Senate Rules Committee Holds Oversight Hearing on the Smithsonian

Despite the departure of controversial Secretary Lawrence Small, the Smithsonian Institution continues to take a beating on Capitol Hill. The Senate Rules Committee held an oversight hearing this week on the Smithsonian. In her opening statement Rules Committee Chairwoman Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) sharply criticized the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents for their lack of meaningful more >


Political Firestorm Erupts over Missing White House E-Mails

It was revealed this week that some 22 current Bush administration officials have separate White House and Republican National Committee (RNC) e-mail accounts that were designed to ensure that White House staff did not use government equipment for political purposes in violation of the Hatch Act. However, it is being alleged by congressional Democrats that more >


Key History Positions at National Park Service Remain Unfilled

During a session at the Organization of American Historians (OAH) annual meeting last week, it was revealed that both the Chief Historian and Bureau Historian positions at the National Park Service (NPS) remain vacant, with no clear date set for when they will be filled.


NHA 2007 Conference & Humanities Advocacy Day a Success (Report from Erin Smith of NHA)

The National Humanities Alliance’s (NHA) 2007 Conference was held March 26-27 in Washington, DC. The event began in the Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center with a policy forum and roundtable discussion featuring federal agency representatives. Topics included: capacity building and infrastructure support, fellowships and resources for scholars, public programs, collaborative research, preservation, education, international education and cultural exchange, and the humanities and technology.


NEH Awards First Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants

At the NHA conference, National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Chairman Bruce Cole announced the first Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants. Chairman Cole said that these new projects are designed to explore and develop innovative uses of technology in humanities education, scholarship, and public programming. Sixteen projects will receive a total of $478,565 in this program, more >


Nazi and Japanese War Crimes Declassification Project Concludes

The Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group (IWG), the group tasked with locating, declassifying, and making publicly available U.S. records of Nazi and Japanese war crimes, concluded its work on March 31, 2007.


NEH to Host Summit of Digital Humanities Centers

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH) at the University of Maryland have announced a summit meeting to plan a national coalition of digital humanities centers.


“Women in Congress 1917-2006” Published

The Office of History Preservation in the Office of the Clerk of U.S. House of Representatives recently published , “Women in Congress, 1917–2006.” The book is the first in an official four-part series about minorities who have served in Congress. Future volumes will profile African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian-Pacific Islander Americans who have served more >


Bits & Bytes

Library of Congress Acquires Caspar Weinberger Papers: The Library of Congress recently formally accepted a donation of the papers of former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. Weinberger served for six years in that post under President Ronald Reagan. Weinberger also served stints as Secretary of Health Education of Welfare (1973–1975) and director of the Office more >