Don't Let NC Destroy Century-Old Historical Documents
- by: Susan V
- recipient: NC Legislature, NC State Archives Director Sarah Koonts and Franklin County Manager Angela Harris
Are there African Americans living in Franklin County, North Carolina today whose ancestors owned land stolen by carpetbaggers? We may never know, because the county manager just incinerated over 100 boxes of recently found documents, some dating back to 1840.
The excuse for this NC version of Fahrenheit 451 was that the documents were moldy. However, the president of the county’s Heritage Society says the Mormon Church offered to clean the documents and return them cost-free. She adds that the Society would have gladly taken these historical treasures off the county’s hands.
The whole thing came as a shock and surprise to Society volunteers who had just begun searching and finding photographs, letters, criminal case documents and other items of historical significance that had not been scanned or officially recorded as NC Archives had claimed. Even more suspicious is that it took the appointment of a new clerk of court to find these records in an unopened basement that should have been accessible to the public all along.
And things get even sketchier. It wasn’t until the Society sought advice from the State Archives, that the records became doomed for destruction.
The real reason the State allowed this destruction is not known, but one blogger suspects that covering up records of land theft has something to do with it.
Tell NC and Franklin County this has to stop! Pass a law forbidding any further destruction of historical records!
We, the undersigned, say the deliberate destruction of irreplaceable, historical county records is inexcusable, and it cannot be legal or ethical. These records belong to the people.
Not only could this destruction of records prevent legitimate landowners from proving their right to property ownership, it will certainly put up more roadblocks to people of African and Native American descent who already face numerous challenges in trying to piece together their family histories.
Furthermore, according to the Heritage Society’s spokesperson, this destruction was totally unnecessary. When the Mormon Church heard about the mold problems, it stepped in and offered to clean and return the documents at no cost whatsoever to the county.
Probably most disturbing is that County Manager Angela Harris carried out this atrocity in the dark and behind the backs of all the hard-working volunteers at the Heritage Society, who’d already put in hundred of hours, obtained space approved by the county commissioners and taken excruciating pains to recover, sort, and begin carefully examining the documents. The president of the Society says she found out at the last minute what the county was up to, and she and another member had to stand and watch helplessly as the documents were removed from the county office after hours. From there, the president confirmed, the boxes filled with these historical treasures were taken to the animal shelter and incinerated - and at a cost of $8,000 to the taxpayers.
All interested can find a detailed timeline of the work the Society did at the following facebook site:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/heritage-society-of-franklin-county-nc/timeline-of-the-destruction-of-100-year-old-franklin-county-nc-records/554910501264078
There was clearly no legal, ethical or reasonable justification for this action, and the State and the County Manager owe the people of Franklin County, especially county natives living there or elsewhere, and all the people of North Carolina an apology. We request that the NC Legislature pass a law to ensure this never happens again and that the NC State Archives and Franklin County be barred from such further actions in the meantime.
Thanks for you time.
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