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Re: Who Decides?



Since I am very familiar with the situation regarding the destruction of the
state records by the State Archives in Ohio and the delays, stonewalling,
and attacks by the always enlightened leadership of the Ohio Historical
Society on the Ohio citizen and OHS member who raised the issues, the answer
to Peter Kurilecz's question is obvious.  The records were improperly, if
not illegally(I am not a barrister, but I believe the law in Ohio was
violated), discarded; then denied, then admitted, then delayed, then. . . .

Every aspiring and practicing archivist should read the article in the
Toledo Blade and decide for themselves based on the information available.
It's a great case study for an archives class!

But it's also a darn shame because some historically rich records were lost
and the historical, archival, and genealogical communities in Ohio are the
worst for it.  (Yes, some/most records may have been microfilmed, but they
don't know if the microfilm is complete because it was never certified. . .
)

Read the article, then decide.  Who will decide in Ohio?  Now that's an
interesting question as well because the State Archives which does the
state's business is part of the Ohio Historical Society, a private not for
profit corporation, that the Ohio Attorney General, among others, has
adjudged not to be a state agency and therefore exempt from any review of
wrongdoing etc.  The private citizen involved (Kopp) is expected to pursue
legal action with his own resources and several state legislators who were
apprised of the situation declined to become involved.

Ah, Ohio is still Ohio when it comes to taking care (or not) of
its archives and records.  Even in the new millenium (which it is not) some
things never change.  Did anyone think they would ever top the placing of
the Governor James Rhodes papers in the landfill . . . . which happened on
my watch???? Ha!

Dennis East
Former (praise the Lord ... or so someone must say somewhere)  State
Archivist, Ohio

"Kurilecz, Peter" wrote:

> An interesting story was reported in yesterday's Toledo Blade. The full
> story can be found at the url posted below.
>
> http://www.toledoblade.com/editorial/news/0a23reco.htm
>
> Peter A. Kurilecz CRM, CA
> Woodside Summit Group, Inc
> Richmond, Virginia
> mailto:peterk@woodsidesummitgroup.com
>
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