News
Written by PA Heritage Staff in the News category and the December 1976 issue Topics in this article:Ten Named To State Advisory Board
Governor Milton J. Shapp has appointed ten archivists and historians in the state to serve as members of the State Historical Records Advisory Board for the Commonwealth.
The Governor established the non-salaried board as part of the machinery required of states desiring to participate in the federal program, administered by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, Washington, D.C.
William J. Wewer, executive director of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, earlier was appointed by the Governor as the State Historical Records Coordinator for the Commonwealth, and in that capacity functions as advisory board chairman.
The board will serve as a central advisory body for historical records planning and for projects developed and carried out under the program in the state.
One of the board’s specific functions will be to screen requests for grants to the National Historical Publications and Records Commission for collecting, preserving, editing and publishing the papers of important citizens as well as other documents important to the history of the United States. The board also will monitor such projects.
Under the national program in the Commonwealth, the advisory board also could sponsor surveys of the conditions and needs of historic records and develop and recommend plans and priorities for historical records projects.
The national commission was created to “cooperate with and encourage appropriate Federal, State, and local agencies and non-governmental institutions, societies, and individuals in collecting and preserving and, when it considers it desirable, in editing and publishing the papers of outstanding citizens of the United States and other documents as may be important for an understanding and appreciation of the history of the United States.”
The ten members of the State Historical Records Advisory Board include for one-year terms- Stuart Campbell, archivist, Mercyhurst College, 501 East 38th Street, Glenwood Hills, Erie 16501; Rev. Vernon H. Nelson, archivist, Archives of the Moravian Church, 1228 Main Street, Bethlehem 18018; and Frank A. Zabrosky, curator, Archives of Industrial Society, 363 Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh 15260.
For two year terms- Charles L. Blockson, historian and student of Black history and advisory specialist, Norristown Public School System, Norristown 19401; Dr. Ronald L. Filipelli, archivist, Historical Collections, W342 Pattee Library, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802; and Dr. James E. Mooney, director, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia 19107.
For three year terms- Dr. Donald H. Kent, former director, Bureau of Archives and History, PHMC, 1401 Letchworth Road, Camp Hill 17011; Ms. Ruth Salisbury, assistant director and archivist, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, 4338 Bigelow Boulevard, Pittsburgh 15213; Mrs. Martha C. Slotten, archivist, special collections, Spahr Library. Dickinson College, Carlisle 17013; and Dr. Russell F. Weigley, professor of history, Temple University, Philadelphia 19122.
PHMC Announces Two Publications
Birthplace of An Army: A Study of the Valley Forge Encampment, written by John B. B. Trussell, Jr., associate historian of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, has just been published by the Commission.
In contrast to other studies of Valley Forge, Colonel Trussell’s examines the condition of the army and its training; describes the life and discipline of the officers and men; and considers the problem of supply, food, and medical care, and other aspects of life in camp. A list of the military units at Valley Forge is included.
The author observes that for the first time since the war began, a comprehensive training, reorganization and standardization program was undertaken by the army at Valley Forge, and from it came an organized, cohesive, proficient force, an army In the full sense of the word.
The book may be purchased postpaid from the Commission for $4.50 (clothbound) and $3.00 (paperbound), plus six per cent sales tax.
The third volume of the Papers of Henry Bouquet, including letters and papers of Colonel Henry Bouquet, commander of frontier campaigns against the French and Indians, from January through August, 1759, has been published by the Commission.
The volume contains valuable manuscript sources for the study of military activity on the Pennsylvania frontier. During this time, Colonel Bouquet was consolidating the gains made through the successful completion of the Forbes expedition the previous autumn.
Volume III is available for $20, postpaid. Volumes I and II may be purchased for $12 each. Please add six per cent sales tax.
Pennsylvania Hosts Archivists
The Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference was held October 29 and 30 in Harrisburg and in Carlisle. Friday’s sessions were in Harrisburg and Saturday’s, in Carlisle.
Participating in Friday’s session were Harry E. Whipkey, director of the Bureau of Archives and History and Carl Oblinger, associate historian, both of the PHMC. Whipkey presented a session on “Archival Disaster”, discussing the Commission’s work during and after the Agnes Flood of 1972. Oblinger discussed “Pennsylvania’s Oral History Project.”
The Fifth Associates Forum
The fifth Associates Forum was held October 29 and 30 [1976] at the William Penn Memorial Museum, Harrisburg. The Associate’s are groups of persons organized to help promote programs and projects at historic sites and museums of the PHMC.
