An Update on the We the People Initiative

Bruce Cole

Just over two years ago, President Bush announced the launch of the We the People initiative, a bold, new effort to enhance the study and teaching of American history and culture. With the support of the president, the Humanities Endowment secured $10 million in additional funding for the first fiscal year of the We the People initiative. This infusion of funds&emdash;the largest percentage increase since 1979&emdash;has ushered in a dynamic new era at the NEH. As the 2004 fiscal year draws to a close, it is my pleasure to share news of the progress of We the People and the NEH.

As many surveys, test results, and polls suggest&emdash;and teachers and professors know from experience&emdash;too many Americans, particularly young people, lack a solid foundation in historical literacy. In addressing this vexing problem, the Endowment has received broad support for the goals of We the People from educators, scholars, educational and cultural organizations, state humanities councils, as well as local and national leaders of both political parties. With forty years of experience as the federal government’s chief vehicle for advancing the humanities, NEH is well positioned to lead this important effort.

We the People consists of special projects and grants made through the agency’s programs and divisions. In the past year, new funding has helped the NEH to support many significant projects in American History. In fact more than 250 projects from all the agency’s core programs received We the People funding in the first year of direct appropriations for the initiative.

Projects supported by these new funds have included the collected editions of the papers of James Madison, Thomas Edison, Frederick Douglass, and the First Federal Congress; television documentaries on John and Abigail Adams, Thurgood Marshall, and Ernest Hemingway; research fellowships for scholars; seminars and institutes for teachers on topics such as the “Colonial Life and the American Revolution” and “African Americans and the Making of America, 1650-2000.”

This past summer, the first “Landmarks of American History” workshops were held across the country. More than 2,200 K-12 teachers traveled to seventeen important historical sites to explore such subjects as “Congress and the Capitol,” “Mount Vernon and the Shaping of the Constitution,” “Alabama’s Civil Rights Landmarks,” and “Remembering Pearl Harbor.” The teachers gained direct experience in interpreting significant historical sites as well as using archives and other primary historical evidence.

NEH and the Library of Congress have recently announced a long-term partnership to develop the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP). In the years ahead, we will collaborate in converting microfilm of U.S. newspapers into fully searchable digital files mounted on the Internet.

NEH recently awarded two cooperative agreements to institutions to develop resources for the teaching of U.S. history through EDSITEment, the nationally recognized internet gateway for teachers seeking lesson plans and humanities resources. Over the next two years, these projects will develop approximately seventy-five lesson plans that will be mounted on EDSITEment and made accessible to the nation’s elementary and secondary school teachers, as well as to students and parents.

A new public history program, America’s Historic Places has been established to strengthen historical interpretation of key sites relevant to American history throughout the nation. The Endowment recently awarded ten major grants under this program including: “The Civil War and the Home front in the Mid-Atlantic Border Region,” “The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson and a Changing America,” and “ExplorePAHistory.com.”

The NEH Office of Challenge Grants offered special awards for educational and cultural institutions to strengthen their programs that advance knowledge of the founding principles of the United States. The first six awards under this new emphasis included the Maryland African American Museum, the new National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, and the Florida Department of State for a project that will endow archaeological research and public programming at Mission San Luis&emdash;an important site of Spanish and Native American interaction in the early colonial era.

By supporting the work of scholars, promoting excellence in history teaching, creating new historical resources, and promoting rigorous public programming, the NEH is helping to restore our national memory. With the support and assistance of the historical profession, I believe these projects, and many others supported over the life of the initiative will have lasting impact. I hope that OAH members will continue to play a key role in the We the People initiative, as review panelists, advisors, project participants, and, of course, applicants.