FOREWORD
The Inventory of the County Archives of Kentucky is one of a nu ber
of bibliographies ef—historical materials prepared throughout the United
States by workers on the Historical Records Survey Program of the Work
Projects Administration. The publication herewith presented, an inven-
tory of the archives of Breckinridge County, is number 14 of the Kentucky
series.
The Historical Records Survey Program was undertaken in the winter
of 1955-56 for the purpose of providing useful employment to needy un-
employed historians, lawyers, teachers, and research and clerical workers.
In carrying out this objective, the project was organized to compile in- .
ventories of historical materials, particularly the unpublished documents
and records which are basic in the administration of local government,
and which provide invaluable data for students of political, economic,
V and social history. The archival guide herewith presented is intended
to meet the requirements of day-to-day administration by the officials
of the county, and also the needs of lawyers, businessmen, and other citi-
zens who require facts from the public records for the proper conduct of
their affairs. The volume is so designed that it can be used by the
historian in his research in unprinted sources in the same way he uses
the library card catalog for printed sources.
The inventories produced by the Historical Records Survey Program
attempt to do more than give merely a list of records - they attempt
further to sketch in the historical background of the county or other
unit of government, and to describe precisely and in detail the organi-
zation and functions of the government agencies whose records they list.
The county, town, and other local inventories for the entire county will,
when completed, constitute an encyclopedia of local government as well as
a bibliography of local archives.
The successful conclusion of the work of the Historical Records Sur-
vey Program, even in a single county, would not be possible without the
support of public officials, historical and legal specialists, and many
other groups in the community. Their cooperation is gratefully acknowl-
edged.
The Survey Progran was organized by Luther H. Evans, who served as
Director until his appointment as Director of the Legislative Reference
Service of the Library of Congress. He was succeeded en March l, 1940,
by Sargent B. Child, who had served in the capacity of Field Supervisor
since the inauguration of the Survey. The Survey Program operates as a
Nation-wide series of locally sponsored projects in the Division of Pre-
fessional and Service Projects, of which Mrs. Florence Kerr, Assistant
Commissioner, is in charge.
F. C. Harrington
Commissioner