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TABLE OF CONTENTSScope and Contents of the Records Secretary of State public printing records, 1835-1906, undated, bulk 1874-1897, |
Texas Secretary of State:An Inventory of Secretary of State Public Printing Records at the Texas State Archives, 1835-1906, undated, bulk 1874-1897
Agency HistoryDuring the Republic and early statehood it was the practice of Congress and the Legislature to select a public printer whose duties were supervised by the Secretary of State; this was confirmed by acts approved by the 1st Texas Congress on November 15 and 18, 1836. On December 18, 1837, Congress approved an act to provide for the publication of the laws and journals of the Republic of Texas, with the Secretary of State required to contract for the printing and to arrange for its distribution. The duty of editing and then distributing the printed laws and journals of each session of the legislature was affirmed by the 1st Texas Legislature in the act to define the duties of Secretary of State, approved May 9, 1846. The 8th Legislature on November 22, 1859 provided that the Secretary of State, the Treasurer, and the Comptroller should advertise for proposals to print the laws and journals, governor's messages, reports, and other printing. They would award a contract and the printer would be supervised by the Secretary of State. The duties of these three were expanded by the 13th Legislature on February 17, 1873 when they "constituted a board for examination and approval of the accounts of the Public Printer." The composition of the board was changed by the 14th Legislature, March 14, 1874 to include the Governor, the Secretary of State, and the Attorney General. A Board of Public Printing was created by the 15th Legislature, June 27, 1876, composed of the Attorney General, the Treasurer, and the Secretary of State, with the Secretary of State in charge of the records. The Board was abolished by the 36th Legislature, April 5, 1919 and its functions transferred to the State Board of Control. Return to the Table of Contents Scope and Contents of the RecordsPublic printing was supervised by the Texas Secretary of State during the period of the Republic and early statehood; and beginning in the early 1870s, the Secretary of State was always the member of the Board of Public Printing in charge of its records. These records consist of minutes of meetings, correspondence, accounts, printing orders, samples, claims, bids, and contracts, all relating to public printing. Dates are scattered, covering the period 1835-1906 and undated, the bulk dating 1874-1897. The Republic of Texas records relating to public printing consist mainly of correspondence of the Secretary of State and the Congressional Joint Committee on Public Printing, with the public printer and applicants for that position. Other records include contracts, advertisements for bids, bids submitted, accounts, samples of printed materials submitted with bids, and orders of the Secretary of State for printing supplies. These date 1836-1846, undated. Post-annexation records relating to public printing include minutes (mainly of the Board of Public Printing), 1862 and 1874-1896; two letter press books containing copies of outgoing correspondence from the Board of Public Printing, 1881-1891; account books of the Board of Public Printing, 1879-1902; and assorted other records, with the total date span of 1848-1906. This series was created to document the activities of public printing in Texas, including the contracting and supervising of the public printers, and keeping track of the expenditures involved. To prepare this inventory, the described materials were cursorily reviewed to delineate series, to confirm the accuracy of contents lists, to provide an estimate of dates covered, and to determine record types. Return to the Table of Contents
Return to the Table of Contents RestrictionsRestrictions on AccessMaterials do not circulate, but may be used in the State Archives search room. Materials will be retrieved from and returned to storage areas by staff members. Restrictions on UseMost records created by Texas state agencies are not copyrighted and may be freely used in any way. State records also include materials received by, not created by, state agencies. Copyright remains with the creator. The researcher is responsible for complying with U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.). Technical RequirementsNone. Return to the Table of Contents
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Return to the Table of Contents Administrative InformationPreferred Citation(Identify the item and cite the series), Texas Secretary of State public printing records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Accession InformationAccession numbers: 1905/007, 1932/002, 1933/004, 1933/005, 1941/006, 1982/336 These records were transferred to the Texas Department of Agriculture, Insurance, Statistics, and History (a predecessor of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission) by the Texas Secretary of State on November 10, 1905; to the Texas Library and Historical Commission by the Texas Secretary of State on September 28, 1932; December 11, 1933; February 21, 1934; and April 24, 1942; and to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Secretary of State on July 25, 1982. Processing InformationRepublic of Texas records processed by unknown Archives staff, unknown dates Finding aid encoded by Tony Black in EAD Version 2002 as part of the TARO project, February 2011 and December 2011 Appraisal InformationTexas State Archives staff completed an appraisal of the Texas Secretary of State holdings already in the custody of the Texas State Archives in December 1998. Fifty-seven series of these holdings were determined to be archival, including Public printing records. The complete appraisal report (in two parts: Republic of Texas records, and non-Republic records) is available for consultation online at http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/appraisal/sosrepublic.html and http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/appraisal/sosstate.html, and also in the search room of the Texas State Archives. Return to the Table of Contents Detailed Description of the Records
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