Becoming an Archivist: Alexander Samuel Salley Jr & The South Carolina Historical Commission

Ashley Danielle Stevens, University of South Carolina

Abstract

This essay examines the relationship between institution and individual. As the first state archivist for South Carolina, Alexander Samuel Salley, Jr. shaped the state's historical records while defining the office of the state archivist. By setting him within the larger context of a national movement to create public archives and among other newly appointed southern archivists, this essay presents a clearer understanding of Salley's initiatives and polices as archivist.