National Coalition for History

On March 1, 2007, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and the National Archives held a hearing to consider presidential records, specifically the impact Executive Order (E.O.) 13233 has had on the disposition of those materials. The E.O. was issued in November 2001 by President George W. Bush, and gives not only current and former presidents, but also vice presidents and a former president’s family, the authority to withhold presidential records or delay their release indefinitely. Read the full article »

On February 26, 2007, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) published a proposed rule announcing its intention to raise its fees for reproducing federal records and historical materials in NARA’s holdings. The proposed rule covers Federal records created by other agencies that are in the National Archives, donated historical materials, presidential records, Nixon Presidential historical materials, and records filed with the Office of the Federal Register. Read the full article »

The National Humanities Alliance (NHA) will hold its 2007 conference March 26-27 in Washington DC. The two-day event is a unique meeting ground for members of the Alliance and others interested in humanities policy and advocacy, including higher education leaders, college and university faculty, teachers, museum professionals, librarians, archivists, curators and independent scholars. Read the full article »

On February 22–23, 2007, the National Council on the Humanities held two days of meetings in Washington, D.C. The Council serves as an advisory board to the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities on policies and programs and reviews applications for financial support from the NEH. On February 22, the committees on education, federal/state partnerships, preservation and access, public, and research programs held brief public sessions before going into closed session for discussions of specific grants and applications. Read the full article »

On February 24, 2007, the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) met to discuss declassification program issues. The meeting included presentations from representatives of the public with significant experience in declassification matters and a wide-ranging discussion of potential modifications to current declassification processes and policies. The PIDB was created by statute in 2000, to serve as an advisory board on declassification priorities and policies. Read the full article »

National History Day (NHD) is a year-long, nonprofit education program dedicated to improving the teaching and learning of history in schools. The program teaches students critical skills that will help them succeed in college, the workplace and make them effective citizens in the 21st century. NHD engages more than 1.5 million people –– students, teachers and parents –– annually. A core of the program is a national contest similar to science fair where students produce performances, exhibits, documentaries and research papers based on in-depth historical research. Read the full article »

Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lawrence Small is once again under siege after an internal report done by the Institution’s Inspector General questioned the propriety of nearly $90,000 in unauthorized expenses incurred by Small over the past five years. The report was leaked to the “Washington Post,” which ran the story this week. Small has refused to respond publicly to the report. However, the watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has asked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to investigate whether Small has violated federal law by using government funds for the expenses in question. In addition, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, has asked the chancellor of the Smithsonian Board of Regents, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John G. Roberts, Jr. to look into the allegations.

The Washington Post issued a scathing editorial critical of both Small and the Smithsonian Board of Regents which it called “more lap dog than watchdog.”

A new online collection of interviews with some of the most prominent diplomats of the 20th century is now available from the Library of Congress.

Most of the interviews in the collection come from foreign service officers, but there also are some with political appointees and other officials. While some 1920s-, 1930s-, and World War II-era diplomacy is covered, most of the interviews involve post-World War II diplomacy, from the late 1940s to the 1990s. The collection includes extensive personal recollections from luminaries of American 20th century diplomatic history, including Zbigniew Brzezinski (national security adviser under President Carter), Frank Carlucci (a former ambassador to Portugal and secretary of defense under President Reagan), Lawrence Eagleburger (secretary of state under President George H.W. Bush), Averell Harriman (ambassador to the Soviet Union and England under President Franklin Roosevelt), Jeane Kirkpatrick (ambassador to the United Nations), Dean Rusk (secretary of state under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson), and Cyrus Vance (secretary of state under President Carter).

“As Ethics Panels Expand Grip, No Field Is Off Limits,” ‘New York Times,’ February 28, 2007. The article discusses the impact Institutional Review Boards are having on historical research involving “human subjects.”

On February 28, 2007, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing on changing the presidential library funding disclosure process. Sharon K. Fawcett, Assistant Archivist for Presidential Libraries, testified on behalf of NARA. Also testifying were Celia Viggo Wexler of Common Cause and Sheila Krumholz of the Center for Responsive Politics. Read the full article »