News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
October is National Archives Month. To celebrate, the Cumberland County Archives and Family Heritage Center has scheduled an open house this Saturday, October 6, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
County Archivist Joyce Rorabaugh will welcome representatives of several lineage societies throughout Cumberland County – including the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Daughters of the Union, representatives from the local Celtic heritage group and the Colonial Dames (whose members’ ancestry predates the Revolutionary War). Two local genealogy groups – the Fairfield Glade Kinseekers and the Upper Cumberland Genealogical Support Group – will be available to discuss genealogy-research principles.
Rorabaugh told 94.1 News this morning her staff is in full preparation mode: busily setting up displays, straightening the 4,000-plus volumes in the stacks, readying the genealogy-study areas and generally making ready for an influx of visitors to the onetime church building.
“It’s a way of drawing attention to the preservation of county and local records,” she said. “We’re very proud of our facility and our [staff]. They know us well at State because of our growth and the way we do things.”
Several glass-front wooden display cases around the facility exhibit everything from early school records and a pile of metal fasteners (removed from four years’ worth of marriage records during re-cataloging), to equipment used in the restoration and preservation process and Dr. May Wharton’s medical license.
A photo-restoration expert will be on hand to demonstrate restoration techniques. Archives staff will show visitors how to research their family history using Ancestry.com, along with providing family-group sheets and trees to aid guests with beginner-level genealogy studies.
“And beginners’ genealogy classes start October 13th for six weeks,” Rorabaugh added. Classes will run from 10 a.m. to noon each Saturday through November 17. Students will learn how to research their ancestry and organize their family lineage.
Rorabaugh and her staff will conduct tours of the facility, including several of the collections rooms. The Government Room, maintained at between 66 and 68 degrees, with approximately 45% humidity, houses county records that date back to the early 1900s. The Private Collections Room contains artifacts and documents deeded to the Archives from defunct clubs or private citizens’ collections. The School Records Room encompasses early records from the county’s 68 one- and two-room schoolhouses.
Also showcased will be the facility’s state-of-the-art microfilm reader (in photo below). Meantime, Rorabaugh is hopeful the large-format printer, damaged by a recent lightning strike, will be functional again soon.
The Archives facility is overseen by the Art Circle Public Library and is a County-supported entity. The building has suffered from drainage problems in recent years; architect Kim Chamberlin of Upland Design Group recently conducted an evaluation and assessed ways to address those issues. Now county officials need to determine which renovations and upgrades should be addressed first.
“We’ve got appropriation [of funds] and we’ve got things lined up,” Rorabaugh said. “I’ve had my eye on a vault, but I don’t think that’s quite in the budget.”
The Cumberland County Archives & Family Heritage Center, at 95 East First Street in Crossville, is open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For information, contact the center at (931) 456-2006.
