Hall of Records Commission
Minutes

of a Meeting 
at the Maryland State Archives
Electronic Classroom
12 Noon 
October 17, 2003

Chairman Bell called the fall meeting of the Hall of Records Commission to order at 12:24 p.m.  He then welcomed Bonnie A. Kirkland, Esquire, Counsel to the Archives and Howard Freedlander, Deputy Treasurer, to the meeting.

Attendees and Introduction of Special Guest:

The following Commission Members, Alternates, Counsel and staff of the Archives were present:

    The Honorable Robert M. Bell, Chief Judge, Court of Appeals, and Chairman of the Hall of
        Records Commission
    Mr. Howard Freedlander, representing The Honorable Nancy K. Kopp, Treasurer
    Mr. R. Dean Kenderdine, representing The Honorable William Donald Schaefer,
        Comptroller of the Treasury
    Mr. Boyd Rutherford, Secretary, Department of General Services
    Dr. Glenn Phillips, representing Dr. Earl S. Richardson, President, Morgan State University
    Dr. Whitman H. Ridgway, representing Dr. William E. Kirwan, Chancellor, University of
        Maryland
    Bonnie A. Kirkland, Esquire, Assistant Attorney General

Staff:
     Mr. Timothy D. Baker, Deputy State Archivist
     Ms. Kathy Beard, Executive Associate and Recording Secretary, Maryland State Archives
     Ms. Nancy Bramucci, Data Base Specialist Manager, Programming, Maryland State
        Archives
     Ms. Jennifer Cruickshank, Archivist II, Maryland State Archives
     Mr. Van Lewis, Director, Fiscal Administration, Maryland State Archives
     Ms. Lynne MacAdam, Computer Network Specialist Manager, Maryland State Archives
     Ms. Pat Melville, Archivist V, Maryland State Archives
     Dr. Edward C. Papenfuse, State Archivist and Secretary, Hall of Records Commission
     Richard H. Richardson, Personnel Officer and Deputy Commissioner of Land Patents
     Ms. Emily Oland Squires, Archivist V, Maryland State Archives
     Dr. David Taft Terry, Administrator II, Slavery Commission

Reports and Minutes of Previous Meetings

• April 24, 2003
• Special meetings and celebratory events:
• April 28:  Unveiling of the portrait of Blair Lee in the Governor's Reception Room of the State House;
• April 29:  Turning on and rededication of the fountain at Government House;
• May 15:  Press conference with Governor Ehrlich in the Governor's Reception Room to announce plans for the creation of a legacy desk for the governor's office from the wood of the Wye Oak.  Dr. Papenfuse said that the Archives has been engaged in the creation of the desk and that  Governor Ehrlich is delighted with the project.  Dr. Papenfuse thanked the Archives' staff who have made it possible.  The desk will probably be ready in about 18 months, and the Commission will receive an invitation to a ceremony in the State House.  Dr. Papenfuse pointed out that the desk is being paid for through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Henry A. Rosenberg of Baltimore.  Dr. Papenfuse showed the Commission an image of the desk.  It is being made by McMartin and Beggins Furniture Makers in St. Michaels.
• Proposal prepared by Archives
• Dr. Papenfuse's remarks at press conference
• June 24:  Retirement reception honoring Richard E. Israel in the President's Conference Center of the Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. Senate Building.  Dr. Papenfuse was pleased to have been a part of the retirement for Dick Israel.  He has asked Mr. Israel for a copy of his paper on the adoption of the Maryland Executive Budget Amendment and permission to publish it in the Archives of Maryland On-Line.
• June 26:  Unveiling of eagle in the pediment of the courthouse in Centreville.  Dr. Papenfuse reported that the Archives helped with the historical background concerning the placement of the new U.S. eagle in the pediment of the courthouse in Centreville.  It is a remarkable piece of artwork.  According to Dr. Papenfuse, this eagle is almost the exact duplicate of the eagle that George Washington had carved into the buttons of his inaugural coat.

Dr. Phillips offered a motion of approval of the minutes as amended, and recognition of the special meetings of the Commission as defined by standing resolution, seconded by Secretary Rutherford and unanimously approved, the Chairman concurring.

Records Retention and Disposal Schedules

• Retention
• Disposal

Dr. Papenfuse reported that the retention and disposal schedules show the Commission what the Archives has done with requests to dispose of records or keep them permanently.  Dr. Papenfuse pointed out that both Secretary Rutherford's and the Archives' appraisal staffs are very small.  DGS is responsible for the initial contact and review of records to be disposed of.  The Archives is responsible for review of the schedules to determine if agencies are saving what they should keep or disposing of what should be thrown away.  The Archives has the final say on disposal of records because there may be something of historical value in the records.

Dr. Papenfuse mentioned that, on October 31, he and Mr. Baker are meeting with Joe Getty, Amanda L. Boyd, Paul Schurick, Megan McGinn, J. P. Scholtes and possibly Jervis Finney, all of the governor's staff, to talk about how records relating to the Governor's office can be regularly transferred to the Archives and determining which ones can be disposed of.

A discussion followed concerning the whole question of email, how is it constituted, if it constitutes a permanent record, how should it be cared for, managed and saved?  While no one has an answer, it is something that needs legislative attention, because some of the most important actions of government are carried on by email.  Dr. Papenfuse noted that there is a need for a policy to be put in place.

Secretary Rutherford said that DGS is looking at electronic correspondence and discovery.  He asked Chairman Bell if we are able to make a distinction between what might be correspondence and what might be discovery.  Chairman Bell answered that it is going to be developed either by legislation or by case law.

Secretary Rutherford offered a motion of approval of Records Retention and Disposal Schedules as presented, seconded by Mr. Kenderdine and unanimously approved, the Chairman concurring.

Old Business

How other Archives are faring:

Other Archives around the country are faring very poorly.  The Maryland State Archives is very grateful to the Judiciary for its willingness to partner with the Archives on a project that benefits the Archives and the Judiciary with regard to making indices and land records available to the public.  It is being done out of a special fund, a portion of which comes to the Archives. This is the main reason that the Archives budget is balanced and it is able to hire people where other state agencies are not.  There is not another Archives in the country doing nearly as well as the Maryland State Archives.  In the next budget, the Archives is being mandated to give salary increases to employees but no General Funds are being allocated for these increases.  Dr. Papenfuse said that at the Archives budget hearing on October 28, he will point out that agencies are being told to do something for which they are not being given General Funds.

April 25:  Dr. Papenfuse served as panel participant in The Future of Civil Rights Research - A Program to Commemorate the Reopening of the Thurgood Marshall Law Library, The University of Maryland School of Law;

April 30:  Dr. Papenfuse attended the Administrative Law Section Annual Spring Dinner and talk by Judge Wilner on The Governor's Emergency Powers;

May 5:  Dr. Papenfuse addressed the Maryland Circuit Court Clerk's Association in Ocean City, MD re:  Land Records ELROI/Archives project;

May 15:  Dr. Papenfuse addressed the China Burma India (CBI) Veterans group of WWII  re:  What's in a name and why we should remember: Peleliu and the men of 1-1-1-HQ Company - Communications Platoon;

May 21:  Dr. Papenfuse hosted Russ and Jody Morrison and the Kent County Historical Society on a tour of the Archives;

June 2:  Dr. Papenfuse served as keynote luncheon speaker at the TUGIS 2003 Conference at Towson University re:  From Then to Now: The Maryland State Archives Atlas of Historical Maps of Maryland;

June 4:  Dr. Papenfuse attended Reference and Research Advisory Committee meeting;

June 23:  Dr. Papenfuse participated in panel on the Mark Steiner show (WYPR FM) re:  State Constitution of Maryland;

June 27:  Dr. Papenfuse attended a Government House dinner with Governor and Mrs. Ehrlich for the kick off of the Foundation for the Preservation of Government House. Evening included a tour of the State House by Dr. Papenfuse for the dinner guests;

August 28:  Dr. Papenfuse addressed the Library of Congress overseas officials on using the Zeutschel scanner rather than microfilm and digital preservation;

September 4:  Dr. Papenfuse gave a demonstration of mdlandrec.net to all of the clerks hosted by Steve Hales in Snow Hill;

September 5:  Dr. Papenfuse welcomes conservators visiting from South Korea;

Dr. Papenfuse advised the Commission of an unexpected visit from a group from the main and regional archives in South Korea concerned with the conservation of paper.  This group found the Maryland State Archives by searching the web for conservators in the United States with a Korean last name.  Our conservator's last name is Lee, although she is not Korean, and Ms. Lee was able to show them some of things we do here.

September 10:  Dr. Papenfuse taught Judicial Institute course on Maryland Legal History at the Judicial Training Center;

Dr. Papenfuse said that he enjoys teaching a course on Maryland Legal History once a year at the Judicial Institute.  This year, he talked about the Constitution of 1851 and its impact.

September 11:  Dr. Papenfuse and Mr. Baker made a presentation to the Comptroller's Cabinet re: What the Archives is and what it does;

September 15:  Dr. Papenfuse gave a tour of the State House to European journalists and Connex officials on behalf of the Governor and Lt. Governor.  A donation of $1,000 was received for this activity;

September 15: Publication of new Government House brochure, written and produced by Archives' staff members Mimi Calver and Elaine Rice Bachmann;

September 16:  Dr. Papenfuse participated in a JHU Senior Alumni lecture on the Maryland State Archives Atlas of Historical Maps of Maryland at Evergreen House;

September 18-20:  Alexander Lourie attended, on behalf of Judge Bell, the sixth annual meeting of the State and Federal Court Historical Society Administrators and Trustees in conjunction with the AASLH Annual Meeting in Providence, RI;

October 7:  Dr. Papenfuse and Jennifer Hafner attended the oral argument in Virginia v. Maryland at the U.S. Supreme Court:

Dr. Papenfuse said that this was an extraordinary experience.  Although he had  attended oral arguments twice before when Berger was Chief Justice, he said that the Rehnquist court was the most dynamic he had ever seen.  The very first question to Andy Baida was to the jugular, and in Dr. Papenfuse's opinion, we did not recover very well, nor did we answer a question from Justice Scalia about Riparian rights very well.  Every Justice, with the exception of Thomas, had a question and they were all very germane to the issue.  Justice Stevens threw Maryland a bone when he said this means that if they agreed with Virginia that there will be a regulatory vacuum.  Justice Stevens was giving an opening for an opinion that would not completely be in Maryland's favor but would leave Maryland in control of the regulatory activity with regard to the water of the Potomac.  It is highly unlikely that this will happen, because the master who investigated the matter for the Supreme Court (Lancaster) was so biased and a-historical in the way he dealt with the evidence.  Dr. Papenfuse noted that Andy Baida ended with an eloquent plea that somebody has to be in charge, and, as Maryland owns the river, it has a right to deal with the regulatory issues, but his eloquence was probably to no avail.

October 10-11:  Dr. Papenfuse attended the fall meeting of the Historic St. Mary's City Commission. Dr. Papenfuse was appointed by Governor Ehrlich to the Commission for a term of four years commencing July 1, 2003;

October 11:  Chris Haley, Acting Director of Reference Services, addressed the Maryland Genealogical Society at the Maryland Historical Society re: What's new at the Archives.

Forthcoming special meetings of the Commission and events of interest

Forthcoming special meetings of the Commission and events of interest are outreach activities the Archives does that the Commission is sometimes invited to.  Dr. Papenfuse said he was hoping to have individual sessions with the Senate and House or a joint session where the new Atlas will be presented to the Legislature.  Both the Senate and House have committed to buying the Atlas at a discount for all of their members.
 

October 21:  Dr. Papenfuse to attend the Governor's Consulting Committee meeting in Crownsville;

October 26:  Dr. Papenfuse to attend Baltimore Book Bash at Borders bookstore in Towson to promote the historical Atlas;

October 31:  Dr. Papenfuse to attend presentation to Sid Hart, Editor of the Peale Papers, by the Friends of Franklin, Inc. in the Calvert Room and conduct a private tour of the State House;

November 6:  Dr. Papenfuse to address the Washington Map Society at the Library of Congress re: Putting Maryland on the Map: A New Edition of the Atlas of Historical Maps of Maryland after 20 years;

November 21:  Dr. Papenfuse, Mimi Calver and Elaine Rice Bachmann to attend reception for the Foundation for the Preservation of Government House at Government House (rescheduled from September 19);

December 17:  Dr. Papenfuse to host a group of four Russian librarians, an interpreter, one facilitator and interested League of Women Voters for an orientation program and tour of the Archives;

May 6, 2004:  Dr. Papenfuse to address The Women's Club of Roland Park;

May 13, 2004:  Dr. Papenfuse to give presentation and tour to Boys' Latin School students;

May 25, 2004:  Dr. Papenfuse to address the Ft. Garrison Chapter of the Colonial Dames of the 17th Century at the home of Mary Parks located in Homeland in Baltimore.

Recent Gifts and Acquisitions

Dr. Papenfuse said that recent gifts and acquisitions are papers and objects that the Archives has taken on as collections.  He focused on two collections:  Metropolitan Club Drawings and and the Sidney and Neff Map of Baltimore, 1852.

• Special Collections:
• Metropolitan Club Drawings
Dr. Papenfuse reported that he received a call from Outerbridge Horsey who is a member of the Metropolitan Club in Washington DC.  Mr. Horsey found in the basement of the Metropolitan Club what he thinks are the construction drawings of the Club that he would like to have conserved, scanned and made available, and he was willing to pay for it.  (The Commission may recall that it hosted the Outerbridge Horsey family at a prior meeting for giving the Archives wonderful Washington documents and other documents relating to the early history of Maryland valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.)   Vicki Lee, the Archives conservator, said is was possible for her to do the work and the Archives was awarded a $10,000 contract to restore the drawings.  Dr. Papenfuse showed the Commission that the drawings have been placed on-line for the Metropolitan Club to use and invited them to go on-line to look at these spectacular drawings.  They can be enlarged and printed out in full size.  After the meeting, Dr. Papenfuse invited the Commission to visit the Conservation Lab to look at the original drawings and the wonderful conservation job Ms. Lee has done.  Next, Dr. Papenfuse introduced Jennifer Cruickshank who is doubling today as the camera operator.  Ms. Cruickshank has done some very fine work with restoration of paper and works closely with Ms. Lee.  Secretary Rutherford asked when the Metropolitan Club was built, and Dr. Papenfuse responded around 1906.
• Sidney and Neff map of Baltimore (1852)
Former state archivist Dr. Morris Radoff left the Archives approximately $5,000, the interest from which can be used to buy things Dr. Radoff might be interested in and would be good for the Archives to acquire.  Dr. Papenfuse reported that without contacting anyone, the Baltimore Equitable Society put its collection of maps up for auction rather than give them to an institution.  They are an insurance agency whose beautiful building is located on Eutaw Street, and the Society's history goes back to the 1790s.  In that collection were not only wall maps of Baltimore that the Library of Congress does not have, but the original bills and receipts for the very first map of Baltimore, the Poppleton map, showing how the map was actually constructed and how the streets were laid out with boundary stones. The Archives knows who the people were who laid the boundary stones and most of them were African Americans.  There is a history to the creation of the map that is fundamental to the way in which the city developed from that point forward.  The Archives bid on a map and the Poppleton receipts and got both for about $600.
• Senator Julian L. Lapides Collection (MSA SC 5533)
Periodically, Dr. Papenfuse receives calls from State senators who have materials in their collections which they would like to keep preserved for posterity.  Jack Lapides was a long time member of the Hall of Records Commission and an outstanding figure on the issue of ethics of public officials.  The Archives has taken on this collection, and Senator Lapides has offered to provide internship support next summer for the cataloging of the collection.
• Government Records
Dr. Papenfuse said that because of the Archives' association with the Judiciary and with support from DGS, the Archives has been able to increase its shelving space in its warehouses.  However, an additional 30,000 sq. ft. of space is still needed to just be able to handle the permanent government records being transferred to the Archives.
• Donation by Philippe Register of the Cincinnati membership certificate for Levin Winder endorsed by George Washington (MSA SC 5526)
Dr. Papenfuse advised that Richard Richardson, the Archives' Chief Personnel Officer, received a letter from Mr. Register, a retired architect living in Arizona, asking if the Archives could do some family history for him on Levin Winder who was Governor of Maryland from 1812-1816 (during the time when we were being bombarded by the British at Ft. McHenry).  Levin Winder was a native of Somerset County and also served in the legislature; the Winder surname is still in Somerset County.  Mr. Register said his own children were not interested in history and asked Mr. Richardson what he could do with this document that was signed by George Washington and appraised at over $10,000.  Mr. Richardson asked Mr. Register to consider donating it to the state where it would be preserved and made accessible to a wider audience.  This donation would be a tax write-off.  After several months, Mr. Register decided to donate the document to the State Archives.

Dr. Papenfuse presented an interesting story about this document, which George Washington signed when he was president of the United States. The person who signed as secretary, was also the secretary of war.  Washington was criticized for heading the Society of Cincinnati (a private organization) while president of the United States and had to remove himself as the society's president.  Dr. Papenfuse invited the Commission to visit the Conservation Lab to look at the original certificate after the meeting.

Referring to the copy of the Cincinnati membership certificate in today's packet, Dr. Papenfuse advised the Commission of a new service offered at the Archives to reproduce documents in color up to 44" wide.  He expects it to be profitable for the Archives.  He invited the Commissioners to look at the examples on the table after the meeting.  Dr. Papenfuse stated that this service is going to be most helpful with exhibits in the State House and Senate and House Office Buildings where collection materials need to be displayed and where the temperature and humidity controls are not what they ought to be.
 

Dr. Ridgway offered a Resolution of Appreciation for the recent gifts, including other special collections received but not described, seconded by Mr. Freedlander and unanimously approved, the Chairman concurring.

Finding Aids, Reference Services, and Publications

• mdlandrec.net (Worcester County demo)
The Archives is able to support itself through the mdlandrec.net contract with the Judiciary, which is now completely on-line for Worcester County (2.4-2.5 million images) and will ultimately be on-line for all counties.  Dr. Papenfuse demonstrated how mdlandrec.net works by taking the Commission to the first image of the first volume.  He showed the Commission how the Archives is doing this off of even the worst images.  However, if the image is enlarged, the writing can be read and the first page of the very first record can be printed at the court house on 11"x17" paper.  There are search functions and mdlandrec.net enables you to sort by grantor/grantee, recording instrument, date recorded, citation, clerk.  Dr. Papenfuse demonstrated the speed with which you can get any deed book in Worcester County using mdlandrec.net.  The Archives will not be doing this immediately for all of the counties, because the principal objective is to have the indices on-line and to help install in the counties a front end recordation system called ELROI.  Every county within two years is supposed to have ELROI up and running so that a person can record and retrieve quickly at the courthouse.  The Archives is also providing backup of ten previous years for every installation and those will be on-line.  Any volume that needs to be conserved will be brought on-line directly as a conservation measure over the coming years.  Dr. Papenfuse hopes that after two years mdlandrec.net will be so successful the Legislature will agree to accumulation of the Land Records Improvement Fund.

Dr. Phillips asked the rationale for selecting Worcester County rather than another county.  Dr. Papenfuse advised that Worcester County did not have ELROI, was all microfilm and had a problem with delivery.  Judge Bell added that there was also a concern about the deterioration of the records in this county.

• Maryland Manual.net
• Archives of Maryland.net
• plats.net
• vital records website prototype
Dr. Papenfuse introduced another new service offered at the Archives and asked Ms. Bramucci, who designed the website, to demonstrate it.  He explained that about 30%-40% of  requests relate to vital records.  With current staffing levels, the Archives could not meet this demand, so it stopped servicing all vital records and looked at how it could provide indices on-line and retrieve this material more efficiently.  A program of putting up on-line those indices most in demand was begun.  The first one was the county death record indices from 1898-1944.  Dr. Papenfuse hopes to have this system up and running by the end of the month.

Ms. Bramucci stated that of those materials the Archives chose initially, there were two record series within that category.  The users of this system will have to go down to the time period and the letter of the alphabet they want.  The index cards have been brought on-line at 32 images to a page.  If the user finds a particular index card they are interested in obtaining, he/she clicks on the certificate and are asked to sign in.  If this is the first time the customer is using the system, an account must be created.  The user then fills out an on-line form indicating if he/she would like the death certificate certified or uncertified, shipping and billing address and payment information.  Dr. Papenfuse advised of a great new addition to this system whereby the customer helps improve the Archives indexing by transcribing what they find on the card (the customer cannot place an order without transcribing the card).  If the customer chooses a card that someone else has already picked and transcribed, the customer automatically gets the transcription that was created and it does not have to be transcribed again.  This information is held onto by the Archives.  Ms. Bramucci continued that the customer prints out a form that is mailed to the Archives to obtain the actual certificate.

Dr. Ridgway questioned if there was a problem with certification, and Dr. Papenfuse responded that all the Archives is certifying is that the certificate is an original record of the Archives.  Dr. Ridgway next asked if the Archives is relying on the customer to fill in the information on the card that the Archives does not have, and Dr. Papenfuse answered in the affirmative.  He added that over time, the Archives will be able to allocate volunteers to do keyboarding.  Over a very long time, the Archives will be creating a searchable database.  In the future, Dr. Papenfuse advised that the Archives will be moving to e-commerce so that the customer does not have to mail in the form with their money.

Research and Education

• Commission to Coordinate the Study, Commemoration, and Impact of Slavery's History and Legacy in Maryland
• Minutes of Meetings:
• October 10, 2002 (to be approved at October 22, 2003 meeting)
• October 22, 2003: Commission meeting at MD Department of Housing and Community Development in Crownsville;
• September 25-26:  Dr. Terry attends 2003 Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) in Milwaukee, WI, as Chair and Commentator for session on 19th century history

 
• Courses taught, lectures given by the State Archivist (see prior resolution on 4/19/2000):
• July 14 and 22:  Teaching American History in Baltimore County, Summer Institute 2003 at UMBC;
• July 23 and 28 :  Teaching American History in Baltimore City, Summer Institute 2003 at UMBC;
• September 10:  Judicial Institute course on Maryland Legal History;
• Fall 2003:  Legal History Seminar: Building Baltimore, University of Maryland School of Law;
• Spring 2004:  Race and the Law: The Maryland Experience, University of Maryland School of Law;
• Spring 2004:  Teaching Putting Maryland on the Map: The Cartographic and Geological History of Maryland, at JHU Homewood Campus.

• April 29:  Boys' Latin School field trip to Annapolis
• June 11-August 15, 2002:  Summer Internship Program,
• August 25:  Filming for Maryland Public Television's Exploring Maryland's Roots
• November 13:  Dr. Papenfuse to attend Faculty Advisory Committee meeting for the MLA program at JHU
• March 25, 2004: Annual Colonial Society Essay Contest, to be judged by State Archivist
• March 2004:  St. Mary's City Commission meeting

Administrative and Fiscal Matters

• Legislation pending:  None

 
• New Facilities/Space Needs:
• September 15:  SPC, Inc. began work on the fire alarm system
• Status report on building program/acquisition/warehouse space

 
• Budget Issues, Present and Future:
• October 28:  Budget hearing with Neil Bergsman
Dr. Papenfuse advised the Commission that the Archives budget hearing with Neil Bergsman is scheduled to take place on October 28.  He feels that the Archives will be asked to give more money back despite the fact that it was already told to find $60,000 to return to the General Fund.  Dr. Papenfuse does not know where that money will come from; it may have to be from Special Funds.  However, the central problem relates to the fact that it is difficult to give mandated raises to State employees and not be allocated the revenue to pay for them.
• NICS
Dr. Papenfuse received a call from the Governor's counsel who asked if the the Archives had any problems with regard to dealing with the FBI requests for background checks, and Dr. Papenfuse advised that the Archives staff has been working very hard to keep up with the background checks even though it is still owed a position by the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.
• Status of Archives' budget FY 2004
• Status of Archives' proposed budget FY 2005
 
• Special Fund Grants/Income Projects:
• National Park Service Network to Freedom Grant ($25,000 in FY 2003);
• U.S. Dept. of Education's Underground Railroad Educational and Cultural Program Grant ($250,665 for FY03 and $544,540 for FY04 through FY06);
Dr. Papenfuse asked Emily Squires and David Terry to give the Commission some wonderful news.  Ms. Squires announced that the Archives is currently funding its research initiative through a Federal grant and the main initiative is researching the Underground Railroad in Maryland.  Last year the Archives received a grant of $25,000 from the National Park Service it is using as seed money for its initiative.  Additionally, the Archives has received two Federal grants from the U.S. Department of Education: one for $250,000 and the second for $545,000 which will take care of funding through Fiscal Year 2006.  Mr. Freedlander asked if this research focuses on Harriet Tubman and Ms. Squires said it does not.

Dr. Terry said that the project tries to affix some sort of appreciation for what it meant to run away from southern states, Maryland in particular.  Using a variety of records including jail/prison records and most voluminously, newspapers, Dr. Terry has pulled out around 9,000 runaway ads.  From this collection, we get a picture of not simply run away activity being the work of "abolitionists," but every day Marylanders, black and white, being accused or having participated in some manner of bringing individuals out of slavery and into the free states, such as Pennsylvania.  Mr. Freedlander asked if Dr. Terry is looking at roles of Quakers and he said he is looking at every role.  Dr. Terry said the importance here is that traditionally we don't have an idea of how the southern states participated in the Underground Railroad.  The early returns have been presented to the National Park Service for encouragement and feedback.  They were looking for ways to convince states, particularly southern states, that there is work that can be done that demonstrates this idea of moving out of slavery that does not create a picture of a solitary, scared individual running aimlessly and then some great northerner comes along and helps this individual.  Mr. Freedlander asked if due to the fact it is a Federal grant the project must take a universal look at slavery and not just in Maryland.  Dr. Terry stated we are Maryland specific.  Dr Papenfuse invited the Commission to follow along what we do at mdslavery.net.

Dr. Phillips asked what the National Park Service and U.S. Department of Education want from the Archives in the end.  Dr. Terry responded that the National Park Service wanted an extensive  written report with some sort of web presence for Baltimore, Prince George's and Frederick counties.  What we are doing right now for the first year of the Department of Education grant is looking at geographic representation for Anne Arundel, Cecil, Charles and Dorchester counties.  These counties were chosen for their proximity to Washington, DC and Prince George's and Baltimore Counties.  A discussion ensued regarding why and why not counties were chosen.  It is Ms. Squires hope that the Archives will continue to get funding through the State for additional grants to study each county.

Dr. Papenfuse advised that thanks to Emily Squires, David Terry, John Ball and others, these grants fund the Archives internship program through 2006 at a time when most of the General Fund monies have been taken away from the Archives.  The Archives has adopted the model it has been asked by each of the Appropriations committees for years now concerning getting outside funding to help deal with these kinds of projects.  Dr. Papenfuse hopes when we get beyond this economic crunch, he can go back to the Governor and legislature to get matching funds in our budget to continue to do this work without having to go outside for grant money.
 

Dr. Phillips offered a Resolution of Appreciation to both Emily Squires and David Terry for all of their hard work in getting the National Park Service and U.S. Department of Education grants, seconded by Mr. Kenderdine and unanimously approved, the Chairman concurring.
 
• Maryland Historical Trust historic sites scanning project;
Dr. Papenfuse is grateful to Lynne MacAdam for taking on a project which will bring all Maryland Historical Trust sites, scanned and indexed, on-line.  The project was also designed and worked on by Nancy Bramucci.  While the Archives has more work to do on this project than it thought, it brings in an income of about $140,000 out of Federal ISTEA money.
• State Highway Administration right-of-way scanning project;
Dr. Papenfuse advised the Commission of a project the Archives has with the State Highway Administration (SHA) to bring all right-of-way plats on-line.  SHA likes it so much that they have asked the Archives to consider putting a lot of their working drawings on-line and possibly some of their field notes.  The Archives has only 2,000 more right-of-way plats to scan for this project to be completed.
• Grant from Maryland Historical Trust to document the history of the State House: mdstatehouse.net;
Dr. Papenfuse said the Archives helps the State House Trust in managing and interpreting the State House.  Periodically, a movie company is willing to pay for use of the building, and apart from what is given to DGS for any cost they incur, the Archives gets a certain amount for interpretation of the State House.  Dreamworks gave about $5,000 last year.  Additionally, Thomas Stone National Historic Site paid $2,000 to rent one of the Archives' exhibits.
• Status of the Archives Endowment Fund:  Interest, Gifts and Matching funds.
Dr. Papenfuse stated that every project created by the Archives in terms of a service it provides to a State agency, the Judiciary or any other public/private entity, we try to build in a margin for the Endowment at the end of the fiscal year.  Currently, the Archives has received $1,100 in gifts and bequests and $14,000 in generally unsolicited donations.

• MSA Meeting with the Governor's Commission on the Structure and Efficiency of State Government (Marvin Mandel, Chair):
• Visit of Paul W. Comfort, Esq. on Monday, October 27, 2003 at 10:00 a.m.
Originally, the Governor's Commission on the Structure and Efficiency of State Government was scheduled to meet at the Archives today.  Since Paul Comfort is the only person on the subcommittee that has not visited the Archives or knows much about the Archives, he will be meeting with Dr. Papenfuse on Monday, October 27.  Dr. Papenfuse has no idea whether this commission is considering any reorganization that might affect the Archives.  He has made a case that the Archives is an agency that serves all three branches of government and it is important for it to be independent.  Dr. Papenfuse doesn't anticipate any suggestion that the Archives be reorganized or placed anywhere else.  Secretary Rutherford asked when the Archives was moved out of the Department of General Services and Dr. Papenfuse answered in 1984.  Dr. Papenfuse said the Archives will be represented at a public hearing next Tuesday.  He also mentioned that he has had conversations with Governor Mandel, and that the Archives has supplied the commission with a great deal of reference material on past reorganizations of State government.

Next meeting

Adjournment

There being no further business to discuss Dr. Phillips offered a motion to adjourn to the Conservation Lab at 1:20 p.m., which was seconded by Dr. Ridgway and unanimously approved, the Chairman concurring.

Approved by the Hall of Records Commission, April 28, 2004.
 
 

                                ________________________________________
                                        The Honorable Robert M. Bell, Chairman
 
 
 

                                ________________________________________
                                        Edward C. Papenfuse, Jr., Secretary
 
 

Dr. Edward C. Papenfuse
State Archivist

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