For the Record: newsletter of the Illinois State Archives, & the Illinois State Historical Records Advisory Board, Secretary of State & State Archivist

              For the
Winter 2007
www.cyberdriveillinois.com
Micrographics serves State of Illinois for nearly 70 years
In 1939, the Illinois State Archives acquired a micro-film
camera, sent a technician to Columbia University
for training, and began microfilming records. Although
this made the Archives a pioneer in the field of micro-graphics,
the technology of microfilm actually began
100 years earlier.
History of microfilming
In 1839 in Manchester, England, J. B. Dancer pro-duced
the first microphotographs mounted on slides
for microscope viewing. The first process used was
the Daguerro process, where the photographs were
on an opaque background. Frederick Scott Archer, also
of Manchester, introduced the collodion process in
1851, which consisted of a very fine grain image on
glass with a sensitized covering of collodian.
Collodion is made by dissolving cellulose nitrate in
ether and alcohol. Using this new process, Dancer
began producing vastly improved microphotographic
images.
Despite Dancer’s early work, in 1859, Rene Dagron, a
French optician, received the first patent for microfilm.
Using Dancer’s techniques, Dagron manufactured and
sold microphotograph trinkets. In 1870-71, during the
Franco-Prussian War, Dagron demonstrated a practical
use for microforms. During the siege of Paris, the
French used carrier pigeons to transport microfilmed
messages across German lines.
New York banker George McCarthy developed the first
commercial use of microfilm in the 1920s. He received
a patent in 1925 for his Checkograph machine,
designed to make permanent film copies of bank
records. Eastman Kodak bought the invention in 1928
and began marketing it under Kodak’s Recordak
Division. Recordak perfected its 35 mm cameras and in
1935 began filming and publishing the New York
Times on microfilm.
During World War II, microphotography was used
extensively for espionage and regular military mail.
Because the war brought the threat of destruction to
the records of civilization, there was urgency for
microfilming of records, documents, archives and col-lections.
The closing war years and immediate post-war
years saw a flurry of microfilming by occupying
nations.
Microfilming at the State Archives
Margaret Cross Norton, the first director of the Illinois
State Archives, realized the importance of microfilming
for preservation early on. In March 1939, she wrote,
“The chief applications of microphotography to
archives are the insurance against loss and the use by
the historian or research worker who wishes to work
slowly through the records for items on which he
wishes notes.”
Secretary of State Jesse White
recently met with the State
Archives Micrographics Unit
staff. Seated (left to right) are:
Pamela Waggoner, Annapurna
Brahmamdam, DellaKay
Castiglione, Jeannie McCarty,
Tamara Moore, Lana Basden
and Mary Jo DeRosa. Standing
(left to right) are: Adam Harrell,
Rodger Hudgins, Sally Fritcher,
Jason Thomas, Secretary
White, Jim Randle, Linda
Crites, Fred Eschenfedlt, Pam
Wollesen, Dave Forestier, Cecil
Funk, State Archives Director
David Joens and Doug Pillsbury.
(continued on page 2)
Newsletter
of the
Illinois
State
Archives
&
The Illinois
State Historical
Records
Advisory Board
Jesse White
Secretary of State
&
State Archivist
Volume 21
Number 1