§ 57.09. Duties of local historian. It shall be the duty of each local
historian, appointed as provided in the last section, in cooperation
with the state historian, to collect and preserve material relating to
the history of the political subdivision for which he or she is
appointed, and to file such material in fireproof safes or vaults in the
county, city, town or village offices. Such historian shall examine into
the condition, classification and safety from fire of the public records
of the public offices of such county, city, town or village, and shall
call to the attention of the local authorities and the state historian
any material of local historic value which should be acquired for
preservation. He or she shall make an annual report, in the month of
January, to the local appointing officer or officers and to the state
historian of the work which has been accomplished during the preceding
year. He or she shall, upon retirement or removal from office, turn over
to the local county, city, town or village authorities, or to his or her
successor in office, if one has been then appointed, all materials
gathered during his or her incumbency and all correspondence relating
thereto. It shall be the duty of the county historian to supervise the
activities of the local historians in towns and villages within the
county in performing the historical work recommended by the state
historian, and also to prepare and to present to the board of
supervisors a report of the important occurrences within the county for
each calendar year. The state historian, at regular intervals, not less
than once a year, shall indicate to the local historians the general
lines along which local history material is to be collected.