Evening journal., 1911-06-26

The Historical Society of Delaware
issues the following appeal:
1.-The Historical Society OF Delaware
has reached a period, or a crisis, in
its development when it is constrain-
ed to appeal to the loyalty and the gen.
erosity of its wider constituency, the
people of Delaware. During the fifty
years of its useful life it has slowly
increased in membership and effici-
ency, until it has now about $50 men,
bers, fifty-six publications to its
credit, a library excelling in quality
rather than in quantity, and a unique
collection of invaluable mss. and 9TH
er contributions. II was organized by
such men as Judge Willard Hall, Dr.
Henry F. Askew, Martin NJ. Bates and
Joseph p Comegys. 1t has numbered
among its officers and members the
most learned and the most respected
men of their generations in our State;
men whom Delaware is proud to claim
as her own. If there is an institution
In all our borders which Delawareans
should loyalty cherish and generously
maintain, it is this society. II has all
ready made contributions to the moral
and intellectual assets of the Com
monwealth whose value cannot be es-
timated. If it is provided for as It
should be- IL will be increasingly and
perpetually a source of profit and en-
richment.
Work is Varied.
The functions of the historical So
ciety are numerous and varied. First
and most important, perhaps, is the
collection and preservation of what we
may call the raw material Of history.
History occupies the high seat in liter
ature today. The aims and methods of
historical Investigations have been
revolutionized within the memory Of
students who are not yet old Improved
methods of study have given superior
results in accurate and authentic work.
Second, hand material, skillfully ar
ranged, or rearranged, no longer an
swers the demand. Sources must be
patiently sought and studied, presum-
able facts must be analyzed and COM
pared, and seductive theories avoided.
II is the work of the historical society
to collect and preserve the raw ma
terial with which the historian works.
Our society, though hampered by in
sufficient funds, and lack of cooper
alton on the part of many who should
have been interested and active in its
behalf, has a good record in this re-
spect. Mss. of untold value have been
preserved for future use OF the miss
ing journals of the Colonial Assem-
blies from 1904 to IVA, for which the
writer has searched for years, the only
one known to be in eXistence-that OF
the Assembly of 1765--is in our Mss.
collection "There is probably no State
in the Union" says a high authority,
where one would find less material
for writing its history than in Della
ware. There is certainly no one of the
original thirteen in which so few
records have been made, and where so
little care has been taken Of those that
have been made" (Report of the Pub
lie Archives Commission of the Ameri-
can Historical Association in 1900
"This is a severe reproach, but it is
justified by the facts. The desolation
that has been wrought by the care
lessness Of public officials and other
custodians, ignorant of the value Of
the records they from time to time
committed to garrets and lofts, or %
the flames, would be a desolation Of
desolations, If it had not been for the
Intervention Of the historical society.
in the Judgment of those who are best
acquainted with the present situation
and its needs, the time has come for
a concentration of historical material
IN Delaware. This is the method that
obtains abroad, and in some of the
states at home. In Scotland, for in
stance. every record-vital, probate
or title-is by law required to be de-
posited for classification, preservation
and accessibility, in the record Office
in Edinburgh, when it is fifty years
old. The value of such Capitalization
of historical interests in this State
ought to be apparent to all. At pres
ent the papers collected by the in
telligent agent Of the State Archives
Commission priceless collection
which includes a correspondence be-
tween George Washington and John
Dickinson-repose in six packing
boxes and seven cracker boxes in a
room in the Kent county Court House,
a building condemned years ago as
a fire trap and utterly unsafe. When
the Historical Society can offer n
suitable and safe depository for such
records. the time will have fully come
for their removal thither.
Building as Convenient DepOsitary.
"The society's building should also
be made serviceable as a convenient
depository for family memorials and
letters OF permanent value This
function is particularly useful in a
country where few families retain
their public Importance for more than
two or three generations, so that from
the lack of family archieves the ma
terials for family history are dispers-
ed and lost. In the great families of
older countries the records, the in
sigma, the portraits, the heirlooms
Of past generations are committed to
the care of some hereditary repre-
sentative of the line, who is by the
laws Of descent rather their custodian
than their owner. The character OF
American institutions forbids the
creation here of such centers of fam
fly history. Not one man In ten
thousand lives in the house in which
his grandfather dwelt before him
With every new generation there is a
separation, a dispersal, a severance
of the ties that bind the heart to the
old home. This is part of the price
we pay for a condition of society
founded on equality and rejoicing in
the common Inheritance of vast ter
ritory into which all are invited to
enter and take possession. In every
State and Territory of the Union
there are grandchildren and great
grandchildren Of old Delaware, and
they send to us a constant stream OF