PREV ARTICLE       NEXT ARTICLE       FULL ISSUE       PREV FULL ISSUE      

V4 2001 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 4, Number 22, May 27, 2001, Article 10 HACKEL'S MINT RECORD DESTRUCTION In response to the question about Mint Director Stella Hackel's destruction of early U.S. Mint records, R. W. Julian writes: "The facts of the matter are as follows: 1) In 1984 I was planning a trip to Washington to do research in the Archives but thought a visit to the GSA record center in Philadelphia might be of value. I asked Eleonora Hayden, then Mint Historian, to obtain for me the necessary written permission from the Bureau. 2) There was some delay in obtaining permission (for technical reasons) but while I was in Washington permission was received. 3) I then went up to Philadelphia where I planned to read Philadelphia Mint letters and ledgers for various years through about 1935. 4) When I arrived at the Records Center I was informed that Stella Hackel had destroyed the records in 1978 and I was shown a thick sheaf of destruct orders that had been kept on file. Hackel used one of her office staff to sign off on the destruction and then went to an Archives employee to get the necessary authorization from that quarter. No effort was made by Hackel to consult with Miss Hayden or the people in the Archives who actually dealt with such records. It was done in secret and those who should have been informed were deliberately kept in the dark. 5) I then returned to Washington on other matters. I informed Miss Hayden of the destruction; it was all news to her. I found out later that Donna Pope had reversed the policy but Hackel seems to have destroyed most of the working mint records from 1900 through at least 1960 and perhaps as late as 1970. I also informed the proper people in the Archives, who were equally in the dark; they had been expecting this material to be sent down in due course. 6) About two years ago a friend asked Hackel why she had destroyed the records. She claimed that she could not remember the matter at all. 7) Eva Adams also destroyed records but not to as great an extent. One record that she trashed, for example, was a die record book which listed every die made from 1844 to 1925. Her assistant, speaking for her, said that collectors had no legitimate interest in such matters and that I must be a front for a counterfeiting gang. I filed an Freedom of Information Act request but Adams replied, a year later, that it was an internal memo and thus off-limits. When Mary Brooks became director she had, at my request, a search made for this book but it could not be found; she did find many other records of value which were made available to me."

Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization 
promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor 
at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com

To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum