1986 - 2000: The Electronic Papenfuse
The old Hall of Records Building was already beyond full, and the space and comfort of the new building were welcomed by the staff, and the beautiful new search room was welcomed by our patrons. There really was "room to roam!" The building of the new Hall of Records was directed by Ed, with the assistance of Chris Allan. The move from old to new building - The Haul of Records - was a team effort.
The press and the public took notice of the new building, as well as the quality of the records at the Archives and the service provided by the Archives' staff in helping the public to access the records.
The celebratory events continued in 1986 with the 200th anniversary of the Annapolis Convention. Exhibits played an important role in these celebrations, as well, and the Silver Room in the State House became home to exhibits relating to Maryland's role in the creation of the U.S. Constitution.
In 1987, the state observed the bicentennial of Maryland's ratification of the Constitution on April 28, 1788 and a highlight of these celebrations was the building of the replica of the Maryland Federalist and the recreation of its voyage from Baltimore to Mt. Vernon.
The final step in the refurbishment of the State House exhibits was the restoration of the Archives Room and the installation of exhibits there relating to John Shaw at Annapolis, the Buildings and Statues on State Circle, and the Great Seals of Maryland.
In 1989, another celebratory event took place: the 200th anniversay of George Washington's Ride to New York to assume his first term as President under the new Constitution.
In 1991, long-time archivist, the much loved and respected Phebe R. Jacobsen retired. The event was marked with the Jacobsen Conference on Maryland History which focused on the Civil War. Phebe was a pioneer in researching African American genealogy, as well as on Native Americans of the Chesapeake and was one of the first people to recognize the value of church records to historians and genealogists.
In the early 1990s, the Archives took part in the creation of three important exhibits:
One of Ed's long-term goals for the Archives was to ensure that
the humanities initiatives that are so important to an historical program
would be able to continue despite the ups and downs of state budgets. This
resulted, in 1993, in the creation of the State Archives Fund and the Archives
Endowment Fund. This fund has now grown to the point that income from it
supports research projects and internships, as well as other programs.
1995 saw what could arguably be called THE pivotal event of the Papenfuse Years: Ed discovered the Internet! And Archives' staff learned HTML - fast. The Archives went on-line, becoming the first archives in the country, and perhaps the world, to do so. Providing on-line access to our records has become the major focus of many of the Archives' activities and an important part of this has been Ed's mission to train teachers in the use of on-line facsimiles of historical documents for use in the classroom. The Conference Room was transformed from a conventional lecture space to a state-of-the-art electronic classroom, used to train to teachers and others in the emerging technology of Teaching in the Age of the Internet. This initiative resulted in several summer institutes for teachers, some funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
As the Archives took the lead among state agencies in going on-line and in the storage and retreival of electronic records, the Maryland Electronic Capital moved to the Archives in 1997 and the move was marked with a state-wide competition among school and college students to pick a design for the MEC homepage. The winner was announced at the Archives with Governor Glendening and Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein in attendance.
Celebratory events planned and executed by the Archives continued in 1995 with a Special Joint Session marking the 300th anniversary of the move of the capital from St. Mary's City to Annapolis and the first convening of the Legislature in Annapolis on February 28, 1695. Planning and attending ceremonial events and making speeches to groups around the state are all important parts of the job of State Archivist and they are tracked by Ed on his State Archivist's webpage.
Being State Archivist has its rewards in many ways and one of them was a trip to London in June 1996 to attend the unveiling of the plaque marking the burial place of Cecil Calvert in the church of St. Giles in the Fields in central London. The plaque was transported to London on the Pride of Baltimore II and after the welcoming ceremony dockside, Ed and many other state officials processed through the streets of London to the church where the installation ceremony was held. Governor Glendening led the Maryland delegation to London for this event.
In June 1996, the Archives, through its Commission on Artistic Property, became the custodian of one of this country's major collections of American art, the Peabody Art Collection. Overnight, the value of the state-owned artwork went from about $8 million to almost $30 million. In 1998, Government House hosted an exhibition of works from the Peabody Collection, curated by Archives' staff.
For Marylanders, March 25 is the day for remembering our past and Maryland Day 1998 was the first of two Maryland Days organized by the Archives for Governor Glendening to celebrate the day with a group of school children. Using a book by author Ann Jensen called Leonard Calvert and the Maryland Adventure and graphics created by the Archives, the governor read to the children and discussed the book and current events with them. In 1999, a group from Boys' Latin School in Baltimore met with the governor on Maryland Day for a similar session on Maryland history.
The year 2000 brought another important initiative of the Archives' to fruition: the research on the First Ladies and Official Hostesses of Maryland with the opening on March 14 of the exhibit Lady of the House. At the opening, Mrs. Glendening presented Ed with a set of scrapbooks documenting everything she has done as First Lady until now.
Ed's full title is State Archivist and Commissioner of Land Patents. The second part indicates an important on-going function of the office: research and ruling on land patent claims. These are usually low-profile activities, but now and then one of them hits the newspapers, such as the 1983 case about an island in the Chesapeake Bay.
Of course, Ed continued to write and publish during these years, including:
- Articles in the Baltimore Sun:
- A scholarly series on the founding fathers and the writing of the U.S. Constitution in March and April 1987;
- Off to Philadelphia, there to write a Constitution, May 22, 1987
- George Washington: Lobbyist Extraordinaire, February 25, 1989;
- Writing It All Down, December 14, 1991
- Charting the Chesapeake, 1990
- An Historical List of Public Officials of Maryland, Archives of Maryland, new series, 1990
- Doing Good to Posterity: the Move of the Capital of Maryland from St. Mary's City to Ann Arundell Town, Now Called Annapolis, 1995
- Documents for the Classroom
- New Guide to the Old Line State, 2rd Edition, 1999
No recounting of Ed's years at the Archives would be complete without mentioning two people who had an enormous impact on his career and his life. These two men were consistently supportive of the Archives and of Ed personally and he has great affection and respect for them. The first of these is former Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein, who served for many years on the Hall of Records Commission as a member, Vice Chair and then Chair. Comptroller Goldstein's sudden death in July, 1998 was a sad day for the state and the Archives, and Ed dedicated the 1999 publication A New Guide to the Old Line State, 2nd Edition to his memory. The second is Judge Robert Murphy, former Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, Chair of the Hall of Records Commission from 1972 - 1996, and a long-time friend and guide to the Archives.In addition to all the hard work, Ed also found time to emcee the multitude of parties held at the Archives. From baby showers to retirements parties and of course, holiday parties (complete with his own bicycle cart). He has inspired poetry and parody.
On the eve of January 2000, Ed talked about his hopes and dreams for the new millennium. Now, after all this, we just have one question. . . . .