Biennial report of the North Carolina State Department of Archives and History |
Previous | 6 of 37 | Next |
|
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
Large
Extra Large
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
|
This page
All
|
THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA THE COLLECTION OF NORTH CAROLINIANA C9O6 N87h 1966/68»l968/70 c,2 UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 00033953650 This book may be kept out one month unless a recall notice is sent to you. It must be brought to the North Carolina Collection (in Wilson Library) for renewal. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2009 with funding from Ensuring Democracy through Digital Access (NC-LSTA) http://www.archive.org/details/biennialreportof196668nort riiiirrY-SKCONi) iuknnim. rkpokt 1 vt IIIIIIIIRS 1/ COVER—The new building to house the Department of Archives and History and the State Libraiy was nearing completion at the close of the biennium. Located at 109 East Jones Street in Raleigh, the structin-e cost over $4 million. (Unless otherwise noted, all photograjDlis used in this report are from the files of the State Department of Archives and Histoiy.) Thirty-Second Biennial Report of the North Carolina Department of Archives and History July I, 1966 to June 30, 1968 NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY Executive Board^ Josh L. Home, Chairman, Rocky Mount Miss Gertrude Sprague Carraway, New Bern T. Hany Gatton, Raleigh Fletcher M. Green, Chapel Hill Ralph P. Hanes, Winston-Salem Hugh T. Lefler, Chapel Hill Edward W. Phifer, Morganton Christopher Crittenden, Director, Raleigh ' For list and terms of office of members of the Executive Board, see Appendix I, p. 97. IN MEMORIAM David Leroy Corbitt May 3, 1895-October 12, 1967 David Leroy Corbitt, who retired on June 30, 1961, after serving more than thirty-seven years on the staff of the State Department of Archives and History, died in Raleigh on October 12, 1967. A native of Pitt County, Corbitt received his bachelor of arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he majored in history and education and minored in English. He joined the staff of the department (then known as the State Historical Commission) on April 1, 1924. During his years with the department, Corbitt compiled, edited, and published twelve books, including The Formation of the North Carolina Counties, 1663-1943; Calendars of Manuscript Collections; Explorations, Descriptions, and Attempted Settle-ments of Carolina, 1584-1590; and the public papers and addresses of nine governors of North Carolina, from the administration of Cameron Morrison, 1921-1925, through William B. Umstead, 1953-1954. He was managing editor of the North Carolina Historical Review from 1935 until his retirement, and he also wrote a number of pamphlets for use in the public schools. At the time of his retirement he elected to remain with the depart-ment as a consultant for a number of months during which time he began editing papers relating to the Granville Grant. Corbitt was active in the North Carolina Literary and His-torical Association, serving as the association's chairman of the Committee on Local Historical Societies for a number of years and helping organize local societies throughout North Carolina. He was a charter member and fellow of the Society of American Archivists and a member of the Southern Historical Association, the American Association for State and Local History, the Historical Society of North Carolina, and the Wake County Historical Society. He served as president of the latter two organizations and as vice-president of the North Carolina Society of County and Local Historians. LETTER OF TRANSMISSION To His Excellency Dan K. Moore Governor of North Carolina Dear Governor Moore: In compliance with Chapter 543, Session Laws of 1955, I have the honor to submit herewith for your Excellency's consideration the Biennial Report of the North Carolina Department of Archives and History for the period July 1, 1966-June 30, 1968. Respectfully yours, Christopher Crittenden Director Raleigh, July 1, 1968 CONTENTS New Building—New Horizons 1 Division of Archives and Manuscripts 5 Division of Historic Sites 41 Division of Museums 56 Division of Publications 74 Colonial Records Project 88 Tryon Palace 89 Appendixes: Administration I The Executive Board 97 n Appropriations and Expenditures, 1930-1968 98 ni Appropriations and Expenditures, 1966-1968 98 IV Number of Employees as of June 30 at the End of Each Biennium, 1908-1968 99 V List of Employees, Showing Name and Title (and Period of Service if Less than the Full Biennium) 100 VI Publications of Staff Members 105 Division of Archives and Manuscripts VII Accessions, July 1, 1966—June 30, 1968 108 VIII Researchers Served in Search Room 151 IX Number of Visitors to Search Room for Each Biennium, 1928-1968, and Number of Inquiries by Mail, 1946-1968 152 X Selected Topics of Research of Visitors and Mail Inquiries 153 XI Colleges and Universities Represented by Visitors and Mail Inquiries 156 XII Activities of the Local Records Section 157 XIII Microfilming of County Records 158 XIV Statistics on Microfilm Program 160 XV State Agencies for Which Records Retention and Disposition Schedules Were Completed; Were Amended 161 XVI Records Accessioned and Disposed of in State Records Center 162 XVII Reference Services Performed in State Records Center .... 165 XVIII State Agencies Whose Records Were Microfilmed 166 XIX Newspapers Microfilmed During Biennium 168 XX Microfilm Processed in Microfilm Processing Laboratory . . .174 XXI Pages of Records Restored by Barrow Laminating Process 175 XXII Public Sales and Charges 176 XXIII Total Income 177 Division of Historic Sites XXIV New Historical Markers 177 XXV Attendance at State Historic Sites, July 1, 1966— June 30, 1968 179 XXVI Capital Improvements at State Historic Sites 180 XXVII Grants-in-Aid for Special Restoration and Construction Projects 180 XXVIII Private Funds Available and Expended 181 XXIX Historic Sites Brochures Distributed; Printed for Affiliated Local Projects 181 XXX Historic Sites Survey 182 Division of Museums XXXI Museum Items Accessioned 182 XXXII Registration at the Museum of Histoiy by State and Foreign Country, 1966-1968 193 Division of Publications XXXIII Receipts 194 XXXIV Publications Distributed 195 XXXV Carolina Comments, Copies Mailed Per Issue 196 XXXVI North Carolina Historical Review 196 XXXVII Complete List of Publications of State Department of Archives and History, 1966-1968 197 BIENNIAL REPORT OF THE NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY NEW BUILDING-NEW HORIZONS Christopher Crittenden, Director For twenty years the department had been working for a new building, and now at last, at the close of the biennium, such a structure was nearing completion. To house both the Department of Archives and History and the State Library, it had cost more than $4 million. It was located on the north side of East Jones Street (the one-hundred block) between the State Legislative Building and the Governor's Mansion. The new structure would make possible bigger and better services to the public. The department's various functions, which physically had been scattered in different places in the Capital City, would for the most part be brought together in one location. (But the State Records Center and Archaeological Laboratoiy were to remain in the Annex, in the one-hundred block of West Lane Street; the legislative chambers, maintained by the depart-ment in the State Capitol, of course could not be moved; and the thirteen state historic sites throughout the state were to remain where they were.) In the new building the department was to occupy a total of some 75,300 square feet of space—for archives and manuscripts, search rooms, work rooms, museum display, offices, and related functions and purposes—all specially designed for its needs—and in addition it would share 33,200 square feet of joint-use areas. It would be far better than anything the department had ever had before. As members of the Executive Board, Governor Dan K. Moore on July 21, 1967, reappointed Dr. Fletcher M. Green of Chapel Hill and Mr. Josh L. Home of Rocky Mount for terms ending March 31, 1973. Mr. Home served as chairman of the board. ^ ' For data on the Executive Board, see Appendix I, p. 97. 2 Thirty -Second Biennial Report The appropriation for the biennium was $2,162,629, an increase of 19 percent over the $1,830,086 for 1964-1966.2 The total number of employees on June 30, 1968, was 135, as compared to 130 two years earlier. The State Personnel Depart-ment reclassified or upgraded most of the department's staff, which resulted in increased pay in practically all instances .3 The General Assembly at its regular 1967 session established the North Carolina American Revolution Bicentennial Com-mission {Session Laws of 1967, Chapter 70), and that commission held its organization meeting in Raleigh on March 1, 1968. The 1967 General Assembly appropriated funds for continuation of the Colonial Records Project, and that project was carried on. Publication of the second volume was expected shortly after the end of the biennium. Likewise an appropriation was made to continue the new North Carolina Civil War Roster, and this was supplemented by private contributions of more than $10,000. At the close of the biennium the second volume was scheduled to be published within the near future. The department's director and other members of the staff have long been appalled by how little school students know of the state's history. From time to time a few questions in that subject have been asked of visiting groups—questions such as: What are the dates on our state flag and what do they signify? What was the importance of the Battle of Mooies Creek Bridge? What was the great work of Calvin H. Wiley? Who was known as our "educational governor"? Not one group in twenty-five has been able satisfactorily to answer such questions, for the students simply are not being taught the facts of North Carolina histoiy. In order to seek to fill this void, a joint task force from the Departments of Archives and History and Public Instruction was set up and at the end of the biennium was working on the problem. In Archives and Manuscripts the program was continued at a high level of achievement. Professional standards were materially raised, staff members participated actively in professional ac-tivities, and a number of staff members "graduated" to archival 2 For the budget, see Appendixes II and III, pp. 98 and 99. 3 For number of employees, see Appendix IV, p. 99. State Department of Archives and History 3 positions elsewhere. A notable achievement was the conduct, by State Archivist H. G. Jones working on his own time, of a survey of the National Archives and Records Management Programs— a survey soon to be published in book form. In Historic Sites a degree of maturity was achieved and the program was "accepted" by state government and the general public as never before. The Richardson Foundation made an additional grant of $100,000 and marked development occurred at several sites, especially through the completion and opening to the public of visitor center-museums. In cooperation with other state agencies a program of planning was developed, and an intradepartmental preliminary statewide plan was worked out. Forty-six new historical markers were erected. In Museums a large part of the total time and effort was devoted to planning for the move into the new building. Toward the end of the biennium one gallery after another was closed and the contents were packed and made ready for moving. The staff was reorganized into three sections. The 1967 General Assembly affirmed state ownership of sunken shipwrecks and artifacts in state waters and assigned to the department administrative responsibility in this field. Rules and regulations were approved by the Governor and Council of State and more than fifty permits were issued. The North Carolina Supreme Court upheld a New Hanover Superior Court decision supporting the department's program in this area. The Mobile Museum of History continued to carry exhibits to all parts of the state. In Publications there were two unique products : North Carolina in Maps, 1585-1896, and North Carolina Documents, 1584-1868, facsimiles respectively of fifteen important maps and thirteen significant documents. Receipts totaled $57,593, an increase of 15 percent over the previous biennium and of 225 percent over a decade ago. The North Carolina Historical Review and Carolina Comments were issued regularly, several documentaiy >• volumes and other materials were published, and many future publications were in various stages of preparation. In Colonial Records material for the second volume was completed and sent to the printer. Tryon Palace was toured by 63,595 persons, an increase of more than 4 percent over the previous biennium. During the 110^3 months the palace had been open, the number of visitors 4 Thirty -Second Biennial Report totaled 286,960 from all fifty states, the District of Columbia, Canal Zone, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, and eighty-eight foreign countries. The 1805 Stevenson House was opened to the public and the John Wright Stanly House (erected about 1780) was moved to the Tryon Palace complex. The National Trust for Historic Preservation awarded the Crowninshield Award to Mrs. John A. Kellenberger, chairman of the Tryon Palace Com-mission, for "superlative achievement" in the "preservation and interpretation of sites and buildings significant in American history and culture." DIVISION OF ARCHIVES AND MANUSCRIPTS H. G. JoxES. State Archivist Introduction' Notwithstanding problems associated with inadequate physical facilities—problems that will be partially eliminated upon occupa-tion of the new building within a few months—the past biennium was a highly productiye one for the Diyision of Archiyes and Manuscripts. Traditional programs were continued and strength-ened, and several new activities were entered upon. The 1967 General Assembly, though hardly liberal, gave material aid by providing for four new positions—an archi\ist in archives administration, a typist in the archives, a records management analyst in local records, and a janitor in state records. It also appropriated funds for continuing the Ci\il War roster project and for purchasing new equipment for the technical services units in the new building. Finally, $75,000 was appro-priated to alter and pro\ide shelving for the remainder of the first floor of the State Records Center. The staff strength of the division at the end of the biennium was equivalent to 56 full-time employees, as follows: Archives Administration, 5; Archives Section, 10; Local Records Section, 14; State Records Section, 17; Newspaper Microfilm Project, 2; Microfilm Processing Laboratory', 2; Document Restoration Labo-ratory, 3; and Roster Project, 3. The annual operating budget for the division was approximately $455,000. This is a substantial amount of money from the public till—perhaps more than is spent for archives and records management bv any other state—but the dividends are significant, as the reports of the various units will show. For too long North Carolinians neglected their documentary' heritage; but once they saw their error, they awoke to the need for the preservation and dissemination of their historv'. The support given the department in recent years by the Governor and the General Assembly indicates their intention of keeping North Carolina in the forefront in archival preservation and records management. This determination, reflected in the 6 Thirty -Second Biennial Report growing stature of the department in the life of the state, contributes greatly to the professional pride and good work of the staff. Organizationally, the division remains basically unchanged. The closely related but physically separated units are as follows: The State Archives is the final repository of all permanently valuable public records of the state and its subdivisions. In addition to the official records of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of state government and of counties and municipalities, the holdings include large and valuable collections of private manuscripts, account books, church records, organiza-tion and institution records, genealogical materials, maps, news-papers, and copies of historical materials in other repositories. Mr. C. F. W. Coker is assistant state archivist (archives). The Local Records Section gives advice and assistance to county and municipal governments in connection with the management of their records, inventories and schedules the records of local governments, transfers to the archives records no longer needed in local administration, and microfilms for security and research permanently valuable local records. Rear Admiral Alex M. Patterson, U.S.N. (Ret.), is assistant state archivist (local records). The State Records Section, located in the State Records Center at the corner of North McDowell and West Lane Streets, serves as the records management agency for state government and as the "funnel" through which state records are transferred to the State Archives. The staff gives advice and assistance to state agencies in connection with the creation, maintenance, transfer, and disposition of records, furnishes microfilm services to the agencies, administers a program of providing security for records essential to the operation of state government, and operates the State Records Center for the economical storage of records having low reference frequency. Mr. Thornton W. Mitchell is assistant state archivist (state records). The Newspaper Microfdming Project, headed by Mr. T. G. Britt and located in the basement of the Old YMCA Building, is responsible for locating, collating, and microfilming extant North Carolina newspapers and in maintaining a union list of original papers. The Civil War Roster Project, located in the National Archives, State Department of Archives and History 7 Washington, D.C., compiles service data on North Carohnians who served in the Civil War and edits and publishes volumes of North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865: A Roster. Dr. Louis H. Manarin is editor of the project. The Document Restoration Laboratory repairs and restores deteriorating manuscripts through the Barrow process of de-acidification and lamination and performs other duties connected with preventive maintenance of the records. Mr. J. Ray Hocutt is document restoration specialist. The Microfilm Processing Laboratory, located in the basement of the Old YMCA Building, processes all microfilm produced in the department, duplicates copies for departmental and public use, and gives technical advice and assistance to all filming units in the department. Mr. Donald E. Horton is photographer in charge of the laboratory. Reports of the individual units follow. Archives Section The two primaiy functions of the staff of the Archives Section are the rendering of assistance to researchers and the arrangement and description of records in the State Archives. An effort is made to divide these duties in such a manner as to balance immediate needs against long-range goals. Either assistance to researchers or arrangement and description of records and manuscripts could, of course, occupy the entire time of all members of the staff, but any undue emphasis on one function at the expense of the other would eventually result in the deterioration of the quality of both. Any significant increase in the number of researchers necessitates some shifting of staff functions in that direction, but the progress in the direction of arrangement and description—without which any amount of personal attention to the researcher is less than totally effective-has not been slowed. With the exception of the addition of a typist II position, there was no change in the effective strength of the staff in the last two years, although some additional assistance came in the form of temporary and part-time employees. The professional staff continues to consist of an assistant state archivist (archives) and seven archivists. The recent addition of a typist significantly relieved the archivists of time previously spent in the preparation 8 Thirty-Second Biennial Report of smooth copy, catalog cards, and filing, and this staff member is also responsible for photocopy bookkeeping and mailing. There was an increase of approximately 10 percent in the number of researchers who visited the Search Room and an increase of approximately 20 percent in the number of letters answered by the State Archives staff during the biennium.^ Registered visitors numbered 9,254, and while most of these were interested in genealogical research, many were students or teachers of histoiy. Institutions of higher learning from all over the world represented by these researchers numbered 67.2 Topics of research reflected a general coverage of North Carolina history, political science, and culture. ^ Researchers showed a remarkable interest in the history of Black Mountain College, and the records of the college in the State Archives attracted a variety of scholars. Professor Martin Duberman of Princeton University and an assistant spent several weeks here in 1967 doing research for a full history of Black Mountain College, and at least one other volume—a collection of essays edited by Mr. Michael M. H. L. Weaver of Cambridge University, England—is currently in progress. Mr. Coker and Miss Betsy R. Fleshman of the State Archives staff contributed a chapter on the records of the college and a list of faculty and students for inclusion in Mr. Weaver's book which is scheduled to be published by Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. Several master's and doctoral theses on more specialized aspects of the college's history are also currently in progress. Accessions of records and manuscripts numbered 560 during the biennium, as compared to approximately 600 in the 1964-1966 period.4 Among significant public records accessioned were general correspondence, 1965-1966, of Governor Dan K. Moore; original minutes and related records, 1889-1948, of the State Board of Health; original minutes, 1953-1965, of the Council of State; ten volumes of manuscript Laws of North Carolina, 1743-1774, and about thirty volunes of Cherokee Lands Survey Books, 1820-1837, from the Office of the Secretaiy of State; original minutes, 1934-1942, of the Eugenics Board; and original case files nos. 17,671-19,035 of the North Carolina Supreme • For statistics of visitors and correspondents, see Appendixes VIII and IX, pp. 151 and 152. 2 For a list if institutions, see Appendix XI, p. 156. 3 A selected list of topics of research is included as Appendix X, p. 153. ^A full list of accessions is included in Appendix VII, p. 108. State Department of Archives and History 9 Court. Accessions of county records are discussed in the report of the Local Records Section below. Important unofficial records and private manuscripts accessioned included general records, 1960-1965, of the North Carolina Liter-ary and Historical Association; general records, 1939-1967, of the North Carolina Society for the Preservation of Antiquities; general records, 1911-1966, of the North Carolina Public Health Association; general records, 1900-1967, of the Rex Hospital School of Nursing; the Charles Vann Papers, 1739-1880, relating to Hertford County, which were lent for microfilming bv Mr. F. Roy Johnson of Murfreesboro; a very large collection of Little, Mordecai, and Haywood family papers which were given by Mr. Burke Little of Raleigh; the James Heniy Harris Papers, 1850-1890, relating to the nineteenth -century Negro legislator of Raleigh, which were given by his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Gertrude Harris of Raleigh; the Willis Briggs Papers, given by Mr. W. Hal Trentman of Raleigh; and the Ruth Current Papers, given by Miss Jeanette Current of Cleveland, N.C. By the will of the late Clarence Poe, the department was bequeathed a large collection of papers, dating from about 1908 to about 1954, relating for the most part to Dr. Poe's work with the Progressive Farmer, the North Carolina Constitutional Commission, the Federal Advisory Board for Vocational Education, the North Carolina Hospital and Medical Care Commission, and the International Development Advisory Board. Work in arrangement and description by members of the staff included the preparation of detailed finding aids for many of the records accessioned during the biennium as well as others which had been received in earlier bienniums. Among finding aids prepared are those for the official records of Governor Moore and for the following private collections: Walter Clark Papers, Samuel A. Ashe Papers, C. B. Heller Collection, Alexander Brevard Papers, John Walker Papers, Charles Vann Papers, Robert D. Barbour Collection, Richard Singletary Papers, Alfred Mordecai Papers, Mrs. Marian Whitehurst Rawles Collection, John M. and Ruth Hodges Collection, Polk Papers, William Polk Papers, John L. Cantwell Papers, Joseph Roberson Papers, Hugh McDonald Papers, Mrs. R. P. Reece Collection, George Holland Collection, John Herritage Biyan Collection, Wynns Family Papers, Romulus A. Nunn Papers, Ruth Current Papers, Jonathan Worth Papers, Charles P. Bolles Papers, Francis C. Clewell Papers, John Steele Papers, Patterson and Fries Collections, Caleb Winslow and 10 Thirty-Second Biennial Report Although the ihw \iihi\es and Histoiy -State Libraiy Building will not provide all the space needed by the State Archives, it will be a great im-provement over present facilit'ies in the Education Building which the department has occupied since 1939. Shown at top are the tightly-packed stacks areas in the Education Building, and at bottom the crowded Search Room. Larger and better-designed stacks, workrooms, and public research areas in the new building will lead to both greater efficiency and more pleasant surroundings. State Department of Archives and History 11 Family Papers, Mrs. L. E. Lansdell Papers, Mary Gash and Family Papers, Sawyer Papers, Aaron Burtis Hunter Papers, Robert C. Mabiy Papers, Clarence Poe Papers, Nathaniel Macon Papers, William Hill Papers, Gales Papers, David S. Reid Papers, and Josiah Collins Papers. Revisions and corrections in numerous other finding aids were made where appropriate. Alphabetical lists or indexes to original wills of the following counties in the State Archives were completed: Anson, Forsyth, Franklin, Gates, Hyde, Johnston, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Robe-son, Rowan, Warren, and Wayne. Marriage bonds were arranged and abstracted for several counties. A checklist of manuscript copies of Laws of North Carolina, 1743-1774, a revised description of the Records of the Adjutant General, and calendars and autograph-subject cards for the papers of Governors Richard Dobbs Spaight, Jr., and Edward Bishop Dudley were completed. Several series of state agency records were rehabilitated by lamination and binding. Approximately 200 boxes of Legislative Papers, 10 volumes of manuscript journals of the General Assembly and Council, 20 volumes of Cherokee Survey Books, and 15 volumes of Secretary of State Land Entry Records were included among these, in addition to individual deteriorating documents found in the course of normal archives work. The Guide to Civil War Records in the North Carolina State Archives (128 pages) was published in 1966, and Archives Circular No. 2, North Carolina Census Records, 1787-1890 (16 pages), by Mrs. Ellen Z. McGrew, and No. 3, Records Relating to Tennessee in the North Carolina State Archives (8 pages), by Mr. C. F. W. Coker, were published in 1967 and 1968, respectively. Copy for another circular, on Civil War records, is being prepared. With the cooperation of Lieutenant Governor Robert W. Scott, the staff again in 1967 recorded the sessions of the State Senate. Additional funds to support the project were not obtained, however, and the future of the recording program is in doubt. A considerable amount of time was devoted to plans and prepa-rations for the move to the new building. Records on hand were surveyed for size and space requirements, and estimates were made of additions scheduled for transfer to the State Archives. The success or failure of this planning cannot be judged, of course, until the move has been completed, and unforeseen 12 Thirty -Second Biennial Report problems are likely to arise. Still, for all the space limitations which are anticipated in the new building, improved arrange-ments in space and better facilities for researchers as well as for the technical processes involved in the operations of the Archives Section are eagerly awaited. A large quantity of records previously transferred to the State Records Center because of lack of space in the present archives, together with many others that have been held in the center, will be transferred into the new archives areas. The fact that the new archives stacks will almost be filled within the first year or so will add incentive for seeking a new building for the State Libraiy so that the section can take over the stacks now assigned to that institution. It is expected that the new space can be more efficiently used, and certainly the improved air conditioning system will eliminate one of the most serious problems confronted during the past two decades. Local Records Section The responsibility for developing and administering a program of archival preservation and records management at all levels of local government is assigned to the Local Records Section. The staff of the section consists of thirteen full-time employees and one half-time employee, including the assistant state archivist (local records), one records management analyst I, one archivist II, four archivists I, two clerks IV, two clerks III, one clerk II, one clerk II (half-time), and one stenographer II. Two additional clerks II are assigned to the Document Restoration Laboratory which, for supervisory purposes, now operates in the Local Records Section. To date, special emphasis has been placed on the program of inventorying county records and of repairing as necessary and microfilming for security those local records in the counties classified as permanently valuable. As a result, it was not possible to devote as much attention to other phases of records manage-ment as they deserve. Within the limitations of available funds and staff, counties and municipalities were furnished limited advice and assistance in solving their problems relating to the creation, utilization, and preservation of public records, but much remains to be done in this area. As a rule counties are scheduled for the microfilm program in order of their establishment. Prior to microfilming the records of a county, section staff members conduct inventories of the records of each county office. Using the County Records Manuai State Department of Archives and History 13 1962, as a guide, the records inventoried are scheduled either for permanent preservation in the office in which the\- are located, for transfer to the State Archives, or for ultimate disposal. The inventories, with schedules, are ]:)reparcd in mimcogiaplied form, bound in loose-leaf binders, and distributed to all county officials concerned.^ The inventories and schedules serve a three-fold pmpose: (1) thev provide an up-to-date inventory of records of a county found in the State Archives and in each county office; (2) they furnish custodians a convenient and legal guide for the disposal of records of no further value; and (3) they indicate which records are included in the security microfilm program. Since julv 1, 1966, inventories were conducted and inventory -schedules prepared and distributed to officials of the following counties: Ashe, Lenoir, Macon, Person, Davidson, Greene, Washington, Columbus, Davie, Yancey, Harnett, Cherokee, Henderson, Dare, Stanly, Caldwell, Union, and Alexander. Microfilming was com-pleted in the first sixteen of these counties and is nearing completion in Union and Alexander counties. Two teams of two microfilm camera operators (microfilmers) each are emploxed in the securitv microfilm program. One team is assigned to the eastern half of the state and the other to the western half. When work begins in a county the members of one of these teams assist other staff members in conducting the inven-tory, upon the completion of which the two microfilmers set up their cameras in the courthouse and microfilm all records classified in the inventorv as permanentlv valuable. These include deeds and other land records, marriage records, indexes to births and deaths, armed forces discharges, court minutes and judgment dockets, wills and other records concerning settlements of estates, orders and decrees, special proceedings, records of corporations, selected tax records, minutes of the board of count)' commissioners and other boards, and man\' other records of permanent adminis-trative and historical value. All microfilming b\ staff members is done at state expense.^ While microfilming the records of a county, the staff continues the practice of filming as many permanently valuable municipal and church records in the area as possible. This practice provides security for the records and also insures the preservation of invaluable North Carolina historv. Records of ten municipalities ^ For statistical data on inventoiying county records, see Appendix XII, p. 157. *> For statistical data on microfilming, see Appendix XIII, p. 158. 14 Thirty-Second Biennial Report and eighty-six churches were microfilmed during the past two years 7 In eighteen counties the registers of deeds are currently microfilming their deeds and other land records and are using print-out (page) copies for record purposes. Hall and McChesney, Incorporated, Greensboro, which processes the film and prepares print-outs for these counties, transferred 202 negative microfilm reels of eleven counties to the department for security storage.^ The registers of deeds of Carteret and Rockingham counties installed the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company 35 mm. processor-camera system of aperture card recording. For security purposes they 'also microfilm all deeds on a 16 mm. rotary camera and the resulting roll film is mailed by the processor to the department for security storage. Work has been completed in 76 of the 100 counties and is nearing completion in Union and Alexander counties. Records have been inventoried and scheduled in all of these 78 counties. With vaiying degrees of assistance from the department, Alamance, Buncombe, Cleveland, Gaston, Guilford (not completed), and Mecklenburg have microfilmed their own records. Including microfilming by department personnel,^ by four of the six counties listed above, by counties using Hall and McChesney facilities, by clerks of superior court (referred to below), and by other county officials, 12,277 volumes and boxes of papers (6,110 reels) were microfilmed during the biennium. Extensive structural work in the Wilson and Franklin county courthouses necessitated the temporaiy removal of the clerks of superior court, registers of deeds, and certain other officials to other locations. Concern for the safety of records in these temporary locations prompted county officials to solicit the advice and assistance of the department. It was agreed that the best solution would be to microfilm all the permanently valuable records of recent origin which had accumulated since department microfilmers worked in those counties. At the request of officials concerned, the department furnished a camera and the necessaiy film to microfilm the records of the register of deeds of Wilson County and those of the register of deeds and clerk of superior court of Franklin County. The counties furnished camera operators to do the work. A section staff member trained the county ^ For records of municipalities and churches microfihned, see Appendix VII, pp. 121, 123. ^ For records received from Hall and McChesney, Inc., see Appendix XIII, p. 158. State Department of Archives and History 15 Pictured here are two of several aspects of the Local Records program. At top staff members are shown (background) proofreading reels of micro-film exposed in the various county courtliouses; in left foreground corrections are being spliced into the master negatives; and in right foreground reels are being labeled and placed in cartons. The negative copies are then trans-ferred to the specially -designed Security Vault in the new building. At bottom are shown volumes of deeds from the courthouses in Orange and ("raven counties. These much-used volumes have been disassembled, deacidified, laminated by the Barrow process, and rebound. They will be returned to New Bern and Hillsborough where they will be used for genera-tions to come. Duplicate microfilm copies of these and other permanently valuable county records are placed in the Archives Search Room for public use. J 6 Thirty-Second Biennial Report microfilmers and provided such other assistance as necessaiy. Work was completed in Wilson County in February and in Franklin County in May, 1968. The Alexander County courthouse was seriously damaged by fire on August 11, 1967, but fortunately most of the records escaped serious damage. Temporaiy repairs permitted the clerk of superior court and register of deeds to move back to the courthouse after being located briefly in the community center building. At the end of the period plans were being made to demolish the remains of the old courthouse and to construct a new one. This work will require the clerk and register to move once more into temporaiy quarters. In order to assist the county in disposing of obsolete material and to provide security for records of permanent value, the department began the in-ventorying, repairing, and microfilming of the county's records in June, 1968. Weekly, on Friday, section cameramen ship all film exposed during the week to the department's Microfilm Processing Laboratory. When processing has been completed master nega-tives are delivered to the section where they are carefully inspected. Microfilmers refilm any unsatisfactory portions and the resulting corrections are spliced into the original reels. Reel numbers are then assigned and perforated into the leader of each reel. The next step is the procurement for public use of microfilm copies of records of high research value. ^ Master negatives of copies required for research purposes are shipped to the Genealogical Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. Under terms of an agreement in effect since December, 1959, the society prepares one copy for the department, one for its own genealogical library, and one for storage in the underground vault near Salt Lake City. Most of the raw film used in the local records program is purchased from the society. These arrangements result in considerable financial savings to the state and provide added protection for the more valuable records by having copies stored in one of the most secure vaults in the world. The repair of old records in the counties continued to be perhaps the most highly appreciated part of the local records program. Upon completion of the inventory in a county, those ^ For data on reels inspected, spliced, and filed, see Appendix XIV, p. 160. State Department of Archives and History 17 records of permanent value in need of repair are transferred temporarily to the Document Restoration Laboratoiy where they are restored by the Barrow process of deacidification and lamination. Over 76,000 pages of county records were restored during the period. Under contract with the Heckman Bindeiy, Inc., North Manchester, Indiana, 212 volumes were rebound. Owing to the fact that work had been completed in the older counties repair work on county records had reached its peak and was leveling off. Restoration work is also done at state expense. ^° Countv officials continued to transfer to the department signifi-cant quantities of historically valuable records no longer required in the administration of their offices. Because newer counties with fewer records were involved, however, total quantities received were considerabh less than those received in the preceding biennium. Records totaling 579 bound volumes and 319.3 cubic feet of unbound materials were received from 25 counties as follows (the first parenthetical number refers to volumes and the second to cubic feet of unbound records): Ashe (6 and 2.4), Bertie (1 and 0), Caldwell (17 and 28.2), Carteret (0 and 10), Cherokee (18 and 16.5), Columbus (33 and 11.6), Currituck (8 and 0), Dare (5 and 14.9), Davidson (21 and 20.7), Davie (41 and 0), Durham (50 and 0), Greene (22 and 13.3), Harnett (7 and 1), Henderson (24 and 21), Lenoir (15 and 11.7), Lincoln (65 and 41.1), Macon (57 and 28.2), Orange (21 and 1.5), Person (17 and 2.2), Richmond (0 and 12.6), Stanly (92 and 16.5), Union (5 and 4), Washington (6 and 13.3), Wilson (26 and 48.6), and Yancey (21 and 0). The bound volumes were repaired as necessary, cataloged, and accessioned. There are now in the archives 5,370 volumes and 3,437 cubic feet of unbound records from the counties. ^^ The work of appraising, arranging, and describing original records of the counties proceeded at a somewhat accelerated pace. This work is performed exclusively by archivists (payroll title: archives and historv assistants) who must be college graduates with training in North Carolina history. Working with unbound records requires not only adequate education and training but also a great deal of patience and good judgment. During the period of this report work was completed on 449 volumes and 926 Fibredex boxes (0.4 cubic feet each) of unbound I*' For statistical data on records repaired, see Appendix XXI, p. 175. 11 For statistics on records received from the counties, see Appendix XII, p. 157. 18 Thirty-Second Biennial Report records, all of which were transferred to the archives for the use of the public. Worthy of special note were the large groups of records from Stokes (225 boxes), Surry (91 boxes), and Wilkes (162 boxes). At the end of the period work was in progress on records received from Martin, New Hanover, Northampton, and Orange counties. ^^ y^g archivists are required to spend a good portion of their time inspecting incoming microfilm. As a result, work on original records suffers and the large accumulation of unbound records awaiting attention continues to grow. The Judicial Department Act of 1965 created a new system of courts in North Carolina. In December, 1966, 22 counties came under the act of 1965, to be followed by 61 additional counties in December, 1968, and by the remaining seven in December, 1970. Perhaps the most significant aspect of the act was the creation of new district courts and the abolition of the many inferior courts which previously existed in the state. Under the act the clerk of superior court in each county is also responsible for the records of the district court. He must also assume custody of the mass of inferior court records which have accumulated through the years, most of which are of little or no value. Under the new system, clerks of court no longer record court actions and other public records in the traditional books. Incoming documents are microfilmed and flat-filed. One copy of the micro-film is forwarded to the department for security storage, and 446 reels have been received to date. At ages yet to be determined, original papers of permanent value will also be transferred to the department for preservation. A serious problem in most clerks' offices is that of space for current records. In order to provide some relief, clerks are encouraged to transfer to the department noncurrent records of historical value and to destroy those of no further use or value. Instructions were prepared jointly by the State Department of Archives and History and the Administrative Office of the Courts for the guidance of clerks in transferring or destroying obsolete records of inferior courts. It is obvious that the work load of the section will be greatly increased as a result of the act of 1965. Staff pei-sonnel assisted the city of Raleigh in setting up a records management program which has served as a model for several other municipalities. A microfilm system was installed 12 For statistics on county records received, appraised, and described, see Appendix XII, p. 157. State Department of Archives and History 19 and records were scheduled for permanent retention or ultimate disposal, thereby preventing the accumulation of large volumes of obsolete material in the future. The assistant state archivist (local records), on several occasions, spoke on the subject of records management to classes of municipal officials conducted by the Institute of Government. Local officials increasingly are being besieged by salesmen offering recording, indexing, and data retrieval devices, as well as other products of a rapidly developing technology, all of which, according to sales claims, provide guaranteed solutions to records problems. As a result, officials are often in a quandary as to the advisability of spending large sums of money for equipment which may soon become obsolete or which may not serve their purpose in the first place. Faced with the statutory requirement that it furnish advice and assistance in these areas, the department is making an effort to keep abreast of new developments in order to render greater service. As a step in this direction, a records management analyst I was added to the staff with the primary duty of assisting local government officials in their current records management problems. The assistant state archivist (local records) and other staff members continued the practice of attending conventions of the various associations of local government personnel. At such meetings advantage of every opportunity is taken to discuss, formally and informally, local records problems. In addition, staff members made 107 visits to counties to discuss records matters with county officials. These activities serve to make county officials aware of the facilities and services available in the department and, perhaps most important of all, they help create a feeling of mutual understanding and respect, all of which contribute to the success of the local records program. Since its creation in 1959, the accomplishments of the Local Records Section can be viewed with justifiable pride. The fact remains, however, that the section is falling behind, especially in arranging and describing original records. Approximately 2,000 cubic feet of unbound records remain to be worked and the backlog is steadily growing. Major handicaps in the past have been the lack of working space and the shortage of professional staff. The space problem will be alleviated, at least temporarily, with the move into the new building. The problem of staff 20 Thirty-Second Biennial Report remains, however, and until additional staff members are pro-vided, the section will continue to be faced with heavy backlogs of records awaiting arrangement and description. The increase in the amount of microfilm to be received for security storage, under provision of the new court act, will add further strain upon the section. State Records Section Work of the State Records Section centered in programs to revise all records retention and disposition schedules completed prior to 1961, to develop and install new and revised files patterns and filing systems, to handle the significant increase in all aspects of the work of the State Records Center, and to concentrate on making security copies of essential operating records. The staflF of the section comprises the assistant state archivist (state records), two records management analysts I, three archivists II, one stenographer II, two clerical unit supervisors I, two clerks III, four clerks II, one clerk I, and one janitor. After the records of all state agencies were brought under disposition control during the previous biennium, a planned program was started to revise and update all schedules prepared prior to 1961. Priority lists were prepared so that schedules most in need of revision could be worked on first. Some schedules had been amended many times—in some instances, amendments had been amended—and, obviously, the schedules that were most difficult to administer were high on the list to be revised. The problems that were encountered, further, caused the re-visions to be done with great care and required considerably more time than the earlier versions. Nine schedules were approved during the biennium of which five were revisions of earlier versions. In addition, schedules for eighteen agencies were amended.^^ Several of the schedule amendments were, in effect, major revisions of existing schedules. A reorganization in the Markets Division, Department of Agriculture, made its existing disposal authorization obsolete; a complete new schedule for this division was required. An amendment that added disposal authorization for the Cashier's Office to the Dorothea Dix Hospital schedule '3 See Appendix XV, p. 161, for a list of agencies whose records were scheduled. State Department of Archives and History 21 was also completed—nearly four years after it was started. In the latter case, the disposition of patient financial records was involved in decisions concerning patients' medical records and action was deferred for more than three years by mutual consent. The State Board of Health schedule was amended to change retention periods for Central Files records; this project began as a feasibility study of specialized filing equipment requisitioned by the State Board of Health. A count of Central Files reference activity assisted in revising retention periods, and a careful review of administrative needs of the agency made it possible to shorten retention periods materially. A reorganization of the State Department of Public Welfare required the rearrangement of its schedule and the addition of sections representing new functions and new records. The standard for the disposition of personnel records prepared as the result of a cooperative study by the State Personnel De-partment and the State Department of Archives and History was approved and issued by the former with the recommendation that it be followed in disposing of agency personnel records. After several years' work, an agreement was reached with the Department of Mental Health on the disposition of patient medical records at the mental hospitals. On July 1, 1967, a new patient medical record system went into effect; agreement on the disposition of the "new" records was easily reached but a decision on the older records was more difficult. All of the hospitals were visited and their records examined. A mutually satisfactory agreement was reached in August, 1967, and material relating to identification, dates of admission and discharge, type of commitment, diagnosis, and a discharge summary, when available, for patients who were dead or discharged more than five years, was scheduled to begin coming into the State Records Center in mid- 1968. The volume of state records on hand grew from 160,840 cubic feet on July 1, 1966, to 180,139 cubic feet on June 30, 1968, an increase of 10.6 percent. Of even greater significance, however, was the fact that 46,384 cubic feet or 25.7 percent of the records in state agencies and institutions on June 30, 1968, had been created after July 1, 1966, and had not been in existence when the biennium began. This growth in state records brought an increasing concern about paper work from all sources. On September 20, 1967, following receipt of the summary report of 22 Thirty-Second Biennial Report records holdings as of the previous June 30, Governor Dan Moore informed all agency heads that in his opinion "too many records are made, filed, and kept." He asked all agencies to strive for the more efficient and economical management of their records. The Governor's memorandum, coupled with an increasing awareness by state agencies of their own records problems, resulted in the records management analysts spending a great deal of time in studying and installing files and records systems and in conducting paper-work procedural studies. Several major subject correspondence files were studied and completely revised. Of these, the most significant was the complete reorganization of the subject files in the Governor's Office. A patchwork records system first de\'ised during the administra-tion of Governor J. Melville Broughton (i94i-i945) meant that the files were difficult to use, and overlapping and duplicating headings led to the fragmentation of important subject matter. A thorough study of the manner in which the files were both cre-ated and used led to a revised system which separated the file into several major components: state agencies, federal agencies, insti-tutions, counties, other states, associations and organizations, and a miscellaneous grouping consisting of broad subjective classifi-cations. In addition, an extensive visible index was prepared, indicating where in these various segments material relating to a particular subject was filed. After eighteen full months ofoperation, the system proved flexible enough to permit additions and changes without requiring a major rearrangement. Similar file systems were developed for the Office of the Director of Administration and for the Budget Division, Depart-ment ofAdministration. The Budget Division files were complicated by the fact that a great deal of policy material was filed and lost in the so-called Appropriations File for lack of a better place to put it. Project files in the Property Control and Construction Division, Department of Administration, were reorganized into a system that roughly paralleled the revised subject files elsewhere in the department. A subject file was established for the Governor's Coordinating Committee on Highway Safety which was created by the 1967 General Assembly. Several major installations of records systems were also com-pleted. The Probation-Prison-Parole combined records system State Department of Archives and History 23 mentioned in the 1964-1966 biennial report was completed after fifteen months of close supervision. Basically this system merged the custodial files of the Department of Correction and the Board of Paroles into a single multi-part folder. If the inmate entered the prison system as the result of revocation of probation, his Probation Commission folder preceded the custodial file; and the documentation relating to his supervision while on parole status followed it. Thus the complete record of an inmate was in a single svstem. The files were arranged by a fifteen-digit alpha-meric number that placed them in alphabetical and numerical order simultaneously; the number identified first and last name, race and sex, month and year of birth, and North Carolina county of birth. Use of the alphamericiuumbering system was the kev to automating the inmate card record which made identical infor-mation available in the Department of Correction, the Board of Paroles, and the Correction Complex and Unit. Several months after the completion of the installation of the combined records system, a supplementary study of the documen-tation comprising the custodial and supervision segments of the combined file was begun. All of the forms and records in the file created both in the Board of Paroles and the Department of Correction were analyzed and traced. The number of copies of several forms was reduced and in some instances additional forms were found to be necessary. Many of the forms were redesigned, and as new supplies were ordered the revised forms were printed. As the result of the documentation study, there was a careful analysis of the contents of the custodial and supervision portions of the combined record and a corresponding improvement in the quality of the file. The record system used by the Vocational Rehabilitation Division, Department of Public InstRiction, was changed following participation in a "crash" program to put the payment of invoices on a current basis. Each invoice was matched against an authorization which was batch-filed alphabetically in groups of from 500 to 1,000 documents. To locate a particular authoriza-tion, it was necessary to search the entire batch. Although the backlog of unpaid invoices was largelv eliminated, it was obvious that a record system that would reduce the search and matching time was essential. A terminal digit system was devised, using the last three digits of the "VR" number—a consecutive number assigned to each case. Installation of the system eliminated many 24 Thirty -Second Biennial Report outdated and duplicate authorizations and now permits processing of the invoice on the same day it is received. As an offshoot of the College and University Records Retention and Disposition Schedule issued by the department in 1964, work began in April, 1967, on records systems of the community colleges, technical institutions, and industrial education centers that comprise the North Carolina community college system. The records of six representative institutions were examined in detail and samples of all local forms were collected from each institution. As the result of this study, a records disposition standard was developed for use throughout the community colleges system and a filing pattern for use with subject-type material was devised. In addition, student personnel records were studied in detail and a proposed records system, including forms for use with it, was designed. Progress was also made in designing new forms for use in the requisitioning and ordering procedure, and a record system for the procurement of state-furnished equipment was suggested. As the biennium ended, various phases of the community colleges records project were awaiting review and approval by the Department of Community Colleges and the State Board of Education. Throughout the biennium, the number of requests for study and review of paper-work procedures increased. In the State Board of Health, the procedures bv which the Film Libraiy issued and received training films were reviewed and recom-mendations were made for reducing the amount of paper work. The Crippled Children and Chronic Disease Sections of the Personal Health Division, State Board of Health, were also examined and simplified procedures recommended. In connection with an equipment request, procedures of the Boiler Bureau, Department of Labor, were reviewed. A manual system that could not keep up with an increased work load was in use; although some improvements could have been made, the existing system was sufficiently outdated that the work of the bureau would have gotten further and further behind. Automation of the bureau's procedures and conversion to computer operation were recommended; not only would the work be conducted on a current basis but data would be readily available for the effective administration of the boiler inspection laws in the state. In addition, automation would make three clerical positions available for other purposes, although anv savings resulting State Department of Archives and History 25 therefrom would be partially offset by the cost of computer operations. The records management analysts also participated in proce-dural studies in the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System. Several special studies were made, with those on mail handling and telephone usage having the greatest effect. In connection with the switchover from disk-pak to tape processing on a computer and the storage of additional retirement information in the computer file, special areas were examined to verify or to eliminate problems believed to exist. In addition, the retirement files were converted to shelf filing and the filing mechanics were improved. A procedural study showing the origin, distribution, and disposition of all records created or handled by the Planning and Research Department, State Highway Commission, was also completed. At the end of the biennium, a special project was in process to determine whether the records maintained by the Finance Department, State Highway Commission, could be reorganized and revised so that the retention requirements of the Bureau of Public Roads could be followed without requiring the simultane-ous retention of vast quanitities of records in which the bureau has no interest. Although the need of the Bureau of Public Roads for records to permit it to audit expenditures of federal funds is evident, the problem which has been imposed on the State Highway Commission (and indirectly on the Department of Archives and History) is three-fold: first, the flow of paper work in the State Highway Commission is such that it is virtually impossible to distinguish a federal aid document (in which the Bureau of Public Roads is interested) from a nonfederal aid document (in which it is not); second, many of the documents and much of the paper work that is required to be kept cannot be separated into federal aid and nonfederal aid parts because it contains no such identification; and third, the bureau requires, for audit purposes, the retention of not only the source documents but also the punched cards (computer input), print-outs, and magnetic tapes. Several meetings with Bureau of Public Roads representatives and with State Highway Commission staff mem-bers have emphasized the problems but have not relieved the State Highway Commission and the Department of Archives and History from the responsibility of maintaining large quantities of records far longer than the administrative and research needs 26 Thirty-Second Biennial Report of the state of North Carohna require. The task of developing Hsts of essential operating records was completed for all state agencies, and lists were formalized into Memorandums of Understanding approved by the head of the agency concerned and by the director of the Department of Archives and History. ^'^ Each of the Memorandums of Under-standing listed the title of the essential records and described it in some detail, the manner of protection, and—in case of protection by dispersion—the location of the security copy. The program developed on the assumption that the greatest danger to state records was a local disaster such as a fire. It was, then, built around the question: What is needed to get back into business if your offices burn completely some night? In most cases, the volume of essential operating records was surprisingly small and many of them were already protected by existing dispersion. To assist in administering the program as the first phase was finished, a records management handbook. Protecting Essential Operating Records, was issued in June, 1967. As pressure for office space increased and as the services that the section offered became increasingly well known, the work load of the State Records Center increased in every respect. In all, 19,569 cubic feet of records were received from 51 state agencies in 1,060 separate accessioning transactions. At the same time, the Records Center disposed of 11,114 cubic feet of records, virtually all of them in accordance with the provisions of approved records retention and disposition schedules. All records holdings of the center are under disposition control, and they are purged of disposable material when it becomes eligible for destruction. There was a net increase of 8,454 cubic feet during the biennium, raising the total holdings of the center to 52,246 cubic feet.^^ The State Records Center thus houses in low-cost, controlled storage the equivalent of the contents of 8,163 four-drawer file cabinets that would otherwise have occupied 57,000 square feet of space in already congested state offices. While the new accessions increased, the number of reference services continued to move sharply upward. More than 161,000 reference services were performed for 45 state agencies and boards, of which 69,500 documents or items of information were ^* See Appendix XV, p. 173, Thirty-First Biennial Report, for a list of agencies with approved Memorandums of Understanding. '^ See Appendix XVI, p. 162, for statistics on state records. State Department of Archives and History 27 The capacity of the State Records Center (top) will be reached during the coming biennium. At bottom are shown large quantities of noncurrent records of state agencies that are stored on the floor pending erection of additional shelving late in 1968. Even with this increase in shelving, a new or expanded building will be required within two years. 28 Thirty-Second Biennial Report furnished and 92,150 items were refiled and interfiled. ^^ The records of the Department of Revenue continued to be used most frequently, although the records of the Department of Motor Vehicles, Employment Security Commission, Department of Correction, State Board of Education, and Adjutant General's Department were frequently referred to. There were also 465 visitors to the State Records Center to consult records. Of these, 339 were from 29 state agencies; 25 were from 6 federal agencies; and 101 were from 3 private agencies. During the biennium i()5 tons of mixed paper and 15 tons of punched cards were sold as wastepaper as the result of disposal activities, with total receipts of $759. The most pressing and urgent needs of the State Records Center continue to be space and personnel. Since the capacity of the center as presently equipped is 48,137 cubic feet of records and the total holdings are 52,246 cubic feet, it can readily be seen that the Records Center has 4,109 cubic feet of records over its capacity. The 1967 General Assembly appropriated $75,000 to renovate the Records Center building and to shelve the remainder of the first floor, and work is expected to begin as soon as the Divisions of Historic Sites, Museums, and Publications vacate the portion of the building they now occupy. Even so, at the present rate of growth, it is estimated that the building will be entirely filled with records by the end of the next biennium. As a consequence, the 1969 General Assembly will be asked to provide a new building to house approximately 142,000 cubic feet of records. The records center function continues to be understaffed, operating with one part-time and two full-time employees. Each person working in the operation is responsible for administering (accessioning, servicing, disposing) 23,220 cubic feet of records, more than twice the standard used by the National Archives and Records Service in staffing the federal records centers. Eveiy effort is made to keep reference services current, although the heavy load of refiles and interfiles in some agencies has back-logged, and it is no longer possible in all cases to send documents to using agencies the same day they are requested. It is frequently necessary to detail personnel to the records storage operation from other functions of the State Records Section. The Microfilm Project microfilmed the records of 28 state ^8 See Appendix XVII, p. 165, for reference statistics. State Department of Archives and History 29 agencies either to conserve space or to provide security copies. In all, 5,501,727 images were filmed on 3,606 reels of negative microfilm, and 275 reels of positive microfilm were checked. In addition, 819 reels of checks and ledger sheets microfilmed by the State Treasurer's Office were proofread by the section. With completion of the initial phase of the essential records protection program, an increasing amount of the work of the Microfilm Project centered on the preparation of preservation duplicates by microfilm. ^^ Microfilming of original birth certificates, 1913-1945, of the State Board of Health was completed, and the negative microfilm copies of birth certificates, 1946-1959, made previously for the federal government were reviewed, properly identified, and labeled. Corporation charters, 1957-1967, in the Office of the Secretaiy of State were filmed to provide a security copy as were current history cards of the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System. Microfilming of the original cases of the Supreme Court continued, and many other series of records were microfilmed in accordance with approved Memorandums of Understanding for the protection of essential records. A review of all film on hand was completed, and as a result approximately 1,500 reels were destroyed. The film disposed of consisted of temporary security copies that were superseded by a later filming, or of older film of records subsequently authorized for disposal. In several instances film was retained, even though the records could be disposed of, because it had already been made and could possibly be of some research interest in the future. The permanent film was identified; it will be moved to security storage in the vault of the Archives and History-State Library Building. Some film, consisting of use copies and temporary security copies, will remain in the microfilm area of the State Records Center. It is probable that the state records program will continue to grow and to diversify. The scheduling project will continue, although the records retention and disposition schedules that are now produced are prepared with increasing care. More and more time will be required for the development and installation of records and paper-work systems. The work load in the State Records Center will increase. And there is no end in sight for the microfilming of state records for security and economy. With additional space in the coming biennium, all of these activities will be greatly benefited. " For state records microfilming statistics, see Appendix XVIII, p. 166. 30 Thirty-Second Biennial Report Newspaper Microfilming Project Newspapers are a valuable source for research. Yet newsprint is one of the most perishable recording mediums. Extant copies of early newspapers are scattered throughout the nation, and the inferior paper used in post-Civil War newspapers has resulted in the rapid deterioration of more recent issues. Furthermore, the bulk of modern newspapers is such that libraries cannot continue to retain indefinitely these papers in their original form. In recognition of the need for making available to researchers all known issues of North Carolina newspapers, the division in 1959 established by special appropriation its Newspaper Micro-filming Project. In nine years approximately 1,500 reels of newspapers, containing all known titles published from 1751 to 1900—and many after the latter date-—have been filmed and made available to researchers. During this biennium alone 602 reels were released, including the following: Fayetteville Observer (weekly, 1816-1819, 1823-1865, 1883-1900, 22 reels; semiweekly, 1851-1865, 13 reels; and daily, 1896-1900, 10 reels); Greensboro Evening Telegram (daily, 1897-1911, 16 reels); Greenville Daily News (daily, 1917-1921, 18 reels); Hendersonville French Broad Hustler (weekly and semiweekly, 1905-1918, 12 reels); Norlina Headlight (weekly, 1914-1940, 17 reels); Pinehurst Outlook (weekly, 1897-1961, 32 reels); Raleigh Union Herald (weekly, 1919-1944, 24 reels); Wilmington Carolina Farmer and Morning Star (weekly, 1869-1905, 12 reels); and Wilmington Morning Star (daily, 1867-1900, 67 reels). Continuations of titles previously filmed to 1900 included the Greensboro Patriot to 1947, 71 reels; Hillsborough Orange County Observer to 1916, 4 reels; and Salisbury Carolina Watchman to 1937, 9 reels. Several previous microfilm editions were refilmed because of the discovery of a significant number of additional issues or because the initial filming was unsatisfactory. These included the Fayetteville Eagle (weekly, 1868-1875, semiweekly, 1868-1873, and daily, 1872, 3 reels); Fayetteville NortJi Carolinian (weekly, 1839-1864, and daily, 1859-1864, 7 reels); New Bern Carolina Centinel (weekly, 1818-1837, 5 reels); Winston-Salem People's Press (weekly, 1851-1892, 15 reels); Raleigh Register (weekly, 1799-1868, 1877-1878, 1884-1886, 22 reels; and semiweekly, 1823- 1830, 1840-1864, 1867-1868, 27 reels); Raleigh Sentinel (weekly, 1866-1876, 2 reels; semiweekly, 1866-1877, 2 reels; and daily, State Department of Archives and History 31 1865-1876, 12 reels); and the Raleigh North Carolina Standard (weekly, 1834-1870, 12 reels; semiweekly, 1850-1865, triweekly, 1866-1868, 15 reels; and daily, 1865-1870, 7 reels). A complete list of titles released during the biennium is found in Appendix XIX. ^^ Titles previously filmed may be found in H. G. Jones and Julius H. Avant (eds.), North Carolina News-papers on Microfilm (1965), and in Appendix XXII of the 1964- 1966 biennial report. Work continued on the preparation of a card file listing all newspapers published since 1900. It is hoped that a companion to the Union of North Carolina Newspapers, 1751-1900, published in 1963, can be issued within the next few years so that the location of newspapers through 1950 will be known. Civil War Roster Project Volume I (Artillery) of North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865: A Roster was published at the end of the previous biennium. Research for subsequent volumes had already begun, but because of budgetary restrictions, the staff had to be reduced and the editor. Dr. Louis H. Manarin, accepted a position with the National Archives in August, 1966. He was able nevertheless to continue his supervision over the roster staff which for the follow-ing twelve months consisted of Mrs. Manarin and part-time workers. During that period information continued to be compiled on men who served in the Confederate States Navy, the United States Volunteers, the general and special staff positions, and the first three regiments of infantry. The General Assembly in 1967 appropriated funds sufficient to continue the project at its previous staff strength, and Dr. Manarin returned to state service in August. Work was then begun on the manuscript for Volume II (Cavalry) and the copy for the first two regiments was delivered to the North Carolina State University Print Shop on November 27. At the end of the biennium most of the volume was in galley proof and its publication was expected in the fall. Meanwhile Mrs. Manarin went on half-time duty. She continued to summarize and dictate the individual service records of the infantry troops on file in the National Archives; a part-time 18 See below, p. 168. 32 Thirty-Second Biennial Report assistant, Mrs. Patsy Vogel, transcribed them, after which they were checked and filed by Mrs. Essel Parker, a longtime employee of the project. The editor prepared the manuscript, and all members of the staff assisted in the proofreading. Research continued on the third volume which is scheduled for publication in December, 1969. Volume III will include infan-try units from the 1st Battalion of North Carolina Shaipshooters to the 4th Regiment of North Carolina State Troops (in all, nine major units). Research in major printed sources was completed on all of the units and information was extracted from the files in the National Archives through the 3rd Regiment. When the department occupies its new building, the Roster Project staff will move to Raleigh. Microfilm copies of pertinent records in the National Archives have been obtained, and these, coupled with other sources available in the state, will permit the continuation of the project without interruption. The Department of Archives and History is much indebted to Doctors Wayne C. Grover, Robert H. Bahmer, and J. Berton Rhoads, the last three archivists of the United States, for providing facilities for the Roster Project in the National Archives Building during the past several years. Microfilm Processing Laboratory Processed microfilm totaled 14,860 reels amounting to 1,434,555 linear feet, as follows: 3,516 reels (343,045 feet) of 16 mm. negatives; 5,740 reels (559,600 feet) of 35 mm. negatives; 279 reels (27,450 feet) of 16 mm. duplicates; and 5,325 reels (504,460 feet) of 35 mm. duplicates. i^ Since the processing equipment was installed in 1961, 39,444 reels totaling 3,845,257 feet have been produced. The laboratory has continued to occupy space in the basement in the Old YMCA Building, but the new building to be occupied soon will afford adequate facilities. Traditionally, positive microfilm has been used in the Search Room. This has posed a problem because there is not yet on the market a reader-printer which makes good paper enlargements from positive film. A solution was found during the biennium when a direct duplicating film became available. Now duplicate negative film is prepared for Search Room use. Unfortunately some researchers, not experienced in reading microfilm, find '^ For quarterly statistics on microfilm processing, see Appendix XX, p. 174. State Department of Archives and History 33 difficulty in accustoming themselves to reading the negative film. The greatly improved quality of positive prints from negative film, however, more than compensates for this handicap. Document Restoration Laboratory The Document Restoration Laboratory deacidified and lami-nated by the Barrow process 187,957 pages of deteriorating papers. Of these, 76,019 pages were county records, 88,622 pages were noncounty materials in the archives, and 23,316 pages were private materials laminated for individuals and institutions for a fee.20 Experiments, with promising results, were conducted in the deacidification of papers by means of vapors from cyclohex-ylamine carbonate. William J. Barrow of Richmond, Virginia, the builder of the department's roller-type laminating equipment—the department has the twelfth machine of its type ever made—died on August 25, 1967. Barrow had continued to assist and advise the document restoration staff, and his death is a loss to the archival profession in general and to this department in particular. Professional Personnel and Their Activities The State Personnel Department restudied the professional positions in the division and revised upward the pay grades effective October 1, 1967. For payroll purposes the classification of archives and history assistant was substituted for the former title of archivist and the title of the state archivist's position was changed to archives and records administrator. Records manage-ment consultants became records management analysts .^i Salary grade increases ranged from one to four steps, or from about 5 percent to about 20 percent. These overdue revisions, coupled with a 6 percent legislative increase in 1967, enabled the division to raise the usual academic requirements for most professional positions to a master's degree or its equivalent. Thus, while archival and records management salaries in North Carolina remain below the national average, the division is in a much better position than has been the case for several years. And, while several outstanding employees were lost, capable replace-ments were obtained. Furthermore, the divisional requirement 20 For quarterly statistics on document restoration, see Appendix XXI, p. 175. 21 These new payroll titles are reflected below in Appendix V, p. 100. 34 Thirty -Second Biennial Report that most professional personnel, if they had not already done so, take a course in North Carolina history following their employ-ment, increased the usefulness of the staff members. Mrs. Betty H. Carter, Mrs. Ellen Z. McGrew, and Miss Betty Yarbrough completed courses during the biennium. Another requirement is that new employees take the graduate courses in archival administration given by the division head through North Carolina State University. These courses brought encouraging results. During the biennium, six employees—Mrs. Ruby Arnold, Mr. Julius H. Avant, Miss Betsy R. Fleshman, Miss Mildred I. Holt, Mr. M. Kramer Jackson, and Mr. Donald R. Lennon—completed both semesters of the course, which is offered in conjunction with the master's program at NCSU. Two others—Mrs. Betty H. Carter and Miss Kathryn S. Pruitt— completed the introductory semester. Others taking one or both courses were as follows: 1966-1967—Messrs. Steven Bradford, Barney R. Carroll, Jr., Robert Lowery, and William E. White III, all students at NCSU, and Mr. Maurice S. Toler, university archivist at NCSU; and 1967-1968—Messrs. Steven Hughes, Gregory L. Knott, and Harry L. Stanfield, graduate students at NCSU; Mr. David T. Bevan and Mrs. Marcia H. McGukin, graduate students in the School of Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Miss Lynn Dodge, senior at Meredith College. Certificates of completion were conferred upon the past year's participants at a dinner on May 15 at which Dr. Everett O. Alldredge, assistant archivist of the United States, spoke. Several staff members are continuing their education by taking graduate and special courses in the local university. By scheduling night courses, it is now possible for a full-time state employee to complete work for the master's degree in history in two calendar years. The division continues to watch with mixed emotions as some of its outstanding employees are called to fill archival positions in other institutions. In 1967 Mr. Donald R. Lennon became manuscript curator at East Carolina University and Mr. James O. Hall was appointed archivist in the Federal Records Center, East Point, Georgia. Other recent "graduates" of the Division of Archives and Manuscripts now holding responsible position in other institutions include Mr. Toler, mentioned above; Mr. Connis O. Brown, public records examiner in the Maryland Hall of State Department of Archives and History 35 "Records; and Mr. John R. Woodard, director of the Baptist Collection at Wake Forest University. Various staff members were active in professional organizations and in historical activities in general. Dr. H. G. Jones, state archivist, served as treasurer of the Society of American Archivists until 1967 when he was elected vice-president. He will auto-matically succeed to the presidency in Ottawa in October, 1968, thus becoming the fourth North Carolinian to head the organiza-tion, following in the footsteps of R. D. W. Connor, A. R. Newsome, and Dr. Christopher Crittenden. Dr. Jones' book. For History's Sake, won the Waldo Gifford Leland Prize for the best American book on archival history, theory, and practice published in 1966.^2 In the same year he was given a leave of absence to conduct a study of and prepare recommendations for the California State Archives in Sacramento. He also served as a consultant with the Florida Governmental Organization and Efficiency Committee and assisted in the writing of legislation establishing the Board of Archives and History in that state. In 1967 he was appointed a representative of the Society of American Archivists on the Joint Committee on the Status of the National Archives of which he was elected secretary. He then was given leave to conduct, for the American Historical Association, the Organization ofAmerican Historians, and the Society of American Archivists, a study of the National Archives and Records Service. The resulting manu-script, "The Records of a Nation: Their Management, Preservation, and Use," will be published by Atheneum Publishers early in 1969. Finally, he was given leave early in 1968 to conduct a study of and to prepare a report of recommendations on the archival, publications, and records management programs of the Virginia State Library. During the biennium he attended all meetings of the council of the Society of American Archivists and read papers at the society's annual meetings on "Archival Training in American Universities, 1936-1966," in Atlanta in 1966, and on "Archival Handling of Published Materials" in Santa Fe in 1967. He also attended the annual meetings of the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, and the Southern Historical Association. His other activities included attendance at the Conference on Quantitative Data in Early American History at Williamsburg, Virginia, in November, 1967; an address before the North Carolina Association of Regis- 22 For a bibliography of all books and articles by members of the staff, see Appendix VI, p. 105. 36 Thirty -Second Biennial Report ters of Deeds at Asheville in June, 1968; and a variety of talks before school, historical, and civic groups. He was named "Tar Heel of the Week" by the Raleigh News and Observer on Decem-ber 10, 1967. Mr. C. F. W. Coker, assistant state archivist (archives), attended the annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists in Atlanta in 1966; and in June, 1967, he was on leave for the purpose of assisting the Marine Corps Museum, Quantico, Virginia, in the arrangement and description of private papers. Mr. Thornton W. Mitchell, assistant state archivist (state records), attended the annual meeting of the SAA in Atlanta in 1966 and Santa Fe in 1967. He served as chairman of the society's Records Management, Washington, D.C., December, 1967. the committee's workshop in Santa Fe, and spoke on "Records Retention Scheduling" at the American University Institute on Records Management, Washington, D.C., December, 1967. Rear Admiral A. M. Patterson, assistant state archivist (local records), attended the SAA meeting in Atlanta in 1966. He addressed the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, Philadelphia, January, 1967, on "North Carolina's Experience and Accomplishments in the Improvement of Public Records. " He continued to attend the meetings of the various associations of North Carolina local officials and frequently appeared on their programs. Dr. Louis H. Manarin, editor of the Roster Project, was appointed a Fellow of the Company of Military Historians in 1967, and the following year he was elected secretary of the American Military Institute. He gave several talks relative to the roster and to the Civil War. Mr. Donald E. Horton, photographer II, attended the annual meetings of the National Microfilm Association and completed a course in advanced photography through the School of Modern Photography. In May, 1967, nine members of the staff attended the Tri-State Archives and Records Conference in Columbia, South Carolina: Dr. Jones, Mr. Coker, Mr. Mitchell, Mrs. Bessie W. Bowling, Mrs. Rebecca K. Clegg, and Messrs. James O. Hall, James A. Hardee, J. R. Hocutt, Donald E. Horton, and Bobby J. Holleman. Dr. Jones, Mr. Mitchell, Mrs. Bowling, and Mr. Hall read papers. In March, 1968, the state archivist, the three section State Department of Archives and History 37 heads, and Mr. Frank D. Gatton attended in Atlanta a Symposium on Automation and Its Effect on Archives and Research in His-toiy and the Social Sciences. During the past three summers the Division of Archives and Manuscripts made effective use of college students qualifying for employment under the Program for Assuring College Education (PACE). These students worked from ten to twelve weeks each on special projects such as arranging and indexing newspaper clippings, preparing materials for microfilming, and splicing film. Ninety percent of their hourly wages was provided by the federal government. The following students participated: 1966— Mr. Barney R. Carroll (Archives); 1967—Messrs. Marc M. Caplan and Robert Howard (Archives) and Misses Janie Battle and Dolores Hall (State Records); 1968—Mr. David South (Archives), Miss Brenda Sue Morgan (Local Records), and Misses Dolores Hall and Diane Payne (State Records). Two North Carolina State University graduate students—Messrs. Harry L. Stanfield and H. Steven Hughes—were part-time interns during the 1967- 1968 academic year. Archivists and records management officials from other states and nations continued to visit the division to observe its programs. Among them were the following: Mr. Gerald S. Eigen, senior archivist, Massachusetts Executive Office for Administration and Finance, on June 17, 1966 (not included in last report); Mr. Robert Johnson, records management officer, Wisconsin Department of Administration, August 1-5, 1966; Mr. Keng Aun Loh, archivist of the Federation of Malaysia, September 29-30, 1966; Mr. Loring Lovill, research assistant, Florida Secretary of State, October 12, 1966; Mrs. Cleo Hughes, archivist, Tennessee State Archives, November, 1966; Mr. Kenneth Brock, records management analyst, New York Division of Archives and Manuscripts, March 13-24, 1967; Archivist Iredale, of North Riding, Yorkshire, England, in May, 1968; and Dr. James B. Rhoads, archivist of the United States, on June 21, 1968. Delegations from South Carolina's Department of Archives and History and General Services Division visited on three occasions: in October, 1966, in June, 1967, and in March, 1968. Included in one or more of these trips were Messrs. Harold W. Perry, William Coleman, Leslie M. Teel, Ray Stoudemire, Daniel R. Pipes, and Fred Browder. Mr. Robert Williams, director of the Florida Board of Archives and History, visited the division on two occasions. 38 Thirty -Second Biennial Report An experiment of significance occurred during the period of January 23 to February 3, 1967, when Dr. John Hope Frankhn, chairman of the Department of History, University of Chicago, brought the seven doctoral candidates in his American Histoiy seminar to Raleigh for two weeks of intensive research in the records of North Carolina's Reconstruction period. The partici-pants conducted their research in the State Archives during the day and held discussion classes at night. Following their period here, each prepared a paper on an assigned topic. A special dinner, attended by faculty members from colleges and univer-sities in the area, was given in honor of the group. Dr. Franklin read a paper on "An Ante-Bellum Odyssey: Southern Travelers in the North." So successflil was the two-week experiment that Dr. Franklin will read a paper on it at the joint luncheon of the American Historical Association and the Society of American Archivists in New York in December, 1968. Several classes and clubs from nearby colleges and universities visited the State Archives during the biennium and were given orientation sessions and guided tours. This sort of activity will be accelerated when better facilities are provided in the new building. The division continued to receive wide publicity for its programs. Indian Archives, published by the National Archives of India, carried an article, "The Archival-Records Management Programme of an American State," written by the state archivist, in its 1965-1966 volume. The Autumn, 1966, issue of Records Management Journal contained three articles, written by Dr. Jones, Admiral Patterson, and Mr. Mitchell, on the records management program. The New York Times of August 6, 1967, carried a 19-column-inch story on the division with the focus on the Black Mountain College records. The director's column, written for the Associated Press, continued to publicize the archival and records management functions among North Carolinians. Summary For two decades the reports of the division have pointed to the need for adequate space and facilities. It would be a relief to report that this need will be completely met upon the occupation of the new building within a few months, but such is not the case. State Department of Archives and History 39 Immediate requirements will indeed be met, for space will be sufficient for the present holdings and staff. As is so often the case in state planning, however, what is adequate for the moment will be inadequate within a few years. That is why efforts must be continued to persuade the General Assembly to provide an additional building for the North Carolina State Library so that stacks assigned to the library can be made available for records awaiting transfer to the State Archives. The conversion of the libraiy areas to use by the Department of Archives and History will be relatively simple as a result of the foresight of the architect in designing the building for eventual use exclusively by this department. Even with all of the space in the new building at its disposal, however, the department will soon need additional space as a result of its growing stature and its improved service to the people of the state. Accordingly, and simultaneously with the effort to obtain funds for a new library building, the department will seek funds to constRict an archives annex to house the State Records Center, the records management function, and the auxiliaiy archival services. The renovation of the present State Records Center will provide for only two or three years of expansion there. Consequently additional records center space will be imperative; good management and the efficient adminis-tration of the archival and records management programs will be served by providing such space contiguous to the newly-finished building. If this plan is carried out, for the first time all of the department's Raleigh functions can be more efficiently co-ordinated. As the population of the state increases, as more and more of its citizens come to appreciate their heritage, and as the department heeds the call for new and expanded programs in archival administration and records management, inevitably the staff must increase. In several areas the need is pressing: in the State Archives for better service to i^esearchers, in the Local Records Section for more specialized records management as-sistance to county and municipal officials and for arranging and describing incoming local records, and in the State Records Section for improving record-making and record-keeping systems in the state agencies and for handling the increased holdings of the State Records Center. Judging from its response in the past, the General Assembly can be expected to fill at least the most 40 Thirty-Second Biennial Report urgent of these needs. It is, therefore, with optimism and appreciation that the Division of Archives and Manuscripts looks to the future. It is an optimism based not upon complacency or satisfaction with its past record but rather upon the confidence that if it continues to carry out its responsibilities as befits a state that is never satisfied with the status quo, it will continue to deserve and receive the support of the people of North Carolina. DIVISION OF HISTORIC SITES W. S. Tarlton, Historic Sites Superintendent The historic sites program, which began in 1955 and for several years seemed "new," incomplete, and struggling for survival, now appears well estabHshed and secure. Those who Hved through the early stages are pleased with the air of maturity which the program now possesses. The number of improved state-owned projects has grown from one to thirteen, and the number of cooperating local and in-dependent projects has mounted in at least the same proportion. Historic sites have been "accepted" in the family of state tax-supported programs, have become important to the public, and have reached the point that they enjoy a role of camaraderie and self-esteem with associates in other agencies of the state which impinge upon the program—the legislative and administrative departments, and the sister agencies serving the public in the fields of education, recreation, conservation and development, highways and transportation, and cultural development. The division has also arrived at a level of higher esteem among local groups over the state who have accepted the mission of historic preservation and development and who need professional assistance. There has developed between the local sector and the department a high sense of mutual concern and need, and a will to cooperate. This sense of arrival did not come from sudden causes, although it registered itself rather dramaticallv within the past year or two. Among the causes were the sound and creative policies of departmental leadership going back to the beginning; the con-tributions of a dedicated and hard working staff; and, more recently, participation in coordinated planning at state and local levels of all aspects of development, including historical develop-ment. The State Planning Task Force (and especiallv the Recreation Sub-Task Force), the Division of Community Planning of the State Department of Conservation and Development, and numerous regional, municipal, and community planning and development commissions were key factors in bringing historical development into the mainstream. Going back of these state and local agencies it is necessaiy to recognize the federal aegis expressed through the many assistance programs. The state 42 Thirty-Second Biennial Report Historic Sites Advisory Committee, established in 1963 to evaluate and screen historic site projects for state financial support, did a great deal to consolidate public support and confidence. This arrival to full-fledged position, while a good thing, brought some problems which need attention. Most of these problems relate to the need to maintain the highest standards and capabilities for both operational and service functions. Commitment has always tended to exceed the reach of the division. Too much has been attempted with inadequate budget and staff, and though there has been a gradual increase to fuller strength, the Division of Historic Sites is still understaffed. The need now is to deepen the staff structure, especially in research and planning and in interpretive and educational endeavors. Larger staffs are needed at a number of the historic sites, including curatorial staff at several of the largest. These staff needs relate both to the regular state program (the system of thirteen state historic sites) and to the commitment to service local, or non-state, projects and programs. The volume of activity in the local sector is increasing phenomenally, but the present staff is geared to the situation of five years ago, when local assistance calls were for modest needs. If once, in the less demanding early years of the program, the division was justified in pursuing tentative standards, hoping some day to do better, it can no longer be satisfied with this. With wider recognition of the importance of historical conserva-tion and development, with increasing calls for assistance from local and community programs, and with spiraling use of the state historic sites by a public which is growing in sophistication, it is going to be necessary to staff and otheiAvise provide for functioning to the highest standards. Operations and Maintenance One new project, Somerset Place, was added to the operational program since the preceding biennium. Major capital improve-ments were added at Binanswick Town and Polk Birthplace, and construction plans for visitor center-museums and other improve-ments at Historic Bath and the Gunboat "Neuse" were completed. Six maintenance buildings were constructed at as many historic sites, and gasoline storage tanks and pumps were installed at State Department of Archives and History 43 five. Two historic site assistants and one grounds maintenance man were added to the field staff, making a total of eighteen employees. Several of the field personnel were organized as a skilled work force to do a few major and numerous minor repair and restoration projects at historic sites. This is a team of variable membership, organized specially for each particular job. The team's largest task to date was to complete several aspects of the President James K. Polk Birthplace: restoring the log kitchen, completing the interior of the dwelling house, building the rail and picket fences, restoring a log packhouse, and daubing all log buildings. In restoring and repairing earlv buildings it is often difficult and at times impossible to find contractors who can or will do these rather undesirable and profitless small jobs; having mem-bers of the staff to fill the breach is a great help. Visitation at the state historic sites continued to increase. For Tilt- ifstured birthplact: cated on May 20, 1968. IS K. Polk, Pi 44 Thirty-Second Biennial Report the 1964-1966 biennium a total of 467,000 visitors was recorded; for 1966-1968, a total of 746,000, an increase of 62 percent.^ Budget The operating budget increased to approximately $300,000 annually. In addition, the 1967 General Assembly appropriated $317,000 for capital improvements in the state program, including $90,000 for a visitor center-museum at Historic Bath and $75,000 for a protective shelter over the Confederate Gunboat "Neuse" at Kinston. Funds were also appropriated to continue restoration of the historic buildings at Halifax and Somerset Place. The same General Assembly appropriated $102,400 as grants to non-state projects with which the department is cooperating, including $20,000 for Historic Hope, $43,000 for Historic Edenton, and nearly $15,000 for the Fort Defiance restoration. In addition, $75,000 was made available by the Richardson Foundation for challenge grants to local restoration projects and to the depart-ment for staff and program improvement.^ Research, Planning, and Development 1. Research is the basis for planning and development, in-cluding the inteipretive and educational program. Historical, archaeological, and architectural research are the major types involved in the work of the division. Several major historical research projects were begun or completed during the biennium: the "Daniel Boone Homeplace" in Davidson County, Historic Halifax, the Brunswick Town museum. Fort Dobbs, the James K. Polk Birthplace inteipretive program, and Davidson's Fort. A larger number of small projects was also done, including research and administrative service on forty-six new highway historical markers authorized during the biennium. The major archaeological projects included "Russellborough" and several other sites at Brunswick Town and completion of the archaeology at Bethabara. In the summer of 1967 the archaeologist was granted a four-month leave of absence to cany out a major project at the Paca House in Annapolis. Less extensive work was done at the Nimocks House in Fayetteville, ' For visitation statistics, see Appendix XXV, p. 179. 2 For budgetaiy statistics, see Appendixes XXVI, XXVII, and XXVIII, pp. 180, 181. State Department of Archives and History 45 the Swain-Lane House near Asheville, and the Constitution House site in Hahfax. The archaeological staff completed labora-tory processing of the Bethabara and Brunswick Town artifact collections and completed a number of technical reports. The staff archaeologist, Mr. Stanley South, prepared a number of papers for professional conferences and for publication. Summer archaeological projects were conducted as customaiy at Town' Creek Indian Mound, under direction of the Research Laboratories of Anthropology of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In the spring of 1968 the Research Laboratories staff also conducted a short survey-research project on Indian sites at Historic Bath. Architectural research comes into the division's work in two ways, both of which will be covered in more detail later: in the historic sites and buildings survey and in developing restoration plans for historic buildings to be restored. Significant architectural research occurred in both connections during the biennium. 2. Plamiing occurs at several levels in the program: overall program planning, individual project or program planning (whether one of the state historic sites, such as Somerset Place, or a local cooperating program or project, such as the Historic Edenton program or the Fort Defiance project). During the biennium the division staff devoted a great deal of time and effort into overall program planning, resulting in what might be called a preliminary State Historic Sites Program Plan. Over a period of several months in 1967 the divisional staff and the director, forming the Historic Sites Planning Task Force, held a series of working conferences for this purpose. A 1966-1968 moratorium on new projects was established to provide the necessary breathing space for objective stocktaking and planning. The work of the task force was calculated to meet this opportunity. The net result of this planning was a list of eight historic sites determined to be worthy of preservation by the state or with state support and a longer list of potential sites which need additional study before a determination can be made. Responding to the long-realized need for a historic sites and buildings survey of North Carolina, but more immediately to the federal stimulus in the passage of P.L. 89-665 (the National Preservation Act), the department initiated a survey program in 46 Thirty-Second Biennial Report the spring of 1967. A grant from the Richardson Foundation, later augmented by a second grant, made this beginning possible. Initially the survey will respond to local calls for survey and planning assistance. Thus the program began with a survey of the town of Murfreesboro, upon request of the Murfreesboro Historical Society which desired to plan a local preservation program; and later the program has moved on to surveys of Lincoln County, the town of Tarboro, and Lenoir County in answer to similar needs. Cumulatively, this county- or community-hopping will contribute to an ultimate complete survey of the state. It is thought, however, that after pressing local requests for help have been met (if ever) the survey might proceed more academi-cally and more from central scheduling than from local demand. Since the survey now undertakes to meet local programming needs, planning was added to the survey function. Instead of delivering to a local group merely an academic survey report, a package consisting of the survey plus program recommenda-tions is being produced. Perhaps later the community planning service will also yield to the straight academic survey approach — but such is not yet foreseen. In addition to the complete county or community surveys made, the staff conducted cursory surveys of several proposed reservoir areas and a more complete survey of the New Hope reservoir project in Chatham and Orange counties. It gave advice concerning historical resources in the five-county North Pied-mont centering in Greensboro. 3. Development in the historic sites progi-am embraces a variety of improvements, but the restoration and preservation of historic structures and construction of public facilities will be discussed. At state historic sites the biennium brought several major res-toration developments. In the spring of 1967 the John Allen House, an early Regulator dwelling relocated at Alamance Battleground, was completed. It was dedicated and opened to the public on May 28, 1967, with Lieutenant Governor Robert W. Scott the featured speaker. A year later the James K. Polk Birthplace restoration was completed and was dedicated on May 20, 1968, by Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson. This event was the highlight of a day-long program commemorating the bicentennial of the city of Charlotte. State Department of Archives and History 47 At Historic Bath a small cottage of the post-Civil War period, circa 1880, was restored by the staff, to be exhibited as a typical dwelling for fishermen or other ordinary folk of the period. With funds appropriated in 1965, and supplemented in 1967, plans were drawn and contracts let for heating, air conditioning, and plumbing at Somerset Place, the large antebellum mansion at Pettigrew State Park now administered as a state historic site. A visitor center-museum was completed at Brunswick Town and dedicated by Mrs. Dan K. Moore on April 23, 1967. Costing nearly $100,000, this was the most important historic site public facilities project of the biennium. Construction of a similar facility was nearly completed at the President James K. Polk Birthplace and will be completed for dedication on December 6, 1968. At Historic Halifax considerable basic planning was done, including completion of a land use survey and development plan by the Community Planning Division of the Department of Con-servation and Development, on which the staff collaborated. In addition, the School of Design of North Carolina State Univer-sity conducted a student planning project for beautification and protection of the historical values of the community. Steps were taken toward the acquisition of some thirty acres of land in the Historic Halifax area. The property was all appraised Shown above is the architect's drawing ot the \isitor center-museum at Brunswick Town. 48 Thirty-Second Biennial Report and lot surveys were in process when the biennium closed. Ac-quisition of this property will complete the historic site holdings of about sixty-five acres. An eight-year development plan, out-lined and publicized, calls for completion of the project by the bicentennial of the Halifax Resolves in 1976. Six independent restoration projects receiving state grants through the department made progress as follows: Historic Edenton, consisting of five landmark buildings under a centralized program, opened a visitor center in the historic Barker House and aided in further restoration of the Iredell House and the Cupola House. Hope Plantation, Bertie County, was more than 50 percent restored from state and private funds made available during the biennium. Historic Murfreeshoro acquired the late-eighteenth-century Rea Store, a unique brick structure, and raised funds to begin restoration. The building will house a local history museum. In addition, the Murfreesboro program was boosted by the establish-ment of a historic district on Broad Street, with regulatory powers to protect the many historic structures in the area. Blandwood (the Governor John M. Morehead mansion), Greensboro, was acquired by the Greensboro Preservation Society at a cost of more than $200,000. An additional $200,000 was being raised to restore the buildings and grounds. Fort Defiance, Caldwell County, after an interruption of a season, was again in process of restoration. Approximately 30 percent of the total project was completed. The Richmond Temperance and Literary Society Commission, Inc., with a state grant of several years ago, has relocated on the Temperance Society Hall grounds near Wagram the small farm-house in which poet John Charles McNeill was born. In its new location the birthplace was restored as a shrine to the poet. In addition to the above state and independent local projects, more than thirty local projects over the state received advisoiy assistance from the staff. Such help ranged from fairly extensive work with Historic Hillsborough and the Hezekiah Alexander House at Charlotte to more modest participation in the Harmony Hall project, Bladen County, and the Franklin Academy restora-tion in Louisburg. State Department of Archives and History 49 A part of development is the task of collecting furnishings fox-restored buildings and appropriate objects for exhibit in the interpretive museums. Two major historic house collections were assembled and installed during the biennium—for the Allen House and the Polk Birthplace. Research was completed for a similar project at Somerset Place and acquisition of furniture was begun. The curator assisted several local restoration pro-jects with furnishings, including the Iredell House at Edenton and the Haley House in High Point. Interpretation and Education Interpretation is the process, with the various means employed, of telling to visitors the stoiy of a historic site. Interpretation activates what would otherwise be the passive exhibition of historic buildings and sites. Active staff guidance, sign-directed tours, museum exhibits, audiovisual programs, and publications are the standard means of site interpretation. The most extensive interpretive program completed during the biennium comprised the museum and related audiovisual features in the new visitor center-museum at Brunswick Town. This major project was developed jointly by the staffs of the Divisions of Historic Sites and Museums and was completed in time for formal dedication in April, 1967. In addition, plans were com-pleted and production was commenced for an interpretive movie and a set of museum exhibits for the new visitor center-museum to be dedicated at the Polk Birthplace later this year. Two less extensive interpretive projects were also developed. Museum exhibits for the visitor center-museum opened in June, 1968, at Historic Edenton and revision and improvement of the museum at Alamance Battleground were undertaken. Related to site interpretation is the problem of the orientation of visitors. During the biennium special emphasis was placed on the production of audiovisual orientation programs at the various historic sites. This was an outgrowth of elementary beginnings in audiovisual work dating from the 1965-1967 biennium. Such programs were produced or reworked for Bentonville Battle-ground, Brunswick Town, and Fort Fisher; and plans and script for a program at Town Creek Indian Mound were completed. The audiovisual work of the division, embracing a range of 50 Thirty-Second Biennial Report projects in addition to the orientation programs, became a distinct function, with speciahzed staffing. A Richardson grant in late 1967 enabled the division to establish the new position of education specialist, filled in February, 1968, by the transfer of Mr. Larry G. Misenheimer from the Division of Museuins. The education specialist began his work with a survey study to deter-mine the scope and direction of the present audiovisual program. From this survey a long-range program plan was outlined, calling first for a number of pilot projects from which future develop-ment might be plotted. Educational activities, though a distinctive function, include the interpretive and orientation work described above; they also extend into other forms: leaflets and brochures, articles in news-papers and magazines, special programs and events, special exhibits, lectures, and tours. During the biennium nearly 300,000 historic site leaflets were kept in supply. Several members of the staff contributed more or less prolifically to newspapers, magazines, and trade publica-tions such as the State Ports magazine, the Carolina Power and Light Company's Finer Carolina News, and the like. The division also sought to bring the historic sites program before the educators of the state through North Carolina Educa-tion, the journal of the North Carolina Education Association; by attending and exhibiting in 1967 at the district meetings of that association; and through many lectures and programs in the public schools. Mr. Robert O. Conway of the staff, for example, presented programs in seventy-one schools, and at a great number of civic clubs and historical societies in western North Carolina. Other staff members served likewise in the remainder of the state. Western North Carolina Region Activities in the western region were conducted in great part through Mr. Conway, the staff member stationed in the Ashe-ville area. In the west three local projects receiving state aid were the Fort Defiance restoration near Lenoir, the Davidson's Fort project at Old Fort, and Fort Butler at Murphy. The Carson House near Marion received an additional Richardson Founda-tion grant through the department. State Department of Archives and History 51 Several new projects also were begun: The Swain-Lane house near Asheville was undergoing private restoration; the Flat Rock Restoration Society was formed; restoration of the remark-able old 1860-period Wilkes County jail at Wilkesboro was the object of current fund-raising; and the old McDowell house at Pleasant Garden, McDowell County, was refurbished privately and was used as a restaurant. The staff conducted a preliminary survey of Burke County and recommended a preservation program to the county historical society. Miscellaneous The North Carolina Society for the Preservation of Antiquities was reorganized and a part-time executive secretaiy was em-ployed on a regular basis. The secretary had an office in the Division of Historic Sites, symbolizing a closer relationship be-tween the society and the department. At the annual meetings of the society the staff again coordinated the preservation reports session, presenting projects over the state. Staff members continued to be active in various professional organizations and to make special contributions in other ways. Mr. W. S. Tarlton was reelected to the council of the American Association for State and Local Histoiy and continued as that organization's awards committeeman for the South Atlantic states. Mr. Tadton and Mr. Arthur J. P. Edwards were appointed to membership on the Historic Murfreesboro Commission, and Mr. Tarlton served on the Raleigh Historic Sites Commission. Mr. Stanley A. South served as archaeological editor of History News, magazine of the American Association for State and Local History, and as a founder, vice-president, and member of the board of the new Society for Historical Archaeology. Mr. Robert O. Conway served as a member of the board of the new Museum of the Southern Highlands, Asheville, and was elected a vice-president of the North Carolina Literaiy and Historical Association. Mr. John F. Bivins wrote a book. Long-rifles of North Carolina, scheduled for release in November. Mrs. Elizabeth W. Wilborn contributed articles to North Caro-lina Education and other periodicals. 52 Thirty -Second Biennial Report The staff cooperated with the Institute of Government, Chapel Hill, in conducting an intensive one-week short course. Planning for Historic Preservation, in March, 1968. Students from over the entire country were in attendance. Three staff members attended, one as a student and two as faculty and observers. Reports on Historic Sites Alamance Battleground Dedication of the Allen House in May, 1967, completed a major new phase of development. A smaller project in process at the close of the biennium, with a local committee raising the necessary funds, called for reproducing and exhibiting the two types of cannon used in the 1771 battle. One gun was acquired; three others were needed. Major needs included the acquisition of additional land to protect the project and funds for enlarging the visitor center-museum and completely reworking the museum exliibits, which have been in use since 1960. Aycock Birthplace The project operated more or less routinely. Major future needs are for heat in the historic buildings and construction of an assembly room to the visitor center-museum to replace the old schoolhouse now used for this purpose. Historic Bath Funds were appropriated in 1967 for a visitor center-museum to replace the present temporaiy one. Plans for the new facility were nearly complete and bids will be taken early in 1969. A small cottage of the post-Civil War period was restored for exhibit beginning next year. Garden walks and fences were completed at the Palmer-Marsh House. Bennett Place Lack of adequate public facilities and funds for full-time operation kept this project on a part-time operational basis. The compelling need at Bennett Place is to upgrade it to full level with the other state historic sites. State Department of Archives and History 53 Bentonville Battleground This site operated routinely. Major needs included heat in the Harper House, restoration of the old kitchen and slave cabin, and extensive development of battlefield sites. Brunswick Town-Fort Anderson The major new development was the completion and dedica-tion in April, 1967, of the visitor center-museum. Other improve-ments, supported by private organizations and individuals, included landscaping around the new facility and around the St. Philips Church site. Major archaeology was carried out on three Colonial sites on the river front. A cyclone fence was erected around the entire site for protection. Funds were needed for stabilizing the mounds and paths of Fort Anderson, now being damaged from visitor traffic. Caswell Memorial- C.S.S. "Neuse" Construction plans for a combined structure to shelter the gunboat hull and serve as a visitor center-museum were almost completed by the close of the biennium. Bids will be called for in the fall. Additional wooded areas on the river front were cleared in preparation for the gunboat development. The major remaining needs are for establishing the interpretive museum and producing an audiovisual orientation program. Fort Fisher The Corps of Army Engineers finished a report calling for an extensive beach erosion project, to be carried out over a period of years at a cost of $1.6 million, and for recreational development in the area to complement the historical project. The state is working toward acquisition of the remaining land in private ownership south of "Battle Acre" for historical and recreational development. Major needs for the future include more staff for maintenance and operation, a paved parking lot, and the reconstruction of a section of the fort destroyed several years ago by the construction of an air strip. 54 Thirty -Second Biennial Report Historic Halifax Halifax was staffed for full-time operation as a state historic site in March, 1967. All properties were placed under mainte-nance and additional restoration of historic structures was in process. Surveys and appraisals were in process for acquiring additional land to complete the historic site holdings. Polk Birthplace This site began full-time operation in May, 1968, with the Governor and Mrs. Dan K. Moore were with Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson (center) on May 20, 1968, when Mrs. Johnson dedicated the James K. Polk Birthplace. State Department of Archives and History 55 dedication of the restored buildings. The visitor center-museum building was completed during the biennium and the exhibits will be installed in November, 1968. Town Creek Indian Mound A change of staff organization occurred at Town Creek, bring-ing this project in line with standard operational policy. Summer archaeological projects were conducted each year of the bien-nium by the University of North Carolina. Vance Birthplace The small admission charges heretofore collected were re-moved, with the result that visitation has increased approxi-mately 30 percent. The only pressing operational need was for additional staff. Somerset Place Though taken over by the Department of Archives and History nearly two years ago, this project was not fully staffed. The inter-val was used for planning restoration and other improvements soon to be carried out. Bids were accepted for the installation of plumbing, heating and air conditioning, and for painting the main building. DIVISION OF MUSEUMS Mrs. Joye E. Jordan, Administrator The most significant accomplishment of the Division of Mu-seums was a detailed study of modern museum programs and techniques. This study was undertaken in view of the fact that the North Carolina Museum of History would be moving into specially designed quarters and because emphasis is placed today on professional museum standards. It is necessary for the history museum to extend its activities to meet the demands of the public. The new building with all its modern facilities will not automatically make a good museum. Both skill and effort will be needed to create a role in which the museum can play its defined part as a stimulating educational institution. In the field of preservation, for example, an object alone is of little value; equally important is knowledge of the object which must be disseminated by means of publication and interpretive exhibits. Many times in years past some one phase of the program was neglected while the entire staff implemented a new project. Now for the first time in the history of this museum, the staff (which is still insufficient in numbers for the established program) has been reorganized into three sections—Collections, Education, and Exhibits—with specific responsibility for a given segment of the total program assigned to each. Although each staff member is still requested to "volunteer" in case of need in any section, the curator of each section is able to project plans with some hope of seeing them carried through to fruition. Both the administrator and the assistant administrator were involved in extensive preparation for the actual move. Of major concern were such basic problems as planning use of space, budgeting, ordering new equipment, cleaning and packing collections, scheduling the move, and rearranging for essential warehouse space. The new building has no provision for large items such as furniture and transportation vehicles not on dis-play. Requests for participation in related programs throughout the state and nation increased, both at the administrative level and in all three sections. The staff served as consultants to other State Department of Archives and History 57 museums, as panel members and speakers at professional semi-nars and conferences, and as authors of research papers. Research in museum procedure, staff reorganization, consulta-tion with the architect, and numerous services for allied museums and organizations were the result of full cooperation and pro-duction of the museum staff. Detailed reports of the sections oresent an overall view of the work accomplished. Collections Of primary concern to Collections was the pending move into the new Archives and History-State Library Building. Every endeavor was made to make the move of the collection
Object Description
Description
Title | Biennial report of the North Carolina State Department of Archives and History |
Other Title | Biennial report. |
Creator | North Carolina. |
Date | 1966; 1967; 1968 |
Subjects |
North Carolina--History--Sources--Periodicals North Carolina--Antiquities--Periodicals Legislation Education Universities and Colleges Genealogy Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877) Franklin, John Hope, 1915-2009 Arts United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783 |
Place |
Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina, United States North Carolina, United States |
Time Period |
(1945-1989) Post War/Cold War period (1954-1971) Civil Rights era |
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 | North Carolina Department of Natural and 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 | 12013 KB; 232 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_biennialreportarchiveshistory196668.pdf |
Pres Local File Path-M | \Preservation_content\StatePubs\pubs_edp\images_master\ |
Full Text | THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA THE COLLECTION OF NORTH CAROLINIANA C9O6 N87h 1966/68»l968/70 c,2 UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 00033953650 This book may be kept out one month unless a recall notice is sent to you. It must be brought to the North Carolina Collection (in Wilson Library) for renewal. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2009 with funding from Ensuring Democracy through Digital Access (NC-LSTA) http://www.archive.org/details/biennialreportof196668nort riiiirrY-SKCONi) iuknnim. rkpokt 1 vt IIIIIIIIRS 1/ COVER—The new building to house the Department of Archives and History and the State Libraiy was nearing completion at the close of the biennium. Located at 109 East Jones Street in Raleigh, the structin-e cost over $4 million. (Unless otherwise noted, all photograjDlis used in this report are from the files of the State Department of Archives and Histoiy.) Thirty-Second Biennial Report of the North Carolina Department of Archives and History July I, 1966 to June 30, 1968 NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY Executive Board^ Josh L. Home, Chairman, Rocky Mount Miss Gertrude Sprague Carraway, New Bern T. Hany Gatton, Raleigh Fletcher M. Green, Chapel Hill Ralph P. Hanes, Winston-Salem Hugh T. Lefler, Chapel Hill Edward W. Phifer, Morganton Christopher Crittenden, Director, Raleigh ' For list and terms of office of members of the Executive Board, see Appendix I, p. 97. IN MEMORIAM David Leroy Corbitt May 3, 1895-October 12, 1967 David Leroy Corbitt, who retired on June 30, 1961, after serving more than thirty-seven years on the staff of the State Department of Archives and History, died in Raleigh on October 12, 1967. A native of Pitt County, Corbitt received his bachelor of arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he majored in history and education and minored in English. He joined the staff of the department (then known as the State Historical Commission) on April 1, 1924. During his years with the department, Corbitt compiled, edited, and published twelve books, including The Formation of the North Carolina Counties, 1663-1943; Calendars of Manuscript Collections; Explorations, Descriptions, and Attempted Settle-ments of Carolina, 1584-1590; and the public papers and addresses of nine governors of North Carolina, from the administration of Cameron Morrison, 1921-1925, through William B. Umstead, 1953-1954. He was managing editor of the North Carolina Historical Review from 1935 until his retirement, and he also wrote a number of pamphlets for use in the public schools. At the time of his retirement he elected to remain with the depart-ment as a consultant for a number of months during which time he began editing papers relating to the Granville Grant. Corbitt was active in the North Carolina Literary and His-torical Association, serving as the association's chairman of the Committee on Local Historical Societies for a number of years and helping organize local societies throughout North Carolina. He was a charter member and fellow of the Society of American Archivists and a member of the Southern Historical Association, the American Association for State and Local History, the Historical Society of North Carolina, and the Wake County Historical Society. He served as president of the latter two organizations and as vice-president of the North Carolina Society of County and Local Historians. LETTER OF TRANSMISSION To His Excellency Dan K. Moore Governor of North Carolina Dear Governor Moore: In compliance with Chapter 543, Session Laws of 1955, I have the honor to submit herewith for your Excellency's consideration the Biennial Report of the North Carolina Department of Archives and History for the period July 1, 1966-June 30, 1968. Respectfully yours, Christopher Crittenden Director Raleigh, July 1, 1968 CONTENTS New Building—New Horizons 1 Division of Archives and Manuscripts 5 Division of Historic Sites 41 Division of Museums 56 Division of Publications 74 Colonial Records Project 88 Tryon Palace 89 Appendixes: Administration I The Executive Board 97 n Appropriations and Expenditures, 1930-1968 98 ni Appropriations and Expenditures, 1966-1968 98 IV Number of Employees as of June 30 at the End of Each Biennium, 1908-1968 99 V List of Employees, Showing Name and Title (and Period of Service if Less than the Full Biennium) 100 VI Publications of Staff Members 105 Division of Archives and Manuscripts VII Accessions, July 1, 1966—June 30, 1968 108 VIII Researchers Served in Search Room 151 IX Number of Visitors to Search Room for Each Biennium, 1928-1968, and Number of Inquiries by Mail, 1946-1968 152 X Selected Topics of Research of Visitors and Mail Inquiries 153 XI Colleges and Universities Represented by Visitors and Mail Inquiries 156 XII Activities of the Local Records Section 157 XIII Microfilming of County Records 158 XIV Statistics on Microfilm Program 160 XV State Agencies for Which Records Retention and Disposition Schedules Were Completed; Were Amended 161 XVI Records Accessioned and Disposed of in State Records Center 162 XVII Reference Services Performed in State Records Center .... 165 XVIII State Agencies Whose Records Were Microfilmed 166 XIX Newspapers Microfilmed During Biennium 168 XX Microfilm Processed in Microfilm Processing Laboratory . . .174 XXI Pages of Records Restored by Barrow Laminating Process 175 XXII Public Sales and Charges 176 XXIII Total Income 177 Division of Historic Sites XXIV New Historical Markers 177 XXV Attendance at State Historic Sites, July 1, 1966— June 30, 1968 179 XXVI Capital Improvements at State Historic Sites 180 XXVII Grants-in-Aid for Special Restoration and Construction Projects 180 XXVIII Private Funds Available and Expended 181 XXIX Historic Sites Brochures Distributed; Printed for Affiliated Local Projects 181 XXX Historic Sites Survey 182 Division of Museums XXXI Museum Items Accessioned 182 XXXII Registration at the Museum of Histoiy by State and Foreign Country, 1966-1968 193 Division of Publications XXXIII Receipts 194 XXXIV Publications Distributed 195 XXXV Carolina Comments, Copies Mailed Per Issue 196 XXXVI North Carolina Historical Review 196 XXXVII Complete List of Publications of State Department of Archives and History, 1966-1968 197 BIENNIAL REPORT OF THE NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY NEW BUILDING-NEW HORIZONS Christopher Crittenden, Director For twenty years the department had been working for a new building, and now at last, at the close of the biennium, such a structure was nearing completion. To house both the Department of Archives and History and the State Library, it had cost more than $4 million. It was located on the north side of East Jones Street (the one-hundred block) between the State Legislative Building and the Governor's Mansion. The new structure would make possible bigger and better services to the public. The department's various functions, which physically had been scattered in different places in the Capital City, would for the most part be brought together in one location. (But the State Records Center and Archaeological Laboratoiy were to remain in the Annex, in the one-hundred block of West Lane Street; the legislative chambers, maintained by the depart-ment in the State Capitol, of course could not be moved; and the thirteen state historic sites throughout the state were to remain where they were.) In the new building the department was to occupy a total of some 75,300 square feet of space—for archives and manuscripts, search rooms, work rooms, museum display, offices, and related functions and purposes—all specially designed for its needs—and in addition it would share 33,200 square feet of joint-use areas. It would be far better than anything the department had ever had before. As members of the Executive Board, Governor Dan K. Moore on July 21, 1967, reappointed Dr. Fletcher M. Green of Chapel Hill and Mr. Josh L. Home of Rocky Mount for terms ending March 31, 1973. Mr. Home served as chairman of the board. ^ ' For data on the Executive Board, see Appendix I, p. 97. 2 Thirty -Second Biennial Report The appropriation for the biennium was $2,162,629, an increase of 19 percent over the $1,830,086 for 1964-1966.2 The total number of employees on June 30, 1968, was 135, as compared to 130 two years earlier. The State Personnel Depart-ment reclassified or upgraded most of the department's staff, which resulted in increased pay in practically all instances .3 The General Assembly at its regular 1967 session established the North Carolina American Revolution Bicentennial Com-mission {Session Laws of 1967, Chapter 70), and that commission held its organization meeting in Raleigh on March 1, 1968. The 1967 General Assembly appropriated funds for continuation of the Colonial Records Project, and that project was carried on. Publication of the second volume was expected shortly after the end of the biennium. Likewise an appropriation was made to continue the new North Carolina Civil War Roster, and this was supplemented by private contributions of more than $10,000. At the close of the biennium the second volume was scheduled to be published within the near future. The department's director and other members of the staff have long been appalled by how little school students know of the state's history. From time to time a few questions in that subject have been asked of visiting groups—questions such as: What are the dates on our state flag and what do they signify? What was the importance of the Battle of Mooies Creek Bridge? What was the great work of Calvin H. Wiley? Who was known as our "educational governor"? Not one group in twenty-five has been able satisfactorily to answer such questions, for the students simply are not being taught the facts of North Carolina histoiy. In order to seek to fill this void, a joint task force from the Departments of Archives and History and Public Instruction was set up and at the end of the biennium was working on the problem. In Archives and Manuscripts the program was continued at a high level of achievement. Professional standards were materially raised, staff members participated actively in professional ac-tivities, and a number of staff members "graduated" to archival 2 For the budget, see Appendixes II and III, pp. 98 and 99. 3 For number of employees, see Appendix IV, p. 99. State Department of Archives and History 3 positions elsewhere. A notable achievement was the conduct, by State Archivist H. G. Jones working on his own time, of a survey of the National Archives and Records Management Programs— a survey soon to be published in book form. In Historic Sites a degree of maturity was achieved and the program was "accepted" by state government and the general public as never before. The Richardson Foundation made an additional grant of $100,000 and marked development occurred at several sites, especially through the completion and opening to the public of visitor center-museums. In cooperation with other state agencies a program of planning was developed, and an intradepartmental preliminary statewide plan was worked out. Forty-six new historical markers were erected. In Museums a large part of the total time and effort was devoted to planning for the move into the new building. Toward the end of the biennium one gallery after another was closed and the contents were packed and made ready for moving. The staff was reorganized into three sections. The 1967 General Assembly affirmed state ownership of sunken shipwrecks and artifacts in state waters and assigned to the department administrative responsibility in this field. Rules and regulations were approved by the Governor and Council of State and more than fifty permits were issued. The North Carolina Supreme Court upheld a New Hanover Superior Court decision supporting the department's program in this area. The Mobile Museum of History continued to carry exhibits to all parts of the state. In Publications there were two unique products : North Carolina in Maps, 1585-1896, and North Carolina Documents, 1584-1868, facsimiles respectively of fifteen important maps and thirteen significant documents. Receipts totaled $57,593, an increase of 15 percent over the previous biennium and of 225 percent over a decade ago. The North Carolina Historical Review and Carolina Comments were issued regularly, several documentaiy >• volumes and other materials were published, and many future publications were in various stages of preparation. In Colonial Records material for the second volume was completed and sent to the printer. Tryon Palace was toured by 63,595 persons, an increase of more than 4 percent over the previous biennium. During the 110^3 months the palace had been open, the number of visitors 4 Thirty -Second Biennial Report totaled 286,960 from all fifty states, the District of Columbia, Canal Zone, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, and eighty-eight foreign countries. The 1805 Stevenson House was opened to the public and the John Wright Stanly House (erected about 1780) was moved to the Tryon Palace complex. The National Trust for Historic Preservation awarded the Crowninshield Award to Mrs. John A. Kellenberger, chairman of the Tryon Palace Com-mission, for "superlative achievement" in the "preservation and interpretation of sites and buildings significant in American history and culture." DIVISION OF ARCHIVES AND MANUSCRIPTS H. G. JoxES. State Archivist Introduction' Notwithstanding problems associated with inadequate physical facilities—problems that will be partially eliminated upon occupa-tion of the new building within a few months—the past biennium was a highly productiye one for the Diyision of Archiyes and Manuscripts. Traditional programs were continued and strength-ened, and several new activities were entered upon. The 1967 General Assembly, though hardly liberal, gave material aid by providing for four new positions—an archi\ist in archives administration, a typist in the archives, a records management analyst in local records, and a janitor in state records. It also appropriated funds for continuing the Ci\il War roster project and for purchasing new equipment for the technical services units in the new building. Finally, $75,000 was appro-priated to alter and pro\ide shelving for the remainder of the first floor of the State Records Center. The staff strength of the division at the end of the biennium was equivalent to 56 full-time employees, as follows: Archives Administration, 5; Archives Section, 10; Local Records Section, 14; State Records Section, 17; Newspaper Microfilm Project, 2; Microfilm Processing Laboratory', 2; Document Restoration Labo-ratory, 3; and Roster Project, 3. The annual operating budget for the division was approximately $455,000. This is a substantial amount of money from the public till—perhaps more than is spent for archives and records management bv any other state—but the dividends are significant, as the reports of the various units will show. For too long North Carolinians neglected their documentary' heritage; but once they saw their error, they awoke to the need for the preservation and dissemination of their historv'. The support given the department in recent years by the Governor and the General Assembly indicates their intention of keeping North Carolina in the forefront in archival preservation and records management. This determination, reflected in the 6 Thirty -Second Biennial Report growing stature of the department in the life of the state, contributes greatly to the professional pride and good work of the staff. Organizationally, the division remains basically unchanged. The closely related but physically separated units are as follows: The State Archives is the final repository of all permanently valuable public records of the state and its subdivisions. In addition to the official records of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of state government and of counties and municipalities, the holdings include large and valuable collections of private manuscripts, account books, church records, organiza-tion and institution records, genealogical materials, maps, news-papers, and copies of historical materials in other repositories. Mr. C. F. W. Coker is assistant state archivist (archives). The Local Records Section gives advice and assistance to county and municipal governments in connection with the management of their records, inventories and schedules the records of local governments, transfers to the archives records no longer needed in local administration, and microfilms for security and research permanently valuable local records. Rear Admiral Alex M. Patterson, U.S.N. (Ret.), is assistant state archivist (local records). The State Records Section, located in the State Records Center at the corner of North McDowell and West Lane Streets, serves as the records management agency for state government and as the "funnel" through which state records are transferred to the State Archives. The staff gives advice and assistance to state agencies in connection with the creation, maintenance, transfer, and disposition of records, furnishes microfilm services to the agencies, administers a program of providing security for records essential to the operation of state government, and operates the State Records Center for the economical storage of records having low reference frequency. Mr. Thornton W. Mitchell is assistant state archivist (state records). The Newspaper Microfdming Project, headed by Mr. T. G. Britt and located in the basement of the Old YMCA Building, is responsible for locating, collating, and microfilming extant North Carolina newspapers and in maintaining a union list of original papers. The Civil War Roster Project, located in the National Archives, State Department of Archives and History 7 Washington, D.C., compiles service data on North Carohnians who served in the Civil War and edits and publishes volumes of North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865: A Roster. Dr. Louis H. Manarin is editor of the project. The Document Restoration Laboratory repairs and restores deteriorating manuscripts through the Barrow process of de-acidification and lamination and performs other duties connected with preventive maintenance of the records. Mr. J. Ray Hocutt is document restoration specialist. The Microfilm Processing Laboratory, located in the basement of the Old YMCA Building, processes all microfilm produced in the department, duplicates copies for departmental and public use, and gives technical advice and assistance to all filming units in the department. Mr. Donald E. Horton is photographer in charge of the laboratory. Reports of the individual units follow. Archives Section The two primaiy functions of the staff of the Archives Section are the rendering of assistance to researchers and the arrangement and description of records in the State Archives. An effort is made to divide these duties in such a manner as to balance immediate needs against long-range goals. Either assistance to researchers or arrangement and description of records and manuscripts could, of course, occupy the entire time of all members of the staff, but any undue emphasis on one function at the expense of the other would eventually result in the deterioration of the quality of both. Any significant increase in the number of researchers necessitates some shifting of staff functions in that direction, but the progress in the direction of arrangement and description—without which any amount of personal attention to the researcher is less than totally effective-has not been slowed. With the exception of the addition of a typist II position, there was no change in the effective strength of the staff in the last two years, although some additional assistance came in the form of temporary and part-time employees. The professional staff continues to consist of an assistant state archivist (archives) and seven archivists. The recent addition of a typist significantly relieved the archivists of time previously spent in the preparation 8 Thirty-Second Biennial Report of smooth copy, catalog cards, and filing, and this staff member is also responsible for photocopy bookkeeping and mailing. There was an increase of approximately 10 percent in the number of researchers who visited the Search Room and an increase of approximately 20 percent in the number of letters answered by the State Archives staff during the biennium.^ Registered visitors numbered 9,254, and while most of these were interested in genealogical research, many were students or teachers of histoiy. Institutions of higher learning from all over the world represented by these researchers numbered 67.2 Topics of research reflected a general coverage of North Carolina history, political science, and culture. ^ Researchers showed a remarkable interest in the history of Black Mountain College, and the records of the college in the State Archives attracted a variety of scholars. Professor Martin Duberman of Princeton University and an assistant spent several weeks here in 1967 doing research for a full history of Black Mountain College, and at least one other volume—a collection of essays edited by Mr. Michael M. H. L. Weaver of Cambridge University, England—is currently in progress. Mr. Coker and Miss Betsy R. Fleshman of the State Archives staff contributed a chapter on the records of the college and a list of faculty and students for inclusion in Mr. Weaver's book which is scheduled to be published by Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. Several master's and doctoral theses on more specialized aspects of the college's history are also currently in progress. Accessions of records and manuscripts numbered 560 during the biennium, as compared to approximately 600 in the 1964-1966 period.4 Among significant public records accessioned were general correspondence, 1965-1966, of Governor Dan K. Moore; original minutes and related records, 1889-1948, of the State Board of Health; original minutes, 1953-1965, of the Council of State; ten volumes of manuscript Laws of North Carolina, 1743-1774, and about thirty volunes of Cherokee Lands Survey Books, 1820-1837, from the Office of the Secretaiy of State; original minutes, 1934-1942, of the Eugenics Board; and original case files nos. 17,671-19,035 of the North Carolina Supreme • For statistics of visitors and correspondents, see Appendixes VIII and IX, pp. 151 and 152. 2 For a list if institutions, see Appendix XI, p. 156. 3 A selected list of topics of research is included as Appendix X, p. 153. ^A full list of accessions is included in Appendix VII, p. 108. State Department of Archives and History 9 Court. Accessions of county records are discussed in the report of the Local Records Section below. Important unofficial records and private manuscripts accessioned included general records, 1960-1965, of the North Carolina Liter-ary and Historical Association; general records, 1939-1967, of the North Carolina Society for the Preservation of Antiquities; general records, 1911-1966, of the North Carolina Public Health Association; general records, 1900-1967, of the Rex Hospital School of Nursing; the Charles Vann Papers, 1739-1880, relating to Hertford County, which were lent for microfilming bv Mr. F. Roy Johnson of Murfreesboro; a very large collection of Little, Mordecai, and Haywood family papers which were given by Mr. Burke Little of Raleigh; the James Heniy Harris Papers, 1850-1890, relating to the nineteenth -century Negro legislator of Raleigh, which were given by his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Gertrude Harris of Raleigh; the Willis Briggs Papers, given by Mr. W. Hal Trentman of Raleigh; and the Ruth Current Papers, given by Miss Jeanette Current of Cleveland, N.C. By the will of the late Clarence Poe, the department was bequeathed a large collection of papers, dating from about 1908 to about 1954, relating for the most part to Dr. Poe's work with the Progressive Farmer, the North Carolina Constitutional Commission, the Federal Advisory Board for Vocational Education, the North Carolina Hospital and Medical Care Commission, and the International Development Advisory Board. Work in arrangement and description by members of the staff included the preparation of detailed finding aids for many of the records accessioned during the biennium as well as others which had been received in earlier bienniums. Among finding aids prepared are those for the official records of Governor Moore and for the following private collections: Walter Clark Papers, Samuel A. Ashe Papers, C. B. Heller Collection, Alexander Brevard Papers, John Walker Papers, Charles Vann Papers, Robert D. Barbour Collection, Richard Singletary Papers, Alfred Mordecai Papers, Mrs. Marian Whitehurst Rawles Collection, John M. and Ruth Hodges Collection, Polk Papers, William Polk Papers, John L. Cantwell Papers, Joseph Roberson Papers, Hugh McDonald Papers, Mrs. R. P. Reece Collection, George Holland Collection, John Herritage Biyan Collection, Wynns Family Papers, Romulus A. Nunn Papers, Ruth Current Papers, Jonathan Worth Papers, Charles P. Bolles Papers, Francis C. Clewell Papers, John Steele Papers, Patterson and Fries Collections, Caleb Winslow and 10 Thirty-Second Biennial Report Although the ihw \iihi\es and Histoiy -State Libraiy Building will not provide all the space needed by the State Archives, it will be a great im-provement over present facilit'ies in the Education Building which the department has occupied since 1939. Shown at top are the tightly-packed stacks areas in the Education Building, and at bottom the crowded Search Room. Larger and better-designed stacks, workrooms, and public research areas in the new building will lead to both greater efficiency and more pleasant surroundings. State Department of Archives and History 11 Family Papers, Mrs. L. E. Lansdell Papers, Mary Gash and Family Papers, Sawyer Papers, Aaron Burtis Hunter Papers, Robert C. Mabiy Papers, Clarence Poe Papers, Nathaniel Macon Papers, William Hill Papers, Gales Papers, David S. Reid Papers, and Josiah Collins Papers. Revisions and corrections in numerous other finding aids were made where appropriate. Alphabetical lists or indexes to original wills of the following counties in the State Archives were completed: Anson, Forsyth, Franklin, Gates, Hyde, Johnston, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Robe-son, Rowan, Warren, and Wayne. Marriage bonds were arranged and abstracted for several counties. A checklist of manuscript copies of Laws of North Carolina, 1743-1774, a revised description of the Records of the Adjutant General, and calendars and autograph-subject cards for the papers of Governors Richard Dobbs Spaight, Jr., and Edward Bishop Dudley were completed. Several series of state agency records were rehabilitated by lamination and binding. Approximately 200 boxes of Legislative Papers, 10 volumes of manuscript journals of the General Assembly and Council, 20 volumes of Cherokee Survey Books, and 15 volumes of Secretary of State Land Entry Records were included among these, in addition to individual deteriorating documents found in the course of normal archives work. The Guide to Civil War Records in the North Carolina State Archives (128 pages) was published in 1966, and Archives Circular No. 2, North Carolina Census Records, 1787-1890 (16 pages), by Mrs. Ellen Z. McGrew, and No. 3, Records Relating to Tennessee in the North Carolina State Archives (8 pages), by Mr. C. F. W. Coker, were published in 1967 and 1968, respectively. Copy for another circular, on Civil War records, is being prepared. With the cooperation of Lieutenant Governor Robert W. Scott, the staff again in 1967 recorded the sessions of the State Senate. Additional funds to support the project were not obtained, however, and the future of the recording program is in doubt. A considerable amount of time was devoted to plans and prepa-rations for the move to the new building. Records on hand were surveyed for size and space requirements, and estimates were made of additions scheduled for transfer to the State Archives. The success or failure of this planning cannot be judged, of course, until the move has been completed, and unforeseen 12 Thirty -Second Biennial Report problems are likely to arise. Still, for all the space limitations which are anticipated in the new building, improved arrange-ments in space and better facilities for researchers as well as for the technical processes involved in the operations of the Archives Section are eagerly awaited. A large quantity of records previously transferred to the State Records Center because of lack of space in the present archives, together with many others that have been held in the center, will be transferred into the new archives areas. The fact that the new archives stacks will almost be filled within the first year or so will add incentive for seeking a new building for the State Libraiy so that the section can take over the stacks now assigned to that institution. It is expected that the new space can be more efficiently used, and certainly the improved air conditioning system will eliminate one of the most serious problems confronted during the past two decades. Local Records Section The responsibility for developing and administering a program of archival preservation and records management at all levels of local government is assigned to the Local Records Section. The staff of the section consists of thirteen full-time employees and one half-time employee, including the assistant state archivist (local records), one records management analyst I, one archivist II, four archivists I, two clerks IV, two clerks III, one clerk II, one clerk II (half-time), and one stenographer II. Two additional clerks II are assigned to the Document Restoration Laboratory which, for supervisory purposes, now operates in the Local Records Section. To date, special emphasis has been placed on the program of inventorying county records and of repairing as necessary and microfilming for security those local records in the counties classified as permanently valuable. As a result, it was not possible to devote as much attention to other phases of records manage-ment as they deserve. Within the limitations of available funds and staff, counties and municipalities were furnished limited advice and assistance in solving their problems relating to the creation, utilization, and preservation of public records, but much remains to be done in this area. As a rule counties are scheduled for the microfilm program in order of their establishment. Prior to microfilming the records of a county, section staff members conduct inventories of the records of each county office. Using the County Records Manuai State Department of Archives and History 13 1962, as a guide, the records inventoried are scheduled either for permanent preservation in the office in which the\- are located, for transfer to the State Archives, or for ultimate disposal. The inventories, with schedules, are ]:)reparcd in mimcogiaplied form, bound in loose-leaf binders, and distributed to all county officials concerned.^ The inventories and schedules serve a three-fold pmpose: (1) thev provide an up-to-date inventory of records of a county found in the State Archives and in each county office; (2) they furnish custodians a convenient and legal guide for the disposal of records of no further value; and (3) they indicate which records are included in the security microfilm program. Since julv 1, 1966, inventories were conducted and inventory -schedules prepared and distributed to officials of the following counties: Ashe, Lenoir, Macon, Person, Davidson, Greene, Washington, Columbus, Davie, Yancey, Harnett, Cherokee, Henderson, Dare, Stanly, Caldwell, Union, and Alexander. Microfilming was com-pleted in the first sixteen of these counties and is nearing completion in Union and Alexander counties. Two teams of two microfilm camera operators (microfilmers) each are emploxed in the securitv microfilm program. One team is assigned to the eastern half of the state and the other to the western half. When work begins in a county the members of one of these teams assist other staff members in conducting the inven-tory, upon the completion of which the two microfilmers set up their cameras in the courthouse and microfilm all records classified in the inventorv as permanentlv valuable. These include deeds and other land records, marriage records, indexes to births and deaths, armed forces discharges, court minutes and judgment dockets, wills and other records concerning settlements of estates, orders and decrees, special proceedings, records of corporations, selected tax records, minutes of the board of count)' commissioners and other boards, and man\' other records of permanent adminis-trative and historical value. All microfilming b\ staff members is done at state expense.^ While microfilming the records of a county, the staff continues the practice of filming as many permanently valuable municipal and church records in the area as possible. This practice provides security for the records and also insures the preservation of invaluable North Carolina historv. Records of ten municipalities ^ For statistical data on inventoiying county records, see Appendix XII, p. 157. *> For statistical data on microfilming, see Appendix XIII, p. 158. 14 Thirty-Second Biennial Report and eighty-six churches were microfilmed during the past two years 7 In eighteen counties the registers of deeds are currently microfilming their deeds and other land records and are using print-out (page) copies for record purposes. Hall and McChesney, Incorporated, Greensboro, which processes the film and prepares print-outs for these counties, transferred 202 negative microfilm reels of eleven counties to the department for security storage.^ The registers of deeds of Carteret and Rockingham counties installed the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company 35 mm. processor-camera system of aperture card recording. For security purposes they 'also microfilm all deeds on a 16 mm. rotary camera and the resulting roll film is mailed by the processor to the department for security storage. Work has been completed in 76 of the 100 counties and is nearing completion in Union and Alexander counties. Records have been inventoried and scheduled in all of these 78 counties. With vaiying degrees of assistance from the department, Alamance, Buncombe, Cleveland, Gaston, Guilford (not completed), and Mecklenburg have microfilmed their own records. Including microfilming by department personnel,^ by four of the six counties listed above, by counties using Hall and McChesney facilities, by clerks of superior court (referred to below), and by other county officials, 12,277 volumes and boxes of papers (6,110 reels) were microfilmed during the biennium. Extensive structural work in the Wilson and Franklin county courthouses necessitated the temporaiy removal of the clerks of superior court, registers of deeds, and certain other officials to other locations. Concern for the safety of records in these temporary locations prompted county officials to solicit the advice and assistance of the department. It was agreed that the best solution would be to microfilm all the permanently valuable records of recent origin which had accumulated since department microfilmers worked in those counties. At the request of officials concerned, the department furnished a camera and the necessaiy film to microfilm the records of the register of deeds of Wilson County and those of the register of deeds and clerk of superior court of Franklin County. The counties furnished camera operators to do the work. A section staff member trained the county ^ For records of municipalities and churches microfihned, see Appendix VII, pp. 121, 123. ^ For records received from Hall and McChesney, Inc., see Appendix XIII, p. 158. State Department of Archives and History 15 Pictured here are two of several aspects of the Local Records program. At top staff members are shown (background) proofreading reels of micro-film exposed in the various county courtliouses; in left foreground corrections are being spliced into the master negatives; and in right foreground reels are being labeled and placed in cartons. The negative copies are then trans-ferred to the specially -designed Security Vault in the new building. At bottom are shown volumes of deeds from the courthouses in Orange and ("raven counties. These much-used volumes have been disassembled, deacidified, laminated by the Barrow process, and rebound. They will be returned to New Bern and Hillsborough where they will be used for genera-tions to come. Duplicate microfilm copies of these and other permanently valuable county records are placed in the Archives Search Room for public use. J 6 Thirty-Second Biennial Report microfilmers and provided such other assistance as necessaiy. Work was completed in Wilson County in February and in Franklin County in May, 1968. The Alexander County courthouse was seriously damaged by fire on August 11, 1967, but fortunately most of the records escaped serious damage. Temporaiy repairs permitted the clerk of superior court and register of deeds to move back to the courthouse after being located briefly in the community center building. At the end of the period plans were being made to demolish the remains of the old courthouse and to construct a new one. This work will require the clerk and register to move once more into temporaiy quarters. In order to assist the county in disposing of obsolete material and to provide security for records of permanent value, the department began the in-ventorying, repairing, and microfilming of the county's records in June, 1968. Weekly, on Friday, section cameramen ship all film exposed during the week to the department's Microfilm Processing Laboratory. When processing has been completed master nega-tives are delivered to the section where they are carefully inspected. Microfilmers refilm any unsatisfactory portions and the resulting corrections are spliced into the original reels. Reel numbers are then assigned and perforated into the leader of each reel. The next step is the procurement for public use of microfilm copies of records of high research value. ^ Master negatives of copies required for research purposes are shipped to the Genealogical Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. Under terms of an agreement in effect since December, 1959, the society prepares one copy for the department, one for its own genealogical library, and one for storage in the underground vault near Salt Lake City. Most of the raw film used in the local records program is purchased from the society. These arrangements result in considerable financial savings to the state and provide added protection for the more valuable records by having copies stored in one of the most secure vaults in the world. The repair of old records in the counties continued to be perhaps the most highly appreciated part of the local records program. Upon completion of the inventory in a county, those ^ For data on reels inspected, spliced, and filed, see Appendix XIV, p. 160. State Department of Archives and History 17 records of permanent value in need of repair are transferred temporarily to the Document Restoration Laboratoiy where they are restored by the Barrow process of deacidification and lamination. Over 76,000 pages of county records were restored during the period. Under contract with the Heckman Bindeiy, Inc., North Manchester, Indiana, 212 volumes were rebound. Owing to the fact that work had been completed in the older counties repair work on county records had reached its peak and was leveling off. Restoration work is also done at state expense. ^° Countv officials continued to transfer to the department signifi-cant quantities of historically valuable records no longer required in the administration of their offices. Because newer counties with fewer records were involved, however, total quantities received were considerabh less than those received in the preceding biennium. Records totaling 579 bound volumes and 319.3 cubic feet of unbound materials were received from 25 counties as follows (the first parenthetical number refers to volumes and the second to cubic feet of unbound records): Ashe (6 and 2.4), Bertie (1 and 0), Caldwell (17 and 28.2), Carteret (0 and 10), Cherokee (18 and 16.5), Columbus (33 and 11.6), Currituck (8 and 0), Dare (5 and 14.9), Davidson (21 and 20.7), Davie (41 and 0), Durham (50 and 0), Greene (22 and 13.3), Harnett (7 and 1), Henderson (24 and 21), Lenoir (15 and 11.7), Lincoln (65 and 41.1), Macon (57 and 28.2), Orange (21 and 1.5), Person (17 and 2.2), Richmond (0 and 12.6), Stanly (92 and 16.5), Union (5 and 4), Washington (6 and 13.3), Wilson (26 and 48.6), and Yancey (21 and 0). The bound volumes were repaired as necessary, cataloged, and accessioned. There are now in the archives 5,370 volumes and 3,437 cubic feet of unbound records from the counties. ^^ The work of appraising, arranging, and describing original records of the counties proceeded at a somewhat accelerated pace. This work is performed exclusively by archivists (payroll title: archives and historv assistants) who must be college graduates with training in North Carolina history. Working with unbound records requires not only adequate education and training but also a great deal of patience and good judgment. During the period of this report work was completed on 449 volumes and 926 Fibredex boxes (0.4 cubic feet each) of unbound I*' For statistical data on records repaired, see Appendix XXI, p. 175. 11 For statistics on records received from the counties, see Appendix XII, p. 157. 18 Thirty-Second Biennial Report records, all of which were transferred to the archives for the use of the public. Worthy of special note were the large groups of records from Stokes (225 boxes), Surry (91 boxes), and Wilkes (162 boxes). At the end of the period work was in progress on records received from Martin, New Hanover, Northampton, and Orange counties. ^^ y^g archivists are required to spend a good portion of their time inspecting incoming microfilm. As a result, work on original records suffers and the large accumulation of unbound records awaiting attention continues to grow. The Judicial Department Act of 1965 created a new system of courts in North Carolina. In December, 1966, 22 counties came under the act of 1965, to be followed by 61 additional counties in December, 1968, and by the remaining seven in December, 1970. Perhaps the most significant aspect of the act was the creation of new district courts and the abolition of the many inferior courts which previously existed in the state. Under the act the clerk of superior court in each county is also responsible for the records of the district court. He must also assume custody of the mass of inferior court records which have accumulated through the years, most of which are of little or no value. Under the new system, clerks of court no longer record court actions and other public records in the traditional books. Incoming documents are microfilmed and flat-filed. One copy of the micro-film is forwarded to the department for security storage, and 446 reels have been received to date. At ages yet to be determined, original papers of permanent value will also be transferred to the department for preservation. A serious problem in most clerks' offices is that of space for current records. In order to provide some relief, clerks are encouraged to transfer to the department noncurrent records of historical value and to destroy those of no further use or value. Instructions were prepared jointly by the State Department of Archives and History and the Administrative Office of the Courts for the guidance of clerks in transferring or destroying obsolete records of inferior courts. It is obvious that the work load of the section will be greatly increased as a result of the act of 1965. Staff pei-sonnel assisted the city of Raleigh in setting up a records management program which has served as a model for several other municipalities. A microfilm system was installed 12 For statistics on county records received, appraised, and described, see Appendix XII, p. 157. State Department of Archives and History 19 and records were scheduled for permanent retention or ultimate disposal, thereby preventing the accumulation of large volumes of obsolete material in the future. The assistant state archivist (local records), on several occasions, spoke on the subject of records management to classes of municipal officials conducted by the Institute of Government. Local officials increasingly are being besieged by salesmen offering recording, indexing, and data retrieval devices, as well as other products of a rapidly developing technology, all of which, according to sales claims, provide guaranteed solutions to records problems. As a result, officials are often in a quandary as to the advisability of spending large sums of money for equipment which may soon become obsolete or which may not serve their purpose in the first place. Faced with the statutory requirement that it furnish advice and assistance in these areas, the department is making an effort to keep abreast of new developments in order to render greater service. As a step in this direction, a records management analyst I was added to the staff with the primary duty of assisting local government officials in their current records management problems. The assistant state archivist (local records) and other staff members continued the practice of attending conventions of the various associations of local government personnel. At such meetings advantage of every opportunity is taken to discuss, formally and informally, local records problems. In addition, staff members made 107 visits to counties to discuss records matters with county officials. These activities serve to make county officials aware of the facilities and services available in the department and, perhaps most important of all, they help create a feeling of mutual understanding and respect, all of which contribute to the success of the local records program. Since its creation in 1959, the accomplishments of the Local Records Section can be viewed with justifiable pride. The fact remains, however, that the section is falling behind, especially in arranging and describing original records. Approximately 2,000 cubic feet of unbound records remain to be worked and the backlog is steadily growing. Major handicaps in the past have been the lack of working space and the shortage of professional staff. The space problem will be alleviated, at least temporarily, with the move into the new building. The problem of staff 20 Thirty-Second Biennial Report remains, however, and until additional staff members are pro-vided, the section will continue to be faced with heavy backlogs of records awaiting arrangement and description. The increase in the amount of microfilm to be received for security storage, under provision of the new court act, will add further strain upon the section. State Records Section Work of the State Records Section centered in programs to revise all records retention and disposition schedules completed prior to 1961, to develop and install new and revised files patterns and filing systems, to handle the significant increase in all aspects of the work of the State Records Center, and to concentrate on making security copies of essential operating records. The staflF of the section comprises the assistant state archivist (state records), two records management analysts I, three archivists II, one stenographer II, two clerical unit supervisors I, two clerks III, four clerks II, one clerk I, and one janitor. After the records of all state agencies were brought under disposition control during the previous biennium, a planned program was started to revise and update all schedules prepared prior to 1961. Priority lists were prepared so that schedules most in need of revision could be worked on first. Some schedules had been amended many times—in some instances, amendments had been amended—and, obviously, the schedules that were most difficult to administer were high on the list to be revised. The problems that were encountered, further, caused the re-visions to be done with great care and required considerably more time than the earlier versions. Nine schedules were approved during the biennium of which five were revisions of earlier versions. In addition, schedules for eighteen agencies were amended.^^ Several of the schedule amendments were, in effect, major revisions of existing schedules. A reorganization in the Markets Division, Department of Agriculture, made its existing disposal authorization obsolete; a complete new schedule for this division was required. An amendment that added disposal authorization for the Cashier's Office to the Dorothea Dix Hospital schedule '3 See Appendix XV, p. 161, for a list of agencies whose records were scheduled. State Department of Archives and History 21 was also completed—nearly four years after it was started. In the latter case, the disposition of patient financial records was involved in decisions concerning patients' medical records and action was deferred for more than three years by mutual consent. The State Board of Health schedule was amended to change retention periods for Central Files records; this project began as a feasibility study of specialized filing equipment requisitioned by the State Board of Health. A count of Central Files reference activity assisted in revising retention periods, and a careful review of administrative needs of the agency made it possible to shorten retention periods materially. A reorganization of the State Department of Public Welfare required the rearrangement of its schedule and the addition of sections representing new functions and new records. The standard for the disposition of personnel records prepared as the result of a cooperative study by the State Personnel De-partment and the State Department of Archives and History was approved and issued by the former with the recommendation that it be followed in disposing of agency personnel records. After several years' work, an agreement was reached with the Department of Mental Health on the disposition of patient medical records at the mental hospitals. On July 1, 1967, a new patient medical record system went into effect; agreement on the disposition of the "new" records was easily reached but a decision on the older records was more difficult. All of the hospitals were visited and their records examined. A mutually satisfactory agreement was reached in August, 1967, and material relating to identification, dates of admission and discharge, type of commitment, diagnosis, and a discharge summary, when available, for patients who were dead or discharged more than five years, was scheduled to begin coming into the State Records Center in mid- 1968. The volume of state records on hand grew from 160,840 cubic feet on July 1, 1966, to 180,139 cubic feet on June 30, 1968, an increase of 10.6 percent. Of even greater significance, however, was the fact that 46,384 cubic feet or 25.7 percent of the records in state agencies and institutions on June 30, 1968, had been created after July 1, 1966, and had not been in existence when the biennium began. This growth in state records brought an increasing concern about paper work from all sources. On September 20, 1967, following receipt of the summary report of 22 Thirty-Second Biennial Report records holdings as of the previous June 30, Governor Dan Moore informed all agency heads that in his opinion "too many records are made, filed, and kept." He asked all agencies to strive for the more efficient and economical management of their records. The Governor's memorandum, coupled with an increasing awareness by state agencies of their own records problems, resulted in the records management analysts spending a great deal of time in studying and installing files and records systems and in conducting paper-work procedural studies. Several major subject correspondence files were studied and completely revised. Of these, the most significant was the complete reorganization of the subject files in the Governor's Office. A patchwork records system first de\'ised during the administra-tion of Governor J. Melville Broughton (i94i-i945) meant that the files were difficult to use, and overlapping and duplicating headings led to the fragmentation of important subject matter. A thorough study of the manner in which the files were both cre-ated and used led to a revised system which separated the file into several major components: state agencies, federal agencies, insti-tutions, counties, other states, associations and organizations, and a miscellaneous grouping consisting of broad subjective classifi-cations. In addition, an extensive visible index was prepared, indicating where in these various segments material relating to a particular subject was filed. After eighteen full months ofoperation, the system proved flexible enough to permit additions and changes without requiring a major rearrangement. Similar file systems were developed for the Office of the Director of Administration and for the Budget Division, Depart-ment ofAdministration. The Budget Division files were complicated by the fact that a great deal of policy material was filed and lost in the so-called Appropriations File for lack of a better place to put it. Project files in the Property Control and Construction Division, Department of Administration, were reorganized into a system that roughly paralleled the revised subject files elsewhere in the department. A subject file was established for the Governor's Coordinating Committee on Highway Safety which was created by the 1967 General Assembly. Several major installations of records systems were also com-pleted. The Probation-Prison-Parole combined records system State Department of Archives and History 23 mentioned in the 1964-1966 biennial report was completed after fifteen months of close supervision. Basically this system merged the custodial files of the Department of Correction and the Board of Paroles into a single multi-part folder. If the inmate entered the prison system as the result of revocation of probation, his Probation Commission folder preceded the custodial file; and the documentation relating to his supervision while on parole status followed it. Thus the complete record of an inmate was in a single svstem. The files were arranged by a fifteen-digit alpha-meric number that placed them in alphabetical and numerical order simultaneously; the number identified first and last name, race and sex, month and year of birth, and North Carolina county of birth. Use of the alphamericiuumbering system was the kev to automating the inmate card record which made identical infor-mation available in the Department of Correction, the Board of Paroles, and the Correction Complex and Unit. Several months after the completion of the installation of the combined records system, a supplementary study of the documen-tation comprising the custodial and supervision segments of the combined file was begun. All of the forms and records in the file created both in the Board of Paroles and the Department of Correction were analyzed and traced. The number of copies of several forms was reduced and in some instances additional forms were found to be necessary. Many of the forms were redesigned, and as new supplies were ordered the revised forms were printed. As the result of the documentation study, there was a careful analysis of the contents of the custodial and supervision portions of the combined record and a corresponding improvement in the quality of the file. The record system used by the Vocational Rehabilitation Division, Department of Public InstRiction, was changed following participation in a "crash" program to put the payment of invoices on a current basis. Each invoice was matched against an authorization which was batch-filed alphabetically in groups of from 500 to 1,000 documents. To locate a particular authoriza-tion, it was necessary to search the entire batch. Although the backlog of unpaid invoices was largelv eliminated, it was obvious that a record system that would reduce the search and matching time was essential. A terminal digit system was devised, using the last three digits of the "VR" number—a consecutive number assigned to each case. Installation of the system eliminated many 24 Thirty -Second Biennial Report outdated and duplicate authorizations and now permits processing of the invoice on the same day it is received. As an offshoot of the College and University Records Retention and Disposition Schedule issued by the department in 1964, work began in April, 1967, on records systems of the community colleges, technical institutions, and industrial education centers that comprise the North Carolina community college system. The records of six representative institutions were examined in detail and samples of all local forms were collected from each institution. As the result of this study, a records disposition standard was developed for use throughout the community colleges system and a filing pattern for use with subject-type material was devised. In addition, student personnel records were studied in detail and a proposed records system, including forms for use with it, was designed. Progress was also made in designing new forms for use in the requisitioning and ordering procedure, and a record system for the procurement of state-furnished equipment was suggested. As the biennium ended, various phases of the community colleges records project were awaiting review and approval by the Department of Community Colleges and the State Board of Education. Throughout the biennium, the number of requests for study and review of paper-work procedures increased. In the State Board of Health, the procedures bv which the Film Libraiy issued and received training films were reviewed and recom-mendations were made for reducing the amount of paper work. The Crippled Children and Chronic Disease Sections of the Personal Health Division, State Board of Health, were also examined and simplified procedures recommended. In connection with an equipment request, procedures of the Boiler Bureau, Department of Labor, were reviewed. A manual system that could not keep up with an increased work load was in use; although some improvements could have been made, the existing system was sufficiently outdated that the work of the bureau would have gotten further and further behind. Automation of the bureau's procedures and conversion to computer operation were recommended; not only would the work be conducted on a current basis but data would be readily available for the effective administration of the boiler inspection laws in the state. In addition, automation would make three clerical positions available for other purposes, although anv savings resulting State Department of Archives and History 25 therefrom would be partially offset by the cost of computer operations. The records management analysts also participated in proce-dural studies in the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System. Several special studies were made, with those on mail handling and telephone usage having the greatest effect. In connection with the switchover from disk-pak to tape processing on a computer and the storage of additional retirement information in the computer file, special areas were examined to verify or to eliminate problems believed to exist. In addition, the retirement files were converted to shelf filing and the filing mechanics were improved. A procedural study showing the origin, distribution, and disposition of all records created or handled by the Planning and Research Department, State Highway Commission, was also completed. At the end of the biennium, a special project was in process to determine whether the records maintained by the Finance Department, State Highway Commission, could be reorganized and revised so that the retention requirements of the Bureau of Public Roads could be followed without requiring the simultane-ous retention of vast quanitities of records in which the bureau has no interest. Although the need of the Bureau of Public Roads for records to permit it to audit expenditures of federal funds is evident, the problem which has been imposed on the State Highway Commission (and indirectly on the Department of Archives and History) is three-fold: first, the flow of paper work in the State Highway Commission is such that it is virtually impossible to distinguish a federal aid document (in which the Bureau of Public Roads is interested) from a nonfederal aid document (in which it is not); second, many of the documents and much of the paper work that is required to be kept cannot be separated into federal aid and nonfederal aid parts because it contains no such identification; and third, the bureau requires, for audit purposes, the retention of not only the source documents but also the punched cards (computer input), print-outs, and magnetic tapes. Several meetings with Bureau of Public Roads representatives and with State Highway Commission staff mem-bers have emphasized the problems but have not relieved the State Highway Commission and the Department of Archives and History from the responsibility of maintaining large quantities of records far longer than the administrative and research needs 26 Thirty-Second Biennial Report of the state of North Carohna require. The task of developing Hsts of essential operating records was completed for all state agencies, and lists were formalized into Memorandums of Understanding approved by the head of the agency concerned and by the director of the Department of Archives and History. ^'^ Each of the Memorandums of Under-standing listed the title of the essential records and described it in some detail, the manner of protection, and—in case of protection by dispersion—the location of the security copy. The program developed on the assumption that the greatest danger to state records was a local disaster such as a fire. It was, then, built around the question: What is needed to get back into business if your offices burn completely some night? In most cases, the volume of essential operating records was surprisingly small and many of them were already protected by existing dispersion. To assist in administering the program as the first phase was finished, a records management handbook. Protecting Essential Operating Records, was issued in June, 1967. As pressure for office space increased and as the services that the section offered became increasingly well known, the work load of the State Records Center increased in every respect. In all, 19,569 cubic feet of records were received from 51 state agencies in 1,060 separate accessioning transactions. At the same time, the Records Center disposed of 11,114 cubic feet of records, virtually all of them in accordance with the provisions of approved records retention and disposition schedules. All records holdings of the center are under disposition control, and they are purged of disposable material when it becomes eligible for destruction. There was a net increase of 8,454 cubic feet during the biennium, raising the total holdings of the center to 52,246 cubic feet.^^ The State Records Center thus houses in low-cost, controlled storage the equivalent of the contents of 8,163 four-drawer file cabinets that would otherwise have occupied 57,000 square feet of space in already congested state offices. While the new accessions increased, the number of reference services continued to move sharply upward. More than 161,000 reference services were performed for 45 state agencies and boards, of which 69,500 documents or items of information were ^* See Appendix XV, p. 173, Thirty-First Biennial Report, for a list of agencies with approved Memorandums of Understanding. '^ See Appendix XVI, p. 162, for statistics on state records. State Department of Archives and History 27 The capacity of the State Records Center (top) will be reached during the coming biennium. At bottom are shown large quantities of noncurrent records of state agencies that are stored on the floor pending erection of additional shelving late in 1968. Even with this increase in shelving, a new or expanded building will be required within two years. 28 Thirty-Second Biennial Report furnished and 92,150 items were refiled and interfiled. ^^ The records of the Department of Revenue continued to be used most frequently, although the records of the Department of Motor Vehicles, Employment Security Commission, Department of Correction, State Board of Education, and Adjutant General's Department were frequently referred to. There were also 465 visitors to the State Records Center to consult records. Of these, 339 were from 29 state agencies; 25 were from 6 federal agencies; and 101 were from 3 private agencies. During the biennium i()5 tons of mixed paper and 15 tons of punched cards were sold as wastepaper as the result of disposal activities, with total receipts of $759. The most pressing and urgent needs of the State Records Center continue to be space and personnel. Since the capacity of the center as presently equipped is 48,137 cubic feet of records and the total holdings are 52,246 cubic feet, it can readily be seen that the Records Center has 4,109 cubic feet of records over its capacity. The 1967 General Assembly appropriated $75,000 to renovate the Records Center building and to shelve the remainder of the first floor, and work is expected to begin as soon as the Divisions of Historic Sites, Museums, and Publications vacate the portion of the building they now occupy. Even so, at the present rate of growth, it is estimated that the building will be entirely filled with records by the end of the next biennium. As a consequence, the 1969 General Assembly will be asked to provide a new building to house approximately 142,000 cubic feet of records. The records center function continues to be understaffed, operating with one part-time and two full-time employees. Each person working in the operation is responsible for administering (accessioning, servicing, disposing) 23,220 cubic feet of records, more than twice the standard used by the National Archives and Records Service in staffing the federal records centers. Eveiy effort is made to keep reference services current, although the heavy load of refiles and interfiles in some agencies has back-logged, and it is no longer possible in all cases to send documents to using agencies the same day they are requested. It is frequently necessary to detail personnel to the records storage operation from other functions of the State Records Section. The Microfilm Project microfilmed the records of 28 state ^8 See Appendix XVII, p. 165, for reference statistics. State Department of Archives and History 29 agencies either to conserve space or to provide security copies. In all, 5,501,727 images were filmed on 3,606 reels of negative microfilm, and 275 reels of positive microfilm were checked. In addition, 819 reels of checks and ledger sheets microfilmed by the State Treasurer's Office were proofread by the section. With completion of the initial phase of the essential records protection program, an increasing amount of the work of the Microfilm Project centered on the preparation of preservation duplicates by microfilm. ^^ Microfilming of original birth certificates, 1913-1945, of the State Board of Health was completed, and the negative microfilm copies of birth certificates, 1946-1959, made previously for the federal government were reviewed, properly identified, and labeled. Corporation charters, 1957-1967, in the Office of the Secretaiy of State were filmed to provide a security copy as were current history cards of the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System. Microfilming of the original cases of the Supreme Court continued, and many other series of records were microfilmed in accordance with approved Memorandums of Understanding for the protection of essential records. A review of all film on hand was completed, and as a result approximately 1,500 reels were destroyed. The film disposed of consisted of temporary security copies that were superseded by a later filming, or of older film of records subsequently authorized for disposal. In several instances film was retained, even though the records could be disposed of, because it had already been made and could possibly be of some research interest in the future. The permanent film was identified; it will be moved to security storage in the vault of the Archives and History-State Library Building. Some film, consisting of use copies and temporary security copies, will remain in the microfilm area of the State Records Center. It is probable that the state records program will continue to grow and to diversify. The scheduling project will continue, although the records retention and disposition schedules that are now produced are prepared with increasing care. More and more time will be required for the development and installation of records and paper-work systems. The work load in the State Records Center will increase. And there is no end in sight for the microfilming of state records for security and economy. With additional space in the coming biennium, all of these activities will be greatly benefited. " For state records microfilming statistics, see Appendix XVIII, p. 166. 30 Thirty-Second Biennial Report Newspaper Microfilming Project Newspapers are a valuable source for research. Yet newsprint is one of the most perishable recording mediums. Extant copies of early newspapers are scattered throughout the nation, and the inferior paper used in post-Civil War newspapers has resulted in the rapid deterioration of more recent issues. Furthermore, the bulk of modern newspapers is such that libraries cannot continue to retain indefinitely these papers in their original form. In recognition of the need for making available to researchers all known issues of North Carolina newspapers, the division in 1959 established by special appropriation its Newspaper Micro-filming Project. In nine years approximately 1,500 reels of newspapers, containing all known titles published from 1751 to 1900—and many after the latter date-—have been filmed and made available to researchers. During this biennium alone 602 reels were released, including the following: Fayetteville Observer (weekly, 1816-1819, 1823-1865, 1883-1900, 22 reels; semiweekly, 1851-1865, 13 reels; and daily, 1896-1900, 10 reels); Greensboro Evening Telegram (daily, 1897-1911, 16 reels); Greenville Daily News (daily, 1917-1921, 18 reels); Hendersonville French Broad Hustler (weekly and semiweekly, 1905-1918, 12 reels); Norlina Headlight (weekly, 1914-1940, 17 reels); Pinehurst Outlook (weekly, 1897-1961, 32 reels); Raleigh Union Herald (weekly, 1919-1944, 24 reels); Wilmington Carolina Farmer and Morning Star (weekly, 1869-1905, 12 reels); and Wilmington Morning Star (daily, 1867-1900, 67 reels). Continuations of titles previously filmed to 1900 included the Greensboro Patriot to 1947, 71 reels; Hillsborough Orange County Observer to 1916, 4 reels; and Salisbury Carolina Watchman to 1937, 9 reels. Several previous microfilm editions were refilmed because of the discovery of a significant number of additional issues or because the initial filming was unsatisfactory. These included the Fayetteville Eagle (weekly, 1868-1875, semiweekly, 1868-1873, and daily, 1872, 3 reels); Fayetteville NortJi Carolinian (weekly, 1839-1864, and daily, 1859-1864, 7 reels); New Bern Carolina Centinel (weekly, 1818-1837, 5 reels); Winston-Salem People's Press (weekly, 1851-1892, 15 reels); Raleigh Register (weekly, 1799-1868, 1877-1878, 1884-1886, 22 reels; and semiweekly, 1823- 1830, 1840-1864, 1867-1868, 27 reels); Raleigh Sentinel (weekly, 1866-1876, 2 reels; semiweekly, 1866-1877, 2 reels; and daily, State Department of Archives and History 31 1865-1876, 12 reels); and the Raleigh North Carolina Standard (weekly, 1834-1870, 12 reels; semiweekly, 1850-1865, triweekly, 1866-1868, 15 reels; and daily, 1865-1870, 7 reels). A complete list of titles released during the biennium is found in Appendix XIX. ^^ Titles previously filmed may be found in H. G. Jones and Julius H. Avant (eds.), North Carolina News-papers on Microfilm (1965), and in Appendix XXII of the 1964- 1966 biennial report. Work continued on the preparation of a card file listing all newspapers published since 1900. It is hoped that a companion to the Union of North Carolina Newspapers, 1751-1900, published in 1963, can be issued within the next few years so that the location of newspapers through 1950 will be known. Civil War Roster Project Volume I (Artillery) of North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865: A Roster was published at the end of the previous biennium. Research for subsequent volumes had already begun, but because of budgetary restrictions, the staff had to be reduced and the editor. Dr. Louis H. Manarin, accepted a position with the National Archives in August, 1966. He was able nevertheless to continue his supervision over the roster staff which for the follow-ing twelve months consisted of Mrs. Manarin and part-time workers. During that period information continued to be compiled on men who served in the Confederate States Navy, the United States Volunteers, the general and special staff positions, and the first three regiments of infantry. The General Assembly in 1967 appropriated funds sufficient to continue the project at its previous staff strength, and Dr. Manarin returned to state service in August. Work was then begun on the manuscript for Volume II (Cavalry) and the copy for the first two regiments was delivered to the North Carolina State University Print Shop on November 27. At the end of the biennium most of the volume was in galley proof and its publication was expected in the fall. Meanwhile Mrs. Manarin went on half-time duty. She continued to summarize and dictate the individual service records of the infantry troops on file in the National Archives; a part-time 18 See below, p. 168. 32 Thirty-Second Biennial Report assistant, Mrs. Patsy Vogel, transcribed them, after which they were checked and filed by Mrs. Essel Parker, a longtime employee of the project. The editor prepared the manuscript, and all members of the staff assisted in the proofreading. Research continued on the third volume which is scheduled for publication in December, 1969. Volume III will include infan-try units from the 1st Battalion of North Carolina Shaipshooters to the 4th Regiment of North Carolina State Troops (in all, nine major units). Research in major printed sources was completed on all of the units and information was extracted from the files in the National Archives through the 3rd Regiment. When the department occupies its new building, the Roster Project staff will move to Raleigh. Microfilm copies of pertinent records in the National Archives have been obtained, and these, coupled with other sources available in the state, will permit the continuation of the project without interruption. The Department of Archives and History is much indebted to Doctors Wayne C. Grover, Robert H. Bahmer, and J. Berton Rhoads, the last three archivists of the United States, for providing facilities for the Roster Project in the National Archives Building during the past several years. Microfilm Processing Laboratory Processed microfilm totaled 14,860 reels amounting to 1,434,555 linear feet, as follows: 3,516 reels (343,045 feet) of 16 mm. negatives; 5,740 reels (559,600 feet) of 35 mm. negatives; 279 reels (27,450 feet) of 16 mm. duplicates; and 5,325 reels (504,460 feet) of 35 mm. duplicates. i^ Since the processing equipment was installed in 1961, 39,444 reels totaling 3,845,257 feet have been produced. The laboratory has continued to occupy space in the basement in the Old YMCA Building, but the new building to be occupied soon will afford adequate facilities. Traditionally, positive microfilm has been used in the Search Room. This has posed a problem because there is not yet on the market a reader-printer which makes good paper enlargements from positive film. A solution was found during the biennium when a direct duplicating film became available. Now duplicate negative film is prepared for Search Room use. Unfortunately some researchers, not experienced in reading microfilm, find '^ For quarterly statistics on microfilm processing, see Appendix XX, p. 174. State Department of Archives and History 33 difficulty in accustoming themselves to reading the negative film. The greatly improved quality of positive prints from negative film, however, more than compensates for this handicap. Document Restoration Laboratory The Document Restoration Laboratory deacidified and lami-nated by the Barrow process 187,957 pages of deteriorating papers. Of these, 76,019 pages were county records, 88,622 pages were noncounty materials in the archives, and 23,316 pages were private materials laminated for individuals and institutions for a fee.20 Experiments, with promising results, were conducted in the deacidification of papers by means of vapors from cyclohex-ylamine carbonate. William J. Barrow of Richmond, Virginia, the builder of the department's roller-type laminating equipment—the department has the twelfth machine of its type ever made—died on August 25, 1967. Barrow had continued to assist and advise the document restoration staff, and his death is a loss to the archival profession in general and to this department in particular. Professional Personnel and Their Activities The State Personnel Department restudied the professional positions in the division and revised upward the pay grades effective October 1, 1967. For payroll purposes the classification of archives and history assistant was substituted for the former title of archivist and the title of the state archivist's position was changed to archives and records administrator. Records manage-ment consultants became records management analysts .^i Salary grade increases ranged from one to four steps, or from about 5 percent to about 20 percent. These overdue revisions, coupled with a 6 percent legislative increase in 1967, enabled the division to raise the usual academic requirements for most professional positions to a master's degree or its equivalent. Thus, while archival and records management salaries in North Carolina remain below the national average, the division is in a much better position than has been the case for several years. And, while several outstanding employees were lost, capable replace-ments were obtained. Furthermore, the divisional requirement 20 For quarterly statistics on document restoration, see Appendix XXI, p. 175. 21 These new payroll titles are reflected below in Appendix V, p. 100. 34 Thirty -Second Biennial Report that most professional personnel, if they had not already done so, take a course in North Carolina history following their employ-ment, increased the usefulness of the staff members. Mrs. Betty H. Carter, Mrs. Ellen Z. McGrew, and Miss Betty Yarbrough completed courses during the biennium. Another requirement is that new employees take the graduate courses in archival administration given by the division head through North Carolina State University. These courses brought encouraging results. During the biennium, six employees—Mrs. Ruby Arnold, Mr. Julius H. Avant, Miss Betsy R. Fleshman, Miss Mildred I. Holt, Mr. M. Kramer Jackson, and Mr. Donald R. Lennon—completed both semesters of the course, which is offered in conjunction with the master's program at NCSU. Two others—Mrs. Betty H. Carter and Miss Kathryn S. Pruitt— completed the introductory semester. Others taking one or both courses were as follows: 1966-1967—Messrs. Steven Bradford, Barney R. Carroll, Jr., Robert Lowery, and William E. White III, all students at NCSU, and Mr. Maurice S. Toler, university archivist at NCSU; and 1967-1968—Messrs. Steven Hughes, Gregory L. Knott, and Harry L. Stanfield, graduate students at NCSU; Mr. David T. Bevan and Mrs. Marcia H. McGukin, graduate students in the School of Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Miss Lynn Dodge, senior at Meredith College. Certificates of completion were conferred upon the past year's participants at a dinner on May 15 at which Dr. Everett O. Alldredge, assistant archivist of the United States, spoke. Several staff members are continuing their education by taking graduate and special courses in the local university. By scheduling night courses, it is now possible for a full-time state employee to complete work for the master's degree in history in two calendar years. The division continues to watch with mixed emotions as some of its outstanding employees are called to fill archival positions in other institutions. In 1967 Mr. Donald R. Lennon became manuscript curator at East Carolina University and Mr. James O. Hall was appointed archivist in the Federal Records Center, East Point, Georgia. Other recent "graduates" of the Division of Archives and Manuscripts now holding responsible position in other institutions include Mr. Toler, mentioned above; Mr. Connis O. Brown, public records examiner in the Maryland Hall of State Department of Archives and History 35 "Records; and Mr. John R. Woodard, director of the Baptist Collection at Wake Forest University. Various staff members were active in professional organizations and in historical activities in general. Dr. H. G. Jones, state archivist, served as treasurer of the Society of American Archivists until 1967 when he was elected vice-president. He will auto-matically succeed to the presidency in Ottawa in October, 1968, thus becoming the fourth North Carolinian to head the organiza-tion, following in the footsteps of R. D. W. Connor, A. R. Newsome, and Dr. Christopher Crittenden. Dr. Jones' book. For History's Sake, won the Waldo Gifford Leland Prize for the best American book on archival history, theory, and practice published in 1966.^2 In the same year he was given a leave of absence to conduct a study of and prepare recommendations for the California State Archives in Sacramento. He also served as a consultant with the Florida Governmental Organization and Efficiency Committee and assisted in the writing of legislation establishing the Board of Archives and History in that state. In 1967 he was appointed a representative of the Society of American Archivists on the Joint Committee on the Status of the National Archives of which he was elected secretary. He then was given leave to conduct, for the American Historical Association, the Organization ofAmerican Historians, and the Society of American Archivists, a study of the National Archives and Records Service. The resulting manu-script, "The Records of a Nation: Their Management, Preservation, and Use," will be published by Atheneum Publishers early in 1969. Finally, he was given leave early in 1968 to conduct a study of and to prepare a report of recommendations on the archival, publications, and records management programs of the Virginia State Library. During the biennium he attended all meetings of the council of the Society of American Archivists and read papers at the society's annual meetings on "Archival Training in American Universities, 1936-1966," in Atlanta in 1966, and on "Archival Handling of Published Materials" in Santa Fe in 1967. He also attended the annual meetings of the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, and the Southern Historical Association. His other activities included attendance at the Conference on Quantitative Data in Early American History at Williamsburg, Virginia, in November, 1967; an address before the North Carolina Association of Regis- 22 For a bibliography of all books and articles by members of the staff, see Appendix VI, p. 105. 36 Thirty -Second Biennial Report ters of Deeds at Asheville in June, 1968; and a variety of talks before school, historical, and civic groups. He was named "Tar Heel of the Week" by the Raleigh News and Observer on Decem-ber 10, 1967. Mr. C. F. W. Coker, assistant state archivist (archives), attended the annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists in Atlanta in 1966; and in June, 1967, he was on leave for the purpose of assisting the Marine Corps Museum, Quantico, Virginia, in the arrangement and description of private papers. Mr. Thornton W. Mitchell, assistant state archivist (state records), attended the annual meeting of the SAA in Atlanta in 1966 and Santa Fe in 1967. He served as chairman of the society's Records Management, Washington, D.C., December, 1967. the committee's workshop in Santa Fe, and spoke on "Records Retention Scheduling" at the American University Institute on Records Management, Washington, D.C., December, 1967. Rear Admiral A. M. Patterson, assistant state archivist (local records), attended the SAA meeting in Atlanta in 1966. He addressed the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, Philadelphia, January, 1967, on "North Carolina's Experience and Accomplishments in the Improvement of Public Records. " He continued to attend the meetings of the various associations of North Carolina local officials and frequently appeared on their programs. Dr. Louis H. Manarin, editor of the Roster Project, was appointed a Fellow of the Company of Military Historians in 1967, and the following year he was elected secretary of the American Military Institute. He gave several talks relative to the roster and to the Civil War. Mr. Donald E. Horton, photographer II, attended the annual meetings of the National Microfilm Association and completed a course in advanced photography through the School of Modern Photography. In May, 1967, nine members of the staff attended the Tri-State Archives and Records Conference in Columbia, South Carolina: Dr. Jones, Mr. Coker, Mr. Mitchell, Mrs. Bessie W. Bowling, Mrs. Rebecca K. Clegg, and Messrs. James O. Hall, James A. Hardee, J. R. Hocutt, Donald E. Horton, and Bobby J. Holleman. Dr. Jones, Mr. Mitchell, Mrs. Bowling, and Mr. Hall read papers. In March, 1968, the state archivist, the three section State Department of Archives and History 37 heads, and Mr. Frank D. Gatton attended in Atlanta a Symposium on Automation and Its Effect on Archives and Research in His-toiy and the Social Sciences. During the past three summers the Division of Archives and Manuscripts made effective use of college students qualifying for employment under the Program for Assuring College Education (PACE). These students worked from ten to twelve weeks each on special projects such as arranging and indexing newspaper clippings, preparing materials for microfilming, and splicing film. Ninety percent of their hourly wages was provided by the federal government. The following students participated: 1966— Mr. Barney R. Carroll (Archives); 1967—Messrs. Marc M. Caplan and Robert Howard (Archives) and Misses Janie Battle and Dolores Hall (State Records); 1968—Mr. David South (Archives), Miss Brenda Sue Morgan (Local Records), and Misses Dolores Hall and Diane Payne (State Records). Two North Carolina State University graduate students—Messrs. Harry L. Stanfield and H. Steven Hughes—were part-time interns during the 1967- 1968 academic year. Archivists and records management officials from other states and nations continued to visit the division to observe its programs. Among them were the following: Mr. Gerald S. Eigen, senior archivist, Massachusetts Executive Office for Administration and Finance, on June 17, 1966 (not included in last report); Mr. Robert Johnson, records management officer, Wisconsin Department of Administration, August 1-5, 1966; Mr. Keng Aun Loh, archivist of the Federation of Malaysia, September 29-30, 1966; Mr. Loring Lovill, research assistant, Florida Secretary of State, October 12, 1966; Mrs. Cleo Hughes, archivist, Tennessee State Archives, November, 1966; Mr. Kenneth Brock, records management analyst, New York Division of Archives and Manuscripts, March 13-24, 1967; Archivist Iredale, of North Riding, Yorkshire, England, in May, 1968; and Dr. James B. Rhoads, archivist of the United States, on June 21, 1968. Delegations from South Carolina's Department of Archives and History and General Services Division visited on three occasions: in October, 1966, in June, 1967, and in March, 1968. Included in one or more of these trips were Messrs. Harold W. Perry, William Coleman, Leslie M. Teel, Ray Stoudemire, Daniel R. Pipes, and Fred Browder. Mr. Robert Williams, director of the Florida Board of Archives and History, visited the division on two occasions. 38 Thirty -Second Biennial Report An experiment of significance occurred during the period of January 23 to February 3, 1967, when Dr. John Hope Frankhn, chairman of the Department of History, University of Chicago, brought the seven doctoral candidates in his American Histoiy seminar to Raleigh for two weeks of intensive research in the records of North Carolina's Reconstruction period. The partici-pants conducted their research in the State Archives during the day and held discussion classes at night. Following their period here, each prepared a paper on an assigned topic. A special dinner, attended by faculty members from colleges and univer-sities in the area, was given in honor of the group. Dr. Franklin read a paper on "An Ante-Bellum Odyssey: Southern Travelers in the North." So successflil was the two-week experiment that Dr. Franklin will read a paper on it at the joint luncheon of the American Historical Association and the Society of American Archivists in New York in December, 1968. Several classes and clubs from nearby colleges and universities visited the State Archives during the biennium and were given orientation sessions and guided tours. This sort of activity will be accelerated when better facilities are provided in the new building. The division continued to receive wide publicity for its programs. Indian Archives, published by the National Archives of India, carried an article, "The Archival-Records Management Programme of an American State," written by the state archivist, in its 1965-1966 volume. The Autumn, 1966, issue of Records Management Journal contained three articles, written by Dr. Jones, Admiral Patterson, and Mr. Mitchell, on the records management program. The New York Times of August 6, 1967, carried a 19-column-inch story on the division with the focus on the Black Mountain College records. The director's column, written for the Associated Press, continued to publicize the archival and records management functions among North Carolinians. Summary For two decades the reports of the division have pointed to the need for adequate space and facilities. It would be a relief to report that this need will be completely met upon the occupation of the new building within a few months, but such is not the case. State Department of Archives and History 39 Immediate requirements will indeed be met, for space will be sufficient for the present holdings and staff. As is so often the case in state planning, however, what is adequate for the moment will be inadequate within a few years. That is why efforts must be continued to persuade the General Assembly to provide an additional building for the North Carolina State Library so that stacks assigned to the library can be made available for records awaiting transfer to the State Archives. The conversion of the libraiy areas to use by the Department of Archives and History will be relatively simple as a result of the foresight of the architect in designing the building for eventual use exclusively by this department. Even with all of the space in the new building at its disposal, however, the department will soon need additional space as a result of its growing stature and its improved service to the people of the state. Accordingly, and simultaneously with the effort to obtain funds for a new library building, the department will seek funds to constRict an archives annex to house the State Records Center, the records management function, and the auxiliaiy archival services. The renovation of the present State Records Center will provide for only two or three years of expansion there. Consequently additional records center space will be imperative; good management and the efficient adminis-tration of the archival and records management programs will be served by providing such space contiguous to the newly-finished building. If this plan is carried out, for the first time all of the department's Raleigh functions can be more efficiently co-ordinated. As the population of the state increases, as more and more of its citizens come to appreciate their heritage, and as the department heeds the call for new and expanded programs in archival administration and records management, inevitably the staff must increase. In several areas the need is pressing: in the State Archives for better service to i^esearchers, in the Local Records Section for more specialized records management as-sistance to county and municipal officials and for arranging and describing incoming local records, and in the State Records Section for improving record-making and record-keeping systems in the state agencies and for handling the increased holdings of the State Records Center. Judging from its response in the past, the General Assembly can be expected to fill at least the most 40 Thirty-Second Biennial Report urgent of these needs. It is, therefore, with optimism and appreciation that the Division of Archives and Manuscripts looks to the future. It is an optimism based not upon complacency or satisfaction with its past record but rather upon the confidence that if it continues to carry out its responsibilities as befits a state that is never satisfied with the status quo, it will continue to deserve and receive the support of the people of North Carolina. DIVISION OF HISTORIC SITES W. S. Tarlton, Historic Sites Superintendent The historic sites program, which began in 1955 and for several years seemed "new," incomplete, and struggling for survival, now appears well estabHshed and secure. Those who Hved through the early stages are pleased with the air of maturity which the program now possesses. The number of improved state-owned projects has grown from one to thirteen, and the number of cooperating local and in-dependent projects has mounted in at least the same proportion. Historic sites have been "accepted" in the family of state tax-supported programs, have become important to the public, and have reached the point that they enjoy a role of camaraderie and self-esteem with associates in other agencies of the state which impinge upon the program—the legislative and administrative departments, and the sister agencies serving the public in the fields of education, recreation, conservation and development, highways and transportation, and cultural development. The division has also arrived at a level of higher esteem among local groups over the state who have accepted the mission of historic preservation and development and who need professional assistance. There has developed between the local sector and the department a high sense of mutual concern and need, and a will to cooperate. This sense of arrival did not come from sudden causes, although it registered itself rather dramaticallv within the past year or two. Among the causes were the sound and creative policies of departmental leadership going back to the beginning; the con-tributions of a dedicated and hard working staff; and, more recently, participation in coordinated planning at state and local levels of all aspects of development, including historical develop-ment. The State Planning Task Force (and especiallv the Recreation Sub-Task Force), the Division of Community Planning of the State Department of Conservation and Development, and numerous regional, municipal, and community planning and development commissions were key factors in bringing historical development into the mainstream. Going back of these state and local agencies it is necessaiy to recognize the federal aegis expressed through the many assistance programs. The state 42 Thirty-Second Biennial Report Historic Sites Advisory Committee, established in 1963 to evaluate and screen historic site projects for state financial support, did a great deal to consolidate public support and confidence. This arrival to full-fledged position, while a good thing, brought some problems which need attention. Most of these problems relate to the need to maintain the highest standards and capabilities for both operational and service functions. Commitment has always tended to exceed the reach of the division. Too much has been attempted with inadequate budget and staff, and though there has been a gradual increase to fuller strength, the Division of Historic Sites is still understaffed. The need now is to deepen the staff structure, especially in research and planning and in interpretive and educational endeavors. Larger staffs are needed at a number of the historic sites, including curatorial staff at several of the largest. These staff needs relate both to the regular state program (the system of thirteen state historic sites) and to the commitment to service local, or non-state, projects and programs. The volume of activity in the local sector is increasing phenomenally, but the present staff is geared to the situation of five years ago, when local assistance calls were for modest needs. If once, in the less demanding early years of the program, the division was justified in pursuing tentative standards, hoping some day to do better, it can no longer be satisfied with this. With wider recognition of the importance of historical conserva-tion and development, with increasing calls for assistance from local and community programs, and with spiraling use of the state historic sites by a public which is growing in sophistication, it is going to be necessary to staff and otheiAvise provide for functioning to the highest standards. Operations and Maintenance One new project, Somerset Place, was added to the operational program since the preceding biennium. Major capital improve-ments were added at Binanswick Town and Polk Birthplace, and construction plans for visitor center-museums and other improve-ments at Historic Bath and the Gunboat "Neuse" were completed. Six maintenance buildings were constructed at as many historic sites, and gasoline storage tanks and pumps were installed at State Department of Archives and History 43 five. Two historic site assistants and one grounds maintenance man were added to the field staff, making a total of eighteen employees. Several of the field personnel were organized as a skilled work force to do a few major and numerous minor repair and restoration projects at historic sites. This is a team of variable membership, organized specially for each particular job. The team's largest task to date was to complete several aspects of the President James K. Polk Birthplace: restoring the log kitchen, completing the interior of the dwelling house, building the rail and picket fences, restoring a log packhouse, and daubing all log buildings. In restoring and repairing earlv buildings it is often difficult and at times impossible to find contractors who can or will do these rather undesirable and profitless small jobs; having mem-bers of the staff to fill the breach is a great help. Visitation at the state historic sites continued to increase. For Tilt- ifstured birthplact: cated on May 20, 1968. IS K. Polk, Pi 44 Thirty-Second Biennial Report the 1964-1966 biennium a total of 467,000 visitors was recorded; for 1966-1968, a total of 746,000, an increase of 62 percent.^ Budget The operating budget increased to approximately $300,000 annually. In addition, the 1967 General Assembly appropriated $317,000 for capital improvements in the state program, including $90,000 for a visitor center-museum at Historic Bath and $75,000 for a protective shelter over the Confederate Gunboat "Neuse" at Kinston. Funds were also appropriated to continue restoration of the historic buildings at Halifax and Somerset Place. The same General Assembly appropriated $102,400 as grants to non-state projects with which the department is cooperating, including $20,000 for Historic Hope, $43,000 for Historic Edenton, and nearly $15,000 for the Fort Defiance restoration. In addition, $75,000 was made available by the Richardson Foundation for challenge grants to local restoration projects and to the depart-ment for staff and program improvement.^ Research, Planning, and Development 1. Research is the basis for planning and development, in-cluding the inteipretive and educational program. Historical, archaeological, and architectural research are the major types involved in the work of the division. Several major historical research projects were begun or completed during the biennium: the "Daniel Boone Homeplace" in Davidson County, Historic Halifax, the Brunswick Town museum. Fort Dobbs, the James K. Polk Birthplace inteipretive program, and Davidson's Fort. A larger number of small projects was also done, including research and administrative service on forty-six new highway historical markers authorized during the biennium. The major archaeological projects included "Russellborough" and several other sites at Brunswick Town and completion of the archaeology at Bethabara. In the summer of 1967 the archaeologist was granted a four-month leave of absence to cany out a major project at the Paca House in Annapolis. Less extensive work was done at the Nimocks House in Fayetteville, ' For visitation statistics, see Appendix XXV, p. 179. 2 For budgetaiy statistics, see Appendixes XXVI, XXVII, and XXVIII, pp. 180, 181. State Department of Archives and History 45 the Swain-Lane House near Asheville, and the Constitution House site in Hahfax. The archaeological staff completed labora-tory processing of the Bethabara and Brunswick Town artifact collections and completed a number of technical reports. The staff archaeologist, Mr. Stanley South, prepared a number of papers for professional conferences and for publication. Summer archaeological projects were conducted as customaiy at Town' Creek Indian Mound, under direction of the Research Laboratories of Anthropology of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In the spring of 1968 the Research Laboratories staff also conducted a short survey-research project on Indian sites at Historic Bath. Architectural research comes into the division's work in two ways, both of which will be covered in more detail later: in the historic sites and buildings survey and in developing restoration plans for historic buildings to be restored. Significant architectural research occurred in both connections during the biennium. 2. Plamiing occurs at several levels in the program: overall program planning, individual project or program planning (whether one of the state historic sites, such as Somerset Place, or a local cooperating program or project, such as the Historic Edenton program or the Fort Defiance project). During the biennium the division staff devoted a great deal of time and effort into overall program planning, resulting in what might be called a preliminary State Historic Sites Program Plan. Over a period of several months in 1967 the divisional staff and the director, forming the Historic Sites Planning Task Force, held a series of working conferences for this purpose. A 1966-1968 moratorium on new projects was established to provide the necessary breathing space for objective stocktaking and planning. The work of the task force was calculated to meet this opportunity. The net result of this planning was a list of eight historic sites determined to be worthy of preservation by the state or with state support and a longer list of potential sites which need additional study before a determination can be made. Responding to the long-realized need for a historic sites and buildings survey of North Carolina, but more immediately to the federal stimulus in the passage of P.L. 89-665 (the National Preservation Act), the department initiated a survey program in 46 Thirty-Second Biennial Report the spring of 1967. A grant from the Richardson Foundation, later augmented by a second grant, made this beginning possible. Initially the survey will respond to local calls for survey and planning assistance. Thus the program began with a survey of the town of Murfreesboro, upon request of the Murfreesboro Historical Society which desired to plan a local preservation program; and later the program has moved on to surveys of Lincoln County, the town of Tarboro, and Lenoir County in answer to similar needs. Cumulatively, this county- or community-hopping will contribute to an ultimate complete survey of the state. It is thought, however, that after pressing local requests for help have been met (if ever) the survey might proceed more academi-cally and more from central scheduling than from local demand. Since the survey now undertakes to meet local programming needs, planning was added to the survey function. Instead of delivering to a local group merely an academic survey report, a package consisting of the survey plus program recommenda-tions is being produced. Perhaps later the community planning service will also yield to the straight academic survey approach — but such is not yet foreseen. In addition to the complete county or community surveys made, the staff conducted cursory surveys of several proposed reservoir areas and a more complete survey of the New Hope reservoir project in Chatham and Orange counties. It gave advice concerning historical resources in the five-county North Pied-mont centering in Greensboro. 3. Development in the historic sites progi-am embraces a variety of improvements, but the restoration and preservation of historic structures and construction of public facilities will be discussed. At state historic sites the biennium brought several major res-toration developments. In the spring of 1967 the John Allen House, an early Regulator dwelling relocated at Alamance Battleground, was completed. It was dedicated and opened to the public on May 28, 1967, with Lieutenant Governor Robert W. Scott the featured speaker. A year later the James K. Polk Birthplace restoration was completed and was dedicated on May 20, 1968, by Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson. This event was the highlight of a day-long program commemorating the bicentennial of the city of Charlotte. State Department of Archives and History 47 At Historic Bath a small cottage of the post-Civil War period, circa 1880, was restored by the staff, to be exhibited as a typical dwelling for fishermen or other ordinary folk of the period. With funds appropriated in 1965, and supplemented in 1967, plans were drawn and contracts let for heating, air conditioning, and plumbing at Somerset Place, the large antebellum mansion at Pettigrew State Park now administered as a state historic site. A visitor center-museum was completed at Brunswick Town and dedicated by Mrs. Dan K. Moore on April 23, 1967. Costing nearly $100,000, this was the most important historic site public facilities project of the biennium. Construction of a similar facility was nearly completed at the President James K. Polk Birthplace and will be completed for dedication on December 6, 1968. At Historic Halifax considerable basic planning was done, including completion of a land use survey and development plan by the Community Planning Division of the Department of Con-servation and Development, on which the staff collaborated. In addition, the School of Design of North Carolina State Univer-sity conducted a student planning project for beautification and protection of the historical values of the community. Steps were taken toward the acquisition of some thirty acres of land in the Historic Halifax area. The property was all appraised Shown above is the architect's drawing ot the \isitor center-museum at Brunswick Town. 48 Thirty-Second Biennial Report and lot surveys were in process when the biennium closed. Ac-quisition of this property will complete the historic site holdings of about sixty-five acres. An eight-year development plan, out-lined and publicized, calls for completion of the project by the bicentennial of the Halifax Resolves in 1976. Six independent restoration projects receiving state grants through the department made progress as follows: Historic Edenton, consisting of five landmark buildings under a centralized program, opened a visitor center in the historic Barker House and aided in further restoration of the Iredell House and the Cupola House. Hope Plantation, Bertie County, was more than 50 percent restored from state and private funds made available during the biennium. Historic Murfreeshoro acquired the late-eighteenth-century Rea Store, a unique brick structure, and raised funds to begin restoration. The building will house a local history museum. In addition, the Murfreesboro program was boosted by the establish-ment of a historic district on Broad Street, with regulatory powers to protect the many historic structures in the area. Blandwood (the Governor John M. Morehead mansion), Greensboro, was acquired by the Greensboro Preservation Society at a cost of more than $200,000. An additional $200,000 was being raised to restore the buildings and grounds. Fort Defiance, Caldwell County, after an interruption of a season, was again in process of restoration. Approximately 30 percent of the total project was completed. The Richmond Temperance and Literary Society Commission, Inc., with a state grant of several years ago, has relocated on the Temperance Society Hall grounds near Wagram the small farm-house in which poet John Charles McNeill was born. In its new location the birthplace was restored as a shrine to the poet. In addition to the above state and independent local projects, more than thirty local projects over the state received advisoiy assistance from the staff. Such help ranged from fairly extensive work with Historic Hillsborough and the Hezekiah Alexander House at Charlotte to more modest participation in the Harmony Hall project, Bladen County, and the Franklin Academy restora-tion in Louisburg. State Department of Archives and History 49 A part of development is the task of collecting furnishings fox-restored buildings and appropriate objects for exhibit in the interpretive museums. Two major historic house collections were assembled and installed during the biennium—for the Allen House and the Polk Birthplace. Research was completed for a similar project at Somerset Place and acquisition of furniture was begun. The curator assisted several local restoration pro-jects with furnishings, including the Iredell House at Edenton and the Haley House in High Point. Interpretation and Education Interpretation is the process, with the various means employed, of telling to visitors the stoiy of a historic site. Interpretation activates what would otherwise be the passive exhibition of historic buildings and sites. Active staff guidance, sign-directed tours, museum exhibits, audiovisual programs, and publications are the standard means of site interpretation. The most extensive interpretive program completed during the biennium comprised the museum and related audiovisual features in the new visitor center-museum at Brunswick Town. This major project was developed jointly by the staffs of the Divisions of Historic Sites and Museums and was completed in time for formal dedication in April, 1967. In addition, plans were com-pleted and production was commenced for an interpretive movie and a set of museum exhibits for the new visitor center-museum to be dedicated at the Polk Birthplace later this year. Two less extensive interpretive projects were also developed. Museum exhibits for the visitor center-museum opened in June, 1968, at Historic Edenton and revision and improvement of the museum at Alamance Battleground were undertaken. Related to site interpretation is the problem of the orientation of visitors. During the biennium special emphasis was placed on the production of audiovisual orientation programs at the various historic sites. This was an outgrowth of elementary beginnings in audiovisual work dating from the 1965-1967 biennium. Such programs were produced or reworked for Bentonville Battle-ground, Brunswick Town, and Fort Fisher; and plans and script for a program at Town Creek Indian Mound were completed. The audiovisual work of the division, embracing a range of 50 Thirty-Second Biennial Report projects in addition to the orientation programs, became a distinct function, with speciahzed staffing. A Richardson grant in late 1967 enabled the division to establish the new position of education specialist, filled in February, 1968, by the transfer of Mr. Larry G. Misenheimer from the Division of Museuins. The education specialist began his work with a survey study to deter-mine the scope and direction of the present audiovisual program. From this survey a long-range program plan was outlined, calling first for a number of pilot projects from which future develop-ment might be plotted. Educational activities, though a distinctive function, include the interpretive and orientation work described above; they also extend into other forms: leaflets and brochures, articles in news-papers and magazines, special programs and events, special exhibits, lectures, and tours. During the biennium nearly 300,000 historic site leaflets were kept in supply. Several members of the staff contributed more or less prolifically to newspapers, magazines, and trade publica-tions such as the State Ports magazine, the Carolina Power and Light Company's Finer Carolina News, and the like. The division also sought to bring the historic sites program before the educators of the state through North Carolina Educa-tion, the journal of the North Carolina Education Association; by attending and exhibiting in 1967 at the district meetings of that association; and through many lectures and programs in the public schools. Mr. Robert O. Conway of the staff, for example, presented programs in seventy-one schools, and at a great number of civic clubs and historical societies in western North Carolina. Other staff members served likewise in the remainder of the state. Western North Carolina Region Activities in the western region were conducted in great part through Mr. Conway, the staff member stationed in the Ashe-ville area. In the west three local projects receiving state aid were the Fort Defiance restoration near Lenoir, the Davidson's Fort project at Old Fort, and Fort Butler at Murphy. The Carson House near Marion received an additional Richardson Founda-tion grant through the department. State Department of Archives and History 51 Several new projects also were begun: The Swain-Lane house near Asheville was undergoing private restoration; the Flat Rock Restoration Society was formed; restoration of the remark-able old 1860-period Wilkes County jail at Wilkesboro was the object of current fund-raising; and the old McDowell house at Pleasant Garden, McDowell County, was refurbished privately and was used as a restaurant. The staff conducted a preliminary survey of Burke County and recommended a preservation program to the county historical society. Miscellaneous The North Carolina Society for the Preservation of Antiquities was reorganized and a part-time executive secretaiy was em-ployed on a regular basis. The secretary had an office in the Division of Historic Sites, symbolizing a closer relationship be-tween the society and the department. At the annual meetings of the society the staff again coordinated the preservation reports session, presenting projects over the state. Staff members continued to be active in various professional organizations and to make special contributions in other ways. Mr. W. S. Tarlton was reelected to the council of the American Association for State and Local Histoiy and continued as that organization's awards committeeman for the South Atlantic states. Mr. Tadton and Mr. Arthur J. P. Edwards were appointed to membership on the Historic Murfreesboro Commission, and Mr. Tarlton served on the Raleigh Historic Sites Commission. Mr. Stanley A. South served as archaeological editor of History News, magazine of the American Association for State and Local History, and as a founder, vice-president, and member of the board of the new Society for Historical Archaeology. Mr. Robert O. Conway served as a member of the board of the new Museum of the Southern Highlands, Asheville, and was elected a vice-president of the North Carolina Literaiy and Historical Association. Mr. John F. Bivins wrote a book. Long-rifles of North Carolina, scheduled for release in November. Mrs. Elizabeth W. Wilborn contributed articles to North Caro-lina Education and other periodicals. 52 Thirty -Second Biennial Report The staff cooperated with the Institute of Government, Chapel Hill, in conducting an intensive one-week short course. Planning for Historic Preservation, in March, 1968. Students from over the entire country were in attendance. Three staff members attended, one as a student and two as faculty and observers. Reports on Historic Sites Alamance Battleground Dedication of the Allen House in May, 1967, completed a major new phase of development. A smaller project in process at the close of the biennium, with a local committee raising the necessary funds, called for reproducing and exhibiting the two types of cannon used in the 1771 battle. One gun was acquired; three others were needed. Major needs included the acquisition of additional land to protect the project and funds for enlarging the visitor center-museum and completely reworking the museum exliibits, which have been in use since 1960. Aycock Birthplace The project operated more or less routinely. Major future needs are for heat in the historic buildings and construction of an assembly room to the visitor center-museum to replace the old schoolhouse now used for this purpose. Historic Bath Funds were appropriated in 1967 for a visitor center-museum to replace the present temporaiy one. Plans for the new facility were nearly complete and bids will be taken early in 1969. A small cottage of the post-Civil War period was restored for exhibit beginning next year. Garden walks and fences were completed at the Palmer-Marsh House. Bennett Place Lack of adequate public facilities and funds for full-time operation kept this project on a part-time operational basis. The compelling need at Bennett Place is to upgrade it to full level with the other state historic sites. State Department of Archives and History 53 Bentonville Battleground This site operated routinely. Major needs included heat in the Harper House, restoration of the old kitchen and slave cabin, and extensive development of battlefield sites. Brunswick Town-Fort Anderson The major new development was the completion and dedica-tion in April, 1967, of the visitor center-museum. Other improve-ments, supported by private organizations and individuals, included landscaping around the new facility and around the St. Philips Church site. Major archaeology was carried out on three Colonial sites on the river front. A cyclone fence was erected around the entire site for protection. Funds were needed for stabilizing the mounds and paths of Fort Anderson, now being damaged from visitor traffic. Caswell Memorial- C.S.S. "Neuse" Construction plans for a combined structure to shelter the gunboat hull and serve as a visitor center-museum were almost completed by the close of the biennium. Bids will be called for in the fall. Additional wooded areas on the river front were cleared in preparation for the gunboat development. The major remaining needs are for establishing the interpretive museum and producing an audiovisual orientation program. Fort Fisher The Corps of Army Engineers finished a report calling for an extensive beach erosion project, to be carried out over a period of years at a cost of $1.6 million, and for recreational development in the area to complement the historical project. The state is working toward acquisition of the remaining land in private ownership south of "Battle Acre" for historical and recreational development. Major needs for the future include more staff for maintenance and operation, a paved parking lot, and the reconstruction of a section of the fort destroyed several years ago by the construction of an air strip. 54 Thirty -Second Biennial Report Historic Halifax Halifax was staffed for full-time operation as a state historic site in March, 1967. All properties were placed under mainte-nance and additional restoration of historic structures was in process. Surveys and appraisals were in process for acquiring additional land to complete the historic site holdings. Polk Birthplace This site began full-time operation in May, 1968, with the Governor and Mrs. Dan K. Moore were with Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson (center) on May 20, 1968, when Mrs. Johnson dedicated the James K. Polk Birthplace. State Department of Archives and History 55 dedication of the restored buildings. The visitor center-museum building was completed during the biennium and the exhibits will be installed in November, 1968. Town Creek Indian Mound A change of staff organization occurred at Town Creek, bring-ing this project in line with standard operational policy. Summer archaeological projects were conducted each year of the bien-nium by the University of North Carolina. Vance Birthplace The small admission charges heretofore collected were re-moved, with the result that visitation has increased approxi-mately 30 percent. The only pressing operational need was for additional staff. Somerset Place Though taken over by the Department of Archives and History nearly two years ago, this project was not fully staffed. The inter-val was used for planning restoration and other improvements soon to be carried out. Bids were accepted for the installation of plumbing, heating and air conditioning, and for painting the main building. DIVISION OF MUSEUMS Mrs. Joye E. Jordan, Administrator The most significant accomplishment of the Division of Mu-seums was a detailed study of modern museum programs and techniques. This study was undertaken in view of the fact that the North Carolina Museum of History would be moving into specially designed quarters and because emphasis is placed today on professional museum standards. It is necessary for the history museum to extend its activities to meet the demands of the public. The new building with all its modern facilities will not automatically make a good museum. Both skill and effort will be needed to create a role in which the museum can play its defined part as a stimulating educational institution. In the field of preservation, for example, an object alone is of little value; equally important is knowledge of the object which must be disseminated by means of publication and interpretive exhibits. Many times in years past some one phase of the program was neglected while the entire staff implemented a new project. Now for the first time in the history of this museum, the staff (which is still insufficient in numbers for the established program) has been reorganized into three sections—Collections, Education, and Exhibits—with specific responsibility for a given segment of the total program assigned to each. Although each staff member is still requested to "volunteer" in case of need in any section, the curator of each section is able to project plans with some hope of seeing them carried through to fruition. Both the administrator and the assistant administrator were involved in extensive preparation for the actual move. Of major concern were such basic problems as planning use of space, budgeting, ordering new equipment, cleaning and packing collections, scheduling the move, and rearranging for essential warehouse space. The new building has no provision for large items such as furniture and transportation vehicles not on dis-play. Requests for participation in related programs throughout the state and nation increased, both at the administrative level and in all three sections. The staff served as consultants to other State Department of Archives and History 57 museums, as panel members and speakers at professional semi-nars and conferences, and as authors of research papers. Research in museum procedure, staff reorganization, consulta-tion with the architect, and numerous services for allied museums and organizations were the result of full cooperation and pro-duction of the museum staff. Detailed reports of the sections oresent an overall view of the work accomplished. Collections Of primary concern to Collections was the pending move into the new Archives and History-State Library Building. Every endeavor was made to make the move of the collection |