FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Contact: Mike Seitz, (573) 526-0949
Contact: Ken Winn, (573) 751-4236

Carnahan Honors Alex M. Petrovic

Dedicates Reading Room to Sponsor of 1965 Legislation Creating Missouri State Archives

Jefferson City, Missouri -- Secretary of State Robin Carnahan is pleased to announce a dedication ceremony honoring Kansas City's Alex M. Petrovic. Senator Charles Wheeler and Representative Ray Salva will join Carnahan in dedicating the Alex M. Petrovic Reading Room of the Missouri State Archives on Wednesday, September 21. Petrovic introduced legislation establishing the Missouri State Archives in 1965.

"Maintaining the historic records of our state is a responsibility we have to future generations. Through his support of the State Archives, Alex Petrovic helped make this possible," said Carnahan.

After discovering piles of state records rotting in basements, Petrovic sponsored legislation to create a system for managing Missouri's records. Today, the Missouri State Archives stores document collections dating from 1770. Among its collections are important materials relating Lewis and Clark, slavery, the Civil War, the Great Depression, along with governors' papers, Supreme Court records, more than 250,000 photographs, and 10,000 unique maps.

Each year, the division's reading room is visited by approximately 4,500 hundred people from every state in the country. Carnahan said, "The reading room is an invaluable resource to citizens of Missouri and the nation. Dedicating the room to Representative Alex Petrovic is a fitting acknowledgement of the contribution he made to our state."

Who:	Secretary of State Robin Carnahan; Senator Charles Wheeler; Representative Ray Salva; Former Representative Alex M. Petrovic
What:	Dedication of the Alex M. Petrovic Reading Room in the Missouri State Archives
When:	Wednesday, September 21, 2005 at 2:00 p.m.
Where:	James C. Kirkpatrick State Information Center Lobby 600 West Main Street Jefferson City

###