Chloe Edwards, of the Government Records Section, brings us this post in an ongoing series chronicling the construction of the Charlotte Capers Archives and History Building. Many thanks to Ms. Edwards for her research.
Currently the home of MDAH’s Historic Preservation Division, the Charlotte Capers Archives and History Building was the department’s first purpose-built home. MDAH was long overdue for a building of its own after nearly forty years in the State Capitol basement (1903-1940) and a further twenty-three years in the north wing of the War Memorial Building. The department’s quarters at the War Memorial were cramped (its search room was a scant twenty-four square feet), which slowed collecting efforts. Perhaps more seriously, there was no way to control the temperature or humidity in records storage areas, resulting in inevitable damage to the records. Thus, in 1963, with the restoration of the Old Capitol and installation of the State Historical Museum within it complete, MDAH Director Charlotte Capers and Dr. R.A. McLemore (then president of the Department’s Board of Trustees) began campaigning for the funds to build a new home for the archives.
Sources:
Mississippi Department of Archives and History in-house workshop on giving building tours, June 10, 1971 audio transcript (http://www.mdah.ms.gov/arrec/digital_archives/vault/projects/OHtranscripts/AU710_104014.pdf)
Series 1258: Charlotte Capers Building Files, 1928-1992. Box 4899.
Subject file: Archives and History Building, 1966-1970
Subject file: Archives and History Building, 1971 (dedication year)
A Building Survey for a New Archives Building, for the Board of Trustees, Department of Archives and History, prepared by William D. Morrison, Jr., 1966
Tauches, Karen. “The Fate of History: The Old Archives Building is Under Review.” Burnaway, published July 22, 2011. Accessed April 3, 2014 at http://burnaway.org/the-fate-of-history-the-old-archives-building-is-under-review/
CR&HM. Accessed April 3, 2014 at http://www.dalepartners.com/civic-corporate/wfm-archives-and-history/
WFM Archives and History. Accessed April 3, 2014 at http://www.dalepartners.com/civic-corporate/crhm/
Money conversions performed at http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl