Capitol Commentary

Lee White, Executive Director
National Coalition for History

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Since 1982, the National Coalition for History has served as the voice for the historical and archival professions in Washington, DC. Sign up today to receive NCH’s “Washington Update,” a weekly electronic newsletter that wraps up events from the past week, or subscribe to their RSS feed for up-to-the-minute updates at the NCH website, <http://historycoalition.org>

President Nominates David S. Ferriero To Be Archivist of the U.S.

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 Library (NYPL). Mr. Ferriero succeeds Professor Allen Weinstein who resigned as Archivist last December.

Mr. Ferriero was formerly the Rita DiGiallonardo Holloway university librarian and vice provost for library affairs at Duke University. Currently, he is responsible for collection strategy; conservation; digital experience; reference and research services; and education, programming, and exhibitions at the New York Public Library.

On May 29, the National Coalition for History testified at a hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census and the National Archives on the policy challenges facing a new Archivist of the U.S.

There is no timetable for Mr. Ferriero’s confirmation by the Senate.

President Obama Nominates Former GOP Congressman Jim Lead to NEH Chair

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.

Jim Leach served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for the state of Iowa for thirty years. He founded and co-chaired the Congressional Humanities Caucus, which is dedicated to advocating on behalf of the humanities in the House of Representatives and to raising the profile of humanities in the United States. The Caucus worked to promote and preserve humanities programs and commissions, such as the Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Former Chairman Bruce Cole left the NEH to join the American Revolution Center as its president and CEO in January 2009. In February 2009, President Obama appointed Carole M. Watson, assistant chairman for Partnership and National Affairs, as the acting chairman of the NEH.

President Obama Nominates Jonathan Jarvis to be Director of National
Park Service

President Obama recently announced his intention to nominate Jonathan Jarvis to be director of the National Park Service. Jarvis, a thirty-year veteran of the Park Service, currently serves as the regional director of the agency’s Pacific West Region. In this capacity, Jarvis is responsible for the fifty-four units of the National Park System in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Nevada, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands of Guam, Saipan and American Samoa. He oversees 3,000 employees with a $350 million annual budget.

Historian Myron Gutmann to Lead NSF’s Social, Behavioral, and Economics Directorate

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has selected University of Michigan historian Myron Gutmann, director of the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, to head its directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE). The directorate supports research that builds fundamental knowledge of human behavior, interaction, social and economic systems, and organizations and institutions.

Gutmann, who specializes in historical demography and population-environment relationships with a focus on Europe and the Americas, begins his position on November 2, 2009.

Obama Administration Reviews Declassification Policies

On May 27, 2009, President Obama signed a Memorandum ordering the review of Executive Order 12958, as amended, “Classified National Security Information.” The Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) recently solicited public input for revisions to the order via an online Declassification Policy Forum in four topical areas: Declassification Policy, a National Declassification Center, Classification Policy, and Technology Challenges and Opportunities. Summaries of the public comments can be accessed on the Office of Science and Technology Policy’s (OSTP) Blog (<http://blog.ostp.gov/category/declass/>).

The PIDB is currently formulating their recommendations to the National Security Advisor, which will be issued shortly. The National Security Advisor must submit his review of the order to the president by late-August.

State Department Historian’s Office Controversy Comes to an End

In May, the long-awaited report into the management of the U.S. Department of State’s Office of the Historian was released by the agency’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The OIG recommended that director of the Office of the Historian, Dr. Marc Susser, be replaced. As a result, Susser has been reassigned within the State Department, and Ambassador John Campbell was named as Acting Director of the Office of the Historian.

This apparently ends the saga that began at a meeting of the Historical Advisory Committee (HAC) on December 10, 2008. Dr. William Roger Louis, the historian who had chaired the advisory committee for the previous five years alleged that the future of the department’s “Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series, which is the official record of U.S. foreign policy, was in jeopardy due to mismanagement by the Office of the Historian by Dr. Susser. Louis read a letter that he had submitted to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressing his concerns and then announced his resignation from the committee.

On December 22, 2008, Secretary Rice met with members of the Historical Advisory Committee to discuss the FRUS series and concerns expressed by some current and former members of the HAC about the series. Secretary Rice stated her strong support for the FRUS series and subsequently appointed an outside review team to provide recommendations on the situation by mid-January.

The review team issued a report to Secretary Rice, concluding that the management crisis in the State Department Office of the Historian threatened the future of the FRUS series. “We find that the current working atmosphere in the HO [Historian’s Office] and between the HO and the HAC poses real threats to the high scholarly quality of the FRUS series and the benefits it brings,” the January 13, 2009 report to the secretary of state said.

Subsequently, the State Department’s IG office was tasked with reviewing the operations of the Office of the Historian. The final report issued this week includes a list of twenty-four recommendations suggesting management changes in the Office of the Historian.

Campbell was sworn in as ambassador to Nigeria in May 2004 and served in that position until November 2007. His most recent assignment was as deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Human Resources. Campbell has publicly stated he will not stay in the position beyond September, when he will be assuming a new job at the Council on Foreign Relations.

NARA Opens New Civilian Personnel, Immigration, and Nixon White
House Records

In June, the National Archives’ National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) announced it has opened more than six million individual personnel files of former federal civilian employees from the mid-1800s through 1951.

This opening of six million files adds to the existing collection of more than nine million military personnel files that are already available for research and is part of the creation of the largest archival repository in the United States outside the National Archives in the Washington, DC area. In late 2010, the records will be moved to a state-of-the-art repository that is under construction in suburban St Louis County, Missouri.

On June 23, 2009, the Nixon Presidential Library opened approximately 154 hours of tape recordings from the Nixon White House recorded in January and February 1973, and consisting of approximately 994 conversations. The conversations cover topics such as the conclusion of a peace settlement between the United States and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the return of American POWs, President Nixon’s second inauguration, the U.S. and Europe, the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, energy policy, the reorganization of the executive branch, and the first Watergate trial.

On June 3, the National Archives and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services signed an agreement to designate as permanent the immigration files created on the millions of aliens residing in the United States beginning in 1944 until now. This represents the first step in the preservation of the thirty-two million records that were originally scheduled for disposal.

These alien case files are commonly referred to as “A-Files.” The new agreement authorizes the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services/Department of Homeland Security to send “A-Files” to the National Archives when one hundred years have passed since the birth date of the subject of a file. The National Archives expects to receive the first transfer of “A-Files” later this year.

Gardner Named Senior Scholar at Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History

National Museum of American History Director Dr. Brent Glass this week announced that Dr. Jim Gardner has been appointed to a newly created position of Senior Scholar at the museum. Glass stated that he established this position at NMAH to enhance the museum’s efforts in the areas of research and collections planning, and to strengthen relationships with colleges, universities, and historical associations by developing new opportunities for collaboration.

Dr. Gardner will lead two major initiatives focusing on the museum’s highest strategic priorities. The first will examine NMAH scholarship and develop a research plan. Second, Gardner will review the NMAH’s priorities for collections and develop the NMAH collections plan to complement the research plan.

Glass stated that he hopes to name a new associate director for Curatorial Affairs to replace Gardner by mid-October.