National Coalition for History

On March 14, President Obama urged Congress to pass legislation to reform the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law before the start of the next school year in September. Read the full article »

March Madness is already well underway on Capitol Hill. The congressional version though has nothing to do with basketball, but rather its inability to pass a budget for fiscal year 2011, which will be half over on April 1. The Senate is poised to approve the sixth continuing resolution (CR) to keep the federal government running until April 8th. Read the full article »

On March 2, President Barack Obama presented the 2010 National Humanities Medals to ten individuals honored for their outstanding achievements in history, literature, education, and cultural policy. The medalists include historians Bernard Bailyn and Gordon S. Wood, and legal historian and higher education policy expert Stanley Nider Katz. Read the full article »

Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero recently announced several key appointments as part of a major transformation of the National Archives and Records Administration. The new appointments follow an internal report, A Charter for Change: Charting the Course, which recommended changes to the organizational structure and culture of the National Archives. Read the full article »

On March 16, the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) announced the debut of an on-line system that allows searches through dozens of historic collections, from small local museums to collections of the Smithsonian, National Parks, and U.S. Navy. A prototype is now available at www.NationalPortal.org. Read the full article »

Military intelligence budget figures that were disclosed recently document the steady rise of the total U.S. intelligence budget from $63.5 billion in FY2007 up to last year’s total of $80.1 billion. These findings were reported by Steven Aftergood in Secrecy News. Read the full article »

The Society for History in the Federal Government (SHFG) will hold its annual meeting on March 31, 2011, at the National Archives at College Park, MD. The conference program and on-line registration are available at the SHFG website. Read the full article »

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) recently announced the release of the 2010 Records Management Self-Assessment Report. The report indicate that 95 percent of those Federal agencies that responded are at high to moderate risk of compromising the integrity, authenticity, and reliability of their records. Read the full article »

On March 16, 2011, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) joined seven international research funders in announcing their joint participation in round two of the Digging into Data Challenge, a grant competition designed to spur cutting-edge research in the humanities and social sciences. Read the full article »

The National Archives recently announced that its library services in the Washington, DC area will be reduced in fiscal year 2012 as a result of the Obama administration’s mandate to federal agencies that they terminate or cut programs. The changes would go into effect when the new fiscal year begins on October 1, 2011. Read the full article »

The Foundation for the National Archives and the National Archives recently announced the official launch of a new website, www.DocsTeach.org. The website, created with the support of Texas Instruments, was introduced to the education community in September, and teachers nationwide quickly responded with enthusiasm and resounding participation. Read the full article »

Librarian of Congress James H. Billington has appointed Mary B. Mazanec as acting director of the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The appointment of Mazanec, who has served since August 2010 as CRS deputy director, will be effective April 3. She will serve until the Librarian selects a new director. CRS Director Daniel P. Mulhollan will retire on April 2, after 17 years in the position. Read the full article »