A Preliminary History of the Harrisburg City Archives
By Michael Barton
The early history of Harrisburg government’s record-keeping has not been written yet—we will use the records themselves to write it—but recent events are fairly well documented. After saving the city’s records from their accidental deposit in the dumpster during the move from the old city hall to the new one, Mayor Stephen R. Reed announced in 1982 that the city would establish its own formal archives. Harrisburg would be the only municipality in Pennsylvania besides Philadelphia, and one of the few cities in the nation, to have such an official facility. It would consolidate city records that had been accumulated since the late 18th century—material such as tax assessments, police reports, borough minute books, hospital data, city directories, mayors' papers, laws and ordinances, maps, and other memorabilia. In the McCormick Public Service Center of the Martin Luther King Jr. City Government Center, Room 315 was subsequently set aside for the first City Archives, and documents were boxed and shelved there.
Not until 1991, however, seven years after its creation, was the city in a position to hire its first archivist, Christine Ameduri, who had recently completed her master's degree in American Studies at Penn State Harrisburg. She began to organize and catalogue documents, and by October of that year she had produced a preliminary 40-page finding aid that briefly identified and listed all the accumulated materials. Her work was supported only by a grant, unfortunately, and that money was soon spent. Her successors were Stuart Veinotte and Christopher Frisch, who were able to provide limited services. But the City Archives was essentially in hibernation after its early start, with records still to be described, staffing still to be continuous, and doors still closed to the public. Hibernation would last another thirteen years.
One afternoon in the spring of 2004, Prof. Michael Barton happened to inquire at the Government Center to see if the archives were accessible. Besides wanting to use its records in his own research, he was hoping that students in his local history course at Penn State Harrisburg might have access to documents for their own projects. He was pointed to the office of James "Jeb" Stuart, the city's special consultant on historical projects, who was now responsible for the archives. Stuart told Barton that all of the materials in Room 315 had earlier that year been moved to a new site. Piled in disarray, they were in no condition to be used, Stuart lamented, and there were no plans at that time to make them usable. On the spot, Barton asked if it might be possible for him and his students to re-establish and re-organize the archives. Stuart thought that was an admirable idea, and he said he would confer with Mayor Reed. Barton said he would submit a draft proposal, start to recruit students, and consult further with Associate Provost William J. Mahar at PSH. Soon Mahar, Stuart, and attorneys from both the city and the university were finalizing a formal agreement for cooperation stemming from Barton's draft to Stuart. On June 14, 2004, a one-year agreement was signed between the city and Penn State Harrisburg that authorized Barton and his students to re-establish the City Archives, with the assistance of staff from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Another three-year agreement signed in 2005 continued the partnership.
Since June 2004, Barton has overseen nearly a dozen PSH American Studies student interns and volunteers working at the new site. Workers the first summer were Erik Fasick, Michael Griffin, and Jason Jones, all graduate students. They assembled dozens of heavy metal shelving units, then lifted, unpacked, sorted, and shelved tons of archival boxes and ledgers. Planning and supervising their efforts was Susan Hartman, Head of the Local Government Records Section at the State Archives, assisted by fellow staffer Ann Marie Ickes. Fasick continued his volunteer work in the fall semester and was joined in the spring 2005 by graduate students Stephen Noel and Tiffany Hall and undergraduate Jason Price. Since the summer of 2005, Michele Garcia has been the leading student archivist. Beginning her work as an American Studies undergraduate and continuing as a graduate student, Garcia produced the first computerized finding aid describing the contents of the hundreds of bound records. She has also guided other students working there, such as Reagan West and Stephen Bachmann, who is developing the City Archives Web site. Jeb Stuart has been continuously involved in the archives, controlling access to the facility, providing liaison with the city, and working himself with documents and photographs.
In 2007, Jeb Stuart, with Penn State's cooperation, successfully applied for a $5,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Museum and Historical Commission in order to purchase more materials and hire an archivist, Ken Frew. This grant enabled the Archives to open to the public in 2008. A complete and thorough inventory of the holdings, including descriptions of the records, photographs, and artifacts, continues. This resource will be placed on the Archives Web site, so that Harrisburg’s history can be consulted anywhere. And in time, the future of the City Archives should become the most important phase of its own history.