National Coalition for History

Fewer than one-third of the nation’s students achieve at or above the proficient level in geography, according to the latest results released this week from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The geography report card, released on the heels of report cards in civics and U.S. history, adds to a picture of stagnating or declining overall achievement among U.S. students in the social sciences. Read the full article »

The National Archives is proposing to change its regulations to add the methodology for creating and changing records reproduction fees, to remove records reproduction fees found in its regulations, and to provide a notification process for the public of new or proposed fees. Read the full article »

The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, operated by the National Archives, has opened to the public over 500,000 pages of textual materials, one hour of dictabelt recordings, and an online exhibit focusing on the December 1972 bombing of North Vietnam. Read the full article »

The National Archives has completed the first phase of a major project leading to the re-encasement and public display of Magna Carta. The document – written on parchment in 1297 with iron gall ink – is one of 17 surviving versions of Magna Carta in the world today, the only one in North America and the only Magna Carta in private hands. Read the full article »

Archivist of the United David S. Ferriero has announced the appointment of John P. Fitzpatrick as the Director of the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO). The President of the United States approved Mr. Fitzpatrick’s appointment, which will become effective on Monday, August 1, 2011. He succeeds William J. Bosanko, who became the Executive for Agency Services in March. Read the full article »

The National Declassification Center at the National Archives has released its Third Bi-Annual status report. This report details the progress made since January 2010 in meeting the President’s December 29, 2009, charge to eliminate the approximately 400 million page back log of reviewed, but not publicly available records at NARA. Click here to view the executive summary. Read the full article »

Legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives to eliminate the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), the grant-making arm of the National Archives. H.R. 2531, the “Stop Wasting Archive Grants Act of 2011,” was introduced by Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). Read the full article »

This week, the House Appropriations Committee approved (by a vote of 28-18) the fiscal year (FY) 2012 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies appropriations bill, which provides funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), conservation and heritage programs National Park Service and the Smithsonian Institution. Read the full article »

A proposed new rule published for comment by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) last week would establish updated new procedures for the declassification of historical records containing national security information. Read the full article »

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar recently announced $26.7 million in grants from the Historic Preservation Fund to the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. territories, and three independent Pacific island nations. Read the full article »

Nearly $9 million dollars in grant money is available from the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) to help states and local communities acquire and preserve threatened Civil War battlefield land. Read the full article »

Marc Pachter, former director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, has been appointed Acting Director of the National Museum of American History, effective Aug. 15. He will replace Brent D. Glass, who announced that he was leaving the directorship in August and retiring from Smithsonian at the end of the year. Read the full article »

From July 11-31, 2011, the National Archives is displaying newly declassified documents from 1918 detailing German secret ink formulas. The oldest newly declassified documents held by the National Archives, these materials were released April 19, 2011, by the National Archives National Declassification Center in coordination with the Central Intelligence Agency, as part of the President’s ongoing Open Government initiative. Read the full article »

Dr. Brent Glass has announced he is leaving his position as director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History effective July 10; he will continue at the Smithsonian as a senior advisor through the end of this year. Read the full article »

On June 23, 2011, the House Appropriations Committee cleared a bill providing only $1 million for the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) in fiscal year (FY) 2012. That figure constitutes a 90% reduction from the FY ’11 funding level of $7 million and is $4 million less than the Obama administration’s request for the NHPRC. Read the full article »

Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero recently announced the appointment of Debra Steidel Wall as Deputy Archivist of the United States, effective July 3, 2011. Read the full article »

Forty-five years after President Johnson signed the U.S. Freedom of Information Act into law in 1966, federal agency backlogs of FOIA requests are growing, with the oldest requests at eight agencies dating back over a decade and the single oldest request now 20 years old, according to the Knight Open Government Survey by the National Security Archive at George Washington University. Read the full article »

On June 13, the Advisory Committee on the Records of Congress (ACRC) met at the U.S Capitol Visitor Center. Read the full article »

The National Coalition for History and more than 34 organizations recently joined OpenTheGovernment.org in sending a letter to the Chair and Ranking Member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee urging them, in recognition of the 45th anniversary of the signing of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) on July 4, to support and move forward the “Faster FOIA Act” (H.R. 1564). Read the full article »

Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero has announced the appointment of Dr. Peter Shulman as the recipient of the 2011 Legislative Archives Research Fellowship. Read the full article »