FIFTY-THIRD BIENNIAL REPORT OF THE NORTH CAROLINA OFFICE OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2010 Raleigh Office of Archives and History North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources 2011 ©2011 by the North Carolina Office of Archives and History All rights reserved NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL RESOURCES LINDA A.CARLISLE Secretary OFFICE OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY JEFFREY J. CROW Deputy Secretary DIVISION OF HISTORICAL RESOURCES DAVID L. S. BROOK Director DIVISION OF STATE HISTORIC SITES KEITH P. HARDISON Director DIVISION OF STATE HISTORY MUSEUMS KENNETH B. HOWARD Director NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL COMMISSION JERRY C. CASHION (2013) Chairman VACANT Vice-Chairman Millie M. Barbee (2009) B. Perry Morrison Jr. (2011) Mary Lynn Bryan (2011) Freddie L. Parker (2013) David C. Dennard (2015) Barbara Blythe Snowden (2013) Paul D. Escott (2013) Richard Starnes (2011) Valerie A. Johnson (2015) Harry L. Watson (2011) EMERITI: Kemp P. Burpeau, N. J. Crawford, H. G. Jones, William S. Powell, Alan D. Watson, Max R. Williams CONTENTS Deputy Secretary’s Report Education Branch Roanoke Island Festival Park Tryon Palace USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial Division of Historical Resources Collections Management Branch Research Branch Western Office Archives and Records Section Historical Publications Section Office of State Archaeology Historic Preservation Office Division of State Historic Sites and Properties East Region Piedmont Region West Region North Carolina Transportation Museum State Capitol Division of State History Museums North Carolina Museum of History Mountain Gateway Museum and Heritage Center Museum of the Albemarle Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex North Carolina Maritime Museum System North Carolina Maritime Museum, Beaufort North Carolina Maritime Museum, Southport Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, Hatteras Appendices Appendix 1 North Carolina Historical Commission Appendix 2 Appropriations and Expenditures, 2008-2010 Appendix 3 Appropriations and Expenditures, 1960-2010 Appendix 4 Roster of Employees Appendix 5 Complete List of Publications Issued by the Office of Archives and History Appendix 6 Complete List of Exhibits BIENNIAL REPORT OF THE OFFICE OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY July 1, 2008–June 30, 2010 Jeffrey J. Crow, Deputy Secretary According to economists, the Great Recession began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009. But the effects of the recession lingered long after the nominal end of the economic downturn. State government faced its most challenging financial situation since the Great Depression. Unemployment remained stubbornly high in the state, barely dipping below 10 percent. State revenues shrank between $3 billion and $4 billion each year of the biennium. State agencies were asked to make deeper and deeper reductions in their budgets. By the end of the biennium, the Department of Cultural Resources had absorbed so many cuts in its operating funds, that only positions—filled and unfilled—remained to meet further budget reductions. A good example is the Historical Publications Section. The section suffered a 37 percent cut in its appropriation the second year of the biennium. As a result, the section lost four positions, all filled. Consequently, the venerable biennial report, first begun in 1905 by R. D. W. Connor, the first secretary of the North Carolina Historical Commission, became an electronic publication after fifty-two printed installments. Similarly, Carolina Comments, the newsletter of Archives and History since 1952, will be converted to an electronic format in the new reporting period. One of the few bright spots in the budgetary picture was the establishment of the Archives and Records Management (ARM) fund in 2009. A five-dollar fee on all deed transactions enabled the Archives and Records Section to collect more than $1 million annually in receipts. Those funds became critical to filling the holes created by the loss of appropriations. In the first year of its operation the ARM fund saved ten positions that otherwise would have been lost to budget cuts. The ARM fund also purchased new equipment and subsidized such quotidian expenditures as maintenance agreements and supplies. Another bright spot was a study of North Carolina’s cultural institutions as a stimulus to the state’s economy. Linda Carlisle, who became secretary of the Department of Cultural Resources in January 2009, showed her considerable business acumen by working with the Department of Commerce to generate an analysis of the “creative economy.” That study, issued in November 2009, demonstrated that the arts, history, libraries, museums, and historic sites and the businesses dependent upon them comprise more than 5 percent of North Carolina’s work force. Moreover, those institutions and businesses produce more than $41 billion in economic activity. Such data underscores the vitality and importance of the state’s cultural life for both workers and consumers. Despite the gloomy budget situation, Archives and History accomplished a lot during the biennium. With the sesquicentennial of the Civil War rapidly approaching, programs and activities surrounding that anniversary accelerated. The 145th anniversary of the Battle of Bentonville in March 2010 drew more than 50,000 visitors, far exceeding previous attendance. The Civil War 150 Web site (www.nccivilwar150.com) expanded considerably with new essays and information on North Carolina’s role in the war. On February 12, 2009, Archives and History hosted a one-day symposium on the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. Eager participants filled the auditorium in the North Carolina Museum of History. Two months earlier the distinguished historian Dan Carter presented a lecture at the State Capitol commemorating the bicentennial of Andrew Johnson’s birth. Speakers at the Lincoln conference included Paul Escott, John David Smith, and Heather Williams (foreground); and Jeffrey J. Crow, Loren Schweninger, and William C. Harris (rear). Joseph Glatthaar was not present for the photograph. Another extremely popular symposium in October 2009 reflected on the 300th anniversary of the publication of John Lawson’s A New Voyage to Carolina. More than two hundred people attended the two- day conference, held at both the State Capitol and the North Carolina Museum of History. Among many other exhibits, the North Carolina Museum of History mounted two major ones, the first devoted to Blackbeard, piracy, and artifacts from what is thought to be the shipwreck of the Queen Anne’s Revenge; and the second to Thomas Day, the free African American cabinetmaker. Meanwhile, the new $60 million history center at Tryon Palace neared completion with exhibits devoted to regional history and an interactive family center re-creating an 1835 village in eastern North Carolina. A new visitor center opened at Horne Creek Living Historical Farm, while other museums and state historic sites mounted new exhibits or erected wayside exhibits. New publications included a book published by the University of North Carolina Press to accompany the Thomas Day exhibit; A Day of Blood, based on the 2006 Wilmington Race Riot (1898) report; and the seventeenth volume in the estimable Civil War roster series. Three commissions have long been a part of the Department of Cultural Resources, but only the Tryon Palace Commission traditionally has reported to the director or deputy secretary of Archives and History. Secretary Carlisle asked the deputy secretary to assume oversight of the semiautonomous Roanoke Island Commission and the Battleship North Carolina Commission. Then in February 2009 the newly created African American Heritage Commission was sworn in. Those four commissions—in addition to the North Carolina Historical Commission—occupied much of the deputy secretary’s time during the reporting period. In a remarkable shift in policy, the North Carolina Historical Commission lifted its moratorium on further monuments on Union Square to allow consideration of memorials to African Americans, women, and American Indians. For many years visitors to the State Capitol have raised questions about the lack of representation of minorities. A special study committee reported to the historical commission that spaces on the Capitol grounds as well as within the Capitol could accommodate new memorials. The historical commission agreed and opened a process for consideration of new memorials on those topics only. With appropriated dollars so precious, Archives and History increasingly has looked for funding from outside sources, especially federal agencies. The State Historical Records Advisory Board received a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to fund a traveling archivist program. Under that grant more than forty small institutions around the state received the services of a professional archivist to learn how to care for their collections. Similarly, a two-year grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services provided for regional workshops on disaster preparedness and conservation of collections. The State Archives proved especially adept at forming partnerships nationwide to promote digitization of its collections. The deputy secretary is blessed with a strong management team at every level. In particular division directors David Brook, Ken Howard, and Keith Hardison provide exceptional service to the people of North Carolina and manage the state’s historic resources with great skill. Their skills will be tested all the more as Archives and History