NCH WASHINGTON UPDATE (Vol. 13, #2; January 18, 2007)
1. NATIONAL ARCHIVES ANNOUNCES DEAL WITH FOOTNOTE.COM TO PROVIDE ON-LINE
ACCESS TO DIGITIZED RECORDS
2. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF APPLICATIONS
FOR FY '07 TEACHING AMERICAN HISTORY GRANTS
3. JAPANESE WORLD WAR II WAR CRIMES FILES DECLASSIFIED
4. NEH ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR ITS "LANDMARKS OF AMERICAN HISTORY AND
CULTURE" PROGRAM
5. HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE NAMES SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIRS
6. ARCHIVIST APPOINTS NEW JFK PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY DIRECTOR
7. HOUSE OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM COMMITTEE MINORITY RELEASES
REPORT ON BERGER THEFT OF NATIONAL ARCHIVES PAPERS
8. ARTICLE OF INTEREST:
"How to Bury a Secret: Turn It Into Paperwork," January 16, 2007, "Washington Post"
1. NATIONAL ARCHIVES ANNOUNCES DEAL WITH FOOTNOTE.COM TO PROVIDE ON-LINE ACCESS TO DIGITIZED RECORDS
On January 10, Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein and Footnote, Inc. CEO Russell Wilding announced an agreement to digitize selected records from the holdings of the National Archives. The 4.5 million pages that have been digitized so far are now available at http://www.footnote.com/nara.php
This non-exclusive agreement, beginning with the sizeable collection of materials currently on microfilm, will enable researchers and the general public to access millions of newly-digitized images of the National Archives historic records on a subscription basis from the Footnote web site. Footnote can charge users on a per-page or on a monthly or annual fee basis. By February 6, the digitized materials will also be available at no charge in National Archives research rooms in Washington, D.C. and regional facilities across the country. After an interval of five years, all images digitized through this agreement will be available at no charge through the National Archives web site.
The first set of collections available are the Papers of the Continental Congress (1774-89); the Matthew B. Brady Collection of Civil War Photographs; the files of the post-Civil War Southern Claims Commission; a Name Index to Civil War and Later Pension Files, and Investigative Case Files of the Bureau of Investigation from 1908-22.
2. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF APPLICATIONS FOR FY '07 "TEACHING AMERICAN HISTORY" GRANTS
Last week, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it has begun accepting applications for grants under the agency's "Teaching American History" program for fiscal year 2007. The deadline for the submission of applications to DOEd is March 9, 2007, and the deadline for interagency review of applications is May 8, 2007. The agency also announced it will be holding a technical assistance workshop to help prospective applicants in preparing their applications. The workshop will be held on January 31, 2007, in Washington, D.C. Complete information on the program, the application process and the workshop can be found at http://www.ed.gov/programs/teachinghistory/applicant.html . The Federal Register notice announcing the opening of the application process can be found at http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/announcements/2007-1/010807a.pdf
The "Teaching American History" Grant program supports competitive grants to local educational agencies. The purpose of these grants is to promote the teaching of traditional American history in elementary and secondary schools. Grants are used to improve the quality of history instruction by supporting professional development for teachers of American history. Grants assist local educational agencies (LEAs), in partnership with entities that have extensive content expertise, to design, implement, and demonstrate effective, research-based professional development programs.
3. JAPANESE WORLD WAR II WAR CRIMES FILES DECLASSIFIED
Last week, the Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group (IWG) announced the availability of 100,000 pages of recently declassified records as a result of a search for files relevant to Japanese war crimes. In addition, the IWG released a new reference book and electronic records finding aid that will help researchers locate and use the thousands of new and extant files in the National Archives related to the war in the Pacific. These research aids can be found at http://www.archives.gov/iwg/japanese-war-crimes/
The declassification is a result of an investigation by several U.S. government agencies for classified records remaining in their files, pursuant to the requirements of the Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Disclosure Acts. The declassified records include a range of materials from the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), CIA, the State Department, Army Intelligence, FBI, and other agencies, and cover many aspects of the Pacific conflict and postwar relations between the United States and Japan. In general, however, only a small portion of these records specifically pertains to Japanese war crimes. The records are open and available at the research room of the National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
4. NEH ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR ITS "LANDMARKS OF AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE" PROGRAM
The National Endowment for the Humanities is now accepting applications for it "Landmarks of American History and Culture" workshops to be held in the summer of 2007. Under the program, educators from across the United States travel to historic landmarks for intensive, week-long workshops to deepen their knowledge--and their students' knowledge--of the nation's history in places where it was made. Twenty-four "Landmarks of American History and Culture" workshops will be held in the summer of 2007. Among the Landmarks workshops, 19 have been developed for K-12 teachers and an additional five have been designed for community college faculty. The initiative is funded under the Endowment's "We the People" program.
Those interested in applying should visit the NEH Website at http://www.neh.gov/projects/index.html . The application deadline for K-12 teachers is March 1, 2007, and March 15, 2007, for community college faculty.
5. HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE NAMES SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIRS
As we reported last week, the House and Senate Appropriations Committee will have common subcommittee structures for the first time since 1994. In the new 110th Congress, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees will each have 12 subcommittees.
Previously, we provided the names of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee chairmen. This week, the House Appropriations Committee released a list of subcommittee chairs and the Representatives are as follows (key federal agencies of interest to the history and archival communities are noted in parentheses): Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies: Rosa DeLauro, Connecticut Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies: Alan B. Mollohan, West Virginia Defense: John P. Murtha, Pennsylvania Energy and Water Development: Peter Visclosky, Indiana Financial Services and General Government (National Archives and Records Administration) : Jose Serrano, New York Homeland Security: David E. Price, North Carolina Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies (National Park Service and National Endowment for the Humanities, Smithsonian Institution): Norm Dicks, Washington Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Department of Education): David R. Obey, Wisconsin Legislative Branch (Library of Congress): Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Florida Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies: Chet Edwards, Texas State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs: Nita M. Lowey, New York Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies: John Olver, Massachusetts
6. ARCHIVIST APPOINTS NEW JFK PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY DIRECTOR
Last week, Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein, announced the appointment of Thomas J. Putnam as Director of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Putnam is the fifth director of the John F. Kennedy Library since it was dedicated in 1979. Mr. Putnam first joined the Kennedy Presidential Library in 1999 as Director of Education and was appointed Deputy Director of the Library in 2003.
7. HOUSE OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM COMMITTEE MINORITY RELEASES REPORT ON BERGER THEFT OF NATIONAL ARCHIVES PAPERS
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Thomas M. Davis III (R-VA) has released a report raising allegations that the extent of the theft of documents from the National Archives by President Clinton's former National Security Advisor Samuel R. (Sandy) Berger may never be known. In a press release issued in conjunction with the release of the report, Davis stated, "My staff's investigation reveals that President Clinton's former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger compromised national security much more than originally disclosed. . . .The 9/11 Commission relied on incomplete and misleading information regarding its access to documents Mr. Berger reviewed. No one ever told the Commission that Mr. Berger had access to original documents that he could have taken without detection."
On April 1, 2005, Berger pled guilty to one misdemeanor count of Unauthorized Removal and Retention of Classified Documents.
Davis initiated the investigation last year when he chaired the committee before the Democratic takeover. In October, then Ranking Member, and now Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) criticized the timing of the probe as politically motivated to embarrass Democrats right before the fall elections.
8. ARTICLE OF INTEREST:
"How to Bury a Secret: Turn It Into Paperwork," This "Washington Post" article details the challenges researchers face in accessing the hundreds of millions of pages of declassified documents released by the National Archives on December 31, 2006, under Executive Order 12958. http://www.washingtonpost.com