| | 1 | Author: | University of Virginia.
Library | Requires cookie* | | | Title: | Eleventh annual report on historical collections, University of Virginia Library, for the year 1940-41  | | | | Published: | 2006 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | | | | Description: | IN June 1940, when the disastrous Battle of France was running
its course and invasion of Britain was impending, the President
of the United States declared that a national emergency
existed and Congress at his request voted large appropriations
to launch a program of defense. A larger segment of the American
people began to take the war seriously and some leaders in
various fields of activity undertook to make preparations for
any eventuality. Archivists and custodians of historical manuscripts
were particularly fortunate in having the problem of preparedness
brought to their attention by the president of the
Society of American Archivists, Dr. Waldo G. Leland, at their
fourth annual meeting held in Montgomery, Alabama, November
11-12. Dr. Leland spoke from long experience with archival problems
at home and abroad and from his service as secretary of the
National Board for Historical Service in Washington, D. C.,
during American participation in the first World War.1
1.Waldo G. Leland, "The National Board for Historical Service,"
American Historical Association, Annual Report for 1919 (3 vols.,
Washington, 1923-24), I, 161-89.
In his
presidential address on "The Archivist in Times of Emergency,"2
2.The American Archivist, IV, no. 1 (Jan. 1941), 1-12.
he discussed the custodian's responsibility for the safety of the
records in his establishment and for the preservation of materials
produced during the emergency and basic for subsequent historical
writing. As a result of certain specific suggestions made by
Dr. Leland to the Society, four committees were appointed: one
on the Protection of Archives against Hazards of War, another on
Emergency Transfer and Storage of Archives, a third on the History
and Organization of Government Emergency Agencies, and
a fourth on Collection and Preservation of Materials for the History
of Emergencies. These committees went to work promptly
at their respective tasks, the first two conferring with the Historical
Records Survey to obtain WPA labor for a survey of available
depositories. The third committee began plans for the compilation
of a handbook of federal World War agencies, including
their organization, activities, and records, and requested the cooperation
of the National Archives, where most of these records
are housed.3
3.Ibid., IV, no. 3 (July 1941), 210. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
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