The Maryland State Archives serves as the central depository for government records of permanent value.
Its holdings date from
Maryland's founding in 1634, and include colonial and state executive, legislative, and judicial records; county
probate
Probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased, or whereby the estate is settled according to the laws of intestacy in the st ...
, land, and court records; church records; business records; state publications and reports; and special collections of private papers, maps, photographs, and newspapers.
These records are kept in a humidity and temperature controlled environment and any necessary preservation measures are conducted in the Archives' conservation laboratory.
The Hall of Records, predecessor of the Maryland State Archives, was created as an independent agency in 1935, charged with the collection, custody, and preservation of the official records, documents, and publications of the state (Chapter 18, Acts of 1935).
Impetus for its development can be traced to the state's tercentenary celebrations of 1934.
The Maryland Tercentenary Commission made a modern, centralized archives a key feature of the commemoration of the state's 300th anniversary.
A "Memorial Hall of Records" was proposed as early as 1928, and in 1931, the
Maryland General Assembly appropriated funds to erect an archives building which was opened to the public in 1935.
A Hall of Records Commission was also created in 1935 to serve as management for the Archives; it took on an advisory role in 1984.
The Hall of Records was incorporated into the
Maryland Department of General Services
The Maryland Department of General Services is a Government of Maryland agency that manages, operates, and maintains multi-agency state facilities in the State of Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United Sta ...
in 1970 (Chapter 97, Acts of 1970).
In 1984, it was renamed the State Archives and became an independent agency within the office of the Governor (Chapter 286, Acts of 1984).
From 1935-1986 the collection was housed in a building called the Hall of Records on
St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe) campus with a capacity of 18,000 cubic feet. In 1986, construction was completed and the collections were moved into a new building, named the Dr. Edward C. Papenfuse State Archives Building, with a capacity of 160,000 cubic feet.
References
External links
Official website
1935 establishments in Maryland
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