Fall 2008 Missouri State Archives Newsletter
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, The MISSOURI STATE ARCHIVES… where history begins Published by Robin Carnahan, Secretary of State in partnership with the Friends of the Missouri State Archives Federal Grant Supports Statewide Assessment of Historical Records PAGE 3 Walt Disney Attends Friends Annual Meeting PAGE 3 Interns at the Missouri State Archives PAGE 4 Supreme Court Missouri’s diverse historical records are to be assessed with the help of Historical Society federal grant funds. Funds Preservation and Research PAGE 5 Archives Afield! George Caleb Bingham Stands Against Union Transgressions PAGE 7 Second Annual Folk Arts Festival PAGE 8 Fall 2008 Missouri State Archives... where history begins From the State Archivist The purpose of the Friends of the Missouri State Archives is to render support and assistance to n this issue, I would like to recognize the Records Management the Missouri State Archives. As a I Division. Like the Local Records Preservation Program that was not-for-profit corporation, the featured in the last newsletter, Records Management is vital to Friends is supported by mem- document preservation and access. berships and gifts. Please address correspondence to Friends of The primary role of the Missouri State Archives, PO Records Management Box 242, Jefferson City, Mis- is assisting state agen- souri 65102-0242, or you can cies with all aspects of visit the Friends on the Web at: www.friendsofmsa.org. records management, from a record’s Friends of the Missouri creation to its final State Archives Board of disposition. Records Directors analysts advise state Robert M. Sandfort, Ph.D. offices on file man- President agement, microfilm- Hon. Stephen Limbaugh Jr., ing, imaging, Vice President electronic records, Stacy White uses a planetary scanner to image oversized and bound Sandra Walls, Secretary materials. Thomas Holloway, Treasurer and records retention scheduling. These functions ensure efficient handling of records, economi- Gary Collins cal storage, prompt disposal of records no longer needed, and the transfer Ann Carter Fleming Louis Gerteis, Ph.D. of historically significant records to the Missouri State Archives. Wayne Goode The State Records Center currently stores 300,000 boxes of state agency Gary Kremer, Ph.D. records without charge, deferring more expensive office storage costs for Sean Murray Vicki Myers state agencies. This number grows significantly each year as more inactive Wade Nash records are transferred to the Records Center. Records Center staff are Rachael Preston responsible for not only storing records, but also for retrieving more than Bob Priddy 65,000 requests for files each year by state agencies. David Sapp Sally Sprague Staff members in the Microfilming and Imaging Section convert state Frank B. Thacher II records to microfilm and digital images. Two staff members exclusively Ex-officio: work on scanning documents from across the state for the new Missouri Robin Carnahan, Digital Heritage Web site (www.missouridigitalheritage.com). The Imaging Secretary of State Section has a variety of specialized scanning devices that enable them to John Dougan, State Archivist scan microfilm, oversized items, bound volumes, and fragile documents. Scanning and microfilming are essential to the Archives’ mission to dra- Staff matically increase access, while ensuring the preservation of the original Alana Inman, Archives Staff record. Liaison to the Friends Newsletter Editor For more information on the Records Management Department, go to e-mail: [email protected] www.sos.mo.gov/records/recmgmt/. Phone: (573) 526-1981 FAX: (573) 526-7333 Sincerely, Krista Myer Director of Publications Michael L. Douglas-Llyr Graphic Design & Layout John Dougan State Archivist 2 Fall 2008 Federal Grant Supports Walt Disney Attends the Statewide Assessment of Friends Annual Meeting Historical Records Jill Hartke he Missouri State Archives, on behalf of he Friends of the Missouri State Archives T the Missouri Historical Records Advisory T held their annual meeting on June 14, Board (MHRAB), has been awarded a 2008 at the Missouri State Archives. The grant of $19,466 from the National Historical meeting is an opportunity for the Friends to con- Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) sider the work accomplished in the preceding to assess the condition of Missouri’s historical year, plan for the future, and recognize those out- records and plan for their future. The Missouri side of the organization who have helped preserve State Archives and the State Historical Society of and make available Missouri’s past. Missouri, the state’s leading repositories of public During the past year, the Friends promoted the and private historical records, have come together preservation and study of Missouri’s history by to assist the MHRAB in this project. underwriting the William E. Foley Research The MHRAB is the central advisory board for Fellowship; sponsoring the central Missouri projects relating to historic records that are devel- National History Day competition; funding oped and carried out within the state of Missouri. Archives Alive!, a history-based theatrical per- Two of the board’s primary duties are to award formance for school children; providing the funds from the Missouri State Archives Local financial assistance needed for the Missouri Death Records Grant Program and to review grant pro- Certificate Project to be completed one year posals submitted to the NHRPC. This statewide ahead of schedule; and continuing the successful assessment and planning effort will bring to light Thursday Evening Speaker Series, many of which the needs of Missouri’s historical records commu- are now being placed online. nity, allowing future MHRAB activities and grant In addition to discussing the previous year’s funding to be used to support the programs of accomplishments, the Friends presented two greatest benefit to the state’s local historical soci- awards at the annual meeting: one honoring a eties, museums, and other records repositories. volunteer and one recognizing a strong supporter The MHRAB will conduct a statewide survey of Missouri history. The 2008 Volunteer Award during the coming year to gain information on was presented to Jean Ferguson. Ferguson has the variety of historical records held throughout volunteered at the Archives since 2005 and the state, their physical condition, their availability logged over 400 to researchers, and the needs of the individuals hours of service and organizations responsible for them. In addi- on the Missouri tion, regional meetings and on-site assessments of Death Certificate local repositories will be conducted to learn more Project. She is about the challenges being faced and the success- currently prepar- ful activities of the men and women preserving ing World War I Missouri’s past. The information that is gathered bonus pay claims will be used to prepare a report of the current for placement condition of the state’s records and create a online. strategic plan for the future development of The 2008 Warren Solomon, Joan Solomon, and Vicki Missouri’s historical records community. Jonas Viles Myers (l-r) enjoy visiting with friends. For information on the MHRAB’s assessment Award was given and planning effort, please contact Alana Inman to the Polk County Genealogical Society. In at (573) 526-1981 or [email protected]. April 2003, the Missouri State Archives Local Fall 2008 3 Records Preservation Program and the Polk Interns Assist the Archives County Genealogical Society, in cooperation with the Polk County Circuit Clerk, began a project to Jill Hartke process and index the nineteenth century circuit he Missouri State Archives hires interns court case files in Polk County. Significant histor- T each summer to assist with a variety of ical and genealogical information was discovered. special projects. The individuals chosen For example, the files included cases stemming are usually high school and college students or from Civil War actions, like the 1867 case con- teachers. Their work is of considerable assistance cerning the burning of the courthouse in nearby to Archives staff, enabling projects to be complet- Barton County. The society also maintains an ed that could not be done without the extra archives of private manuscript collections and efforts of others. county records for researchers; sponsors an annual genealogical conference; publishes numerous This summer, interns were responsible for the resources for genealogists and historians; and has completion of several tasks that focused on mak- placed finding aids to the society’s collections ing historical records more easily accessible to the online. public. These projects included scanning photo- graph collections, creating finding aids, digitizing Keynote speaker Dr. William Worley concluded microfilm, editing databases, re-boxing and label- the meeting by pro- ing state documents, and updating the catalog for viding attendees county history books, indexes, and other print with an opportunity materials. The result of many of these efforts will to explore the life be an increase in the number of resources available and influential online through the Missouri Digital Heritage Web career of Walt site (www.missouridigitalheritage.com). Disney. Through Worley’s portrayal of Disney, the crowd learned of the events that led to the creation of characters like Mickey Mouse and what happened Dr. William Worley portrays Walt behind-the-scenes Disney at the annual meeting. when films, such as Snow White and Bambi, were made. Dr. Worley