement and the BA intermediate level were relatively unaffected, except for obvious increases in tempera-ture and humidity. In the main floor office areas, all of the thermometers were stuck at the 85-degree mark. Steam swirled in the halls. Waterlogged ceiling tiles fell to the floor or sagged near the dropping point. Water stood in the ceiling light fixture covers. The humidity registered 100 percent throughout the area. Micro-film camera covers, file cabinets, and other pieces of equipment were dripping with water. The plastic light fixtures in the rest rooms were distorted and bent by the heat. The upper stack areas looked as if a rain squall had just passed through. Beads of water stood on ceilings, walls, and shelving. Water pooled on the floors; over 200 gallons were later removed from one floor by vacuuming. The fourth floor door handles were too hot to open. By 7:30 A.M., after the staff worked straight through the morning, the records center was ready for normal operations, albeit operations without ceiling tiles and with many of the staff in work clothes. Regrettably, the records center did not escape without fur-ther consequences. For example, all of the labels numbering each location on each shelf on each floor, except the fourth floor and 4A level, began dropping off as the heat-baked adhesives failed. All shelving had to be renumbered. Two cameras, both purchased in the 1960s, succumbed to age, heavy use, and water damage from the steam and had to be removed from service. These and other petty annoyances, such as boxes collapsing from waterlogging and labels falling off the boxes, continued to occur throughout the period and hopefully are now over. During the biennium, 102 records retention and disposition schedules were completed by the records management analyst staff. This was a threefold increase in the number of schedules written in the previous biennium. To complete these scheduling projects, 38,524 cubic feet of records, the equivalent of the volume of records contained in 5,503 four-drawer filing cabinets, were inventoried, analyzed, and appraised. Again, this figure more than tripled the volume of records evaluated in the previous reporting period. Significantly, the number of assigned records management analysts remained the same as previously authorized until May, 1977. For the remaining fourteen months of the bien-nium, five rather than six analysts were assigned. Amendments to existing records disposition schedules gener-ated by state agency reorganizations, new or discontinued Archives and Records 43 programs, or by transfer of functions and supporting records totaled 121. There were forty-four file studies completed, and the result-ant file systems were installed by or under the supervision of the analysts as part of the program to provide assistance to state agencies in the efficient and economical use of records. With a small staff, it was impossible to meet all of the requests for filing assistance made by agencies. Consequently, the real job to be done was not accomplished in the Capitol Square area nor in the regional and field offices of state government. The single Correspondence Management Workshop conducted during the biennium was held in January, 1977. Once again, the staff available was inadequate to provide classroom instruction and also perform the other functions of the records management program. Contributing to the demise of the program was the con-tinued inability to secure adequate printing funds or monies with which to secure course materials and training aids. The increased demands from state agencies for records man-agement assistance was, for the most part, stimulated by the opening of the Dobbs Building and the Archdale Building. Other agency moves to new or different but always smaller offices con-tinuously raised the question of what to do with the large volume of records formerly maintained in relatively abundant office space. This naturally prompted concentration on the records dis-position aspects of the records management program: inventorying, scheduling, transferring, and destroying records. The press for space in the new agency offices caused a ripple effect in the records center program and sporadic attempts to complete the move to the new Records Center Building. The space allocations for agency records in the records center were built around the agency transfer patterns and statistics of the previous fifteen years. The plan was dealt a severe blow when some agencies began transferring an unprecedented volume of records in order to fit into their new office locations. In some instances, hundreds of cubic feet of additional records were involved . After hours of refiguring space allocations and shifting the stored records, adjustments were completed and order restored in the plan. Working entirely within the resources of the assigned records technician staff and the records center clerical staff, a total of 24,786 cubic feet were moved in the remaining eighteen months of the biennium. However necessary, this feat was accom-plished at the expense of temporarily discontinuing the records disposition audit program. During the period that the records disposition audit program was operated, forty-one agencies were provided with lists of 44 Thirty-seventh Biennial Report overdue records disposition actions. As a result of these audit lists and the explanation of the program and procedures by the two records technicians, 1,925 cubic feet of records were identi-fied to the agencies for transfer to the records center; 1,395 cubic feet of records were identified for immediate destruction by the agencies; 787 cubic feet of records were boxed and removed from agency offices by the records disposition staff; and 243 cubic feet of records were screened and destroyed in the agencies by or under the supervision of the records disposition staff. In 1,488 separate records transfer transactions, the State Records Center received 29,795 cubic feet of semiactive and non-current records from state agencies. This volume of records is the equivalent of 4,256 four-drawer file cabinets and would re-quire a minimum of 25,536 cubic feet of agency office space in which to keep these records. In terms of cost-avoidance, the new cabinets that will not have to be purchased and the addi-tional office space which will not be required saved a total of $553,280 which was available for other purposes. Only 19,860 cubic feet of records were destroyed in the State Records Center this biennium. The two principal reasons for this relatively low figure were the termination of the unexpired state contract for the sale and recycling of scrap paper, which left the records center with no disposal system for some five months, and the use of available personnel to move records to the new records center. Another factor contributing to the low number of records destroyed was the substantial increase in the number of requests for servicing of records stored in the center. A total of 160,770 requests for records or in |
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