NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1979 SESSION

CHAPTER 1010
HOUSE BILL 280

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE MORE EXPEDITIOUS PUBLICATION OF THE COLONIAL RECORDS OF NORTH CAROLINA (SECOND SERIES).

Whereas, North Carolina is the oldest English-speaking colony in North America; and
Whereas, this State was founded upon the laws, customs, and principles of England; and
Whereas, prior to 1776, London, England stood in a similar relationship to the government of North Carolina as Washington, D.C. does today; and
Whereas, the collection and publication of the records relating to the history of the North Carolina colony are essential to an understanding of the development of this State; and
Whereas, the great Revolutionary leaders of North Carolina such as Cornelius Harnett, James Iredell, Samuel Johnston, Richard Caswell, William Hooper, and others were thoroughly grounded in the principles of the English common law; and
Whereas, this State has been systematically gathering its colonial records since 1961 and publishing them in a widely acclaimed series since 1963; and
Whereas, the Colonial Records Branch of the Division of Archives and History, Department of Cultural Resources, was awarded the highest national Award of Merit of the American Association for State and Local History for its excellence as an archival and publications project; Now, therefore,

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  There is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Division of Archives and History, Department of Cultural Resources, the sum of sixteen thousand dollars ($16,000) for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1979, and the sum of sixteen thousand dollars ($16,000) for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1980, to provide for the more expeditious publication of the Colonial Records of North Carolina (Second Series).
Sec. 2.  Amend G.S. 121-6 by adding a new subsection (c) immediately following existing subsection (b) as follows:
"It shall be the duty and responsibility for the Department of Cultural Resources to edit and publish a second or new series of the most significant records of colonial North Carolina. From records which have been compiled in the North Carolina State Archives concerning the colonial period of North Carolina, a selection of the most significant documents shall be made therefrom by skilled and competent editor. The editor shall edit, according to acceptable scholarly standards, the selected materials which shall be published in documentary volumes not to exceed approximately 700 pages each in length until a full and representative published colonial records of North Carolina shall have been achieved. The number of copies of each volume to be so printed shall be determined by the Department of Cultural Resources, and such determination shall be based on the number of copies the department can reasonably expect to sell in a period of 10 years from the date of publication."
Sec. 3.  This act shall become effective on July 1, 1979.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 8th day of June, 1979.