Maryland: State Helps Protect Baltimore Archives

From the Baltimore Sun:

Baltimore was in danger of losing many of its most precious documents several years ago.
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But the state stepped in, and the city’s valuable papers, maps and photos have been moved to a sturdy, climate-controlled storage facility in East Baltimore. And people are coming to use them — students, genealogists, writers, researchers of all kinds. The takeover of the city archives is part of a broader effort by state archivists to take all steps necessary to protect valuable Maryland records before they are lost forever.
“It’s come a long way” Judith Arnold, president of the Baltimore City Historical Society, said of the city archives. “There’s been a lot of progress.”
The Maryland State Archives, an agency charged with ensuring public records are safeguarded, also is working with volunteers to organize records of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the now-defunct Provident Hospital, consulting with other local jurisdictions on ways to improve their records management procedures and seeking grants to supplement state funds to protect public documents.
And the state archives is gearing up to launch an ambitious capital project designed to improve its own operations in Annapolis. The agency plans to seek $40 million from the General Assembly in the session that begins this month to build a satellite storage facility in Jessup to supplement the main archives.

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Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, Funding, Journal Articles, Management and Leadership, Maps, News