Quipu
A knotted cord used by the Pueblo Indians to record and transmit information during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680
| A NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY THE NEW MEXICO
STATE RECORDS CENTER AND ARCHIVES. 1205 Camino Carlos Rey, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505 (505) 476-7900 FAX (505) 476-7901 |
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| April 2000 Access to and Preservation of New Mexico's Public Records Volume 5.1 | ||||||||||||||||
In this issue:
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Historical Records Grants Available By Jo Anne Jager,
The New Mexico Historical Records Advisory Board invites eligible applicants to submit proposals for projects to improve preservation of and access to historical records. Eligible applicants include governmental agencies, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations. Eleven repositories received awards in March. Grants of from $500 to $8,500 will be awarded from residual and contingency funds. A minimum match of 25 percent of project cost is required. Deadline for receipt of proposals in this supplementary round is April 28, 2000. Grants will be awarded in late May with funds available on a reimbursement basis from June 1, 2000 through March 31, 2001. Application packets will be mailed upon request. The guidelines and application form may be downloaded from the Commission of Public Records web-page at www.state.nm.us/cpr. State Land Office Records Deposited in Archives By Robert Torrez,
State Land Commissioner Ray Powell transferred nearly one hundred volumes of State land records to the State Archives in February. Most are plat and tract books that contain information related to the lease of state trust lands and the income produced by those leases for the various State institutions the land is assigned to benefit. The books date from the late Territorial period, between 1903-1905, and cover Statehood up to the 1930’s. Commissioner Ray Powell and Deputy Commissioner Dennis Hazlett, concerned that decades of use were threatening important records, invited the State Records Center and Archives to survey the agency’s records and recommend measures to promote more effective records management and preservation of permanent historical land records. The invitation was extended in conjunction with cooperative efforts between the two agencies to develop a new Records Retention and Disposition Schedule to govern management of all Land Office Records. As a result, Sandra Jaramillo, Archives and Historical Services Division, conducted an evaluation which led to the transfer of the records to the State Records Center and Archives where they can be maintained under optimum conditions. The State Land Office Records Management Division Director, Elizabeth Trujillo, emphasized that these are very important historical documents. “They record past leasing activity,” she noted, “and the Beneficiary Books include the original documents of State trust lands received from the federal government.” The books will be scheduled for microfilming so that the public will be able to access them without having to use the originals, helping to assure their status as part of New Mexico’s permanent historical record. The Land Office, as part of a larger project, is also renovating its records storage areas with the specific purpose of providing better environmental controls for the protection of records still housed on site. “We feel that more State agencies should consider depositing their older, more fragile permanent records with us,” said Ms. Jaramillo. “We also hope other agencies will assess their local storage conditions and plan for any improvements needed to assure proper treatment and preservation of records held in the agencies.” She hopes that other State agencies will follow the example of Commissioner Powell and the State Land Office, and contact her to discuss what they can do to help protect a valuable part of New Mexico’s documentary patrimony. State and local government officials can call Ms. Jaramillo at 476-7951. RRDS Adopted by the NM Commission of Public Records By Don Padilla,,
State agencies maintain extensive amounts of records and information that support implementation of the agency’s programs. Agencies must also be able to locate those records and information quickly for the successful flow of program operations. Implementation of a system of records and information management (RIM) allows agencies to manage and control records from their time of conception to their time of disposition. A RIM system also advises the use, storage, and transfer of records throughout their lifecycle. Through careful analysis, records can be categorized as being of a vital, essential, useful, or transitory nature. This categorization, along with thorough research of state and federal statutes and regulations, help the analysts of the Records Management Division determine how long a record should be kept. The end products of this research and analysis are the Records Retention and Disposition Schedules (RRDS). The RRDS define actions for the retention and disposition of current, inactive, and non-current records series of an agency and become the fundamental tool of an agency’s RIM program. Three new schedules were presented to the New Mexico Commission of Public Records for consideration and approval on March 7, 2000. The Commission approved schedules for the State Land Office, the New Mexico Department of Health, and the New Mexico Public Employees’ Retirement Association. The Commission also approved RRDS modifications to the Board of Architects and the New Mexico Department of Corrections. The State Land Office, which was originally established as the Board of Public Lands in 1899, was created to hold in trust and manage State trust lands. Those trust lands were granted to New Mexico by the federal government and are managed for the benefit of a number of beneficiaries including New Mexico’s public schools, universities, State hospitals, and State parks. Some of the records series surveyed and scheduled for this agency are: Land Purchase Contract Files; Land Exchange Files; Biological Survey Data Files; and Range Stewardship Incentive Program Data Files. The RRDS for the New Mexico Department of Health [1.18.665 NMAC] supersedes all previously filed schedules for this agency. The New Mexico Department of Health was created in 1991 when it was separated from the Health and Environment Department. The mission of the Department is to promote health, prevent disease and disability, and enhance integration of health systems for all New Mexicans. The records series scheduled for this agency include among others: Birth Records; Public Health Orders; Epidemiology Reports; and Water Chemistry Laboratory Reports. The RRDS for the New Mexico Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) [1.18.366 NMAC] captures the records concerning retirement member contribution funds. The PERA administers its funds to provide optimal and secure benefits and services to members of the retirement association. Among the records series scheduled for this agency are: Membership Files; Employer Resolution Files; and PERA Board Election Files. Records are created for a particular purpose and have lifecycles. There is a period when they are particularly useful in the agency generating them, and there is another when they can be stored outside that agency. There is also a phase involving the ultimate decision about whether they will be destroyed or sent to the State Archives. The RRDS capture the necessary information about the lifecycles of agencies’ records. They are instrumental in meeting the RIM objectives of promoting the disposition of records whose retention period has been met, storing inactive records that must be temporarily retained after they are no longer needed in current agency business; and preserving records that have a permanent or long-term value. Taking the “Census“ of Records Repositories By Jo Anne Jager,
This year, 2000, the United States Census again will be taken to gather information about the population of the country and its conditions and characteristics. Like the United States Census, the survey sent out this winter by the New Mexico Historical Records Advisory Board (NMHRAB) will collect information about the numbers and kinds of historical records in repositories throughout the state. The federal census data will be used to guide governmental and political decisions and guide future planning of all kinds. Likewise, the information gained from the historical records survey will be used in planning the approaches the NMHRAB will take to the preservation of the state’s historical records. The information should provide a profile of the breadth and depth of important original documents reposing in the attics, storage rooms and vaults across our state. A composite of the responses it yields will demonstrate the weight of evidence for our history in some areas, as well as the gaps in the story in others. The first federal census of the United States population was taken in 1790, but New Mexico wasn’t included until the 1850 count, after it became a U. S. territory. But of course, New Mexico’s documentary history dates back much further than 1850, even further than 1790. Unfortunately, many original documents have been removed from the public domain, neglected, lost or destroyed. Fortunately, census data and many other federal, state, and territorial records pertaining to New Mexico now are safely in the State Archives. Counties, towns, universities, and historical organizations have custody of similar documents housed in local archives, as well as business records and personal papers. After four hundred years of recorded history, New Mexico has unknown quantities of precious documents stashed in county and local museums and libraries and private collections that would contribute to the mosaic of New Mexico’s history. The NMHRAB hopes that this latest survey will elicit a better response than an earlier effort. An initial survey was conducted by the Board in April of 1998. Just as all households do not participate in the decennial censuses, despite legal mandate and intensive efforts of the census bureau and governments at all levels, many recipients of the 1998 survey failed to reply, leaving an incomplete picture of New Mexico’s historical records and the repositories that house them. For example, of the 33 counties in New Mexico, all of which hold many important records, only ten county offices returned the survey. The same percentage prevailed with the cities, towns and villages: 33 of 100 replied. Pueblos fared no better, returning only nine for their 19 governments, and there were even fewer for other tribal offices. However, about thirty historical societies and museums and at least a half-dozen religious archives responded. As a result of the incomplete response to the survey, the directory of repositories developed from the 1998 survey has glaring omissions. Many repositories are missing , as a consequence, the NMHRAB lacks even a good mailing list. With the results from the new survey, the Board hopes not only to compile a more useful directory, with a more comprehensive and up-to-date listing of repositories as well as information on types of records held, subjects they reflect, and span of dates covered. Any repositories of original records that have not returned a questionnaire about their collections in the last four months should get one and fill it out soon. Otherwise, your repository may not be informed of the many services available through the NMHRAB. And, just as critically, the world will not know about the important work you are doing in “Capturing 400 years of recorded history” for New Mexico. To paraphrase the Census Bureau, “It’s your past; don’t leave it blank.” To obtain a survey form, contact Paula Flores by phone at (505) 476-7902, or by e-mail at pvarela@rain.state.nm.us. Survey forms may also be downloaded from the Commission of Public Records web site at: www.state.nm.us/CPR
New Mexico Department
of Corrections: Governors’ Notebooks
The records of the New Mexico Department of Corrections hold a wealth of genealogical and historical information for the researcher. Perhaps the most intriguing records are those that document the first sixteen years of the Penitentiary of New Mexico’s existence (1884-1912). The Penitentiary processed its first inmate in 1884 and was then located on Cordova Road in Santa Fe. In the late 1950’s a new penitentiary was built at its present site on New Mexico State Highway 14, south of Santa Fe. The collection includes the following types of records: prisoner-intake records; inmate files; parole board record books; conduct records; and visitor registration. Many of the prisoner intake records also contain photographic prints (mug shots). The original glass-plate negatives are also available at the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives in the New Mexico Department of Corrections’ Photograph Collection. The governors of New Mexico are vested with the power of granting pardons to inmates of the Penitentiary. As such, the governor’s office kept a record of each inmate. This information was compiled in notebooks. These notebooks listed the inmate’s name, prisoner number, the crime the inmate was convicted of, the date of sentencing, the length of sentence, the county in which the inmate was convicted, the inmate’s conduct record (only in the notebooks for 1884 to 1912), and any other administrative actions (pardoned, released on parole, etc.). Entries were arranged numerically according to prisoner number. Since inmates were assigned consecutive prisoner numbers as they were processed, the entries for the years 1884 to 1912 are roughly chronological. Here is an entry from 1895 that contains some interesting and unusual conduct notations.
These governors’ notebooks are a valuable resource for the historian and the genealogist. For the historian these notebooks present glimpses of individual inmates within a context of other inmates and the evolving structure for the administration of criminal justice in New Mexico. For the genealogist these notebooks offer a new source of information regarding possible ancestors. Annual Microphotography Survey By
Patricia Pacheco,
Section 14-3-15 NMSA 1978 and Commission of Public Records’ rule require that the State Records Administrator conduct an annual survey to establish and maintain an inventory of all microphotography equipment owned and or leased by State agencies. The survey results enable the State Records Center to arrange the transfer of microphotography equipment from a State agency not using the equipment to a State agency needing such equipment. The survey also helps the State Records Center keep abreast of the microphotography systems that are operational within the various agencies. With 43 percent of all agencies responding to the survey to date, the trend towards imaging and alternate microphotography methods is apparent. An increase in the use of imaging systems statewide is subsequently leading to a reduction in the use of microfilm and microfiche, thus an increase in excess microfilm equipment. For those agencies wisely continuing their microfilming programs and in need of additional or replacement equipment, a detailed listing of all available equipment is being compiled and will be placed on the State Records Center web site by mid-April. The web address is www.state.nm.us/CPR, or you may contact the Micrographics Bureau at 476-7906. Training Offered
by the New Mexico State By Paula Flores,
•Electronic Records - The Basics •Basic Records Management Workshop •New Mexico Administrative Code Training •Records and Information Management Training
History of New Mexico Course Offered Statewide in 2000 By Robert J. Torrez,
The New Mexico State Records Center and Archives (SRCA) is offering State employees and the general public the opportunity to attend a course in the History of New Mexico. The course provides a survey of the broad spectrum of the state’s long and colorful history. It is open to all State employees, and may be of special interest to those who work in tourism related positions. The course is also open to the general public on a space-available basis. There are no costs or fees to register or attend. The course instructor is Robert J. Torrez, State Historian. The schedule for the remainder of 2000 is as follows:
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