a stutw^7 lis ^ ^
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Regional Conference
proceedings
Hotel La Salle
c hicago
MAY 22-23, |a36
Ol - A ; ed.
a federal project
operating under
Works Progress Administration
PROCEEDINGS
REGIONAL CONFERENCE
of the
HISTORICAL RECORDS SURVEY
A FEDERAL PROJECT
operating under
Works Progress Administration
Hotel LaSalle
Chicago, Illinois
May 22 - 23, 1936
LUTHER H. EVANS, NATIONAL DIRECTOR
PARTICIPATING STATES
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan,
Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin
FOREWORD
Summoned to attend what purported to be a routine confer¬
ence dealing with daily problems, the director of the Historical
Records Survey from a dozen states found themselves instead in an
enlivened atmosphere of constructive thinking. More than half of
the speakers at the conference were men and women who were not
identified with the actual work of the Survey, but whose interest
in it as historians, librarians, and archivists had led them to
attend the meetings and to contribute ideas for the furtherance
of the Survey's activities.
Scholars, administrators of the WPA, and others from out¬
side the Survey's ranks joined the state directors in general dis¬
cussions concerned with future plans and oresented suggestions
for the program as a whole. The harassing problems of the present
were forgotten for a moment in a vision of increased opportunities
for the future.
The ordinary problems of the Survey, however, were by no
means neglected. They were oresented in papers read at the for¬
mal sessions, and discussed between meetings, at meals, and, in
one instance, at a council in a hotel room where informality lent
inspiration and impetus.
A number of those present met, for the first time, Dr. Evans,
National Supervisor of the Survey, and thus gained a more intimate
knowledge of his forceful and challenging personality. There was
also opportunity to become acquainted with those doing similar
work in other states. The consequent exchange of opinions and
experiences was of incalculable aid, both to the individuals con¬
cerned and to the Survey as a whole.
Gratitude is expressed to all of those whose contributions
and cooperation made the conference worth while* Special acknowl¬
edgement are due Mr- Charles E. Miner, Deputy Administrator of WPA
in Illinois; Dr. M. H. Bickham, Administrative Assistant of WPA in
Illinois; Judge Sveinbjorn Johnson, State Director of the National
Emergency Council in Illinois for presiding at the various confer¬
ence sessions; and to those scholars whose interest in the Survey
led them to give of their time in planning the meeting and in tak¬
ing part in the program*
The pages which follow records in detail the official sessions
of the conference. To the reader they will provide some understand¬
ing of the value of the meeting. They cannot, however, convey an
adequate impression of the spirit of unity for the general good of
the Survey that the conference inspired in those members of its
working staff who were privileged to attend.
Chicago, Illinois
November 15, 1936
Page 1
SUIli.iA.RY OF THE PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
REGIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE HISTORICAL RECORDS SURVEY
Hotel LaSalls, Chicago, Illinois
May 22-23, 1936
The Regional Conference of the Historical Records Survey,
held at the Hotel LaSalle in Chicago, Illinois, on May 22nd and
23rd, 1S36, was attended by representatives of the Survey in
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri,
Ohio, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin.
AFTERNOON SESSION, May 22nd
Judge Sveinbjorn Johnson, State Director of the National
Emergency Council, presided.
DR. WILLIAM D. OVERMAN, Assistant State Supervisor for
Ohio, was the first speaker- After sketching the organization of
the project and its cordial relations with other sections of WPA,
he described the precautions taken to insure the accuracy and uni¬
formity of the completed HR Forms: the issuance of supplements
to the Manual, travel by the supervisors in order to answer workers'
questions, the preparation of sample forms, and the establishment
of a state editorial office through which all completed material
passes. The district supervisors are required to submit weekly
reports, and the state office tabulates this information, keeping
a card index of interesting items and of manuscript collections
and a chart showing the completed depositories in each county.
The completed Forms are filed by county, HR Form number, and 11 sub¬
ject" or type of record. Preparations have been made to begin the
Page 2
survey of church records. A passive policy with regard to public¬
ity has been followed, but he oited instances of the usefulness of
the Survey "to students engaged in work in fields not ordinarily
thought of as related to historical research."
The subject of the next speaker, DR. MILO LI. QUAIFE, Cus¬
todian of the Burton Collection at the Detroit Public Library and
Assistant State Supervisor in Michigan, was "Locating Manuscripts".
In his introductory remarks he cited examples to show how the in¬
formation made available by the Survey could have a cash value.
Locating manuscripts was a simple matter for old, well-established
institutions, which received such material unsought. The Survey,
however, as a new and temporary organization, lacked the same
prestige. Moreover, the primary objective of the project being
the giving of relief, we lacked the expert staff of such institu¬
tions. We were attempting to turn relief workers into historical
specialists able to determine the relative value of various col¬
lections, a transformation which could not be made in the majority
of cases. These amateur workers could get the necessary informa¬
tion regarding the archives of public institutions such as libra¬
ries, court houses, and city halls, although Dr. Quaife emphasized
the general ignorance of custodians as to the material in their
custody. In finding records in private possession, the starting
point was to look for leads by making inquiries of the people who
might be expected to know about them. In every community an elder¬
ly lawyer, a local judge, descendants of a former prominent of¬
ficial, or any intelligent member of any old family residing in
that community must be contacted and the workers must be instructed
Page 3
to folio?; every lead perseveringly. In the public archives and
established institutions the Survey could cover 100$ of the mater¬
ial, but how much of the material in private possession was found
would depend on how aggressively and intelligently we made the
search.
The next paper was 11 Some Suggestions for a Manuscript Sur¬
vey in Illinois", presented by DR. HERBERT A. KSLLAR, Director of
the McCormick Historical Association. He stated that the two ob¬
jects of the Historical Records Survey, providing relief and pro¬
viding needed information, were not incompatible, enough sound in¬
formation would be obtained to make the project decidedly worth¬
while. The manuscript survey he was discussing would be undertaken
by the HRS orgainzation in Illinois. The Assistant State Super¬
visor should have a full-time assistant to take charge of adminis¬
trative details, permitting him to devote more of his own time to
approach and contact activities. A respectable number of the re¬
lief labor already engaged in the Survey in Illinois would fit in¬
to the general plan. As the first step in the manuscript survey,
in order to obtain experience and to provide exhibits which might
be held up as examples, arrangements should be made for surveys of
the outstanding collections in each district. Simultaneously, a
Who's Who for Illinois with respect to manuscript collections
should be prepared, giving sufficiently complete data for each
individual, institution, or organization so that the person later
assigned to the collection could handle the given situation with
intelligence and diplomacy. Sources of knowledge for assembling
Page 4
this initial data include librarians, teachers, officials of book
companies and business firms, societies and organizations of many
kinds. Officials of organizations could be induced to canvass
their members and thus secure valuable leads and definite informa¬
tion.
The breadth and thoroughness of the survey, Dr. Kellar
declared, would depend on the efficiency of the approach to and
contacts with custodians and owners of collections. This phase
of the undertaking was best handled by the Assistant State Super¬
visor and a full-time assistant whose qualifications would include
a pleasing personality. Before the actual approach, as much back¬
ground information as possible should be assembled concerning the
individual, institution, or organization. An offer to arrange and
classify manuscripts when needed would frequently be an entering
wedge.
Dr. Kellar advised a liberal viewpoint regarding the type
of material to be inventoried; manuscripts relating to any and
every phase of our past and current civilization should be includ¬
ed. Dealers in old books and collectors of stamps offered parti¬
cularly rich possibilities for the investigation of manuscript
material. Those in charge of the survey should give careful atten¬
tion to the question of publicity concerning it, which might create
good will and uncover further leads.
On completion of the physical survey, of equal importance
was the preparation of indices concerning the material found, in¬
dicating the location of each collection, the place of depository,
Page 5
character of the material, period covered, bulk, condition, cus¬
todian, owner, accessibility for use, and like data. The partial
or full reproduction of certain records, by photography, micro-
copying or some similar process, would be found desirable as well
as the restoration or copying of fading documents. After the in¬
dex was made, a booklet or guide for each state should be prepared
and distributed widely. The workers would be instructed to take
particular note of materials pertaining to other states and coun¬
tries, and in the final indexing of the material in Washington
these would be indicated. Lists should be made of official ar¬
chives in private possession and an attempt made to have either
the originals or copies placed with the series to which they be¬
long. Special note should also be made of borderline material
such as the manuscripts of officials, which supplement archives.
MISS GRACE LEE NUTE, Curator of Manuscripts, Minnesota
Historical Society, spoke briefly on "The Need for guides to Manu¬
script Collections and Experiences in Compiling the Recently Pub¬
lished Guide". She stated that a union list of manuscripts pre¬
supposed such guides and that up to the present very little of
this sort of work had been done. Her volume, an index to a small
part of the Society's collections, was the fruit of 12 years'
work and her experience might be helpful in the Survey's efforts.
She and her assistant, Miss Ackerman, had worked out an index for
manuscripts based on Library of Congress subject headings. It was
important that the same person who arranged a collection should
also make the catalogue cards, so that he got two views of the
Page 6
same thing. It was essential to select for a cataloguer a person
of broad experience along the lines of history, literature, econ¬
omics, political science, etc., and preferably a person with some
library training. The same call numbers as for books could not
be used for manuscripts; she had used the box as the unit instead
of the volume, thus permitting a whole group of papers to be treat¬
ed as a series of volumes, with Library of Congress classifications.
The index in her Guide combined the shelf-list card, subject head-
ings, and added entries. In such a guide reference should be giv¬
en to further and more detailed descriptions of the manuscripts.
DR. KUHLHAN urged that the Guide be used as a national
pattern.
DR. EVANS said that we had already decided to do so.
Dr. PAUL U- ANGLE, Librarian for the Illinois State Histor¬
ical Library, led the discussion. He remarked that since Survey
workers would come upon papers in private possession, some system¬
atic plan should be devised for bringing these to the attention of
the librarians and custodians of records in the region so that the
papers could be acquired and preserved, in the proper repositories.
He was glad that municipal records were included in the scope of
the Survey, because he felt that one of the great fields for
future investigation in American history lay there. He also stat¬
ed that a conscious effort must be made to point out to historians,
amateur and professional, the possibilities of the material such
as county and municipal records being made available by the Survey.
DR. KUHLMAN stated that it would be helpful if we could
educate people as to the different categories or types of manu-
Page 7
scripts and records that have great value so that these would be
preserved. The social sciences were turning more to the study of
the metropolitan community and the Survey could lay the foundation
for this research. In the matter of describing manuscripts, if
we could lay a foundation not too involved but covering the essen¬
tial points, a framework would be established upon which state
guides and national guides could be built.
DR. ANGLE added that municipal archives were generally in
much poorer condition than county archives.
DR. KUHLMAN said he had found it a dependable rule that if
there had been a fire or if the offices of a city had moved, there
would not be anything of record prior to the fire or the move.
IiISS NUTE requested that Mr. Ralph D. Brown, Assistant
State Supervisor in Minnesota, be asked to make a statement con¬
cerning the response he had had from church bodies.
MR. BROWN stated that there were two projects in Minnesota,
the Historical Society's state project and the Historical Records
Survey. They had listed the records of about 110 municipalities
and found them in chaotic condition. Cemeteries and township re¬
cords were also being covered as part of the state project. In
listing churches, they had received a good response but were dis¬
mayed by the condition of the records, which were frequently des¬
troyed. At. Dr. Blegen's suggestion, letters had been written to
church bodies and of the records of individual churches. The
response had been very favorable, and if a church or a minister
was not very co-operative, a letter to that minister's superior
would secure the information.
Page 8
DR. EVANS said that he was an amateur trying at these
meetings to learn how those who did know how to do archival and
historical ,vork were operating. He agreed that the Survey, in
so far as it went into manuscript materials, should follow the
lines of a guide rather than those of the union list. However,
we had in mind the idea of making a start towards a union list
by copying on film such catalogues and calendars of their col¬
lections as libraries and historical societies had made, in order
to call attention to the possibilities of a union list. A great
many librarians needed such prodding. The problem of presenting
publicity about manuscripts in private hands was somewhat embar¬
rassing.
DR. ANCrLE said in defense of the librarian that the latter
had had in the last five years about one-half of the necessary
money and staff with which to dc what he knew should be done. He
had let the manuscript work slide because the pressure on it was
less than on any other phase of the work. As regards collectors,
he thought that we need not fear incurring any criticism from
them for giving priority to public institutions.
QUESTION: Was not the main objection that the holder of
private papers was reluctant to accept the lower price he would
get from an institution instead of the higher price usually paid
by collectors?
DR. ANGLE replied that the general policy in Illinois was
not to buy from their own citizens, considering it a public-spirit¬
ed act for the individual to place material with the Library.
Page 9
DR. KUHLMAN said that all the outstanding collectors and
scholars should agree that the Library of Congress should have
priority in obtaining papers which deal with national affairs and
local institutions should have priority in obtaining papers deal¬
ing with their respective localities. Referring particularly to
the Draper Collection at the Wisconsin Historical Society, he de¬
clared that unique material originating in a locality and having
primary value in tracing the development of that locality should
be returned to it.
DR. QUAIFE replied that there was no manuscript material
in existence that did not have local significance. There was no
logic in putting papers "where they belong". Draper had preserv¬
ed papers which otherwise would not be in existence today. Priv¬
ate dealers were not menaces; the more they did to preserve mater¬
ial, the better for all of us.
EVENING SESSION, May 22nd
Mr. CHARLES E. MINER, Deputy Administrator, Illinois Works
Progress Administration, presided. He declared that if the thing
happened which was alleged to be in view, i.e., if Mr. Hopkins
place direct responsibility on the state administrator for projects
such as those persons present were associated with, these projects
would not be subordinated, for they belonged in a program such as
that with which WPA was concerned. A few changes would be made to¬
ward simplification, although no difficulties had arisen in the re¬
lationship with the persons identified with the operation of the
HRS in Illinois.
Page 10
MR. MINER read a telegram of regret from Ilayor E.J. Kelly,
and introduced Dr. Luther H. Evans, National Supervisor of the
Survey, as a native of Texas who was graduated from the University
of Texas and Leland Stanford University. He had taught at Stanford,
New York University, Dartmouth and Princeton.
DR. EVANS stated that he had placed at the head of the Sur¬
vey in the states the people who were interested in archives, the
experts. Hi° had been, first, to make decisions as to the our-
poses of the Survey, and second, to cut red tape to permit the
state Surveys to proceed. He thought the Survey was a good pro¬
ject, and that it was bound to succeed if we did an average job of
administration. He was made Associate Director of the Federal
Writers' Projects and was thus enabled to utilize their organiza¬
tion. In only a few cases had there been any serious administra¬
tive difficulties. He was trying to keep the Survey from giving
trouble to anyone.
If we can employ a large number of people at useful work,
we have accomplished the primary goal of the WPA, which is the
giving of relief and the giving of employment at useful work. The
Survey workers have been giving us the services to which we are en¬
titled.
The problem of planning for the future, Dr. Evans stated,
is difficult. One we leave the field of inventorying local ar¬
chives, we are engaged largely in experimental work. We wish to
prepare a guide to manuscript collections, along the lines of the
Minnesota Personal Papers G-uide. However, the contents of many
Page 11
large manuscript collections are not known and relief workers
are not capable of writing brief descriptions of them. The
custodians, if they wished, could give us the larger part of
the information, but they lack the time or the inclination.
Another idea is to make a union list of manuscripts, but there
again our workers are not very well qualified. We might copy
with the Recordak machine, the cards regarding manuscripts al¬
ready made by various institutions and present the film copies
to the Library of Congress to serve as the beginning of a union
list. Dr- Binkley has also suggested microcopying newspapers
and making indexes and digests of them. Our future, Dr. Evans
added, involves the question of finance; in this regard we have
placed ourselves in a fairly strong position. Moreover, there
have been very few criticisms of the Survey.
We expect, Dr. Evans stated, before the Survey is liquid¬
ated to publish one or more volumes of records inventories in
each state, as far as possible by state sponsorship. After that
something ought to be done to carry on the work as a permanent
proposition. There should be a continuous inventory of state and
local records, and a great deal of follow-up work should be car¬
ried on to train local custodians in the handling and making ac¬
cessible of their records. The Library of Congress is the logical
agency to carry on the work in manuscripts, and Dr. Evans hoped to
suggest to Dr. Connor, the National Archivist, that the National
Archives perform the task of keeping the inventories of state and
local records up to date, although Dr- Connor had in the past fear-
Page 12
ed state jealousy of a Federal agency dealing with local records.
Another proposal is the creation of an American Institute of
Archivists, and the work might be done under the aegis of such
an organization by a system of state contributions.
However, Dr. Evans concluded, the purpose of the Survey
should continue to be limited mainly to the making of the Initial
inventory of local records.
HORNING SESSION, May 23rd
MR. M.H. BICKHAM, Administrative Assistant, Works Progress
Administration in Illinois, presided. He stated that he had found
the most useful significance of county archives in certain socio¬
logical investigations of the relief problem he had had to make in
Southern Illinois; he had found the records of the first county in
Illinois Very valuable for this.
The first speaker was DR. THEODORE C. PEASE, Editor of the
Illinois Historical Collections. In introducing his subject, "The
Historical Significance of County Archives". Dr. Pease said that
it was linked with a much larger question of historical activity:
the difference between the old concept of history as political,
military, and diplomatic, and the newer concept of history as be¬
ing principally economic and social. County records play an im¬
portant part in the latter concept, by helping us to understand
the intimate daily life of the great mass of the people.
He then discussed the various types of early county re¬
cords as they exist in an ordinary Illinois county and what they
can tell us on this point. Vital statistics are inadequate and
Page 13
relatively unsafe guides to the past. In regard to landed pro¬
perty the situation is much better. From original survey notes,
tract indexes in the recorder's office, deeds and chancery pro¬
ceedings and petitions, and probate proceedings, one can piece
together an outline record of how people owned land and how they
prospered in its ownership. It would be well if this could be
supplemented with other accounts to produce a picture of the
average farm, as had been done in the Doomsday Book of Wisconsin,
but this is not possible in Illinois because of the general pro¬
perty tax. However, supplementary information in regard to the
life of the farm can be obtained from probate records, which also
add interesting details about the social and cultural life of a
period.
On the subject of local government, Dr. Pease stated,
county records offer great possibilities; in Illinois the records
of the county commissioner and the supervisor contain the story
of local government. Light is cast on social conditions and
social and moral codes by the records of criminal court proceed¬
ings and the papers in criminal cases; these records, however, the
average county clerk is apt to consign to the basement.
Moreover, Dr. Pease continued, a possible application and
use in a larger sense of the historical facts drawn from county
records is in regional planning, in determining what can be done
with certain districts in order to make them better places in
which to live. This aspect is important because we are now enter¬
ing a period of stability of settlement and population. It is also
Page 14
important to cultivate the study of local history, for which
county records are the prime source because from such study is
derived a comforting sense of community permanence and continuity
in time of distress and depression.
MR. 3ICKHAI/I stated that when we brought to light these
records of the past, we had to do something to preserve them.
The subject of the next speaker, MISS MARGARET NORTON,
Superintendent of the Archives Division of the Illinois State
Library, was "Micro-film Photography and the Preservation of
Historical Documents". She said that Illinois had a long-range
program for this use of microphotography. One of the cameras be¬
ing used is the Recordak, but no one camera is sufficient. The
most widely used is the Leica, a miniature precision camera with
a sharp focus for use with fine-grain film; it makes pictures the
size of a postage stamp, capable of projection or enlargement to
any size without loss of detail. The Contax camera is an adapta¬
tion of the Leica and is valuable because it is not only very
portable but can be used as a general camera as well, so that the
county buildings as well as the records can be photographed with
it. The Recordak has been perfected for copying newspapers and
is semi-portable. The Dexigraph is more like a miniature photo¬
stat. A photostat reproduction is directly on paper, which re¬
sults in a saving of time but is mors expensive; micro-photography
is cheaper and more durable. The Draeger camera is the most high¬
ly developed, but is very expensive and not portable. The latest
camera is the forthcoming Folmer-Graflex, which was designed to
specifications laid down by people who were using it for copying
Page 15
work primarily; it is extremely portable, with the enlarger at¬
tached, and is probably the most adaptable for work with county
records. The Folmer-Graflex takes on paper as well as on film.
The films used are the 16 millimeter, the 35 millimeter,
and the 70 millimeter. The leica camera uses the 35 mm. film,
which is the most adaptable for our purpose. The acetate film
now being used is non-inflammable. There are several ways of
projecting li.e film.
The governmental records of today will be much more im¬
portant to the historian of the future than any records now con¬
sidered historical, for we are living in the midst of a social re¬
volution. Howeverj these valuable records can not be kept in their
present form because of their rapidly increasing bulk and weight.
The problem of their preservation can be partially solved through
the use of film, and this is the most important use of micro-
photography.
There is also its use for collecting materials. Individ¬
ual scholars can save time in note-taking and can secure illustra¬
tive material more easily. In regard to collections by archives
and libraries, the best-known use is for the preservation of news¬
papers. The Recordak service is now filming some of the important
newspapers for distribution to libraries. Second, micro-photo¬
graphy offers opportunities for copying private papers which the
owners wish to keep. Gaps in sets can be filled in, and cards and
inventories already made can be copied in preparation for a union
list. Miss Norton stated that she wished to secure film copies
of all the important historical records in Illinois counties.
Page 16
These county archives, although In imminent danger of destruction,
are too numerous for the State Library to house in their original
form. Starting with the twenty oldest counties in the state, it
was hoped that the State Library could copy all records prior to
1860.
Another use of micro-photography is in making records
available. Film books may in the future be a substitute for print¬
ing. By the use of film, illustrative material can be supplied
for the use of schools and exhibit material for historical cele¬
brations. Copies can be made of frequently-used manuscripts as
a means of preservation, so that the originals will not be used
so much. In Illinois the state will bear all or part of the cost
of supplying such copies, some of which will be kept in the Ar¬
chives Division and some sent to the counties, either as a sub¬
stitute for the originals which will be placed in the Archives,
or for use instead of the originals.
Miss Norton concluded her talk with the statement that the
ultimate enlargement will make manuscript resources available on
inter-library loan to scholars everywhere, first through films and
then through large books.
The meeting was adjourned for a short period owning to
the heat and the firmness of the seats.
The next speaker was MR. RAY C. STILES, Assistant State
Supervisor of the Survey in Iowa, whose subject was "The Relation
of State Archives to the Historical Records Survey". He stated
that public responsibility for the establishment of centralized
agencies with the sole purpose of the care and preservation of
Page 17
records Is In Its Infancy In this country. The years spent edu¬
cating the public to this responsibility have finally borne fruit
in the recent establishment of The National Archives, with a con¬
sequent revival of interest in the states. In the states, the
HRS will perform a service of inestimable value to state archivists
in planning their programs for the future. The Archives Division
of the Historical Memorial and Art Department of Iowa was created
in 1906, with the present Archivist, C.C. Stiles, as its direct¬
ing head. The major problem confronting Iowa on the establishment
of the Archives Division was the adoption of a system of classifi¬
cation which would provide for the ready administrative use of
the materials. A combination of the subject and chronological
systems, with the alphabetical element added, was adopted. After
the materials have been classified by departments of government,
the documents in each department are divided into main divisions
or subjects, which are then subdivided as far as possible. The
documents under each subdivision or subject are arranged in alpha¬
betical order for each year. This system was adopted because
each public office is an administrative unit and its records form
a homogenious group reflecting its activities. The archives must
be so classified that organization and functions that have produc¬
ed them shall be clearly reflected. Those in Iowa are convinced
that the final form taken by the finished product of the HRS was
represented in that principle and arrangement and would be of
most effective value if arranged by state and then by its sub¬
divisions.
The Iowa program contemplated the concentration of the
Page 18
archives of the county subdivisions of government in the Archives
Division, but due "to tho lack of proper housing facilities caused
b.v-"Legislative economy, the program can hot continue until more
adequate appropriations are made. The Survey, by supplying ac¬
curate and detailed information as to the volume of material in
the county repositories, will render the state Archivist a valuable
service, without cost to the state, in providing the basis for an
accurate estimate of additional housing requirements for county
archives and will lighten the task of State Archives officials in
securing appropriations from the General Assembly. Moreover, the
State Archivist is constantly besieged by requests for information
as to records not on file in the Archives Division, and the finish¬
ed product of the Survey, giving a complete inventory of all re¬
cords of the state and local subdivisions of government, will be
invaluable for reference by him as to the existence, condition,
and location of such records.
In general, Mr. Stiles added, it is a function of the of¬
ficials of the Survey in the various states to create interest in
the better housing of records by the diplomatic education of custo¬
dians, with consequent good effect on the programs of the various
archives department. Furthermore, the centralization of all ar¬
chival material was highly desirable, and the program of publicity
and education contemplated by the Survey staff can be so directed
as to be much more effective than would be possible if it were
conducted by the archives officials themselves. Mr. Stiles con¬
cluded with the statement that the Iowa Archivist who is his
father considered that the Survey would produce very worth-while
Page 19
results and would advance the Iowa work by many years.
At this point, the fact that the proceedings were some¬
what ahead of schedule permitted the reading of a paper which was
not on the program. The speaker was DR. ALSTON G. FIELD, Assist¬
ant State Supervisor of the Survey In Illinois, and his subject
was "The Historical Significance of Business Records". He stated
that the American industrial revolution and the activities of the
captains of business had profoundly altered the life of our nation,
but as the history of commerce and industry is not likely to find
its way into printed sources, the economic historian encounters the
most baffling difficulties. He who wishes to piece together the
history of business can only do so if he has .access to the records
of business firms, and in many instances such records have been
lost, burned, or carelessly destroyed. Business men in general
do not sufficiently value the history of their own undertakings.
In technical progress there will be fundamental changes, and in
these matters one can not look to the past for guidance; but as
far as policy is concerned, this is not true. Certain policies
have made and others have wrecked industries. Recognizing these
facts, the Dennison Company of Framinghara, Massachusetts, has
undertaken to compile its history from 1844, for the use of its
executives who may be called on to give advice as to changes in
the policy of the company. In many other instances the records
of business concerns have proved to be invaluable in the writing
of business histories, which can guide the future action of a firm
in a very practical way. Business men can see what has been done
before under certain circumstances and can thus avoid the mistakes
Page 20
of the past. Business records, Dr. Field continued, are also
indispensable in the writing of the history of specific indus¬
tries and the more general aspects of industrial development.
Little had been done in regard to business history in the Chi¬
cago area, but there is a wide field for such research.
Frequently business records are thoughtlessly destroyed
or not kept by business men, or are lost in floods and fires.
Therefore it is important that this historical material should
be collected and preserved in some institution where it will be
available for the research worker and the student of business
activity and economic history. In this way companies would be
relieved of the responsibility of adequately caring for collec¬
tions which they desire to preserve, but that in a great many
instances are lost, destroyed, or so stored as to be unavailable.
It was to collect and preserve all such original material that
the Business History Society, with the backing of prominent
American business men, was organized and incorporated in Boston
in 1925. The McCormick Historical Association and the Rosenwald
Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and the Western Pennsyl¬
vania Historical Survey in Pittsburg have each devoted attention
to the collecting of materials on business history. European
activities along this line were begun a number of years ago, parti¬
cularly in German cities, and the smaller European countries have
kept pace with the larger ones. The value of all such enterprises
to business men as well as to historians can not be overestimated,
Dr. Field said. Any institution which seeks to collect and Pre¬
serve business records will come to be a central depository in a
Page 21
given region for such material and will serve as a clearing house
for information along economic and industrial lines.
Dr- Field concluded by indicating the materials needed
in constructing a business library, the documents valuable for re¬
search, and the records that should be preserved. These include
corporation records, the actual working records of business firms,
photographs cf industrial leaders and pictures showing the pro¬
gress of an industry and the development of industrial methods.
Miscellaneous material, such as old trade catalogues, transporta¬
tion regulations issued by canal and railroad companies, early
bank notes, stock certificates, and advertising circulars, was al¬
so worthy of preservation.
In introducing the next speaker, DR. A.F. KUHLMAN, Assoc¬
iate Director of the University of Chicago Libraries, DR. BICKMAN
stated that they had been collaborating for several years, he
working from the point of view of the relief agency trying to pro¬
vide interesting and creative opportunities for workers, and Dr.
Kuhlman seeking help in carrying out ideas. One result of this co¬
operation was the publication entitled "Private Civic and Social
Service Agencies of Chicago: Their Reports and Publications".
DR. KUHLMAN said that he wished to try to indicate some
of the problems confronted at present in attempting to arrange for
more adequate source materials for social scientists. He began by
sketching the development of the social sciences. In the 1860's
and 1870's and even into the 1880's, they were essentially undif¬
ferentiated. There was the American Social Science Association,
and these people dealt in the main with reform problems, one of
Page 22
their principal motives being "moral". There was very little
citation of sources, for social scientists of that time lacked
access to the primary source materials which one requires in
order to speak realistically about social problems. Then the in¬
dividual social sciences evolved as distinct disciplines. The
period from 1890 down to the World War was one of great over-
specialization, with the major emphasis placed upon the theoretical
formulation of disciplines, although a few men were realistic and
turned to the sources. The War made social scientists realize
that they had only logical theoretical systems, not sciences.
However, during the War President Wilson set up what became the
National Research Council, Integrating the natural sciences. In
1923 the Social Science Research Council got under way. Its most
important object is to evolve a statement of what constitutes
scientific method in the development of the social sciences. In
1929 under the direction of Professor Ogburn, the annual meeting
of the Council was devoted to a redefinition of goals and came to
the conclusion that before the social sciences could be made scien¬
tific, adequate sources were needed on which empirical research
work could be based.
In the program adopted, the plank of greatest help to us
was that of enlarging and improving materials for research. As a
result of that plank, one committee headed by Dr. Stuart Rice con¬
cerned itself with the improvement of social statistics. A second
committee is in the field of public administration. The third, a
Joint committee with the American Council of Learned Societies,
is devoted to the preservation of research materials and was set
Page 23
up under Dr. Binkley1s leadership. It first made a preliminary
survey to determine the amount of research material In libraries.
Then, Dr. Binkley, becoming interested in the reproduction of
source materials, opened up with his committee the whole field of
micro-photography.
Dr. Kuhlman proceeded to take up some of the problems con¬
fronting us in this inter-relationship between social scientists
and the agencies set up for the preservation of the basic source
materials. The amount of material is so vast that not all of it
can be preserved; selection is the crucial problem. He declared
that for this reason he had serious misgivings about Miss Norton's
project, since county archives were of unequal value; he raised
the question whether the proceedings of the board of supervisors
or their equivalent would not give the main trunk-line for the
development of local life. In regard to Dr. Field's talk, he
stated that the Baker Library had had to restrict its program to
certain industries and certain developments, chiefly in the New
England area.
The only body competent to exercise the function of se¬
lection is a council of persons in which all of the social sciences
are represented. Therefore it is of the greatest importance to tie
up social scientists as a group with every preservation agency in
the social science field. State historical societies must be link¬
ed with state universities so that the planning group will be the
scholars.
Libraries can not do the whole job, because there is not
enough material to go around; and the perishability of the paper
Page 24
medium compels the use of micro-photography. Moreover, since we
do not know what resources exist, it is important, with the oppor¬
tunity afforded under WPA, to obtain inventories. In Chicago they
had started out with a survey of the documents in all the large
libraries, as a result of which three of the libraries withdrew
from the field of collecting documents and turned over their col¬
lections to the University of Chicago. Another project prepared
an inventory of the newspaper holdings of Chicago libraries. We
should not lose this opportunity of obtaining inventories and
union lists, which are the very foundation for planning and for
allocating fields to the various agencies. If WPA projects could
be set up in connection with colleges and universities, we would
have much greater freedom in effecting a tie-up with scholars. He
added that vast resources now lie idle, for in nearly every library
there is much duplicate material. If we could get WPA workers to
arrange the material and could then circularize it, we could dis¬
tribute it more intelligently. He concluded by saying that the
field is enormous, but the very best leadership is essential if
more harm than good is not to be done.
DR. M. LLEWELLYN RANEY, Director of the University of Chi¬
cago Libraries, led the discussion. He stated that the gathering
of records, even the most valuable, is not the key to the problem.
We must make the material easily available for the scholar, no
matter where he is, so that he may bring it to a fresh correlation.
That was why, Dr. Raney declared, he had enlisted under Dr. Binkley
to develop micro-photography. In this matter of the reproduction
of materials, we have the natural scientists on one side with one
Page 25
need, and the human sciences and the social scientists on the
other side with a different need. The set-up in the United States
Department of Agriculture, using the Draeger camera, is setting
the pace for handling the need of the natural scientiest, who
needs relatively small articles and footages of film. The ratio
of reduction can also be relatively small; that is, a ratio of
nine or ten to one is sufficient.
However, the humanities and social sciences need long
footages and material by the hundreds of thousands of pages, which
are too expensive to print. Here micro-photography comes to our
aid. The photostatic method of reproduction is too costly for
such operations as are current in these fields. One of the mechan¬
ized machine comoanies has enormously reduced the cost of repro¬
duction, but the machine is not portable. We need the mechaniza¬
tion of the entire process of micro-photography - the camera, pro¬
cessing, enlarging, printing - all at a center that will operate
without profit. Not one of these centers exists at present in the
United States, but these does exist under every one of these head¬
ings apparatus that can easily be adapted to this purpose, and ef¬
forts are being made to set up the center.
In the discussion that followed, DR. 3INKLEY added that
one of the great safety devices in the problem of record preser¬
vation is for us to hold the records at the source, making them
available elsewhere on demand by the methods of which Dr. Raney
spoke. The inventorying of archives will have the direct effect
of leading to the better conservation of materials at the places
where they are; otherwise they are lost to the country at large.
Page 26
He stated that in general this principle obtains: in planning,
we must decentralize responsibility, must recognize that collec¬
tions can go only so far, and beyond that point the locality must
preserve its own. Therefore we should not be appalled by the vast
quantity of records.
AFTERNOON SESSION,. May 23rd
MR. LI, H. BICKLtAN presided. He stated that in his work of
unemployment relief, he had come to the conclusion that the HRS
is a vital contribution to the life of America in this period.
The first speaker was DR. ROBERT C. BINKLEY, Chairman of
the Joint Committee on Materials for Research, Chairman of the De¬
partment of History at Western Reserve University and Field Super¬
visor of the HRS. He said that the work of the HRS is in a sense
"made-work", made by the neglect of three generations of Americans.
The Survey must be finished; it divides itself into parts which
can be successively completed.
The first part is the survey of public archives. After
editing the material, we must make it accessible. Since we are
trying to convey to a number of people their opportunity in con¬
sulting unique documents, we must multiply the copies. This can
be done by multigraphing, and although the number of copies should
vary in different counties, he urged universal application of the
multiplying of the finished product. The rendering accessible
that we do is only the beginning. Local archives are in general
not now used but can be used by people who are not professional
scholars in interesting and proper ways. For example, high school
teachers can use local illustrations of principles of the social
sciences.
Page 27
The second field is that of manuscripts. Here we face the problem
of skill on the part of the personnel we have; but the skill of
our workers increases tremendously in the course of the project.
By and large, Dr. Binkley declared, where the manuscripts are, the
skills to work them can be developed. A second factor, however is
the attitude of the possessors of manuscripts. During the elation
campaign we will find in many places a non-co-operative attitude
which will disappear later. The tactics imposed upon us are,
where access is given, to be ready to go in and do the work.
Where access is refused, we can afford to wait. In the meantime
we can do another thing: in so far as manuscript collections have
been placed on cards, we can micro-copy the cards and then have
typists copy from the film for a card union list of manuscripts.
Other enterprises also should occupy our attention, Dr.
Binkley said. The Library of Congress is compiling a union list
of books, under the direction of Dr. Ernest Kletsch, who has a
list of 5000 special collections throughout the country which
should be added. We have the organization which could film these
library cards. If we served the American libraries in that way,
we would find access to manuscripts much easier afterwards in
some places.
The three tasks previously discussed constituted a minimum
program, in Dr. Binkley1s view. A vaster problem is that of news¬
paper copying, and the part which the HRS should play in this Job
has not been definitely determined. Since 1860 newspapers have
been published on mechanical wood pulp paper, and as a result the
bulk of the record of our culture is on paper that is rapidly go-
Page 28
ing to pieces. In January the Bureau of Standards reported that
we can count on the permanence of film, and nothing else Is econ¬
omically feasible. The copying of newspaper files, If done with
a camera not highly mechanized, and If combined with the collating
of the files, will absorb labor in a proportion just on the edge
of a legitimate WPA labor and materials cost ratio. We have an
opportunity now to do more than save newspaper files; we must in¬
dex them as well. We can set up such projects wherever labor con¬
ditions or the availability of white collar labor makes it feas¬
ible. There is more than one year's work in this, he concluded.
CHAIRMAN 3ICKHAM suggested that if Dr- Binkley could make
films illustrating the ideas brought out at this conference and
could show them at county meetings, he could sell this program
to America overnight.
DR. EVANS declared that he did not lack willingness to
undertake all the tasks which needed to be done, but that we were
faced with several serious problems. One was the organizational
problem. His office and the state organizations were set up now
to do one job, the inventorying of state, county and other local
records. If we do other things, we will have to change our organ¬
ization in the direction of decentralization. We can go a certain
distance in the expansion of the Survey without an unwieldy degree
of decentralization; for example, we can take on the manuscript
work with our present set-up. As to the filming and indexing of
newspapers, he \?as not certain. In regard to union lists of books
by regions and union lists of manuscripts, we can handle the mere
filming of cards in scattered localities if we collect the film
Page 29
and. let someone else work on It. If we have to work on the film,
we face a difficult administrative problem. The Survey Is in
danger, if it responds to Dr. Binkley's pleas, of becoming a
holding corporation for a great many separate enterprises. More¬
over, a huge sum would be reo.uired, and it would be easier for a
number of local projects to secure money individually than for
one nation-wide project to obtain the grand total« His present
attitude was conservative because he was anxious not to contri¬
bute to the reputation of WPA for starting things it could not
finish and for having poor administration. Only if they could
get sufficient funds and could convince him and the Administra¬
tion that we could undertake these tasks and still not fail, would
he consent to the expansion of the Survey's field of work.
DR. BINKLEY expressed willingness to accept the decision
that during the fiscal year 1936-1937 we should work on the basis
of local sponsorship in regard to newspaper copying.
In the matter of publication of the inventories, DR.
BINKLEY stated that those in Cleveland were willing to submit a
local project for this purpose. DR. EVANS advised going ahead
with this, although he doubted if local sponsorship could be ob¬
tained in every community. DR. BINKLEY declared that we should
hesitate before giving up the idea of completing the editing and
publication of the Survey. DR. EVANS agreed, but stated that we
would not oublish out of our present allotment of funds until
after June, and where local sponsorship would publish our inven¬
tory as part of a larger one, he was willing to let them do it.
Page 30
DR. BINKLEY said that If, however, having a local community do
it would decrease the amount of money the community v/ould other¬
wise get from the Federal project, we should not advise the com¬
munity to do it.
DR. KELLAR stated that almost every manuscript collection
in the country was in need of arranging, which must be done be¬
fore the inventory can be made and which requires the use of a
great deal of labor. MR. ROBERT H. SLOVER, Assistant State Super¬
visor of the Survey in Oklahoma, added that the same situation
exists in county archives.
In response to a question put by DR. SWEET in regard to
the survey of Religious Records in Pennsylvania, DR. OVERMAN
stated that Dr. Garrison was trying to secure some expert work¬
ers to work in the Moravian Archives.
DR. FIELD asked whether college students could be taken
on during the summer. DR. EVANS replied that it could be done
on the non-relief quota, and DR. FIELD added that some tie-up
might be made with the NYA.
DR. BINKLEY suggested that we have by the end of the fis¬
cal year an estimate by districts, on some accurate comparative
basis, of the amount of work regarding manuscripts to be done.
Selected relief workers given specific training could calendar
manuscripts. DR. EVANS added that there were six Survey workers
in the Manuscripts Division of the Library of Congress arranging
and sometimes calendaring manuscripts; one in particular, utterly
untrained, was doing work which was a source of pride to Dr.
Jameson. DR. T.D. CLARK, Assistant State Supervisor of the Survey
Page 31
In Kentucky, said that private possessors of manuscripts In Ken¬
tucky would not give access to WPA workers, and DR. EVANS replied
that It was Dr. Clark's job to convince them that the WPA workers
-were competent. DR. K2LLAR added that there were so many access¬
ible. manuscripts that the others could be taken in our stride;
and access to the latter could be obtained if the right method
of approach were used.
DR. KELLAR asked if the relief workers could be used to
repair manuscripts. DR. EVANS replied that the Survey was will¬
ing to encourage such activities as locally sponsored projects,
but not to take them on as a national project. DR. KUHLMAN said
that most of these manuscripts were in private institutions,
which could not make application for a public project. DR. EVANS
said that they could do it as a state WPA project sponsored by a
public institution.
DR. 3INKLEY said that a number of these local projects
would be rejected as duplicating the Federal project and asked
if the HRS office could arrange for clearance. DR. EVANS replied
that the WPA would first send such a project to him and he would
attach to it for the information of the Bureau of the Budget his
statement that it did not conflict. DR. BINKLEY suggested that
descriptions of national projects should be narrowed so as not to
increase the difficulties of supplementary local projects. DR.
EVANS stated that it was easy to get around the Presidential
letter of our project as now written, but that local projects
should be submitted to him while in process of preparation. DR.
BINKLEY suggested that model Forms 301 be drafted.
Page 32
COL. J.M. SCAMMELL, Field Supervisor of the Survey
stated that there was need for greater flexibility of WPA re¬
gulations If the fields of activity discussed by the meeting
were to be entered. DR. EVANS replied that we could apnly for
a certain number of special exemptions.
MISS NORTON and DR. BINKLEY said that we were not ready
for the repair of manuscriptst because the process was being im¬
proved and the technique of manuscript preservation might be com¬
pletely changed.
DR. QUAIFE asked if he, as Assistant State Supervisor,
might work on private collections. DR. EVANS replied in the
affirmative and in answer to a question of MR. STILES said that
we had specific authority under Presidential Letter No. 1090 to
catalogue manuscripts in private hands. DR. EVANS added that we
must take a broad view of our function. We are advancing histor¬
ical work, and all our work does not have to appear in our own
published inventories. Others may make use of our results under
their own names.