Thank you Anita and Billie, now everyone knows the REST of the Story..... My husband the" Roach "says we should all write to the governor of TN....does anyone think this is a good idea? I don't even know who that is, or how to contact him, I'm sure someone on this list must though, and can give me a name and address.... I think that who ever takes on this fight would almost have to be a TN or Grainer Co. resident. I also think that in the meantime, Mickey should contact Billies Manama and Ken Collins for help in the area's of trying to transcribe what has NOT already been filmed, what she is doing will possibly protect the documents she has taken out of the Old School....If they don't have to go back to that same environment But if at all possible, It would be even more important to be transcribing the documents that have NEVER been seen.... my opinion, for what its worth,Sharon Roach WA State........ On Thu, 11 Nov 1999 21:10:54 Anita Hinson <anita@281.com> writes: > 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 >