Charleston County Records Center: Improving the Storage Environment of the Collections

FAIN: PG-258330-18

Charleston County Government (North Charleston, SC 29405-7464)
Haley Doty Vaden (Project Director: May 2017 to June 2019)

The purchase of environmental monitoring and climate control equipment and preservation and archival supplies to maintain over 20,000 cubic feet of boxed records and over 3,500 sets of bound and unbound large documents originating in county departments in Charleston, South Carolina.  Among the holdings are probate court files including wills and estates; land use records; marriage licenses; mortgages and deeds; and civil, criminal, and family court proceedings.  This project would focus on the oldest and most delicate paper-based materials, which document the development of early county government and daily life from the early 1700s.  The collection is used by abstractors, clerks, legal professionals, historical researchers, genealogists, property owners, and students.  The proposal is based on recommendations from a 2016 preservation assessment supported by NEH.

The goal of the Preservation Assistance Grant project is to support the purchase of preservation supplies and materials to improve the storage environment at the Charleston County Records Center (CCRC). The activities are based on the recommendations made in a Preservation Needs Assessment conducted in May 2016 through a previously funded Preservation Assistance Grant. The goal of the project will be to preserve historic records of value to the State of South Carolina, re-house collections in archival enclosures, and improve environmental conditions at CCRC. The historic records include Probate Estate Files from the 1760s – 1850s, Plats from the 1750s – 1960s, Clerk of Court Case Files from the early 1800s – 1960s, and Mortgages & Deeds from the late 1800s – 1960s. The Preservation Assistance Grant will support CCRC by improving the physical environment of the center and reducing risks to the collections.