At their 25th annual meeting on May 9, 2023, the Friends of the Delaware Public Archives (FODA) presented Stephen Marz, State Archivist and Director of the Public Archives a financial gift of $2,000 to assist in the digitization costs of several thousand historic acetate and nitrate film negatives.

“Digitizing these fragile negatives not only ensures that there is no further deterioration of these images, but it also transfers them into a digital format that is stable and maintainable, and will be made available to everyone via our agency’s website,” Marz said. “The majority of these images date back to the early 1900s and have not been previously available to researchers or the public. We simply cannot thank our Friends of the Delaware Public Archives enough for their steadfast commitment to ensuring that Delaware’s history is not only preserved for the future but made available to everyone.”

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Existing collections expanded:

• Manuscript Genealogies, Richard H. Bailey Collection (9225-000-007)
• Newspaper Collection, The News Journal, Newspapers (9210-N17-001)
  • Microfilm for the Research Room

Books added to the Mabel Lloyd Ridgely Research Room library:

• Delaware from Freeways to E-Ways: First State, Solid-State, by Dave Tabler

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To counter the presence of pirates in their waterways, the Delaware General Assembly commissioned privateers, like Matthew Aiken, whose Delaware Letter of Marque is pictured below. Aiken’s ship, the Christiana, was even provided to him by members of the Assembly!

To learn more about Delaware’s role in the Revolution, check out our Revolutionary War research guide at the link below!

The post A Pirate’s Life for Me! appeared first on Delaware Public Archives - State of Delaware.

New collections created:

• Small Manuscript Collections, Delaware Industrial School for Girls, Documents (9200-D34-001)
  • This collection consists of deeds and court records concerning the property of the Industrial School, along with a book of its by-laws.
• Small Manuscript Collections, George R. Lynam, Jr. Collection, Photographs (9200-L17-001)
  • Photos of the St. George’s Bridge under construction, postcards, and a few photos of the Howell School are included.

Existing collections expanded:

• Small Manuscript Collections, Friends of the Delaware Archives, Administrative Records (9200-F09-001)
• Small Manuscript Collections, New Castle County Paramedic Unit, Documents (9200-N08-001)
• Small Manuscript Collections, Ridgely Collections, Baker Horsey Records (9200-R09-006)
• Small Manuscript Collections, Denney Collection, Documents (9200-D23-001)
• General Reference Collections, Pamphlet Collection (9270-000-004)

Books added to the Mabel Lloyd Ridgely Research Room library:

• Arriving in Delaware: The Italian-American Experience by Priscilla M. Thompson
• Delaware Close to Home by Fred Comegys
• Delaware in the Civil War edited by W. Emerson Wilson
• Delaware Trees by William S. Taber
• Ghost Stories of the Delaware Coast by David J. Seibold and Charles J. Adams III
• One Hundred Years of Delaware Football by Elbert Chance
• Rounding Third by Harvey Bernard Rubenstein
• The Delaware Bay at War! The Coastal Defenses of the Delaware Bay during World War Two by Terrance McGovern
• The Delaware Citizen by Cy Liberman and James M. Rosbrow
• The Fisher Family published by the American Genealogical Research Institute
• Two Hundred in Two Thousand published by the du Pont de Nemours Cemetery Company
• Wild Delmarva by Kevin Fleming

The post 2024 – Third Quarter Accessions appeared first on Delaware Public Archives - State of Delaware.

New collections created:

• Small Manuscript Collections, Guthrie Family, Correspondence (9200-G12-001)
  • This collection consists of correspondence between World War II soldier William David Guthrie, Sr., and his wife, Betty Guthrie, during the war.
• Small Manuscript Collections, New Castle County Paramedics, Documents (9200-N08-001)
  • Digital photographs and articles were received, documenting the history of the New Castle County Parademic Unit—the first paramedic service in Delaware.
• Small Manuscript Collections, Washington Memorial Bridge, Scrapbook (9200-W23-001)
  • A digitized scrapbook documenting the dedication ceremony of the Washington Memorial Bridge on May 30, 1922.
• Small Manuscript Collections, Milford Working Group, US 113 Study (9200-M21-001)
  • The donation includes correspondence, plans, and notes from the Milford Working Group concerning U.S. Route 113.

Existing collections expanded:

• Small Manuscript Collections, Delaware Forestry Collection, Walter F. Gabel Collection (9200-D27-002)
• Small Manuscript Collections, Ridgely Collection, Baker Horsey Records (9200-R09-006)
• Private Vital Statistics, Tombstones, Tombstones and Cemetery Records (9020-002-001)
• Department of State, Delaware Public Archives, State Reports Collection (1325-003-147)
• Church Records, Manuscript Church Records (9500-001-000)

Books added to the Mabel Lloyd Ridgely Research Room library:

• Abstracts of the Wills and Administrations of Northampton County, Virginia 1632-1802 compiled by James Handley Marshall

The post 2024 – Second Quarter Accessions appeared first on Delaware Public Archives - State of Delaware.

New collections created:

• Small Manuscript Collections, De La Warr High School Collection, Photographs (9200-D33-001)
  • Photos of the De La Warr High School marching band and symphony orchestra in the 1960s.
• Small Manuscript Collections, Michael Richards Collection, Interviews (9200-R22-001)
  • Three interviews conducted by Michael Richards that provide the perspectives of Delaware residents Thomas E. Richards (1985), Edith F. Clites (1991), and Ezekiel Cowgill Barnard (1985).
• Small Manuscript Collections, Salmons Family Collection, Photographs (9200-S35-001)
  • Digitized photographs of the Salmons family, along with a single piece of correspondence written to a friend of Mrs. Salmons.

Existing collections expanded:

• Small Manuscript Collections, Ridgely Collection, Baker-Horsey Records (9200-R09-006)
• Department of State, Delaware Public Archives, State Reports Collection (1325-003-147)

Books added to the Mabel Lloyd Ridgely Research Room library:

• Delaware from Railways to Freeways: First State, Second Phase by Dave Tabler

The post 2024 – First Quarter Accessions appeared first on Delaware Public Archives - State of Delaware.

New collections created:

• University of Delaware, Activity and Yearbooks (8500-000-005)
  • Three new yearbooks were received, each dating back to the 1930s. Two of these yearbooks are from the University’s Women’s College, and the third is from the Men’s College.
• Small Manuscript Collections, Broujos Family Collection, Family Records (9200-B33-000); Photographs (9200-B33-001); and Postcards (9200-B33-002)
  • This collection brings records, photographs, and postcards spanning a number of Delaware locations, activities, and points in time through Delaware’s history. Some highlights include the Camp Timber Ridge Girl Scouts, Greenbank Prison, the Richey School, the Krebbs School, the Millsboro Methodist Church, and the Mildred Bryan Dance Studio.

Existing collections expanded:

• General Reference Collections, Pamphlet Collection (9270-000-004)
• Red Clay School District, Wilmington High School, Yearbooks (8183-000-022)
  • This donation filled in a gap from 1930 with a yearbook titled “The Blue Chick.”

Books added to the Mabel Lloyd Ridgely Research Room library:

• Abstracts of the Debt Books of the Provincial Land Office of Maryland, Frederick County, Volumes I -VI by V. L. Skinner, Jr.
• Abstracts of the Proceedings of the Orphans’ Court of Sussex County, Delaware – Libers 1, 2, 3, 4 and A (1708-1709 and 1728-1777) by V.L. Skinner Jr.
• Abstracts of the Wills and Estate Administrators of Northampton County, Virginia, 1800-1854, compiled by Dr. David R. Scott
• County Court Records of Accomack-Northampton, Virginia, 1640-1645, edited by Susie M. Ames
• Honoring Our Colonial History: Tablets, Monuments, and Memorials Placed by the Society of Colonial Wars, 1892-2010, edited by Andrew Ross
• “Intendinge to Seat These Upward Parts”: Archaeological and Historical Investigations of Anglo-European Settlement in Central Delaware, 1670-1740 by Charles H. Fithian
• Land Records of Sussex County Delaware, 1753-1763 by Mary Marshall Brewer
• Milford Delaware & the Milford Area After 1776 by E. Dallas Hitchens and E. Millis Hurley
• Virginia’s Eastern Shore, a History of Northampton and Accomack Counties, Volumes I-II by Ralph T. Whitelaw

The post 2023 – Fourth Quarter Accessions appeared first on Delaware Public Archives - State of Delaware.

In 1796, the members of the General Assembly sent an address to President George Washington, on behalf of the citizens of Delaware, as a tribute of gratitude and homage for his service to the United States. This resolution is available digitally thanks to a grant funded in part by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

General Assembly, Legislative Papers

Document Date: 1796

Item Number: 1111-000-000_3757d

An Address to the President of the United States of America

Click to zoom and read the document

1796

To George Washington President of the United States,

Sir,

The Senate and the House of Representatives of the State of Delaware cannot view with Insensibility, your contemplated retirement from the first Office of your Country, to the retreat of Private life, upon such an occasion to be silent, and to withhold the most cordial expression of our Affection, respect, and veneration, for your Character would be as ungrateful to you, as it would be dishonorable to ourselves. It is in attempting therefore to do Justice to our feelings and to discharge a Patriotic duty, that we present this address, as a tribute of Gratitude and a homage to your Virtues.

More than twenty years have elapsed since you left the Civil Councils of America, to undertake and sustain the more difficult and perilous duties, of the Military command. The seven years conflict which ensued must have been to you a gloomy series of seven years sufferings, except as it was relieved, by temporary Victories, and the pleasing hope that the exertions of your Country, and the aids of Heaven would crown your Labors with ultimate success. At the close of the important contest, we view you in the command of a disciplined, affectionate and admiring Army; and from the example of other Conquerors, we might have trembled for the fate of our Country, in the apprehension that its Protector, would become its Tyrant.

But happily for the United States, and Honorably for yourself, and the Character of Human nature, the feelings of the Conqueror, were lost in those of the Patriot and the Infatuations of Ambition were repressed by the triumph of Virtue.

The Glorious Spectacle, was presented to the world of a Popular, powerful and successful General, achieving the emancipation, of his Country, and then resigning his command to an unarmed Republic, voluntarily retiring from the honor and emoluments of Office, and receiving in return the Tribute not of Power, but of Public Gratitude.

We view you a second time in obedience to the unanimous, voice, of America, relinquishing the enjoyment of your beloved Retirement, and accepting the Chief Magistracy of your Country, in order to add Character, Credit and energy to its Government. That Character, Credit and energy you have assisted in forming and securing to our Government; and we hope they will be preserved, as well to perpetuate the memory of your Virtues as the happiness of your Fellow Citizens.

We address you Sir, in the name, and on the behalf of the Citizens we represent. We know that they write with us in viewing your abilities with respect, your Virtues with Veneration, and your Services with Gratitude; and in soliciting from Heaven for you, every blessing which can Increase your Happiness, here and hereafter.

An Address to the President of the United States of America

1796

Happy American Archives Month!!

The post Tribute to President George Washington appeared first on Delaware Public Archives - State of Delaware.

New collections created:

• Small Manuscript Collections, Sacket Family, Portraits (9200-S34-000)
  • The Sackett family collection of portraits is a small collection of images of Lillian P. Sackett’s family, from small children to adults. Most images are of unnamed individuals.
• Small Manuscript Collections, Cowgill Collection, Family Records (9200-C26-000)
  • The Cowgill Collection comprises bills, receipts, and lists relating primarily to the school for colored children in Little Creek.

Existing collections expanded:

• Small Manuscript Collections, Christ Church (Dover), Architectural Drawings (9534-002-006)
• Small Manuscript Collections, Pamphlet Collection, (9270-000-004)
• Small Manuscript Collections, Donald McClyment Collection, Cemetery Map (9200-M20-000)

Books added to the Mabel Lloyd Ridgely Research Room library:

• From Falling to Phenomenal, The Story of WSFS (1985 to 1996) by Marvin Schoenhals and Brittany Kriegstein (2 copies)
• ANDIAMO! The Memoirs of Frank Biondi by Frank Biondi, as told to Larry Nagengast with Mary Catherine Biondi Moran as researcher and editor
• Greetings from Rehoboth Beach, Postcards from the Collection of the Rehoboth Beach Museum by Ronald Foster and David McDonald
• A bound history of the Robbins Hose Company, No. 1, INC.

The post 2023 – Third Quarter Accessions appeared first on Delaware Public Archives - State of Delaware.

The Delaware Heritage Commission and the Delaware Public Archives are pleased to announce the hiring of Ms. Margaret Hughes for the position of The State of Delaware’s 250th Anniversary Coordinator. Ms. Hughes will be responsible for communicating, coordinating, and collaborating with individuals, organizations, and entities to advance and implement both public and private activities that celebrate the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding. She will work closely with and actively support an array of historical, educational, and tourism organizations state-wide to maximize opportunities related to the commemorative period.

Ms. Hughes brings with her almost twenty years of experience as a museum educator consultant, having worked at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts and Historic Hudson Valley in New York. Ms. Hughes has also served as a reviewer for grants to the National Endowment for the Humanities and is a current member of the University of Delaware Anti-racism Initiative Project. Ms. Hughes holds a bachelor’s degree in American Studies, a master’s degree in museum education, and is currently pursuing a PhD in the History of American Civilization at the University of Delaware.

Interview requests may be directed to Margaret.Hughes@Delaware.gov or by calling 302-744-5067.

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New collections created:

• Small Manuscript Collections, Dave Clendaniel Collection, Photographs (9200-C27-000)
• Small Manuscript Collections, Richard Sund Collection, Correspondence (9200-S32-000)
• Manuscript Genealogies, Jacqueline Ford Skinner Collection (9225-001)
• Small Manuscript Collections, Jacqueline Ford Skinner Collection, Documents (9200-S33-000)

Existing collections expanded:

• Small Manuscript Collections, William B. Walton Collection (9200-W19)
• Small Manuscript Collections, Delaware Forestry Collection, Bob Tjaden Collection (9200-D27-006)
• Private Vital Statistics, Bible Records, Charles Edward Janvier, Jr. (9020-001-J01)
• General Reference Collection, Pamphlet Collection (9270-000-004)
• Small Manuscript Collections, Bayard Collection (9200-B31-001)
• Capital School District, Dover High School, Activity and Yearbooks (8075-004-001)

New individual donations:

• The Community Singers, Christmas Album
• Delaware State News publication honoring the Polytech Class of 2022

Books added to the Mabel Lloyd Ridgely Research Room library:

• Owen David, His Genealogy and Family History by Tom and Cathy David
• The White Dear by John Bierhorst
• Mythology of the Lenape: Guide and Texts by John Bierhorst
• David Zeisberger’s History of Northern American Indians (Classic Reprint) by David Zeisberger
• A Delaware Indian Symposium by Herbert C. Kraft
• The Nanticoke Community of Delaware by Frank G. Speck
• History, Manners, and Customs of the Indian Nations Who Once Inhabited Pennsylvania and the Neighbouring States by the Rev. John Heckewelder
• Strong Medicine Speaks: A Native American Elder Has Her Say by Amy Hill Hearth
• Oklahoma Delaware Ceremonies, Feast and Dances: Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society (Volume 7) by Frank G. Speck
• Memoirs of the Rev. David Brainerd: missionary to the Indians of the borders of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania by David Brainerd
• A Study of the Delaware Indian Big House Ceremony (Volume 2) by Frank G. Speck
• A Study of Delaware Indian Medicine Practice and Folk Beliefs by Gladys Tantaquidgeon
• The Culture and Acculturation of the Delaware Indians (Anthropological Paper Series, Volume 10) by William W. Newcomb, Jr.

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