History of the Records Management Division

October is American Archives Month and to celebrate we will be sharing the history of our division!

Many people don’t realize how ancient the practices of recordkeeping and archiving are. For thousands of years, people have been recording and preserving laws, property records, and economic exchanges in addition to births, marriages, and deaths. These early documents were written on animal skins, papyrus, and palm leaves, and etched into clay and stone before paper made from wood became the go-to material. Paper as we know it today was invented in China around 25-220 AD and did not spread to Europe until the 1000s AD. After paper was introduced during the Middle Ages in Europe, clergymen, monks, and clerks of courts continued to keep records in this new format.

The oldest known palm-leaf manuscript, c. 828 CE

As monarchies and states formed and centralized, recordkeeping remained an important tool for governance. In the newly created United States of America, it was a slow march toward passing formal laws regarding records, preservation, and public access. In the early 1900s, local groups such as the National Society of Colonial Dames took the lead in activism for historic preservation. A great summary and timeline of the movement in Charleston can be found here. Meanwhile, laws relating to recordkeeping and access began on the federal level with the National Archives being established in Washington D.C. in 1934, the Presidential Libraries Act in 1955, and the Freedom of Information Act in 1966.

The Records Management Division came from the City of Charleston Historical Commission, established in 1933, which worked to collect, preserve, and research historical documents from the city. The commission published research, licensed tour guides, and contributed several local sites to the National Register of Historic Places. The Historical Commission dissolved in 1975 and shortly after, the 1976 S.C. Records Act was passed, summoning a new era for archives.

Mary A. Glass, “City Officials Plan To Hire Four Employees,” Charleston Evening Post, April 9, 1977.

The act replaced and strengthened records retention policies outlined in a 1972 state law and required public bodies to enforce record retention and storage. South Carolina's Freedom of Information Act of 1978 also affirmed the right of citizens to access records created by public bodies, such as their state, municipal, and local governments. These records include city council meeting minutes, ordinances, maps, reports, correspondence, and more. These legislative acts ushered in a need for preservation, stewardship, and access to municipal documents, so the Records Management Division was born.

In 1977, the division set up shop at 100 Broad Street, a now demolished and rebuilt structure close to City Hall. This was home to the Records Management Division until 1990 when we moved to the Cigar Factory on East Bay Street. The factory was in active use from 1903 to 1973 and is the site of the Cigar Factory Strike, 1945-1946. In 2007, the division moved again to Savannah Highway, where we stayed until the Gaillard Municipal Complex opened in 2015.

Today, the Record Management Division continues to safeguard records of permanent importance to the City, its citizens, and future generations through its records retention scheduling, record storage operations, and archival processing and digitization programs. The division assists citizens and city staff by ensuring that proper procedures are followed for records retention, timely retrieval, and secure disposition of records, in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. We also maintain a collection of archival municipal records available to citizens for research. For more information on accessing our collections, please see our official website.

Mary A. Glass, “Famous Signatures Discovered In Rotting Archive,” The News & Courier, December 12, 1977.

Bill Creighton, Photograph, July 1977. From: Mary A. Glass, “Crumbling Records Are Rescued,” Charleston News and Courier, July 27, 1977.