In my research to find what has transpired in the past regarding the care of the Old Grainger Co. records that are housed in the schoolhouse, I reviewed the URL that was posted on the Grainger Co. website to study what has gone on before. What a sad situation this has been. I know those of you who have been on this list for the past three years or so "have been there, done that", and would like to get on with other things. We can't get on with other things if we have nothing to go on to. And that is what is going to happen, if we continue to not keep a vigilent eye on our history there in Grainger Co. We have to be very careful with the "care and handling" of those documents. We must learn how to take care of them, if others won't. We need someone to teach us what we need to do to make sure what is left, will be there for the ones coming behind us. So, in my desire to learn what needs to be done, I contacted the person who was diligent enough to document what she has done in the past to let us know what needs to be done to carry on with the care of our history. I have been given permission to post the following and I hope we all will read and stop and comtemplate the best way to work for our ancestors. It is not as easy as we seem to think. I must say here that I really appreciate what all the others have done to stand up and fight for the care and well being of our ancestors' history. Please read: - ---------------------------------------------------------- I have found that others have gone before us to try and save those documents and reached deaf ears as far as the local government has been concerned. Because of my involvement with the Grainger County situation during the past 3.5 years, and my involvement with East Tennessee public records during the past 25 years, I'd like to provide a little commentary on the current discussion about Grainger County's public records. I hope no one is offended, since I'm not a subscriber to this list -- that's a situation I have no control over. I've made proposals -- either personally or as part of a group -- to three East Tennessee counties regarding the preservation of their records. I'm pleased to say that Jefferson County now has an active archives and, although they haven't incorporated accepted archival measures, they're at least trying to preserve the records that go back to 1792. The Sevier County officials still haven't recognized the importance, nor have the Grainger County officials. In 1996, I worked with an LDS missionary couple whose role was to visit all the East Tennessee county courthouses and make arrangements to organize and film AT NO EXPENSE TO THE COUNTY selected loose papers that have never been filmed. This was under a joint arrangement with the TN State Library and Archives. Most of the counties were gracious and interested, if not motivated to make provisions for the volunteer efforts. Grainger County snubbed us. As far as I know, the only official who has had a concern about the state of the records in Grainger County is the County Clerk. Unfortunately, she doesn't have the staff to even ensure that records stored in her office aren't pilfered through by visitors. The records are in a deplorable state. The building they're housed in is sub-standard (the door didn't even have glass in one window!). They are not secure from vandalism. I have photos on-line that you're welcome to peruse at http://web.utk.edu/~kizzer/grainger/grairecs.htm -- apparently lots of people do look, since I've gotten over 100 e-mail messages from people who want to add their voice to the throng of concerned individuals. Most people don't realize that the bulk of Grainger County's OLD records -- the things we genealogists are primarily interested in -- were thrown away. No one from the county contacted the TN State Library and Archives to inquire if there was a way to preserve them once they were wet (there is -- and TSLA or Middle TN State University, not to mention the National Archives, have access to the technology). What wasn't thrown away has been so poorly maintained and supervised that quite a number of documents have just walked away -- in the hands of people who wanted to make sure Grampaw's records didn't end up lost. This is a problem in several ways: removing a county record is a crime; other researchers don't have access to it; a record outside the custody of its legitimate custodian loses its credibility and may not be admissible as evidence. When Knoxville's Channel 8 news did a report on the situation, NOTHING changed. The county's official response was essentially "leave us alone." I hope to have a video converter drive in a couple of weeks. If Channel 8 won't scream, I'll put the story on-line so everyone can see it. With all that as background, we have several issues in the Grainger County situation: 1. The officials don't want interference from "outsiders," even if those outsiders have deep roots in the county. 2. The county commission refuses to see the long-term income benefits from exploiting Grainger County's documents and recognized sites that have historic value. 3. The county executive has repeatedly turned down offers of FREE personnel, FREE money from the state, and donations of cash toward preserving the records. For instance, I personally carried the documents that would have gotten the county $15,000 unencumbered funds from the state to Rutledge and left them with the county executive. All he had to do was sign his name! It didn't get done. I told him we had raised $3,000 in pledges over a 48-hour period, plus I had volunteers who were willing to come help build shelves, paint, or whatever to prepare even a storage closet someplace to house the records until they could be sorted through and preserved. I was told "We'd rather handle that ourselves." They certainly turned down the LDS/TSLA joint effort that would have relieved this situation AT NO COST TO THE COUNTY nearly 3 years ago! 4. The county's historical society doesn't seem to care. I've talked about this personally with Kevin Collins, president of the organization. None of its members are motivated to upset the status quo. 5. This all came up when the Grainger County heritage book committee was talking about what to do with proceeds from the book sales. Because of the attitude of the county commission, no one wanted to donate funds toward a preservation effort that would probably never take place! 6. The county has refused to activate the REQUIRED public records commission, which would have responsibility for these records. 7. The county appears to be ignoring the retention schedules that are mandatory under state law. 8. By law, the state library has ultimate authority for these records. But, they don't have anyone locally who can enforce preservation. The most important thing at this point is to keep a clear head. Don't get some sort of frenzied response going. The law has already provided a structure. Unfortunately, it may take a Chancery Court suit to enforce its application. Remember, though, the Chancellor has deep political and personal investment in keeping the county officials happy. I'm not saying the Chancellor would be swayed, but he has to make an EQUITABLE decision -- one that might not please out-of-county genealogists. I would be happy to revise the 30+-page proposal to the Jefferson County Commission for presentation to Grainger County. This proposal instigated establishment of the Jefferson County public records commission and the archives. I'd also be happy to volunteer to serve as a consultant for the effort. I have more than 15 years' experience in archival preservation and document database design, so I know what's involved from the beginning to end. But, it's going to be a long, hard battle. Whomever takes on the Grainger County commission about this issue has to be ready to set aside most of the other things in his/her life for a while, because it will require a tremendous organizational effort. Before anyone volunteers to head it up, you must consider this. And, you've got to be willing to fight -- I mean really fight -- a hard battle against apathy on one front and obstinance on the other. I'm not volunteering for that job, mind. I'll be happy to provide expertise and serve as a resource, but I have too much other stuff going on in my life right now to devote all my attention to the plight of Grainger County's records. Billie R. McNamara, Webmistress TN Genealogy & History Website http://web.utk.edu/~kizzer/genehist/ The text of this message is copyright 1999 to Billie R. McNamara. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to Anita Hinson to forward this message to the tngraing-l mailing list, but no authority is granted to any other person or entity to "archive" or "redistribute" it in any form without the prior written permission of Billie R. McNamara. Anita L. Hinson