John Gray, founding president of the Autry National Center of the American West, a consolidation of three cultural organizations in Los Angeles and Denver, has been appointed the Elizabeth MacMillan Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, effective July 23, 2012. Read the full article »
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) recently released its 2011 Records Management Self-Assessment Report. NARA’s findings are similar to last year’s. The responses indicated that a large majority of Federal agencies that responded remain at high to moderate risk of compromising the integrity, authenticity, and reliability of their records. Read the full article »
Archivist of the United State David S. Ferriero recently announced the appointment of William A. Mayer as Executive for Research Services for the National Archives and Records Administration, effective June 18, 2012. Read the full article »
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is seeking public comments on the draft guidelines for the FY 2013 Museums for America and National Leadership Grants for Museums programs. The guidelines for these programs have been revised to align with the IMLS Strategic Plan. Read the full article »
American Historical Association Executive Director James Grossman recently testified before the House Committee on Appropriations’ Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies. Speaking on behalf of the AHA and the National Humanities Alliance, Grossman urged the subcommittee to provide no less than $154.3 million to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for fiscal year 2013. This represents a small increase over the 2012 appropriation, and was the same amount requested by the Obama administration. Read the full article »
The National Park Service (NPS) has “imperiled” its own work in history with insufficient support to its history workforce, isolation of this workforce from the rest of the agency, underfunding, “narrow and static conceptions of history’s scope,” and “timid interpretation,” according to a report undertaken at the invitation of the National Park Service and published by the Organization of American Historians. The report urged the NPS, among other things, to “recommit to history.” Read the full article »
Core elements of the U.S. Navy’s historical program are “at risk” according to a recently declassified report by the U.S. Navy’s Inspector General’s Office. The IG’s report on the inspection of the Navy’s History and Heritage Command dramatically reinforces concerns that scholars have had in recent years about the state of the navy’s history program. Read the full article »
Wendell E. Berry, noted poet, essayist, novelist, farmer, and conservationist, recently delivered the 2012 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Read the full article »
On April 2, 2012, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) released the 1940 U.S. Census online. This marked the first time the agency has released an official decennial census online. The free official website is available at: http://1940census.archives.gov/ Read the full article »
The papers of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Byron R. White have been opened to research through the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress. At the time of his deed of gift, White specified that the papers were to be opened without restriction 10 years after his death. White died on April 15, 2002, at the age of 84. Read the full article »
