Volume 33, Number 2 - Winter 1994
State Archives Awarded Grant for Automation Project
"Within two years, researchers will be able to look at a computer screen in their public library or local university and see what records are available at the Missouri State Archives," according to Secretary of State Judith K. Moriarty.
In stiff competition, the Missouri State Archives was awarded a grant of $121,113 from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission of the National Archives in Washington, DC. The grant will fund a major automation project which will make the Archives’ holdings accessible to a broader audience.
The Archives was one of 64 applicants with requests totaling more than $3 million which competed for the available $600,000. "Receiving this grant is gratifying not only because the funds will allow the Archives to make efficient use of modern technology, but also because the decision to fund the Archives’ proposal reflects the confidence the NHPRC has in our program," said state archivist Kenneth Winn.
The project calls for the creation of an on-line bibliographic catalog of the Archives’ holdings in the USMARC AMC format. The records will be submitted to RUN (Research Libraries Information Network) and will also be added to M-CAT, the State Library’s database of statewide library holdings, and to MOREnet, the Missouri Research and Education Network, an education/government collaborative offering Internet connections. A printed guide will be created from the MARC text files. Joanna Perkins of the Archives staff is the project director.
With holdings dating back to the 18th century, the Archives is the final repository for the papers of the governors, lieutenant governors, secretaries of state, legislatures, and state departments and agencies. Its holdings date from 1770 and included French and Spanish land grants and other items of special interest such as Governor T.T. Crittenden’s proclamation offering $500 for the capture of Jesse James and supreme court records on the Dred Scott and Lloyd Gaines decisions. The manuscript collection includes papers of George Washington Carver, the A.P. Morehouse collection, church records, and other collections. The archives’ extensive microfilm collection includes records for all of the 114 Missouri counties. These records begin with the formation of the county and continue through about 1910, longer in many cases, and include probate estate files, deeds, circuit court files, and marriage records. Federal census schedules for Missouri from 1830 to 1920 (except 1890), and Soundex for 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920 are also available on microfilm.
The Archives is open to researchers Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday evening
until 9p.m., and Saturday, 8a.m. to 3:30 p.m. For more information about the Archives, call (314) 751-3280.
Reprinted from Missouri Libraries, November-December 1993.
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