NCH WASHINGTON UPDATE (Vol. 11, #42; 4 NOVEMBER 2005)

by Bruce Craig (editor) with Nathaniel Kulyk
NATIONAL COALITION FOR HISTORY (NCH)
Website at http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~nch

1. SENATE APPROVES EDUCATION BILL
2. ROSA PARKS HONORED AT THE CAPITOL
3. BRADEMAS CENTER CONVENES SYMPOSIUM ON PRESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC PAPERS
4. ISOO HOLDS SYMPOSIUM ON EXECUTIVE ORDER 12958
5. MCMILLEN SELECTED AS TOP ASSISTANT TO ARCHIVIST WEINSTEIN
6. OAH LAUNCHES DEPUTY DIRECTOR SEARCH
7. BITS AND BYTES: Powell Prize Announcement; FRUS Volume Release
8. ARTICLES OF INTEREST: "France's Positive Spin On Colonial Past Creates
Uproar" (USA TODAY)

1. SENATE APPROVES EDUCATION BILL

On 27 October 2005, the United States Senate passed, by a final vote of 94-3, its version of H.R. 3010, funding for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for FY 2006. In addition to providing funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services, funding for the Education Department's"Teaching American History" grant program, and providing new funding for Senator Lamar Alexander's Presidential and Congressional history academies, the act includes a provision (Amendment No. 2308) that would appropriate $7 million to the National Assessment Governing Board for the purpose of implementing a special National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test in United States history that would compare progress being made in history education on a state by state basis.

Senate Committee Report 109-103 details the appropriations levels of various agencies, including $290 million for the Institute of Museum and Library Services. In that total, the committee recommended that $17.5 million be appropriated for the Office of Museum Services Operations Grants, which will be used to build increased public access, expand educational services, and use technology more efficiently. In addition, the committee has recommended $3.6 million for Museum Conservation Programs and $29 million for Museum National Leadership Projects.

The committee also recommended that $10 million in new history funding be appropriated to carry out provisions of the American History and Civics Education Act of 2004, which is designed to strengthen the knowledge and teaching capacity for K-12 teachers of American history and civics. To this end, $5 million is set aside to establish Presidential Academies for the Teaching of American History and Civics, and $5 million is set aside to support the establishment of Congressional Academies for Students of American History and Civics, a program to help students develop a deeper understanding of these important subject matters.

The Senate also agreed to fund Senator Robert C. Byrd's (D-WV)"Teaching American History" grant program in the Education Department to the tune of $121 million. For the first time the appropriation will allow the department to reserve up to 3 percent of funds appropriated for this program for national activities. The National Coalition for History has long advocated this special funding and after five years of advocacy, it looks like we have finally been successful!

2. ROSA PARKS HONORED AT THE CAPITOL

Last week, the United States Capitol building was flooded with thousands of mourners, who came to Washington D.C., to pay their last respects to Rosa Parks, who many credit with sparking the civil rights movement. She is best known for her actions in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955, when she refused to surrender her bus seat to a white man. She died on 24 October at the age of 92. Even after death, she continues to make history: she is the first woman among 30 Americans to lie in state in the Capitol rotunda.

Dignitaries, officials, members of Congress, President Bush, and first lady Laura Bush were all on hand to greet the procession that started in Alabama and ended at the Capitol building. Eight members of the National Guard carried the casket into the rotunda where a private ceremony was held before viewing for the general public commenced. Rev. Daniel Coughlin, the chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives, declared at the ceremony,"Now, in her final journey, she has been brought to the Capitol rotunda to be honored with the prayers and well wishes of an entire nation."

The viewing lasted until 10 am on 31 October. The casket was then moved to the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, where a memorial service took place. Following the funeral, her body was returned to her home in Detroit where she was laid to rest on 2 November.

The overwhelming majority of mourners who came to Washington had never seen Rosa Parks, met her, or heard her speak. Yet she was one of them, an ordinary American, who took a courageous stand for what she knew was right. Kevin Weaver, a schoolteacher from Newport, Rhode Island, who had arranged for a"Remember Rosa Parks" day for his fourth-grade class, brought letters his students had written to Parks. One of the students, a girl named Kaitlyn wrote simply,"I just want to thank you for not giving up your seat."

3. BRADEMAS CENTER CONVENES SYMPOSIUM ON PRESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC PAPERS

On 25 October 2005, the John H. Brademas Center for the Study of Congress at New York University convened a special commemorative symposium to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the enactment of Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act (PRMPA), legislation that assured federal ownership of the tapes and papers of the Nixon presidency. Subsequent legislation, the Presidential Records Act (PRA), assured that the public papers of all presidents (beginning with Ronald Reagan) would belong to the American people.

The Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein opened the proceedings with a brief keynote speech that set the stage for several panels. The first panel focused on the history, content, and relevance of the PRMPA as well as its legal implications for the work of historians, archivists, and other scholars. The highlight of the panel was the carefully crafted presentation by Leonard Garment, who, in the wake of the Watergate scandal filled the role of Counsel to President Nixon after the resignation of John Dean. Among other revelations, Garment stated that he advised the president that if the administration opted to destroy the tapes under the cloud of a Senate subpoena as several top Nixon aides had advocated, it would probably be viewed as an impeachable offense. To a large extent the historical community owes a debt of thanks to Garment for seeing to it that the presidential tapes were not destroyed.

Two other panels focused on the importance of not just presidential records but the papers of senators, representatives, and other administration officials whose papers are not viewed as property of the U.S. government. The discussants of both panels deliberated on the potential for creating more effective policies for archiving the papers of public officials. Among the speakers on the final panel was Ray Smock, director of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies at Shepherd University and the current president of the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress. This relatively new organization, Smock explained, is dedicated to preserving the papers of members of Congress.

For additional information about the activities of the Brademas Center write to brademas.center@nyu.edu or call (212) 998-2269.

4. ISOO HOLDS SYMPOSIUM ON EXECUTIVE ORDER 12958

The Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) recently sponsored a symposium at the National Archives to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Executive Order 12958 on national security classification. Issued by President Clinton in 1995, this executive order upholds the principle of the automatic declassification of historically valuable documents and records as they become 25 years old. President Bush also affirmed the principle in his 2003 Executive Order 13292, although he deferred the effective date to the end of 2006, so as to allow the agencies more time to assess their classified documents and prepare for declassification. The symposium offered attendees a number of different perspectives on the issue of classifying documents and provided an open forum for panel discussions.

The keynote speaker was former Congressman Lee H. Hamilton of Indiana, who served in the House of Representatives for 34 years and was the long-time chair of the House International Relations Committee. More recently, he served as vice-chair of the 9/11 Commission. In his remarks, he stated,"At a time when the U.S. intelligence community is under intense scrutiny in the aftermath of 9/11 and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, we only increase public skepticism about out government by denying the public information." The complete text of Lee Hamilton's speech is available online, in Adobe Reader format, here .

Robert Rogalski, the director of security for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, noted that there was way too much subjectivity in the way documents are classified. He also acknowledged that the issue is a very serious one, particularly because of public unease about increasing levels of government security. He noted"it makes our job easier if the America public doesn't believe we're trying to hide behind secrets. We should be as transparent as possible."

Other speakers included Lawrence Halloran, a senior staff member from the House Homeland Security and Terrorism Subcommittee and Steven Aftergood, of the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy. Voicing his skepticism about the impact of automatic declassification, Aftergood commented,"The executive order has failed the nation." Halloran stated that overclassification damaged the integrity of the system and encouraged leaks and other violations of classified protocols.

A report recently released by the ISOO examined the degree of readiness of 46 government agencies for the advent of this automatic declassification program and determined that only 22 will be prepared at the end of 2006. (See"ISSO Issues Status Report on Federal Agency Mandatory Declassification Effort” in NCH WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol 11, # 38; 6 October 2005)

5. MCMILLEN SELECTED AS TOP ASSISTANT TO ARCHIVIST WEINSTEIN

On 20 October 2005, Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein announced the appointment of Dr. David McMillen to the newly formed position of External Affairs Liaison. McMillen began working at NARA on 30 October 2005.

As External Affairs Liaison, McMillen will be responsible for the planning and continued management of a program to partner with a number of allied professional, technical, and scientific organizations. In addition, he will be responsible for assuring that the mission, goals, policies, and services of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) are clearly communicated to audiences and that partnering opportunities are thoroughly explored.

McMillen comes to NARA from the professional staff of the House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform where he served since 1995. He previously held a similar position with the corresponding Senate Committee from 1991 to 1995. He has advised Members of Congress on a broad range of information policy issues including the Presidential Records Act, the Privacy Act, the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and the Freedom of Information Act. He also managed the reauthorization of the National House Publications and Records Commission in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Prior to working in the Legislative Branch, McMillen was a demographer and statistician at the United States Census Bureau. Additionally, he worked as a liaison with members of the academic community who analyze household survey data.

McMillen earned his BA in History and Literature from West Liberty State College in West Virginia; his MA in Literature and Linguistics from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA; and his PhD in Applied Social Statistics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has published extensively in professional journals on the subject of electronic information, data sharing and privacy, and the census.

For over a decade, McMillen has been one of the National Coalition for History's most helpful contacts on Capitol Hill. Though we are sorry to see him leave the House Committee on Governmental Affairs, we wish him the very best in his new position and look forward to working with him in yet another capacity.

6. OAH LAUNCHES DEPUTY DIRECTOR SEARCH

As regular readers of this publication are aware, we do not normally announce job postings through this publication. However, every once in a while a position comes up that is of such key importance to the history and archives professions that we do.... this is one such occasion.

The Organization of American Historians (OAH) is seeking a new deputy director as it prepares for its second century as a leader in the preservation and promotion of American history. John Dichtl who for some number of years has served in this capacity is moving on to become the new director of the National Council on Public History.

The new OAH deputy director will supervise a staff of nine full-time and eight part-time employees in advertising, committees, education, development, lectureship, finance, meeting and conferences, membership, public history, and technology. This individual will work to ensure membership in the OAH, promote subscription and lectureship growth; advance public history programs; work with program committees to create dynamic meetings and conferences; and will oversee publication and information technology projects. The deputy director also helps to disseminate information to the membership and other audiences through a quarterly newsletter, other publications, and the website; directs initiatives in history education; and leads the marketing efforts of the OAH.

Qualifications include a Ph.D. in American History or a related field, plus five years experience in management and supervision in a historical, membership, or nonprofit institution; excellent skills in writing and editing; ability to communicate with a wide range of constituencies; a strong commitment to scholarship and other professional pursuits in history; and a demonstrated record of success in management and building professional collaborations.

Letter of application and c.v. or resume with names of three references should be sent to OAH Deputy Search, PO Box 5457, Bloomington, IN 47408-5457, or to Deputysearch@oah.org, by 18 November 2005.

The OAH was founded in 1907 and has over 9,000 individual members and a $2.5 million budget. It is the largest professional association and leaned society dedicated to the research, teaching, and presentation of United States history.

7. BITS AND BYTES

Item #1 ­ Powell Prize Announcement: The Society for History in the Federal Government (SHFG) invites applications for its 2005 John Wesley Powell Prize for the preservation and conservation of historical places and materials. The purpose of all Society awards is to recognize and encourage excellence in the study of the history of the federal government, as well as to increase appreciation of both the history itself and also the efforts of those who, through a variety of methods and media, explore that history. The John Wesley Powell Prize commemorates the explorer and federal administrator whose work demonstrated the importance of historical preservation and historical display. Every other year the award recognizes excellence in the field of historic preservation. Examples of eligible entries include, but are not limited to, projects that stabilize, restore, or adaptively reuse historic buildings or structures; historical reports that support preservation efforts; educational materials or heritage trails that foster a preservation ethic; innovative strategies for physical conservation; or planning processes for long-term preservation. Federal agencies and those carrying out work on behalf of the federal government may apply. Entries for the 2005 prize should be for achievements in calendar years 2004 - 2005 and must be submitted by November 15th. For a more detailed explanation of the award, criteria for selection, and application procedures, please visit the Society's award website at .

Item #2 ­ FRUS Volume Release: On 27 October 2005, the State Department released an electronic publication of"Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969-1976, Volume E-5, Documents on Africa, 1969-1972." This volume is the latest publication in the sub-series on Foreign Relations that documents the most important decisions and actions of the Nixon and Ford Administrations. This volume documents the foreign policy of the Nixon Administration toward Sub-Saharan Africa, 1969-1972, with the exception of Southern Africa, which will be included in a future volume. The largest chapter looks at the challenges faced by the State Department and the Administration during and after the Nigerian civil war. The second largest chapter looks at the Horn of Africa and relations with Ethiopia and the Somali Republic. In addition, there are chapters that examine Burundi and the massacres of civilians in late 1972 that were condoned by the government; the downward spiral of U.S. relations with Uganda; relations with Zaire and President Mobutu; and a general chapter that covers general African policy. There is also a preface, a list of names, abbreviations, sources, and an annotated document list. Volume E-5 is the third publication to be published in electronic format. It is available online free of charge at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/nixon/e5/. For Additional information about the series, contact Edward Keefer, the General Editor of the FRUS series at (202) 663-1131 or at history@state.gov .

8. ARTICLES OF INTEREST

One posting this week...In"France's Positive Spin On Colonial Past Creates Uproar" (USA TODAY; 21 October 2005) an Associated Press report focuses on a law recently passed in France that includes a section requiring that history textbooks take a"positive spin" on a painful era in the country's history and"recognize in particular the positive character of the French overseas presence, notably in North Africa." The law has created quite an uproar in France. For the article click here. .

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The National Coalition for History is a nonprofit educational organization that provides leadership in history related advocacy; it serves as the profession's national voice in the promotion of history and archives, and acts as a clearinghouse of news and information of interest to history related professionals.

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