THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ARCHIVIST OF THE UNITED STATES The National Archives Act requires the Archivist of the United States to make to Congress, at the beginning of each regular session, a report for the preceding fiscal year as to the work of The National Archives, including "a detailed statement of all accessions and of all receipts and expenditures on account of the said establishment." In compliance with this provision of the law, this report is submitted for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1937. It shows a marked expansion of the work of The National Archives over the preceding fiscal year. Several factors contributed to this result. The year covered was the first full fiscal year during which the staff of The National Archives has occupied offices and had the use of some of the stack areas in the National Archives Building. The construction of the building was completed, considerable progress was made in the installation of stack equipment, and the organization of offices and divisions, as originally planned, was completed, except for such additional Divisions of Department Archives as will be set up only as future accessions make them necessary. Moreover, as the purposes and operations of The National Archives became better understood, other agencies of the Government, as well as private investigators, made more extended use of its facilities and services. THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES BUILDING The building.-The year was marked by the completion of the construction, but not of the equipment, of the National Archives Building. It may be well, therefore, at this point, to note the major steps that led up to this consummation. In 1800, 1801, 1833, and at other times, fires in public buildings in Washington destroyed valuable records of the United States Government. Following a destructive fire in the building occupied by the Department of the Interior, September 24, 1877, President Hayes, in a special message to Congress, December 10, 1877, called attention to the "pecuniary value" and "historical importance" of the archives of the Government and recommended the erection of a fireproof building "for securing these valuable archives" from destruction or damage by fire. A half-century of discussion of the problem, both within and without the halls of Congress, followed before the Sixty-ninth Con gress, in 1926, authorized an expenditure of $6,900,000, afterwards increased to $8,750,000, for the erection of a National Archives Building. The architect's plans provided for the construction of the building in two sections. The first or outer section, designated by the architect as the "original building" to distinguish it from the second or inner section, is rectangular in form, its four sides facing on Constitution Avenue, Ninth Street, Pennsylvania Avenue, and Seventh Street. It is built around the second section, which is a semicircular inner court, designated by the architect as the "extension." On October 15, 1935, the Archivist was notified that the "original building" was ready for "occupation and operation." He accordingly occupied it on November 8. In the meantime, September 27, 1934, the Administrator of the Public Works Administration had allotted to the Public Works Branch of the Treasury Department the sum of $3,610,000 for the completion of the "extension." The contract was let on December 11, 1935, the work was completed on February 19, 1937, and the structure was accepted by the Government on June 22-60 years after the movement for a hall of records was launched by President Hayes. Equipment. Although offices in the building were occupied by the staff of The National Archives on November 8, 1935, it was not until May 16, 1936, that any stack area was ready for use. On that date the equipment of 4 stack areas, containing 192,288 cubic feet of document area, was completed. Just before the close of the fiscal year 1935-36, a contract was let for the equipment of additional stack areas containing 560,459 cubic feet of document area, of which 488,190 cubic feet were to be ready for use during the fiscal year 1936-37. This expectation, however, was not realized, and by June 30, 1937, areas containing only 80,144 cubic feet of document area had been equipped under this contract. Thus at the close of the fiscal year covered by this report, equipped stack areas containing 272,432 cubic feet of document area were available for use. In the meantime, contracts had been let for the partial equipment of the remaining stack areas in the original building, containing 160,916 cubic feet of document area, and for the partial equipment of all stack areas in the extension, containing 1,120,049 cubic feet of document area. When the building is fully equipped, there will be available a total of 2,033,712 cubic feet of document area. The installation of certain other equipment should be noted also. A manual fire-alarm system and watchman stations were put into operation throughout the original building. All areas in which records are filed were equipped also with the aero system as a further protection against fire and with an automatic burglar-alarm system, but neither was put into operation during the fiscal year. The installation of card catalog trays in the central search room and of "THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE"-MURAL BY BARRY FAULKNER Pennsylvania Rhode Island Key to Personages 17. Robert R. Livingston New Jersey Virginia 20. Thomas Nelson, Jr. 22. Edward Rutledge Virginia North Carolina opera chairs in the auditorium completed the equipment of those two areas, and both were put into use. Murals.-In 1934 Barry Faulkner was commissioned to paint two murals for the Exhibition Hall. Installation was begun on October 1, 1936; and the murals, having been approved by the Commission of Fine Arts, were formally accepted on December 8, 1936. The subjects are "The Declaration of Independence" and "The Constitution of the United States." The "Declaration", which is on the left, or northwest wall, represents Thomas Jefferson and the other members of his committee to draft a declaration-Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston-reporting the Declaration of Independence to John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress. The "Constitution", which is on the right, or northeast wall, portrays James Madison submitting the final draft of the Constitution to Washington, President of the Convention. Twenty-eight figures appear in the "Declaration" and twenty-five in the "Constitution." The portraiture is faithfully based on authentic pictures or busts. ORGANIZATION AND PERSONNEL During the year the following divisions were organized and began operations: Maps and Charts.-W. L. G. Joerg, Chief; qualified March 31, 1937. Justice Department Archives.-Frank D. McAlister, Chief; qualified May 16, 1937. Printing and Binding.-Harry M. Forker, Chief; qualified October 16, 1936. In accordance with the original plan of organization as described in the First Annual Report of the Archivist (p. 17-18), the designations of the Divisions hitherto called Department Archives, No. 1, and Department Archives, No. 2, were changed to Commerce Department Archives and State Department Archives, respectively. At the beginning of the fiscal year 1937, 175 persons were employed in The National Archives. During the year, there were 87 new appointments and 13 separations; the net increase, therefore, was 74. The number employed as of June 30, 1937, was 249. DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES The first attempts to set up an organization and plan the work of The National Archives made it apparent that a comprehensive knowledge of the developments that led to its establishment was essential to an intelligent approach to these tasks. One of the first projects authorized by the Archivist, therefore, was the making of as com |