Secretary of State Betty Ireland will present the West Virginia State Archives of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History with the first volume of the minutes of the Board of Public Works tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 9, at 9:30 a.m. in her office suite. The volume contains minutes from the formation of the state in 1863 through Nov. 10, 1871. Ireland will present the volume to Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith of the Division.
Jacqueline Proctor, deputy commissioner of the Division, Charles Morris, collections and exhibits manager, Joe Geiger, director of archives and history, Bob Taylor, archives and history library manager and Debra Basham, archivist for the Division, also will be in attendance.
The first entry in the volume is from Sept. 24, 1863, and contains the act creating the Board of Public Works. The book also contains 49 pages of notes and specifications on the construction of the 1885 capitol in Charleston, which burned in 1921. With the receipt of this volume, the State Archives now has the minutes of the board through 1961.
The volume was sent to Etherington Conservation Services midwest facility, located in North Manchester, Ind., for needed conservation work. The original binding and cover were repaired to preserve the book and copies were made from digital images to allow for the creation of user copies for the Secretary of State’s office and for patrons of the Archives and History library. The original volume will be preserved in a customized box in the State Archives.
For more information, contact Jacqueline Proctor at (304) 558-0220.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts, brings together the state’s past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. Its administrative offices are located at the Cultural Center in the State Capitol Complex in Charleston, which also houses the state archives and state museum. The Cultural Center is West Virginia’s official showcase for the arts. The agency also operates a network of museums and historic sites across the state. For more information about the Division’s programs, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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