NCHC June25 deaccessions

June 10, 2025

Per the procedures outlined in 04 NCAC 04M.0401-.0403, I submit to you the following materials for deaccessioning:

Betty Hutchinson Wiser Papers (Private Collection 1716).

Description, date, quantity: 344.2 cubic feet, with records dating from the 1960s to the 2000s. Last transferred July 14, 2006.

Rationale: Over a period of 17 years, from 1989 to 2006, the personal papers and office files of Betty H. Wiser, who served in the NC House between 1985 and 1990, were accessioned by the State Archives of North Carolina. The files in this collection constitute research material amassed by Wiser through her involvement in several women’s and health related groups in North Carolina, especially those groups covering issues of aging and osteoporosis. Most of these records date after Wiser’s five-year term in the General Assembly ended in 1990.

These materials are outside the scope of private collections in the State Archives. The research materials include federal and state government publications, reports, pamphlets, brochures, copies of correspondence, conference materials, organizational budgets and directories, and training materials. These materials have little personal link to Wiser and most have no connection to North Carolina.

Furthermore, the records have minimal value for researchers. The records are reference copies of materials that Wiser received as part of her research, not primary record copies retained by the original author of each document. Most of the research is outdated due to its medical nature. If researchers seek historical information, it is much more probable that they would seek out primary sources from the originating organizations, not in a secondary collection like Wiser’s papers.

Although there may be a very small number of records that have archival value, the records were received in numerous donations over a 17-year period between 1989 and 2006, with no apparent grouping or ordering of records by either subject or date. Consequently, the boxes contain what can only be described as a jumble of records. It would take a lot of time to find documents with archival value, if they exist.

Exception: This deaccession does not include papers documenting Wiser’s term in the House of Representative. Those papers, which constitute an additional 42 cubic feet, will remain in the custody of the State Archives of North Carolina.

Proposed disposition: Deaccession and destroy

Approval of Dr. Darin Waters: Approved on _______________________

Submitted: Rebecca Mcgee-Lankford, Division of Archives and Records