R.D.W. Connor (F-39) - Wilson, North Carolina
Posted by: 
PFF
N 35° 43.434 W 077° 54.534
18S E 236880 N 3957227
Think "National Treasure". Who ACTUALLY takes care of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights? Answer: The Archivist of the United States. Connor was the first.
Waymark Code: WM1RQ6
Location: North Carolina, United States
Date Posted: 07/03/2007
Views: 46
Robert Digges Wimberly Connor was an American historian and the first Archivist of the United States (1934-1941). He was born September 26, 1878 in Wilson, North Carolina.
He was the son of Henry G. Connor and Kate Whitfield Connor, whose home stood near the marker's location. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1899, and later returned to UNC as a history professor. In 1934, President Franklin Roosevelt appointed him to head the National Archives and Record Administration.
This is the Department responsible for safeguarding and making available for study all important public documents of the nation, including the actual Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. As we saw in the motion picture "National Treasure", these are displayed in the Archives' main building in Washington, D.C., and you will have the full attention of the U.S. Archivist and his guards if you attempt to duplicate what was shown in the movie!
Mr. Connor died in 1950, but he is honored by historians for his examples in preserving important documents. Today, U.S. and State historic commissions take an active role in safeguarding records against disasters such as fire and floods, and aiding in the restoration of damaged documents.
Connor also is remembered by words which he spoke and wrote, many of which are worthy of consideration by all people.
"R.D.W. Connor had a gift for aphorisms. Early in the 20th century he inserted into the third biennial report of the North Carolina Historical Commission an adage as resonant today as it was a century ago: 'A people who have not the pride to record their history will not long have the virtue to make history that is worth recording.'"
---Dr. Jeffrey J. Crow, Deputy Secretary of the Office of Archives and History, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, and Coordinator of the State Historical Records Advisory Board.
"The people of North Carolina are realizing more and more every day that it is not safe to trust the future to the control of a people who are ignorant of their past; and that no people who are indifferent to their past need hope to make their future great."
--—R. D. W. Connor, 1904
Marker Name: R.D.W. Connor
Marker Type: City
Required Waymark Photo: yes
Related Web Link: Not listed
Local North Carolina markers without State Number Designation: Not listed
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Most of all, enjoy the History that North Carolina has to offer! From the Mountains to the Ocean .. it's all here!