Hall of Records Commission
Minutes of a Meeting
head at the
Maryland State Archives
March 3, 1997
Call to Order by the Secretary
With the retirement of the Chair and in the absence of a Vice Chair, the meeting was called to order by the Secretary at 12:00 noon.
Present were:
The Honorable Robert M. Bell, Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals
William R. Brody, M.D., President of The Johns Hopkins University
Ms. Pat Bruce, representing Delegate Conroy
The Honorable Richard N. Dixon, Treasurer
The Honorable Louis L. Goldstein, Comptroller of the Treasury
Mr. Richard E. Israel, Assistant Attorney General
Ms. Annie K. Kronk, Special Assistant to the President of The Johns
Hopkins University
Gerald P. Walls, representing Eugene Lynch, Secretary of Department of General
Services
Mr. Christopher B. Nelson, President of St. Johns College
Dr. Glenn Phillips, representing Dr. Earl S. Richardson, President,
Morgan State University
Dr. Whitman H. Ridgway, representing Dr. Donald N. Langenberg, Chancellor,
University of Maryland
Staff:
Mr. Christopher N. Allan, Deputy State Archivist
Ms. Betsy Bodziak, Database Administrator, Maryland State Archives
Mrs. Shirley A. Bodziak, Administrative Aide to Edward C. Papenfuse
Ms. Mimi Calver, Archivist V, Maryland State Archives
Mr. Chris Haley, Archivist IV, Maryland State Archives
Ms. Patricia V. Melville, Archivist V, Maryland State Archives
Dr. Edward C. Papenfuse, State Archivist and Secretary, Hall
of Records Commission
Election of a new Chair and Vice Chair
- The Secretary noted that the first order of business was the election of a new Chair of the Commission. The Treasurer placed the name of Louis L. Goldstein, Comptroller of the Treasury, into nomination for Chair and the name of Chief Judge Robert Bell as Vice Chair. Both nominations were approved unanimously. Comptroller Goldstein took the chair and noted that he has been on the Commission since 1959 and commended Dr. Papenfuse for his work in creating the most modern archives in the U.S. and for his outstanding contribution to the state.
Minutes of the Previous Meeting
-
The minutes of the previous meeting were approved.
- Dr. Papenfuse noted that there were also six special meetings of the Hall of Records Commission held in 1996 and 1997:
1. Celebrations of the Bicentennial of the Founding of Prince George's
County
April 23, 1996
2. Dedication of the Courts of Appeal Building in Annapolis in honor
of Judge Robert C. Murphy
June 3, 1996
3. Dedication of the Thurgood Marshall Memorial
State House Square, Annapolis
October 22, 1996
4. Unveiling of the portrait of former Governor William Donald Schaefer
Governor's Reception Room, The State House
December 19, 1996
5. Unveiling of the portrait of former Treasurer Lucy Maurer, January
24, 1997
6. Presentation of the prizes for the MEC
homepage design contest, February 25, 1997
On a motion by Dr. Phillips, the above ceremonial meetings of the Commission were approved as presented.
Records Retention and Disposal Schedules
- Dr. Papenfuse noted that only about seven per cent of all state paper records are scheduled for permanent retention. Records designated for retention or disposal since the last Commission meeting were approved unanimously on a motion by Judge Bell.
Old Business
- There was no old business to come before the Commission.
Staff Activities
- Dr. Papenfuse noted that staff activities are reported in the Archives' biweekly newsletter The Bulldog which is sent to each Commission member and is also available on the Archives' web site. The Bulldog also contains articles on records in the Archives.
- Dr. Papenfuse said that an important recent activity was the visit of President Bill Clinton to Annapolis to address a Joint Session of the General Assembly. He said that this visit was historic in that it is the first time a sitting President has visited the State House or addressed the General Assembly. He said that it may also be seen as an historic one in that it marks the first time a President has gone to a state legislature to promote implementation of a national program.
- Dr. Papenfuse said that he had, on February 27, talked to about 130 Annapolis guides and docents about Colonial Annapolis history. His talk centered around presidential visits, past and present.
- Dr. Papenfuse said that he had recently taken part in two awards ceremonies:
- The First Citizen Award given every year by the President of the Senate. This year it was awarded to former Senator Julian Lapides. Dr. Papenfuse's remarks at that event are on the Archives' web site.
- The Speaker's Medallion and the Thomas Kennedy Award. The Speaker's Medallion was awarded by the Speaker of the House of Delegates to Walter Sondheim, Jr. and the Thomas Kennedy Award to former U.S. Senator Charles McC. Mathias.
Upcoming Activities
- Dr. Papenfuse said that on Friday, March 7 he is speaking at a special joint session of the General Assembly honoring the 25th anniversary of the Women's Caucus.
- On March 20, the Archives is hosting, with Maryland Public Television, a distance learning genealogy workshop which will be linked to about 20 remote sites. Appearing with him will be Agnes Kane Callum and they will focus on the stories and families connected to Sotterley.
- On April 10, Dr. Papenfuse is taking part in a workshop on Going Digital: Research, Resources, and Trends with the National Archives and Records Administration and the University of Maryland.
- Dr. Papenfuse noted that the Archives has held a number of genealogy workshops which have been conducted by volunteers and which have raised thousands of dollars for the Archives' endowment fund. The next on is on April 19 and will focus on African American genealogy.
- Dr. Papenfuse said that the staff is now evaluating the entries received in the annual Colonial Society Essay Contest. The topic this year is "Maryland: An American Mosaic" and 20 entries have been received from all over the state.
- Dr. Papenfuse showed the Commission some pages from a new publication by Carson Gibbs, an Archives' volunteer, on the first settlers of Maryland. Dr. Gibbs has found about 3,000 settlers who were missed in the first guide which was published in the 1960s. The book will be published as a book and as an electronic publication on the Archives' web site. On a motion by Judge Bell, the Commission unanimously approved the publication of the book and the Comptroller noted that it is a very valuable publication.
Recent Acquisitions
Dr. Papenfuse noted that the largest single contributor of government records to the Archives is the judiciary. He said that information about the Archives' acquisitions is available on the web site.
Setting Standards for the Preservation of the Electronic Record
- Dr. Papenfuse said that it is very important that any record of permanent value be saved electronically or on in some sort of static form, such as microfilm. He said that the standards for retention encourage agencies to use at least a semi-permanent medium such as CD_ROM. Rules and regulations are available on the Archives' web site but the official copy of them must be obtained from the Division of State Documents.
Promoting an Annapolis Campus of State Agency Web Sites
- Dr. Papenfuse said that the Comptroller's office has the best tax web site in the U.S. and that anyone can download a form from it or buy a CD with the forms at a very reasonable price. He noted that the site is maintained at the Archives.
- Dr. Papenfuse showed the Commission the General Assembly's web site and said that the Archives had played a role in its creation. He demonstrated the "Who Are Your Elected Officials?" feature which the Archives designed and implemented and maintains for the Legislature.
- A very important element of the state presence on the web is Maryland Electronic Capital, a clearinghouse for all state agencies. MEC has recently moved to the Archives and on Tuesday, February 25, Governor Glendening announced the winner of the MEC Homepage Design Contest. The Archives now manages MEC and people can come here to use its computers, some of which are handicapped accessable. Dr. Papenfuse said that the idea and vision for MEC came from Major Riddick.
Education and Outreach
- Dr. Papenfuse said that the Archives' homepage has the syllabi, schedules and readings of courses in history taught by him at Johns Hopkins.
- The Archives took part in the Maryland Technology Showcase in December.
- Dr. Papenfuse said that the Archives' staff is helping Kent and Howard counties to place a presencen on the web.
Peabody Art Collection
- Dr. Papenfuse said that the Peabody Art Collection had been transferred in June to the Archives in trust for the state. He said that the inventory of the collection is on the Archives' web site and, eventually, images of every item will also be there. He said that the collection will be overseen by the newly appointed Commission on Artistic Property. He also discussed a recently discovered painting which was stolen from the collection in the 1960s and which the state is now trying to recover for the collection.
Budget Issues
- Dr. Papenfuse said that, in three years, the Archives has gone from being a fully funded agency to 70 per cent funded. He said that it is a difficult time and that the agency is trying to find revenue sources to make up the other 30 per cent. In the budget presentation to the Legislature, he argued for funding for baseline services such as reference, the public search room, the Maryland Manual, the maintenance of electronic information on state government, and the organizational charts of Maryland state government.
- An important element in the long term strategy to provide funding for Archives' activities beyond what is funded by the state, is the endowment fund of the State Archives' Fund which was set up with the support of the Governor and the General Assembly. Dr. Papenfuse thanked Comptroller Goldstein for his personal support of the State Archives Fund.
- Another problem for the Archives which Dr. Papenfuse addressed was one of space. He said that the Archives building, because of the downsizing of state government, has run out of space for storage of records and the pressure on the Archives to take more records is increasing. He said that, very soon, the Archives is going to have to acquire additional storage space to properly care for and store both paper and electronic records. There is enough land to expand the Archives building to care for electronic records, but paper records will have to be accommodated at a adjunct facility. For the past couple of year, the Archives has had some help from MDIC which has a warehouse in which we are storing some records.
- Dr. Papenfuse said that, in the past year, the Archives has applied for several grants:
- National Endowment for the Humanities grant to teach teachers to use the Internet in the classroom;
- Ameritech/Library of Congress grant to place biographies of African American soldiers who served in the Civil War into the American Memory Project;
- An Innovations in American Government grant from the John F. Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University for the Archives' state and local government web site.
On a motion from Judge Bell, the Commission approved the Archives' participation in these grant projects, if they are awarded. Treasurer Dixon noted that his great-grandfather, Abraham Jones, served in a colored troop in the Civil War.
- Dr. Papenfuse also noted that The Johns Hopkins University and St. John's College support the intern program at the Archives. He said that an intern from Hopkins has discovered a great deal of interesting information about the architect of the State House, Joseph Clark and has connected him to McDowell Hall as well as to buildings in Washington, D.C. Also, the Archives has an intern who was a student at Morgan State University and now teaches there.
Presentation to Senator Miller
Dr. Papenfuse showed the Commission a framed image of Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer which he asked the Commission to present to Senator Miller, in absentia, in honor of Senator Miller's having served longer than any other Maryland Senate President. The Commission unanimously approved the motion.
Next Meeting
Dr. Brody offered to host the next meeting of the Commission at Johns Hopkins University at a time to be decided.
Adjournment
There being no other business to come before the Commission, the meeting was adjourned at 1:00 p.m.