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From History To Politics, Arizona’s New State Archivist Talks Records

Published: Tuesday, November 22, 2016 - 5:00pm
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(Photo via Arizona State Archives)
Ted Hale recently took on the role of state archivist for the state of Arizona.
Arizona State Archives
Photograph of President William Howard Taft signing the Arizona Statehood Bill.

From the records of Wyatt Earp’s trial after the O.K. Corral shootout, to every record the Governor’s Office makes today, the Arizona State Archives hold a lot of information. And now there’s a new state archivist in charge of them.

Ted Hale has spent the last decade working in the state library, and he’s been in his new role for about a week now.

He calls his job the four P’s: “Personnel, policies, procedures and definitely politics,” he said. “Because records can be political.”

There are no records police that force the Governor’s Office to turn over certain records, he said. “We can only show them in statute what we’re asked to collect and we help them manage those records,” he said.

While the state archives include a lot of important parts of Arizona’s history, the office also collects electronic records today.

“There’s basically four things that we collect,” according to Hale, “Legal, historical, administrative and fiscal records. And those tell huge smtories.”

And when it comes to politics, he said it’s all about the record. “Whether it’s an email, or a Tweet, Facebook or a document that’s 50 or 60 years old,” he said. “We take the political aspect out of it.”

The State Library is working now to digitize their records, according to Hale. But that is an expensive process that the Secretary of State’s Office doesn’t believe should be done at the cost of taxpayers.

“So, it’s a personal goal of mine to try to get this going with private funds, with donated funds, and we are trying to begin an electronic records repository,” Hale said.

He is working to find a way to take electronic records and make them discoverable, which statute often requires.

The state archives are searchable online and can be used in ways you might never think of, Hale said, from genealogy records and historic photographs to property values and government records.

“There are (sic) lots of little connections in people’s lives,” he said, “Records are alive and they can really serve people.”

To search the archives, visit the State Library website.

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