On July 28, President Obama announced his intent to nominate David S. Ferriero to the position of Archivist of the United States. Mr. Ferriero currently serves as the Andrew W. Mellon Director of the New York Public Libraries (NYPL). Mr. Ferriero succeeds Professor Allen Weinstein who resigned as Archivist last December.
The U.S. Department of Education recently awarded 123 grants under the FY 2009 Teaching American History (TAH) program competition. To view the list of 2009 grantees, click here. This year’s awards come at a time when it appears congressional support for the program may be waning.
On May 27, 2009, President Obama signed a Memorandum ordering the review of Executive Order 12958, as amended, “Classified National Security Information.” On June 2, 2009, the National Security Advisor asked the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) to assist in the review by soliciting public input for revisions to the Order. The Declassification Policy Forum opened on June 29, 2009, and can be accessed on the Office of Science and Technology Policy’s (OSTP) Blog. The public comment public comment period has been extended until July 19th.
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Park Service would receive major boosts in funding under the House Appropriations’ Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies fiscal year (FY) 2010 “Chairman’s Mark” that was approved on June 11. The full House Appropriations Committee is expected to take up the bill sometime next week.
On June 3, 2009, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate former Republican Congressman Jim Leach as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
In March, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) sought public comment on cost effective ways of modifying the present system for archiving and providing public access to Presidential records. On April 29, the National Coalition for History submitted its comments to NARA. To see a copy of NCH’s comments, click here. The deadline for submitting comments to NARA has been extended until May 22.
On April 13, 245,763 pages of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush Presidential records were opened for research at their respective libraries. These records were still pending at the end of the George W. Bush administration on January 20, 2009. They were released in accordance with the Presidential Records Act and the new Executive Order 13489, addressing presidential records, which was signed by President Obama on January 21, 2009.
The Co-Chairs of the Congressional Humanities Caucus, Rep. David Price (D-NC) and Rep. Thomas Petri (R-WI), have prepared a Dear Colleague letter in support of $230 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities in fiscal year 2010. Please call your member of Congress and ask him/her to show their support for the humanities by signing the letter before it is submitted on April 1, 2009, to Chairman Norm Dicks (D-WA) and Ranking Member Michael Simpson (R-ID) of the Interior, Environment, & Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee.
On March 11, 2009, President Obama signed into law the omnibus fiscal year (FY) 2009 budget legislation (H.R. 1105) which provides funding for federal agencies covered under the nine appropriations bills left unfinished by the last Congress. The omnibus package finalizes spending levels for the current fiscal year that began on October 1, 2008. (see related stories on budgets for individual agencies and programs of interest to the historical and archival communities).
On January 21, in one of his first official acts, President Barack Obama revoked the Bush administration’s Executive Order 13233 that severely limited access by the public to presidential records. Click here to see a copy of President Obama’s new Executive Order 13489.
