STATE ARCHIVES

ANNUAL REPORT, 2001

Executive Summary

The State Archives is the central depository for Maryland government records, and certain designated private records of permanent value. Holdings date from 1634 to the present. They include colonial and State executive, legislative and judicial records; county probate, land and court records; publications and reports of State, county and municipal government; records of religious bodies (particularly as they relate to the recording of births, deaths, and marriages);  business records; and special collections of maps, newspapers, photographs, and private papers. Our central mission is to preserve and make electronically available the permanent records of the past, while providing reliable current information about Maryland State, county and municipal government in a web-enabled, accessible environment that is continually compiled and updated.

State Archives entrance, Annapolis, Maryland.

Vision

It is the Archives' vision to be a state archives which preserves government records (as well as certain designated private records) and provides access to these records in a convenient cost-effective manner, and, where possible, in a web-enabled environment.

Key Goals and Highlights of 2001

During 2001, the Archives addressed its key goals in a number of important ways. Details of these initiatives and many other Archives' programs can be seen in the individual departmental reports that follow.

• Goal 1. Identify, describe, appraise, preserve, and make accessible to Maryland citizens and public officials those records deemed to have permanent historical, administrative, fiscal, legal or educational value. Wherever possible, make these materials electronically available:
• The Archives, in the year 2001, continued to confront what has become a major challenge for all archives and other depositories of permanent records: to gather, preserve, and make acessible for future generations the enormous volume of electronic records generated by state and local governments. Major initiatives in this area have been made in executive department records; land survey, subdivision & condominium plats (plats.net); and probate records (mdprobate.net);
• Although the volume of electronic records has increased exponentially, the volume of paper records in the custody of the Archives also has grown more quickly than envisioned. By 1995, the Hall of Records Building in Annapolis completely filled to capacity, necessitating three off-site warehouses in which to store records. In addition, the two state-owned art collections have been moved to off-site fine arts storage.
• Goal 2. Describe the origin, functions, structure, personnel, and other aspects of State, county and municipal government in the Maryland Manual On-Line, the Maryland Manual, and the Archives of Maryland On-Line, and provide a citizen gateway to Maryland information and services through the websites of the Maryland State Archives and Maryland Electronic Capital:
• The Maryland Manual On-Line was continuously compiled and updated.
• The Maryland Manual 2001 was published and distributed to all mandated recipients;
• The Archives of Maryland On-Line project continued and placed another 68,000 pages of Maryland laws and other documents relating to the legal history of Maryland on line. It is accessible to the public through the Archives' web site, archivesofmaryland.net;
• plats.net: The Digital Image Reference System for Land Survey, Subdivision, and Condominium Plats, which began in 1999, now operates is all 23 counties and Baltimore City and is an invaluable tool for researching land records;
• mdprobate.net: The Archives has worked with the county Registers of Wills to build an imaging system that allows searching and retrieval of probate images across all Maryland jurisdictions. Four counties Register of Wills offices currently can view probate record images on mdprobate.net, and they are moving toward a search function.
• Goal 3. Encourage a broad and better understanding of Maryland history and government by providing its context in a carefully preserved and accessible archives on the web that includes, but is not limited to, biographical, geographical, local and regional studies:
• The Potomac River Case: In 1999, Maryland and Virginia went to court over water rights in the Potomac River. This case is now in before the Supreme Court. At the request of the Office of the Attorney General, the Archives conducted extensive historical research on the ownership, use, and rights relating to the River and its water, extending back to the original 1632 Charter of Maryland. All documents relating to this case have been placed on-line in an interactive website called mdag.net. The staff of the Office of the Attorney General have access to the site and are able to use and add to the documents contained in it;
• The Maryland State House Historic Structure Report, Phase I: In 2001, the Archives received a grant from the Maryland Historical Trust to assemble all documentation and images relating to the State House, including its construction and all changes to it over time. The results of this research have been placed on-line in an interactive web site called mdstatehouse.net. In future phases of this project, architects, engineers, and architectural historians will have access to the information and will be able to use and add to it as needed. Eventually, this will become a public history web site, accessible to all who are interested in the history of the State House;
• The Commission to Coordinate the Study, Commemoration, and Impact of Slavery's History and Legacy in Maryland was formed in March 2001. Its first full-time staff member, research associate, was hired and joined the Archives' staff in November. The work of the Commission will be made available on the Archives' website mdslaverycomm.net;
• Building on a Save Maryland's Treasures grant received in 2000, the invaluable collection of 19th and 20th century plats of Baltimore City and County held by the Martenet Company continued to be scanned and placed on-line;
• A partnership agreement with the Provinical Archives in Anhui, China was signed and will result in an exchange visit by staff of the Anhui Archives to Maryland.
• Goal 4. Manage and exhibit State-owned fine arts collections:
• An exhibit of the treasures of the Peabody Art Collection was installed in the new Miller Senate Building in time for the building's dedication in January 2001;
• The two state-owned art collections, the Annapolis Collection and the Peabody Art Collection, were surveyed by the Commission on Artistic Property for the condition of each object and reports on both collections prepared for the General Assembly. Detailed digital images of each object were also taken. The collection of almost 1200 works on paper that makes up about two-thirds of the Peabody Collection was assessed and scanned. This important collection, which has never before been catalogued, will now be accessible.