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BOARD OF TRUSTEES
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY
P. O. BOX 571 JACKSON. MISSISSIPPI 39205
William F. Winter, president
john k. bettersworth	January	8,	1975
J. P. Coleman Arch Dalrymple. Ill Frank E. Everett, Jr.
W. Eugene Morse Everette Truly Tom H. Watkins
Sherwood W. Wise	%	t
RE: HISTORICAL H/LRKERS
Elbert R. Hilliard director
Mrs. E. M. Gibbons P. 0. Box 1340
Bay St. Louis, Mississippi 39520 Dear Mrs. Gibbons:
In response to your telephone request for information on securing historical markers for sites in Hancock County, I quote Robert J.
Bailey, Director of this Department's Historic Sites Division, in a recent letter answering a similar request:
"The historical marker program has been beset by various problems for several years, not the least of which are limited staffing and funding and the lack of coordination between the marker program, the Department's other programs, and the programs of other public agencies. Inflation, too, has had an adverse effect on the historical marker program.
The Department has its official markers made''by a private manufacturer, and, during the course of the last fiscal year the price of markers went up on four occasions. The Board of Trustees of this Department, at its meeting on August 1, voted to terminate the awarding of markers for at least fiscal year 1975, in order that the Department can have sufficient time to study the program and its obvious weaknesses and effect plans for a more efficient and viable program of the future."
However, if your organization would like to establish a local historical marker program for Hancock County, you might want to contact the marker firm we have dealt with: Sewah Studios, Mill Creek Road, Marietta, Ohio 41751. There are no restrictions on anyone erecting historical markers that do not bear the insignia of this Department, but if you wish our assistance in preparing the text of your markers, or in checking the accuracy of the information, we encourage you to call on us at any time. In any case, we would appreciate being notified of the text and location of any markers you erect in Hancock County.
I have checked our archives cursorily for the naval log books you inquired about, and have been unable to locate any. Our archivist has suggested, however, that if you could supply specific names of the