ARCHIVIST OF THE HALL OF RECORDS 23

of Wills after 1850, but it is hoped that within the next few years an
increasing number of these officers will film their Wills after this date at
the expense of the county.

ANNAPOLIS TERCENTENARY

During the week of May 22-27, 1949, Annapolis celebrated the three-
hundredth anniversary of its founding by a handful of Puritan refugees
from Virginia. The program included an historical pageant, exhibits of
antiquities, the issuing of a special postage stamp, the design of a first-
day cover and so forth. The Hall of Records found itself taxed to answer
all the historical questions which came to us. The Archivist was asked by
the Governor to represent him at meetings of the Tercentenary Commis'
sion; he was also Chairman of the Historical Committee and a member
of the Stamp and First-day Cover committees. Other members of the staff
were equally occupied with the Tercentenary.

Our special contribution to the celebration was an exhibit at the Hall
of Records of a selection from the John Work Garrett Collection of
seventeenth century Maryland books and maps. This rare and unique
collection, formed by the late John Work Garrett, and tp become the
property of the Johns Hopkins University, includes not only works pri-
manly about Maryland, but the general geographical works, maps and
books about the neighboring colonies printed before 1701 that mention
Lord Baltimore's colony. The librarian of the John Work Garrett Library,
Miss Elizabeth Baer, was kind enough to mount the exhibit at the Hall
of Records and to take it down at the end of the week. During this exhibit,
and throughout the Tercentenary, the Hall of Records remained open on
week days until 10 p. m., and was open on Saturdays and Sundays as
well. The attendance was most gratifying. Among the visitors were Mrs.
Harry S. Truman, wife of the President of the United States, and Mrs.
William Preston Lane, Jr.

As an added attraction for the opening night of our exhibit the
Archivist and the President of the St. John's College entertained a large
group of Annapolitans with a showing of Maryland, a travel picture pre-
pared by the Standard Oil Company. This beautiful color film was shown
in the Great Hall of the St. John's College. Our guests then examined
the fine collection of antiquities on display at the College, after which they
came to the Hall of Records.