National Coalition for History

A petition drive is underway asking the Obama administration to create a commission that will answer–within 1 year–questions such as what are our federal holdings, what would it take to digitize them, how much would it cost, and what are the economic and non-economic benefits? We urge you to go to the WhiteHouse.gov website, to support this effort by signing the petition. We need 25,000 signatures by January 20, 2012, to make this happen! Read the full article »

The House and Senate have completed action omnibus spending bill for fiscal year (FY) 2012. President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law shortly. The legislation would fund the federal government until September 30, 2012. Of major interest to the historical community, the Teaching American History Grants program at the U.S. Department of Education has been terminated, while the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) was saved from virtual elimination. Read the full article »

On December 1, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced $21 million in grants for 215 humanities projects. Read the full article »

On November 17, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee approved, by voice vote, H.R. 3071, the “Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2011.” The version as adopted embodied a manager’s amendment offered by Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif. that added federal records management provisions to the original bill which only addressed presidential records. Read the full article »

The National Archives Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) – the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Ombudsman – launched a new online case management system on November 28. Read the full article »

On November 28, President Obama issued a memorandum to the heads of Executive Departments and Agencies on Managing Government Records. This memorandum marks the start of an executive branch-wide effort to reform records management policies and practices. Read the full article »

The National Archives and Records Administration recently announced it will place the entire 1940 Census – more than 18 terabytes of data – online, free of charge, for viewing and download by page or enumeration district beginning Monday, April 2, 2012, at 9 a.m. EDT. Read the full article »

In 2010, President Obama signed Executive Order 13556, “Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI),” and designated the National Archives and Records Administration as the Executive Agent “to implement this order and oversee agency actions to ensure compliance with this order.” Read the full article »

The National Park Service recently announced the award of more than $1.4 million in grants to help with land acquisition at five Civil War battlefields. Grant recipients include battlefields at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania ($217,000); Wilson’s Creek, Missouri ($400,000); Bentonville, North Carolina ($114,000); Cedar Creek, Virginia ($430,000); and Chancellorsville, Virginia ($246,425). Read the full article »

The National Archives recently announced the launch of a special web site highlighting activities and documents related to the 2012 National History Day theme – Revolution, Reaction, and Reform in History. Inspiration for National History Day projects can be found in sample documents, suggested topics at www.DocsTeach.org/home/national-history-day. Read the full article »