Friends of the Dartmouth Library Newsletter - July 2001
By DANIEL DAILEY
Anyone who has visited a town hall, or perhaps a local historical society, knows that, at times, the historical records kept in such places don't receive the study and care that they merit. Several recent studies describe the risks to local records that are present throughout New Hampshire.
A poignant example, however, comes from Professor Jere Daniell. Professor Daniell tells about a small library in southeastern New Hampshire that asked him to examine a box of papers. He soon discovered letters in the hand of Ralph Waldo Emerson and other important persons from nineteenth century New England. How long would these documents have lain undiscovered if Daniell was not available to help? Would the unexamined documents lay untouched, but not unscathed by the vicissitudes of inattention? How many other similar situations exist throughout the state?
To address such risks, the New Hampshire State Archives desires to implement a local records program in New Hampshire. It, however, cannot at this time. There are prospects developing that may enable the State to take a more active role in assisting communities with historical records. In the interim, Dartmouth is taking the lead.
Writing in support of the grant application last August, President James Wright stated, "...New Hampshire hews to a political tradition which favors limited government involvement in local affairs. In such a situation, the many towns and counties which hold some of the most precious materials documenting the state history are without access to the expertise necessary to help preserve them. Dartmouth has the necessary expertise and history, indeed a sense of obligation, which leads us to wish to offer all the support we can."
At the present time such support will come in workshops crisscrossing the state, from Littleton to Portsmouth and Hanover to Conway, focusing on the preservation of documents and photographs, planning for the collection of historical records, and the use of oral history in documenting communities. The project aims to reach nearly 400 participants. Towns, counties, libraries, and historical societies that send participants to the workshops will be eligible to apply for onsite advising concerning their records. Anticipating the future, an advisory board of the Project will develop and advocate for strategies that ensure records preservation education and initiatives beyond the end of the Project in 2003. Dartmouth is looking to hand off the baton to partners in the Project.
So, as the Project unfolds, look for news from Berlin, Keene, and points in between.
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