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Vol. 20 No. 5 |
mdsa.net |
August 18, 2006 |
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Archives Says Farewell to Two Long-Time Employees:� Pat Melville and Lynne MacAdam by Mimi Calver Saying goodbye is always hard, especially when it is to two long-time and much admired employees. This summer the Archives had to bid farewell to two such staff members who are retiring.
First, on June 6, Pat Melville was honored at a catered lunch in
the Search Room that was attended by
Over the years, she has held such titles as Director of Reference Services, Director of Appraisal and Description and editor of the Bulldog. She also wrote many of the articles that appeared in the Bulldog, including articles on unusual tidbits found in the records and a series featuring the development of the roads of Maryland.� As a personal farewell gift, Ed Papenfuse gave her a bound copy of all the articles she had contributed over the years. Another highlight of the lunch was a presentation by “Mr. Pat,” aka Bob Melville. He shared photographs from Pat’s life at the Archives, including many from her days at the old Hall of Records on the campus of St. John’s College. Finally, Pat was presented with a variety of gifts from the staff, including a flat screen monitor for her home computer, some American Express gift certificates and framed prints.
On July 10, another long-time and much-loved employee was
honored: Lynne MacAdam, who retired on August 1 after 25 years
of service. Lynne began her career as a researcher on the
Legislative History Project. In the 1990s, she showed a real affinity for the emerging
technology of the computer and Internet. She became
Fortunately for many of us, Lynne was always happy to share her computer knowledge with us – and helped us out of many a jam.� Her extensive knowledge of the records from her LHP research days and her familiarity with the electronic world, Lynne really has been our “Jack of All Trades” and she, too, will be greatly missed.
Lynne was also honored at a catered lunch in the Search Room,
attended by staff, family and friends. She was presented with a
spa package to ease her into retirement as well as a framed
print of the
Hall of Records Commission Meeting – June 20, 2006 by Leslie Frazer
The spring meeting of the
Hall of Records Commission
was held at the
Maryland State Archives
on June 20, 2006.� Chief Judge Robert M. Bell
presided, and opened the meeting by welcoming the newest member
of the Commission,
Steve Cassard, Secretary for the
Department of General Services. Dr. Edward C. Papenfuse noted the significance of the day, June 20, as Maryland Charter Day. On the 20th of June, 1632, a Charter for the state of Maryland was issued. It was the beginning of representative government in America and was embedded in the Republic Charter. He distributed to members and attendees a pamphlet entitled, The Charter of Maryland, which represents the very first printing of the Charter in English. He also gave the members of the committee the printed version of the 2006 Maryland Manual, which describes Maryland State Government as a slice in time.
Staffing News 
Pat Melville, the former Director of Appraisal and Description, departs the Maryland State Archives after almost 39 years of service.� She was primarily responsible for the effective way in which the Archives managed, described, and added value to records.� Dr. Papenfuse presented to Pat Melville a token of appreciation from the Hall of Records Commission and the Friends of the Archives – a commissioned replica of the Cecil Calvert Medal c. 1632
Maryland’s Bill of Rights Ms. Elaine Rice-Bachmann described the unveiling of a bust of Thurgood Marshall at the Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, so named by the Legislature earlier this year.In June 2006, an interpretive exhibit in tribute to Thurgood Marshall opened in Terminal C at the airport.The bust is a replica of the statue in Lawyer’s Mall and is a link between the memorial in Annapolis and the airport. The bust was paid for with donations received by the Friends of the State Archives. The Friends will transfer ownership of the bust to the Artistic Properties Commission so that it will be on the State’s inventory and the Artistic Properties Commission will care for the preservation of the statue.
News from Friends of the State Archives
The George S. Wills Collection of the Citizens Commission
Judge John Carroll Byrnes, a guest of the Hall of Records Commission, took a moment to
praise Dr. Wills for all his hard work as a major civic leader
in the state of Maryland.� He described Dr. Wills as a very serious scholar who has made
great contributions to the state. Underground Railroad Research Project Ms. Kara Carter gave the Commission a preview of material that will be posted online at Mdslavery.net as part of The Underground Railroad project. She demonstrated how the site tracks the stories of individual slaves through Runaway Ads in newspapers and links them to interactive maps showing property owned by slaveholders. Each map showing property ownership and place names has been indexed; clicking on a name will show if the property owner had any runaway slaves. The goal of The Underground Railroad Project is to tell the stories of slaves in Maryland and to show how the geography, laws, and communities of Maryland as a slave state aided or hindered escape. The staff hopes to use every fragmentary record available to more fully document Maryland’s Antebellum African-American community.
Other Projects Dr. Papenfuse related to the Commission that approval was received for the Archives’ twin proposals to create a new storage facility and to expand the Hall of Records building. When completed, all archival material will be stored in a climate-controlled environment. The expansion will also include more space for interpretive exhibits and the care of artistic property. |
over 80 friends, family, and staff
members. After almost 40 years of service in nearly all aspects
of the Archives, Pat’s retirement will make a huge dent in
our institutional memory.
the Archives’ Webmaster and
helped to put the Archives in the forefront of the electronic
world.
purported to have been stolen by a Confederate soldier and found
among manuscript papers. Recently, the qualifications of the
handwriting expert who read the annotations on the back of the
recovered Bill of Rights have come into question, and the court
now questions whether this Bill of Rights belongs to North
Carolina, or may belong to Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, or
New York. The interesting point is that North Carolina’s
copy of the Bill of Rights has a transcription error in it that
is not in any other copy of the Bill of Rights:in the original
Eighth Amendment, North Carolina’s copy says
“where” as opposed to other state copies that say
“wherein.”With certified copies of all of the other
states’ Bill of Rights, the
The Citizens Commission started in 1966 as a special study by
the Young Democratic Clubs of Maryland, receiving support and
guidance from
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