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Bay Mayor seeks return 1 of old city minute books
BayJSt. Louis Ma^qc Larry Bennett :	said Tuesday he will seek return of 13
i	volumes of dty minute books given to
i	the State Department of Archives and
i	History in Jackson by former Bay
!	Mayor Warren Carver and his city
clerk, Luden Kidd.
:	Bennett is conducting a search of past
I	dty hall minutes to determine if the
'	former officials had authorization to
turn over to the state agency volumes :	covering the periods Jan. 4,1858 to May
s	2, 1903 and Aug. 5, 1916 to Aug. 6, 1956.
I	Bennett said he will travel to Jackson
!	March 9 in an attempt to talk with
i	Ronald E. Tomlin of the Archives De-
partment.
“I am taking along some packing material and hope to bring those books bade with me,” Bennett said Tuesday.
According to a ‘Contrad of Gift’ between the Archives Department and the City of Bay St. Louis, signed by the two former dty offidals and dated May 24, 1977, 13 volumes of dty minute books were presented to the department as an unrestricted gift, transferring the legal j title, copyright, and literary property rights to the department.
A stipulation in the contract calls for f	the books to be microfilmed and a copy
I	supplied to the dty.
Carver Monday allegedly expressed disbelief when told he had signed a 1 contrad conveying the books to the Archives Department, p Carver reportedly said he must have v “been very tired” when asked to sign
the document and he did so without actually reading the contrad.
Carver said he plans to write the Archives Department in an attempt to have the books returned to the dty.
In a letter from the Archives Department to Sea Coast Echo Heritage Editor Joe Pilet, Tomlin said his department was given the books in an effort to “preserve the records...which were deteriorating.”
Tomlin added that no provisions to return the books to the dty after microfilming were discussed.
In a letter dated May 10, 1978, uncovered by Katie Johnson at City Hall, Tomlin tells the Hancock County Historical Society that he is willing to discuss returning the books with the mayor.
“It is not normally our policy to store munidpal records after filming as we are the state archives,” Tomlin writes.
“In this case, however, it was felt the volumes could be better preserved in our modem archival fadlity. If the dty wishes the return of the original volumes, we would certainly be willing to discuss the matter,” the letter continues.
“Our primary concern is the preser-vaton and availability of valuable historical materials and however this can best be accomplished would meet with our-concurrence,” he added.
“I will do everything within my power to have the books returned to City Hall,” Bennett emphasized Tuesday.