News for the Profession |
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Results of The People’s Vote: One Hundred Documents that Shaped AmericaIn the Rotunda of the National Archives Building on Bill of Rights Day, December 15, 2003, National Archivist of the United States John Carlin announced the results of The People’s Vote: 100 Documents That Shaped America. The event, cosponsored by the National Archives, National History Day and U.S. News and World Report, invited people of all ages to vote on the top ten documents from a list of one hundred milestone documents chosen primarily from the holdings of the National Archives. Created as part of a major civics initiative by President George W. Bush, The People’s Vote was a national challenge to engage Americans in a lively and thoughtful debate about which documents in American history have been most influential—which changed the course of history, shaped the United States, and defined the country. The top ten documents voted most influential are: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, the Bill of Rights, the Louisiana Purchase Treaty, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Nineteenth Amendment (Women’s Right to Vote), the Thirteenth Amendment (Abolition of Slavery), the Gettysburg Address, the Civil Rights Act, and the Social Security Act. Original texts for all documents included in the vote can be found at the Our Documents web site, <http://www.ourdocuments.gov>. New Web Site Aims to Help Historians Find Careers Outside of AcademiaA lack of academic job openings and a surplus of Ph.D.s is not a new phenomenon in the history profession; recent state budget cuts and a decrease in endowments for private schools threatens many tenure-track positions. Shrinking job openings and inconsistent employment security has many scholars questioning their future in the academic world. However, a new web site, <http://www.beyondacademe.com/>, hopes to combat this problem. The site, created by former history professors Alexandra M. Lord and Julie Anne Taddeo, provides advice, testimonials, and job tips for historians interested in pursuing a career outside of the university. Wheelock College Announces Second Black Panther ConferenceBuilding on the success of its first conference, “The Black Panther Party in Historical Perspective” (June 2003), Wheelock College recently announced a second scholarly conference in the spring of 2005. The second conference, once again at Wheelock, encourages papers or complete panels that reflect new research and perspectives on the Black Panther Party— its origins, nature, development, and legacy. Anyone interested should send a five hundred word abstract and one page cv by April 15, 2004 to Jama Lazerow, Wheelock College, 200 The Riverway, Boston, MA 02215 <jlazerow@wheelock.edu> or Yohuru Williams, Delaware State University, 1200 North DuPont Highway, Dover, DE 19903 <ywilliam@dsc.edu>. History Books Needed in the Republic of GeorgiaThe Georgian Association for American Studies requests help in gathering U.S. history books for university libraries in this small Caucasus nation, where the study of American history and culture and the English language is rapidly expanding. Books may be sent to a collection point at the following address, from where they will be shipped by container to Tbilisi at the end of March 2004. Shota Vashakidze, President Questions may be sent to <webmaster@kvali.com> or telephone (732) 845-3257 or fax (732) 845-5493. Book donations after the March shipment in late March should be sent overseas to the following address: Center of American Studies in Tbilisi |
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