Management Crisis Threatens “Foreign Relations” Series

The much-anticipated report on the future of the Foreign Relations Series of the United States (FRUS) and the Office of the Historian from a Review Team appointed by then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice surfaced this week in a story by Steven Aftergood in Secrecy News. The report has not yet been officially released by the Department of State, but Aftergood was able to obtain a copy through another source. The report can be accessed by clicking here.


NEH Announces Appointment of Acting Chairman

President Barack Obama has appointed Carole M. Watson, Assistant Chairman for Partnership and National Affairs, as the Acting Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Watson will serve as acting chairman until the presidential nomination and Senate confirmation of the agency’s next chairman.


Smithsonian Regents Issue Revised Document Disclosure Policy

The Smithsonian’s Board of Regents recently approved a revised request for information policy, consistent with the principles of the Freedom of Information Act. The policy, titled “Requests for Smithsonian Institution Information,” is an update of one that has been posted on the Institution’s Web site since November 2007. In January 2008, the National Coalition for History joined thirty other organizations in expressing concerns about the original version of Directive 807.


NEA Announces Appointment of New Acting-Chair

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) recently announced the appointment of Patrice Walker Powell as the agency’s acting chairman. In this position, she will provide oversight for agency grant-making and day-to-day agency operations and supervise administrative activities. She assumed the role on January 29. Former-NEA Chair Dana Gioia announced last September he would be leaving the post in January 2009.