14 ELEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT

sored the meeting, the Archivist described the services which the
Hall of Records provides for local records custodians and explained
the provisions of Chapter 248, Acts of 1945. Mr. Thomas assisted
the Peggy Stewart Chapter of the DAR in celebrating Maryland
Day, March 25, by exhibiting some of our historical documents at
their special annual meeting.

Among the distinguished visitors this year were several from
similar institutions in Latin America who came to examine our plant
and to study our procedures. On December 4, we were honored by
the visit of Messrs. Juan Eyzaguirre Escobar of the National Ar-
chives of Chile and Manuel Carrera Stampa of the National Ar-
chives of Mexico. On April 20, Professor J. Joaquim Pardo, Director
of the General Archives of Guatemala, spent the day at the Hall of
Records, and he was followed on June 8 by Dr. Enrique Ortega Ri-
cuarte, Director of the National Archives of Colombia.

The Head of the Archives division of the University of the State
of New York, Mr. Henry Howard Eddy, accompanied by Captain
Victor Gondos of the National Archives staff, came with the special
purpose of examining our physical plant, as the State of New York
is now preparing to build a separate building for its archives. In
March, Mr. Randolph W. Church, Librarian, and Dr. William J.
Van Schreeven, Head Archivist of the Virginia State Library, visited
us. Among the members of the course in Preservation and Admin-
istration of Archives were Dr. Sidney J. Goldman, newly-appointed
Archivist of New Jersey, and representatives of Colonial Williams-
burg, Catholic University, Jane Addams Peace Collection and other
institutions with large archival departments.

CIRCULATION

While it is plainly imperfect, circulation is a measure of sorts
of the immediate value of the Hall of Records to the general public,
as well as to the agencies of government who are concerned with the
records deposited with us. Any archivist, therefore, is pleased to
note an increasing circulation unless, as it sometimes happens, he
should be a misanthropist. Prior to this year, the largest circulation
for any twelve-month period was in 1940-1941 when 5, 137 items
were called for. The year 1941-1942, the first to reflect the impact