In spite of the continuing difficulties of travel and the depletion
of the ranks of historical scholars in favor of the armed services, the
circulation of materials and the number of visitors began to increase
during the early part of the year and during the last few months had
approached normal. The number of postal and telephonic inquiries also
increased again, but this may be due to the war rather than otherwise
since those researchers who must continue their work and who find
themselves unable to come in person because of the various handicaps
imposed by the war, must rely on letters or the telephone.

We are especially pleased that the Hall of Records is coming
more and more to be relied upon by other state Agencies for archival
and historical services. The Archivist feels strongly that as a part of
the Executive branch of the government we should bend every effort
to cooperate with other governmental agencies, that we should in short
be a vital part of the government and not solely a repository of its
antiquities. We are especially pleased to have been of service during
the past year to the Executive Office, the Court of Appeals, the
Comptroller of the Treasury, The Attorney General, the Industrial
Accident Commission, the Department of Legislative Reference, the
State Accident Fund, the Adjutant General. Since the State of Mary-
land has no Historical Commission and has recently abandoned its
Publicity Commission, it is natural that the Hall of Records should be
looked to for all sorts of historical and statistical information con-
cerning the State of Maryland.

The Archivist and the other members of the staff of the Hall of
Records look forward to the new fiscal year with optimism. There is
every reason to believe that wartime restrictions which have hampered us
in many ways will be gradually eased, or perhaps even lifted altogether,
during the course of the year. We begin the year with an experienced
staff and with a full program of useful work to be done. There is
every hope that we shall enjoy one of the most fruitful years in the
history of the Hall of Records.

Respectfully submitted,

MORRIS L. RADOFF,

Archivist

HALL OF RECORDS,
Annapolis, Maryland