Dr. Péter Balázs: Guide to the archives of Hungary (Budapest, 1976)
Bács-Kiskun Megyei Levéltár (Bács-Kiskun County Archives)
Among the archival groups of industrial and agricultural enterprises and savings-banks the followings have outstanding value: The papers of the Kner Press at Gyoma (from 1882 to 1946) contain the correspondence with famous German, English and Swedish typographers of the first half of the twentieth century, and the correspondence on literature translated from Swedish and Norwegian, printed here. Also the correspondence with significant persons of Hungarian literature and art of the first half of the twentieth century on literary and public questions (Béla BARTÓK, Zoltán KODÁLY, Béla BALÁZS and others) is preserved in this archival group. A detailed picture of the typical industries of the county may be drawn from the' papers of the Gyula stocking factory between 1900 and 1948, of the Mezőhegyes sugar-works between 1889 and 1948, of the Sarkad sugarworks between 1910 and 1948, further of the Békéscsaba mill (1848-1948) and of the Orosháza mill (1918-1948). Of the savings-banks the papers of the strongest institution of this kind in the county, the Békéscsaba Savings-Bank Company from 1900 to 1949 are preserved in a completeness apt for research. Of the large estates before 1945 only the copious archival group of the Wenckheim estate, consisting of six parts, covering the time span from 1854 to 1944, has come to archival preservation. The material of aristocratic families with estates also in the county is kept by the Hungarian National Archives (the families Harruckern, Károlyi, etc.). Among the papers of private persons the collection of manuscripts and notes of Sámuel TESSEDIK, pastor at Szarvas and the pioneer of Hungarian agrarian instruction, between 1805 and 1917, has outstanding value. The Archives has a manuscript collection of maps reaching back to 1782 and totalling more than 300 pieces. The collection of deeds of nobility is missing, it has disappeared during World War II. The Archives is rich in records from the time of the precursor of the socialist period, the 1919 Republic of Councils and also in those of the postliberation organs of popular power (National Committees, Land-Claimants ' Committees, etc.). Also the gathering of the papers of the enterprises, taken over by the state in 1948, and of the records of the county, district, city and community councils, established in 1950, has been begun. Finding aids on the Archives published hitherto: A Békés megyei Levéltár fondjainak jegyzéke (List of Archival Groups of the Békés County Archives). Budapest, 1969. Publications of the Archives: Forráskiadványok a Békés megyei Levéltárból (Source Publications from the Békés County Archives), series:
