Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-12-20
HOUSE FOR ARCHIVES ALEXANDRIA AFFAIRS
American Historical Associa-
ton Pleads for Building.
NATIONAL RECORDS UNSAFE
Appeal to House Committee Points
Need for Structure to Safe
guard Treasures.

An urgent plea for the erection Of
national archives building In Washing
ton Is contained In q letter addressed to
Representative Morris Sheppard. chair
man Of the House public buildings and
grounds committee. by the American His
torical Association. through its executive
council. Among the reasons urged for
such a building are that invaluable rec
ords of the United States government are
1t present in buildings which are not hre-
proof and In danger Of destruction: that
the records are so scattered as to be
unavailable for use. and that many OF
the records are damaged by dampness as
they are now kept
Roosevelt Signs Petition.
Among the sisners Of the letter is Thso-
dore Roosevelt. first vice president OF
the American Historical Association.
William NJ S'oane Of New York IL presi-
dent, William n. Dunning second vice
president. Waldo g. Leland Of Washing
ton secretary. Charles H. Haskins Of
Gil. Clarence W.. Bowen Of New York
treasurer and A. Howard Clarke Of
Washington curator.
In the letter to Representative Sheppard
the council states that 1t viii giadiy give
its support to a bill introduced at the asst
session Of Congress by Mr.. Sheppard, Tor
the erection of such a building.
The letter Is in part:
I'VE quite understand that the main
reasons for the erection of such building
are administrative reas ons-the utter IN
adequacy of present arrangements, the
chance of enormous pecuniary losses IN
case of an extensive fire in the places now
used for storing government records, the
damage which they are suffering from
dampness and other causes under present
conditions and the extraordinary neon
venience and waste Of time which their
mode Of storage now inflicts upon all de-
partments of government business. 1t Is
for others to dwell upon these arguments.
But we submit that the interests or history
involved in the matter, while SECONDARY
are by no means slight and unimportant-
On the contrary. We believe that those in
terests are OF great value and s1gnincance
to the nation. and, as the executive coun-
Gil Of body Incorporated by act OF Con.
Rress to care for American history ana
history in America we beg leave to rep
resent to you in emphatic terms the mag
nitude of the interests involved
AT the present time the manuscrlp,
materials In Washington FOR historical
work, except those in the Library Of Con-
Eress are In most cases exposed to all
the dangers which environ the mass OF
administrative papers. and are subject 70
even greater Inconvenience In respect to
use by scholars, since there are a multi
tude Of offices in which it is barely pos
sible to find space for official use OF the
papers. but quite impossible to provide
opportunity for investiga ors- THIS means
that those who are competent and desir-
GUS to write the history Of our coun- ~ Ia
accordance with those modern methods
which make it instructive to modern
minds are definitely prevented from do
ing so by want OF access to the most
necessary ma erfals. and that naeanwniie
those materials themselves are constantly
In danger OF destruction. what Is in
volved in this may be seen by brief
enumeration of some Of the more salient
portions Of the historical treasures now
possessed by the government.
Materials Are Invaluable.