The article attempts to discuss the history of the most important fields of activities of the State Archives in Lublin in the years 1944–1989. The article presents the principal legal acts that standardize the activity of the Lublin Archives and its place in the archival network in Poland, the organizational structure with the most important changes, the history of the branches, collegial bodies and their tasks, persons acting as directors of the institution, its personnel, and the matters concerning the housing of the Archives. As far as the activity of the Archives is concerned, the article discusses the archival holdings and the most important changes in its quantity and internal structure as well as organization and the most important achievements of the sector of supervision over the continually growing holdings and the reprographic-conservation workshop. The author also discusses the activity of the Archives in the field of direct and indirect accessibility of archival materials. Finally, the article presents the most important achievements of the institution in scientific, popularizing, and teaching fields.

The article presents the history of the Lublin State Archives Branch in Chełm with respect to both organizational and administrative issues (e.g. problems of housing the Archives) and also the ones that are important for the functioning of all archives, i.e. concerning the value of the stored archival materials. The managing personnel of the Chełm Archives were also presented. The article focuses on the tasks implemented by the personnel, illustrating the way of their implementation by examples and figures. The greatest attention was devoted to the archival holdings, especially their contents regarding the records creators. The authors then focused on the use of the archival holdings i.e. inter alia, on their availability in the reading room for scientific purposes and through archival research ordered by offices or individuals from Poland and abroad. As part of the popularization of the knowledge on archives and archive holdings the subjects of the archival exhibitions held within 70 years were presented. The presence of the Chełm Archives at ‘Noc Kultury’ [The Night of Culture], which is an event organized in recent years was also emphasized. The article pointed out the special role of the Archives, archival holdings, and archivists in the life of not only the residents of Chełm and its vicinity but also people from other parts of Poland and abroad.

The article presents the history of the Lublin State Archives Branch in Kraśnik from the moment of its foundation (1 August 1955) until the present time. In the first place, the article discusses the issues connected with the changes in the archival law which resulted in the change of the status of the Branch in Kraśnik several times. Particularly significant changes took place in the years 1976, 1979, and 1983 when the archives in Kraśnik started functioning as a Branch of the State Archives in Lublin. This state continues to this day. The next part of the article describes the holdings of the Branch in Kraśnik which consists of 336 archival fonds (as of 31 December 2017). The chronological scope of the materials gathered in the Kraśnik Archives comprises the years 1796–2016. The records produced after 1945 constitute the main part of the Archives. Presenting the history of the Lublin State Archives Branch in Kraśnik, the author also presented the portraits of the most distinguished archivists working in the above mentioned period.

The present article is an attempt to characterize the activity of the Radzyń Podlaski Branch of the State Archives in Lublin. The paper discusses the issues concerning the history of the Branch in Radzyń Podlaski and its predecessor – the District State Archives in Łuków. In addition, it presents the issues of the organization of this institution, implementation of its tasks, storage of the holdings, and its position in the structure of the State Archives in Lublin. The article presents the scope of tasks of the Branch, resulting from the Act on National Archive Resources and Archives, and its most important achievements in popularization and scientific activities. It also highlights the important role of the institution as a culture-forming center.

The Archives in Zamość was founded on the basis of the Regulation of the Minister of Education of 21 July 1950, which established 52 district branches of provincial state archives. From 1951 the branch was transformed into the District State Archives subordinated to the Provincial State Archives in Lublin. The first decade of its functioning was a difficult period of organizing the institution under the management of Hipolit Kozioł. The struggle for better premises to house the archives, the personnel’s living conditions and collecting documentation from various institutions was a priority. From 1962, under the directorship of Gertruda Sowińska, the seat of the Archives was moved to a specially designed house and its education-popularizing activity managed to develop. As a result of the administrative reform of 1975 the District State Archives was transformed into the Provincial State Archives (since 1 February 1976) subordinate to the General Director of the State Archives. Since that time it has functioned as an independent unit.

Century In Lublin, in the 17th and 18th century there was a custom of making a record of the handing over of the mayor’s office. According to the analyzed records of ca. 1639–1655 the takeover of office was accompanied by the handing over of the city insignia to the new mayor. As recorded, in the mid-18th century the city insignia comprised: the mace (scepter), the mayor’s gold ring, the grand seal of the city, the city’s iron seals, a silver crucifix and a cross for swearing oaths, the city council bell, the great keys of the city to be handed over to the king as well as the city drum and city cans. These objects, as currently defined by legal archeology, should be classified as symbols of city authority. In the municipal context, we are probably dealing with the reception of law and the rituals of state authority although the city insignia do not seem to fulfill such a significant legal function. In addition to the insignia, the mayors of Lublin also handed over a number of other objects connected with the systematic management of the city. The presented remarks on the insignia are preliminary and are the first attempt to present the chosen research subject.

The author of the paper attempted to identify the heraldic and epigraphic memorials of the houses in the historical center of Spišská Nová Ves, which originated from the 17th century until the beginning of the 20th century. This attempt is based on the comparison of the results of his own archival research of the owners of the houses in the historical center of Spišská Nová Ves in the 18th and 19th centuries, with the construction and historical research of Jan Muk (1981) and the genealogical research of Márton Szluha of the nobility at Spiš (2013).

The subject of the paper is the survey of primary sources (bibliographies of his works) and subject bibliographies connected with the person of Jan Długosz. The study will focus on four issues associated with the beginnings and development of these bibliographies, their kinds and content, and their role and significance in studies on Długosz. The author discusses four areas of bibliographic production related to Długosz. The first began in the 18th century and was characterized by the publication of bio-bibliographic works, which combined biographical interests with the search for manuscript texts of his works. In the 1870s the second area emerged connected with the creation of the national bibliography of Polish literature. An important section of this literature was the printed editions of the works by Długosz, and subsequently, also publications devoted to him. This discussion will lead us to the answer to the question about the need and possibility of creating a modern and complete bibliographic compendium associated with this medieval historian. From the early 20th century, the person of Długosz found its way into bibliographies compiled by literary historians, who first of all recorded the scientific achievements related to the studies on his works. Even earlier, from the 1860s, the fourth area developed in which many historical bibliographies were written. The person of Długosz first appeared in the wellknown foreign bibliographies – the German one by Potthast and the French one by Chevalier, later to become a permanent part of Polish bibliographic production created in different forms by Polish historians until today. Although there are many bibliographies, none of them provides a complete list of literature on 180 Piotr Dymmel Długosz, which is why they have to be used in a complementary way. The author suggests that a new bibliography be compiled which would combine primary sources and subject bibliography, and comprise the whole body of literature on Jan Długosz, in an electronic form as an Internet application. He says it will be published in 2019.

The aim of the article is to show the propaganda activity of the Polish United Workers’ Party during the first years of its functioning (1948-1952) through the prism of the organization of the district committee libraries. The libraries constituted a very important element of the internal party education system; they Propagandowa działalność komitetów powiatowych PZPR… 207 constituted a support self-education, so important from the party’s perspective, Both their holdings and professional staff were expected to encourage people to frequently use the libraries and at the same time to positively influence the intellectual development of the party members. The author, basing on libraries reports, presented the level of the party’s preparation for educational and propaganda activities in the field and also the level of its organization.

The register of things left by Przemyśl Pantler (Steward) Jerzy Wołodyjowski, who was a model for Sienkiewicz’s “Small Knight” – the defender of Kamieniec Podolski in 1672 – can be found in the Grabowiec municipal records, which are kept in the State Archives in Lublin. The article presents the tradition connected with the legend of Colonel Wołodyjowski, basic facts from his life, and the circumstances of the compilation of the posthumous inventory used during the lawsuit against persons who illegally seized the real estates of the deceased. The author of the article concludes that the real Wołodyjowski resembled his literary, Sienkiewicz-created image only in some respects. He was indeed an excellent soldier and was killed in Kamieniec Podolski (like Michał Wołodyjowski, his book counterpart) but his death was an accidental one. He also was a colonel but he was not in charge of the Lauda cavalry company. He had probably never been to Lithuania, where this ethnographic-historical region Lauda (Liaude) was situated. The article contains the edition of the inventory made after the death of Jerzy Wołodyjowski.

The article presents fragments of the fate of the noble family of the Dłużewski (from Mazovia). Krzysztof Dłużewski, one of its most important representatives in the mid-17th century married Anna Stawska and settled in Lublin province, giving birth to the “Lublin-Chełm” line of the family. In the next generations, the family played an important role in the life of local gentry, especially in the Chełm Land. The Kazimierz Dłużewski was its eminent figure and made the most significant career. At the end of his life he became the Chełm Castellan and as the only representative of the family he thereby attained the office of the senator. He was earlier connected with the court of King Jan III Sobieski and was appointed the Chełm Cupbearer and then Chełm Colors-bearer (honorary titles). His career was marked by military service. Kazimierz Dłużewski was a colonel of His Royal Highness and commanded hussars troops fighting against Tatars in Ukraine. During his life he gathered a large fortune which he divided among his sons and other members of his family before his death He was also a benefactor of churches and monasteries in Lublin province. The article contains the edition of the last will of Kazimierz Dłużewski, Castellan of Chełm, written in 1724.

In 1844 Komisja Rządowa Sprawiedliwości [Government Justice Committee] in Warsaw sent to the archives of historical records in the Kingdom of Poland the instructions on how to draw up indexes to Old-Polish court’s registers. The issuance of the instructions was connected with the action of indexing these registers that were the principal source of administered legal transactions in ownership cases and evidence of vested interests. The draft of the instructions by the Government Justice Committee was also sent to the Archives of Historical Records in Lublin. Lublin archivist, Hieronim Duchnowski, prepared an opinion and answer on this matter for the Committee at the turn of July and August 1844. The present edition has published the instructions on compiling indexes, issued by the Government Justice Committee in Warsaw, and the answer of Hieronim Duchnowski. This answer contains suggestions as to the alternative ways of indexing for this instruction prepared by Duchnowski, when he was employed in the Archives of Historical Records in Lublin (1842–1845).