ARCHIVIST OF THE HALL OF RECORDS 9

Permission was asked by the Archivist to collaborate in a history
of the General Assembly which had been proposed to him by the
President of the Senate, the Honorable William S. James of Harford
County. The Commission approved the project.

In the discussion of miscellaneous problems which preceded ad-
journment the Archivist reported that he had requested $110,000 from
the Capital Improvement Budget (fiscal year 1967) to air condition
the building. The stack area has always been air conditioned, but by
now, after more than thirty years, it has reached a state of disrepair
when the cost to repair it would be a questionable investment. The
Hall of Records is the last state government building in Annapolis to
be air conditioned.

The meeting was adjourned sine die at 3:00 p.m.

Members of the Commission who attended were the Honorable
J. Millard Tawes, Governor, the Honorable Louis L. Goldstein, Comp-
troller, the Honorable Stedman Prescott, Chief Judge of the Maryland
Court of Appeals, the Honorable Frederick W. Brune, President of
the Maryland Historical Society, Dr. Richard D. Weigle, President of
St. John's College. Dr. Milton J. Elsenhower, President of The Johns
Hopkins University, and John M. Nelson III, President of the Peabody
Institute, were prevented from attending because of previous engage-
ments.

As this report is being written, January, 1967, I look forward
with trepidation to many changes in the membership of the Commis-
sion. First of all, Governor Tawes leaves office January 25, 1967; Dr.
Elsenhower retires in September of 1967. Already in fiscal year 1967,
Judge Prescott has retired, and Judge Brune will retire from the Presi-
dency of the Maryland Historical Society in a few months. All changes
in the Commission are losses to the Hall of Records since most of the
members are not especially knowledgeable insofar as the records of
the State are concerned when they come to the Commission. The great-
est loss will be Governor Tawes, who was the last remaining member
of the Commission which appointed the present Archivist in 1939.
Except for a two-year period when he was Bank Commissioner, he has
been a member ever since, either as Governor or Comptroller. He has
always shown an interest in its work and he has given it support when-
ever it was needed. He will be sorely missed.