Hall of Records Commission
Minutes

for a Meeting 
at the Maryland State Archives
Electronic Classroom
12 Noon
September 22, 1999

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Bell at 12:20 p.m.

Dr. Papenfuse welcomed the Ottenritters and Butlers to the meeting to thank them for the gift of surveyors records which is of great interest to the Archives.  The Archives has been working hard to preserve and care for oversized materials that exist in the courts throughout the State, particularly plats and recordation of surveys of property.  The more oversized materials are used, the more rapidly they deteriorate.  There is a project underway with the courts and, with the help of the Land Records Improvement Fund, to implement county by county image-based retrieval of all condominium, subdivision and survey plats, starting with Baltimore County.  Dr. Papenfuse said it was providential that we were offered this wonderful collection of survey materials relating to Baltimore County that was still in private hands and which needed a good home and good care.  It includes a wonderful edition of the 1915 Bromley Atlas which is a very carefully done atlas of Baltimore City and parts of Baltimore County. Its owner was a surveyor who annotated all of the work he did, so it provides a key to his collection as well.

Dr. Papenfuse introduced another special guest, Dr. Lois Green Carr,  the world's leading authority on 17th and 18th century Maryland.  Dr. Papenfuse recommended an award-winning article of Dr. Carr's, The Planter's Wife:  The Experience of White Women in Seventeenth-Century Maryland, which explains what life was like for women in the 17th and into the 18th century, as well as her book Robert Cole's World:  Agriculture and Society in Early Maryland. Dr. Carr helped the Archives get a grant to preserve her research notes which are an invaluable treasure trove of biographical data on 17th and 18th Century Marylanders, and now will be made available on line at the Archives' web site.

Other staff recognized by Dr. Papenfuse included Kathy Beard who handles all administration and coordination for these meetings; Mimi Calver who works with the State House Trust; Pat Melville who handles publication of the Archivists' Bulldog; Lynne MacAdam, the Archives' web master who handles all of our web-based activities and some of our publications; and Ray Connor who is handling the video taping of this meeting.

Standing in for the President of the Senate is Vicki Fretwell, and Jeff Bishop is representing the President of St. John's College.

Reports and Minutes of Previous Meetings

• March 23, 1999
• Special meetings and Celebratory events
• Maryland Day, March 25, 1999, events
• Boys' Latin students and author Ann Jensen with the Governor at the State House
• Lt. Governor Townsend presented the Annual Colonial Society Essay Contest award (judged by the State Archivist) in Baltimore
• Maryland House and Senate recognized the 350th Anniversary of the passage of An Act Concerning Religion
• Reception on April 26, 1999 at the Archives for Pulitzer Prize winner William Warner's new book "Into the Porcupine Cave...," proceeds from which will benefit the Archives and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation
• Celebrating the Liberty Tree on June 3, 1999 (see below)
On a motion by Treasurer Dixon, seconded by Chairman Bell, the minutes (as amended, if amended), and recognition of the special meetings of the Commission as defined by standing resolution were unanimously approved.

Records Retention and Disposal Schedules

• Retention
• Disposal

Upon motion by Secretary Richkus and seconded by Treasurer Dixon, the Records Retention and Disposal Schedules were unanimously approved as presented, the Chairman concurring.

Old Business

• report of the subcommittee on newspaper preservation: on hold until the return of the Director of Special Collections who is on medical leave.

Archivist's Report & Staff Activities 
     (see the Maryland State Archives Bulldog for additional details)

• What's in a Name?  "The Liberty Tree"
Dr. Papenfuse was invited by Comptroller Schaefer to participate in the ceremonies at St. John's College in honor of the Liberty Tree.  He felt strongly that we needed to pay attention to this tree for what it symbolizes as the last surviving tree of its kind in the nation but also in terms of what it sheltered under it.

Mr. Bishop reported very bad news: the tree was severely damaged in Hurricane Floyd and is cracked down the middle.  Many tree experts have been consulted, and the only advice they can give is that the tree should be cut down as it is unstable and a safety hazard.  A fence has been put around it to keep people away and, because of the tree's instability, people have been moved from one end of one building.  The Bartlett Tree Company, which has been taking care of it for 40 years, won't even prune it back and secure it even if they are indemnified against adverse consequences.  After a meeting at the College, it was decided that St. John's does not wish to be responsible for cutting down the Liberty Tree.  Mr. Bishop said that while St. John's has protected it, they do not own the Liberty Tree.  the College would like to prune it back, secure it, and build an appropriate fence so people can view it from afar.  However, he cannot find anyone to do the work and will probably have to call on the resources of the State.  The tree is 100 feet tall and will require from 700-800 feet of fence.

Secretary Richkus asked how an appeal to the State would be made, and Mr. Bishop responded that it has one of the greatest fans in William Donald Schaefer who would certainly be an advocate.  Secretary Richkus said she was sure that the Cabinet would give a lot of support.  Mr. Bishop suggested referring it to the Board of Public Works on an emergency basis.  Secretary Richkus said she could press the issue on an emergency basis; however, it is a matter of identifying it as State interest.  She asked Mr. Bishop if she could get back to him with a suggestion.

Dr. Papenfuse said that the tree is beyond its normal life by probably 50-70 years because of the way it has been cared for and there are numerous saplings that have been taken from it.  There is one growing in Kew Gardens in London and there is one on Lafayette Street in Annapolis.  It would be appropriate to think in terms of a benign death of the Liberty Tree and the return of the tree from one of its saplings.  It could be a combined decision not only to save what can be saved but also how the future memory of the tree is perpetuated.  Mr. Bishop added that there is a 110 year old offspring of the Liberty Tree on St. John's campus planted by the DAR in 1889.  Secretary Richkus also noted that the Tree is being cloned as part of Maryland 2000.  Treasurer Dixon asked how much money was involved in the repair of the tree.  Mr. Bishop said that the cost to take one limb down which is severely cracked is $4,000 and to put up a 700-800 fence is $50,000-$60,000.
 

• Preserving Oversized Materials:  A Model System for the Courts, County Maps, and Private Surveyor's Records
 
Dr. Papenfuse talked briefly about creating a digital image reference system for land survey, subdivision and condominium plats, with Baltimore County as the first example.  It is an electronic publication in the Archives of Maryland series and it represents a concerted effort to describe, understand and make available oversized public records in electronic form.  In Baltimore County, the Archives has the beginnings of a section on historical maps, including the Bromley Atlas, as well as providing access to 10s of thousands of land surveys (plats).   The Archives has catalogued and indexed on line every plat available in Baltimore County, and is linking the index to on line images.  The project is funded by the Land Records Improvement fund and is meant to be used  in conjunction with the deed imaging project known as ELROI which is also being installed in all the courts.  Montgomery County is next and will be followed by Anne Arundel, Queen Anne's, Washington.  Hopefully by the end of  2001, all Maryland counties' oversized materials and plats will be on-line and retrievable.  This will be an extraordinary, precedent setting accomplishment in the care and preservation of essential archival materials, one which should set the standard for the nation.

Recent Acquisitions

• The Whitney Collection, MSA SC 4959
 
Dr. Papenfuse took the Commission out on the web to the the Baltimore County plats web site and accessed the CD of Mrs. Ottenritter Atlas.

Finding Aids, Reference Services, and Publications

• Attorney General's Opinion on the Archives of Maryland series
 
The Attorney General's office has rendered an opinion with regard to whether or not the Archives of Maryland series could indeed be electronic.  Dr. Papenfuse asked the Commission to pass a resolution several meetings ago that encompassed all of the work we do at the Archives as the Archives of Maryland series.  The Attorney General's opinion found the resolution to be correct, but too broad in scope, indicating that the State Archivist should more carefully distinguish what specific publications were to be included in the Archives of Maryland series and should make certain that they related in some way to the publication of public records.  The opinion was circulated in advance to the Commission members.  The opinion agreed with the Archives about the deposit of revenues.  As long as the Archives clearly defines what it is publishing as the Archives of Maryland series in electronic form, and it is stated in advance, then income from that series can be deposited in the Archives fund and interest earned on it.  Dr. Papenfuse recalled that the problem with the auditors was they did not want us to keep the interest we were earning from the Archives fund but instead for the interest to go into the General Fund.  In accord with the opinion, the Archives is now making it explicit in its accounting records what is income from publications of the Archives of Maryland and what is not,  following to the letter the recommendations of the opinion.
• Archives of Maryland series and volumes in progress
 
Dr. Papenfuse asked the Commission's permission to defer this item to the next meeting.  However, Dr. Papenfuse said that enormous progress has been made over the summer.  All of the 72 published volumes of the Archives of Maryland have been placed on-line and searchable text has been provided for half of them.  It will all be available free on the web, thanks to a $100,000 grant from the Information Technology fund.  Dr. Papenfuse asked any Commission members interested in looking at it to send him an email, and he will provide the passwords to get in to this site.

Education & Outreach

• Summer Internship Program
 
The Commission members have received the issue of the Bulldog in which the interns wrote about what they did this summer.  There were two projects:  placing the Archives of Maryland on-line and continuing work on the First Ladies book.  This book is about the history of Government House and its occupants.  Dr. Papenfuse thanked Pat Melville and Kathy Beard who put the Bulldog together with Mimi Calver's help.  It is now a web-based production.

Administrative & Fiscal Matters

• A grant to Lois Carr and the Archives from the Maryland Society of the Ark and the Dove
• an overview of the project
 
Dr. Papenfuse introduced Lois Carr who for 29 years has been studying the  people who lived in St. Mary's and southern Maryland in the 17th and early 18th centuries and coauthored the pamphlet, Maryland . . . at the Beginning.  Dr. Carr approached Dr. Papenfuse with her notes on 5x8 slips of paper which contain her type script and pencil notations about every person she and her staff could find that resided in early southern Maryland, principally looking at the first settlers. She continues to correct these cards.  In order to preserve this information, Dr. Carr received a grant from the Society of the Ark and The Dove that gave her index access to what she has on the notes.  Dr. Papenfuse suggested a grant to bring these notes into image form so that they could be looked accessed on the web.  Dr. Carr put together a proposal and submitted it to the Society of the Ark and The Dove, and they have agreed to fund it.  Dr. Papenfuse showed the Commission the index of Dr. Carr's career files.  Every person she and her staff have studied is available on our web site right now.  Once this grant is underway, with the summer internship program next year, there will be image files of her research cards, which is less expensive than keyboarding all of the information.  Dr. Papenfuse thanked Dr. Carr for her initiative in going after the funds for this grant.

Upon motion by Dr. Ridgway, seconded by Secretary Richkus, and unanimously approved, a resolution of thanks was given to Dr. Carr for all of her good work and for making it possible to make these notes available through this grant.

• Building Maintenance and Refurbishment: lessons in the aftermath of a hurricane
• flat roof failure and lack of budgetary recourse for repairing damage
 
Dr. Papenfuse reported that before this meeting, Secretary Richkus and some of her staff toured the Archives building to look see some of the problems with the building.  Secretary Richkus said that Hurricane Floyd wreaked havoc with State buildings, including the Archives.  Her staff is compiling a list of all damage to State-owned buildings.  Some of the damage at the Archives relates to on-going problems that the building has experienced as a result of the roof design, as well as flashing and caulking.  Secretary Richkus has begun talking about a capital maintenance budget issue which she is prepared to take forward.  In his budget request letter, Dr. Papenfuse has asked that this be considered part of the Capital Budget as well.  Secretary Richkus talked about the instances where the damage exceeds available operating funds. T hey are self-insured and there is a deductible that comes out of the DGS budget.  Above that, it is turned over to an insurance claim.  DGS is working hard on addressing all of the issues.  Dr. Papenfuse said the problem in the past is that DGS has never been fully funded for maintenance issues in the Annapolis complex to deal with problems in an anticipatory way.  Secretary Richkus is trying to address this issue. With help from the General Assembly, Secretary Richkus is hopeful that the Archives can secure some capital maintenance funds that are not really held against the spending affordability limits to enable DGS to address some of these long-standing issues.  There are numerous cases around the State where DGS has not been able to address planning issues that then become emergencies and cost three times more than they should to fix.

Dr. Ridgway asked if there was any damage to the records.  Dr. Papenfuse said for the most part there was not.  There was some water leaking on a work area where we had some plat materials out.  A little bit more disturbing is if water gets into any of the stack areas, it creates a potential for mold, but the stack area was well-designed.  Dr. Papenfuse is very grateful to Secretary Richkus and her staff for addressing this immediately.
 

• Budget Issues, Present and Future:

FY 2001 budget proposals
• The Archival Challenge:  ensuring quality, reliability and permanence for all forms of the historical record
• The Archival Challenge:  providing a comprehensive means of accessing and explaining the value and significance of the historical record
• The Archival Challenge:  acquiring safe, secure, and environmentally controlled space for existing collections and future acquisitions
• The Archival Challenge:  providing a spatial context for web based teaching
 
Dr. Papenfuse reported on the proposed FY 2001 budget, including Over the CPS requests.

For the first time in 25 years the Archives has a baseline budget that begins to cover all but the value added (records description and interpretation) services of the Archives. The over the CPS requests for general funds include the Archives of Maryland project, called Maryland Legal History On-Line, which was jump-started by the Information Technology fund this year. Because the Archives can't go back to the Fund twice for the same project, an estimated at $1.1 million over 10 years  has been placed in an Over the CPS Request as a Managing for Results project.  If the Archives get this money, every legislative proceeding, every law Maryland ever passed, all of the constitutional conventions - the core documents of understanding what Maryland is - will be available on-line, indexable and retrievable.

Other Over the CPS requests include:

1) two very special, important collections that have come to our attention that are of state-wide importance.  One is the I. Henry Phillips Collection of negatives which is of profound value to the African-American community.  They are in terrible shape and are owned by a decendent of Henry Phillips, a photographer for the Afro-American who covered the period from the 1930s to the near present.  There are about 10,000-12,000 negatives that need to be scanned, preserved and brought on-line.  If the Archives can get matching funds from the legislature, it raise the additional matching funds.  The project will cost about $202,000 over several fiscal years.  The second collection, the Martenet Collection, is of survey records going back to the 1860s that are state-wide in their import.  Simon J. Martenet has a huge collection of plats, maps and materials to which  they are willing to raise matching funds to get preserved in an imaging way.  The Archives is asking for a matching fund grant to get this project underway as well.

2) preserving newspapers.  The Archives is not being funded to preserve newspapers and, as a result, this major source of information is dying on our hands.  The paper is crumbling and is going to disappear.  A fair amount of microfilming has been done of major newspapers, but the county newspapers and those that relate to the substance of what has happened in various localities are not being preserved in an archival context.

3) public art for public display. The Archives has identified the need for a conservation assessment of its extensive art collection.

4) providing digital copies of records on demand. This Over the CPS Request was suggested by one of the members of the House Appropriations Committee who questioned why the Archives could not provide a digital copying service that would be able to turn around requests for copies in one or two days rather than the 7-15 days it currently takes.  Dr. Papenfuse is asking for equipment to follow through on this request.

5) additional shelving. If the Archives is going to care for the paper public records of this state, it needs to continue to have a temporary storage facility where appraisal can be conducted and where there is sufficient shelving to accommodate the records.

6) historic structures report for the State House.   It is going to take help from the Governor, the Lt. Governor, the President and the Speaker to ensure that the historic building they share is properly documented so that when such necessary improvements as a fire suppression system is installed, the historical fabric of the building is not destroyed or severely compromised.  While considerable attention has been paid to the exterior of the building, such as the good work that was done in replacing the Acorn, little attention has been given to documenting the interior.

Ms. Fretwell asked what was the total Over the CPS Request for this year, and Dr. Papenfuse said it was about $800,000.

Dr. Ridgway made a motion in support of Dr. Papenfuse's budget letter to Frederick W. Puddester, Secretary of the Department of Budget & Management, it was seconded by Secretary Richkus and unanimously approved with discussion at the request of Treasurer Dixon.  The Treasurer said that the motion should include the total anticipated surplus to exceed $1 million to put it in proper perspective.

Forthcoming special meetings of the Commission & events of interest

Dr. Papenfuse reviewed the following speaking engagements in which he is directly involved over the next few weeks to give the Commission an idea of the kinds of special events with which he is directly involved, and also the kinds of things the Archives does in a recurring way:

• Judge Bell's Luncheon address to the Court and Legal History Network at the American Association of State and Local History meeting in Baltimore, October 2.  Dr. Papenfuse invited members interested in attending to contact Kathy Beard;
• October 12, address to the Historic Annapolis Foundation on William Paca's Annapolis;
• October 21, address to the Judicial Institute of Maryland on Conflict Resolution in Early Maryland;
• October 24, address to the Northeast Historical Archaeology meeting on "What's in a Name and Why Should We Remember?: The Forgotten Mothers of Maryland?;
• October 26, address to the Annapolis Rotary with Carol Parham, Superintendent of the Anne Arundel County Schools, on using family history in the schools and the need for intern scholarship money;
• October 27, address to the Brandeis University Women re: Maryland A New Guide to the Old Line State;
• December 3, seminar at the Archives for the delegation from Anhui province, China, on our archival program;
• January-March, 2000, Washington's Birthday, First Citizen Award, Society of Senate's Past annual meeting (scholarship), Speaker's Medallion and Thomas Kennedy Awards, and Maryland Day celebrations.

Special Presentations

• A New Guide to the Old Line State(second edition)

 
Dr. Papenfuse showed the Commission the new edition of Maryland A New Guide to the Old Line State which has just been published and invited the members to pick up their copy at the end of the meeting.
• The 1915 Bromley Atlas of Baltimore County, Maryland, from the Whitney Collection, MSA SC 4959-B44-F1,  an Archives of Maryland Publication
 
When the Archives acquired the Whitney Collection, Dr. Papenfuse promised Mrs. Ottenritter that the Archives would make the Bromley Atlas available in electronic form for the family to see and the public to use in a special Archives of Maryland CD edition.  Dr. Papenfuse presented the members of the Commission and the family copies of the CD and demonstrated its use.

The CD can be accessed directly or off of the Archives web site. As an example, Dr. Papenfuse took the commission to the section of the Atlas showing where he now lives in Roland Park.  William Whitney put deed references for every piece of property he worked on.  So, to do a title search on a piece of property that you know about and have a rough idea of where it is, you can go in on the 1915 atlas, find that citation, and go back to the Archives' index to subdivision plats and maps in Baltimore County and find any plat that is associated with that deed reference.  The Bromley Atlas is a remarkable volume and a wonderful addition to our collection, and Dr. Papenfuse again thanked Mrs. Ottenritter for giving to the Archives.

Dr. Ridgway motioned for a resolution of thanks, seconded by Mr. Nelson and unanimously approved, the Chairman concurring.

Next meeting

The next Hall of Records Commission meeting will be at the call of the Chair sometime in March or April 2000.

Adjournment

Before closing, Secretary Richkus told the Commission that the following afternoon from 4:00-6:00 p.m., there would be a Preservation awards ceremony at the Paca House.  DGS, who managed the State House Acorn project, will be receiving recognition for the role it played.  Secretary Richkus' predecessor, Mr. Gene Lynch, will also be there.  Dr. Papenfuse said that DGS did a wonderful job on this project.  He noted that it was a project of the State House Trust and that the Lt. Governor played a very critical and positive role in seeing to it that it would be done properly.  Ms. Calver indicated that the Lt. Governor is being honored as well at the ceremonies.

On a motion by Dr. Ridgway seconded by Mr. Nelson, the meeting adjourned at 1:21 p.m., the Chairman concurring.

Dr. Edward C. Papenfuse
State Archivist

Email: If you have an Email account linked to your WEB browser, click here to activate your mail program to send an inquiry or message to me at archives@mdarchives.state.md.us or contact me at (410) 260-6403.

© Copyright 1999 Maryland State Archives