The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-26
TRUSTEES MEET
 IN MONTGOMERY Department Ot Archives and History Is Flourishing LIBRARY EXTENSION WORK Extensive Series of Activities in Mat ter of Encouraging Historical
 Work and Research-Gov-
 ernor Is Satisfied
LIBRARY EXTENSION WORK

Montgomery, January 25-(Special)- The annual meeting of the board of trus-
 tees of the Alabama state department of archives and history was held on yester- day in accordance with law. The sessions were held in the private office of the gov | ernor at 12 o'clock noon. There were present Gov. B. B. Conner president of 1 the board; P. J. Hamilton of Mobile J.
 Manly Foster of Montgomery, J. H. John
 son of Talladega, Dr. W. II. Blake of i Sheffield, Col s. W. John of Birmingham l and Dr. Thomas M. 0wen,s the director.
 The absentees were Gov. William D. l Jelks of Eufaula, w. L. Lancaster of We
 tumpka, Judge H. B. Foster of Tusca- 1 1oosa and o. D. Street of Guntersville. l The proceedings of the preceding annual
 meeting were read and formally approved 1 The report of the director was called ,, for and read at length. It covered the | operations of the department from Octo- l Der 1, 1908, to September 90, 1909, inclusive, being the last fiscal year. The report en- tered into an extensive review of the work of the year, covering all of the activities 1 of the department, namely, organization
 and administration, publication, state l archives, library, newspaper files, manu-
 scripts, portrait gallery, museum, hsto-
 ical relics, the collection of materials
 bearing upon Alabama in all wars, library | extension, legislative reference work, en-
 couragement of historic work and re- 1 search, state document distribution and
 sundry miscellaneous activities
 In the matter of archive work-that is,
 the care and custody of official archives l or public records of the state-the report ! indicated that all of the old manuscript 1 records of the several states, of the sev-
 eral offices, departments, boards. commits
 sions, etc., had been brought together in one place, and it further appeared that all
 of these records from the earliest period of statehood were organized and so
 ranged as to be of easy access to stu
 dents and business men, In the arrange
 ment of the old records many papers and 1 documents, the existence of which had l been lost sight of, had been found, and 1 are now available for use. All of the
 manuscript records of Alabama soldiers | in the Indian. Mexican and Confederate l wars nave been brought together, dI-
 ranged and carefully checked up.
 | The library, gallery and museum appear
 to have had a most remarkable growth
 during the year. More than 1000 books
 and pamphlets have been added to the 1 collection, Il large portraits have been l placed in the gallery and several hundred 1 interesting relics have been secured. A | If ma i flies have been received. The entire col- i lection takes easy rank among the great i group of historic material throughout the ! country
 l The library extension work of the de- pertinent was dwelt upon, including the promotion of public and school libraries, i conference and consultation on library
 work. In all these activities the depart
 ment has had marked degree of success,
 and the library interests of the state are i in a splendid condition of development. | Miss T. D. Barker is in charge of the i library extension work directly.
 | The report showed a most extensive series of activities in the matter of en-
 couragement of historical work and re-
 search. The resources of the department appear to be drawn upon by hundreds of students annaully. In addition the special inquiries for information run into thou sands Alu uuflIS the year mas been cheerfully extended clubs, patriotic and historical societies and individuals.
 Among other activities the distribution
 of all of the surplus state documents is
 now in the hands of the department Sev- eral thousand documents have been dis
 tributed and constant effort is being
 made to supply all libraries in and out of
 the state which may wish copies, and the
 wants of individuals are met as we'll
  of appreciation to the board and to the i governor for their cordial cooperation and helpfulness.
 The report was adopted and the work of the director commended
 The opportunities for printing the pub lications projected by the department were discussed and much regret was expressed
 that no funds were available for that use
 at present.
 the books, accounts and vouchers of the director had been examined by it, as well as by the state examiner of public ac-
 counts, and that all moneys had been properly accounted for and properly vouched. Governor Conner expressed him self as greatly pleased with the develop ment of the department work, and stated that he took occasion at all times to com- mend and encourage it.
 During the morning the members of the ] board visited the rooms of the department ined the work being done.