Archives

It all began with a request for several years of back issues of The Azalean to complete the set collected at the D. H. Hill Library of the North Carolina State University (NCSU) at Raleigh, North Carolina by Dr. Robert Hobbs and Dr. Donald E. Moreland. While filling the order, John Brown asked if NCSU would be interested in archiving our Society materials. Dr. Moreland, Professor Emeritus at NCSU and a long-time member of the Azalea Society, determined that the University would be interested, and he worked with the library staff to implement an official offer. The concept was approved by the Board of Directors of the Azalea Society at our 2004 annual convention in Bowie, Maryland. Bill Bode, ASA Past President, met with the University staff establishing rapport with Lois Fisher Black, Assistant Head and Curator of Collections. John Brown accepted the chairmanship of the Archive Committee, and immediately began canvassing the chapters for their historical materials and negotiating an agreement with the University. The first major delivery of materials was made in the fall of 2004, as pictured at archive delivery.

The initial guide to the records of the Azalea Society of America was completed by D. H. Hill Library staff in Special Collections, thanks to the financial support of a generous anonymous benefactor. The archive opens the window to the work the Society has undertaken for over thirty-five years, making these records available at the Library to researchers with an interest in azaleas. The records may be examined and/or copied at the archive reading room.

To explore a listing of the contents of these archives online, go to ASA Archives. You may discover you have azalea-related or Society-related records and other materials that can fill in the blanks or extend our collection. In that case please contact our ASA Archivist:

Gwynn Thayer, Ph.D.
Associate Head and Chief Curator
Special Collections Research Center
NC State University Libraries
2 West Broughton Drive
Campus Box 7111
Raleigh, NC 27695-7111
(919) 513-3315

who will help you decide how best to handle them.

Archiving activities are labor-intensive and expensive. Checks to support the ongoing archiving activities can be made out to “Friends of the NCSU Library” and can be designated either to the “ASA Collection Fund” for current activities, or to the “ASA Archives Endowment” to help build a trust fund for future activities. They should be sent to:

Leia Droll, Director of Development
D.H. Hill Library, Campus Box 7111
N.C. State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-7111

All such contributions are tax deductible and will be acknowledged by a receipt from the University.