Public Records & A Giant Novelty Check

Who doesn’t love a giant novelty check? How about with your name on it?

On October 22 and 23, the Archives hosted the 2009 South Carolina Public Records Association (SCPRA) Conference at our facilities on Parklane Road. The theme for this year’s conference was “Dealing with Change in Records Management,” and SCDAH Records Management staff members did a stellar job as both hosts and participants.

The featured speaker on Thursday was South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, who made a number of kind comments regarding SCDAH and its mission (whoo-hoo!).

In gratitude for the agency’s past contributions, the SCPRA generously contributed a large novelty check to SCDAH for the purchase of a new microfilm reader to be placed in the research room. (Then, because SCPRA is far too kind for cruel illusions, the actual check followed.)



Says the big E: “We are grateful to SCPRA for the “big check” and to the staff of SCDAH for all of their hard work. Once again you hit it out of the park.”

Afternoon Tea, or What Not To Do During A Fire Alarm

The creatures emerged slowly from the darkness, blinking in the sunlight, trailing slowly from the hulking building and straggling over to the Grassy Knoll,* squinting, stumbling, stalling, and eventually forming a loose conglomerate that in ancient Nordic lands would be called a Thing - a meeting of minds on a great hill.

And that's what it looks like when fifty or some-odd archive employees have to evacuate the building for an unannounced fire drill. Darlin' Patrick, looking sporty in his jacket. Elaine from reference, her hair gleaming prettily in the sun. Paul being chatty, Red congenially waving, Eric dapper as usual. All we needed was afternoon tea.

For the record, here's what NOT to do:
- Note the faint buzzing (different from the buzz of printers, lights, etc) filtering in over the music you're listening to while you work.
- Decide that the flickering light isn't the same flickering fluorescent light you always see, but coming from a new source, henceforth identified as the fire alarm.
- Stand there and try to decide if it could be a drill or a real fire.
- Realize there's probably no viable way to determine if there's a fire in one side of the building from the other.
- Try to gauge the flame susceptibility of your location, and in this case, bet whether the walls would be fireproof enough if there's concrete in their construction. Maybe you could keep working? There's a sprinkler head above your chair.
- Wonder if the sprinklers would go off if it was real, and if so, would it be acceptable to try and save your computer's back-up hard drive?
- Realize you haven't saved the file you were working on; save file.
- Check email, looking for a missed notice of an upcoming fire drill.
- Stick head in hallway, see no one.
- Wonder if everyone is outside.
- Wonder if everyone is managing to ignore the alarm.
- Wonder if you go out the closest door, if you'll be all by yourself.
- Wonder if the security system has an auto-lockdown feature in the event of emergencies, and could you be locked outside for the day?
- Wrap up ipod, pack up bag.
- Close down files on computer just in case.
- Stare at fire alarm in case it stops blinking. Hear a door slamming somewhere.
- Stick head back out in hallway. See person putting on jacket, heading outside. Decide to leave with said person, because at least you won't be the only lame duck in the event it's a joke.

Yep. Not advisable in the event of a real fire. If, that is, you believe it's a real fire, and not a drill.


(*yes, that Grassy Knoll - we have our own, you know). -AL

The Return of "Big Red?"

No, we are not writing about the Cornell University football team, which beat Yale 14 to 12 last weekend in a game noteworthy for the quality of the caviar and Scotch being consumed by tailgaters. We also are not referring to the cinnamon-flavored gum first introduced by Wrigley in the year of our nation's bicentennial. We definitely are not referring to the soda of the same name, which has been produced in Texas since 1937.

This “Big Red” is the historic banner upon which The Citadel based its current “spirit flag” and an important symbol for the school. According to historical sources, “Big Red” flew over an artillery battery on Morris Island, which was manned by Citadel cadets. These same cadets fired the first shots of “The War” on January 9, 1861, when they fired upon the Union re-supply ship Star of the West and prevented it from reaching Fort Sumter. An account of the incident can be found in the Journals of the South Carolina Executive Council for 1861, which are located at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.

Historians at The Citadel believe that they have located “Big Red” at the State Historical Society of Iowa, where it has been stored since being donated by a Union veteran in 1919. Other Civil War flag experts, including a staff member at SCDAH who conducted research on the banner, are somewhat skeptical that the flag located in Iowa is the same flag that flew over Morris Island. Regardless, The Citadel hopes to receive the flag from Iowa on long-term loan. The episode makes for a great story that ties the past to the present. You can read more about the flag at www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/oct/02/historic-find-in-a-storage-closet/. Enjoy the article and remember that nothing excites/inspires/provokes/angers/incites South Carolinians more than a flag related to “The War.”