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NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 7, #7, February 16, 2001



NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 7, #7, February 16, 2001
by Bruce Craig <rbcraig3@juno.com> of the National Coordinating Committee
for the Promotion of History
*****************

1.  Two Bills Seek to Memorialize Former President Ronald Reagan
2.  Legislation Introduced to Designate Kate Mullany National Historic Site
3.  Report: Meeting of the State Department Advisory Committee on Historical
Diplomatic Documentation
4.  News Bits and Bytes: National Preservation Conference; Institute for
Teachers; Civil War Museum Opens; Nixon Presidential Materials Released.

1.  TWO BILLS SEEK TO MEMORIALIZE FORMER PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN
The 90th birthday of former President Ronald Reagan (February 6) was
recognized by members of Congress with the introduction of two pieces of
legislation. Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert (R=96IL), introduced H.R.
400 - a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish the
Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home National Historic Site in Dixon, Illinois.
Representative James Hansen (R-UT), who chairs the House Resources
Committee, introduced H.R. 452 - a bill to authorize the establishment of a
memorial to former President Reagan in the District of Columbia. Both
legislative proposals are scheduled for hearings before the House
Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands on March 8.

Speaker Hastert's bill seeks to designate the former President's boyhood
home a National Historic Site.  As presently drafted, the legislation
directs the Secretary of the Interior to enter into a cooperative agreement
with the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home Foundation for the management and
operation of the site to national park standards. In consultation with the
Foundation, the National Park Service is charged to craft a general
management plan within two years of the legislation's enactment.

Representative Hansen's bill - the "Ronald Reagan Memorial Act of 2001" -
follows on the heels of similar controversial legislation introduced during
the 106th Congress (H.R. 4800) by Representative Don Young (R-Alaska).  That
bill also sought to establish a memorial in the District of Columbia on
National Park Service lands in the area of the Mall west of the Capitol and
east of the Lincoln Memorial.  According to the most recent legislation,
recommending a specific location and selecting a design would fall to the
three-member Ronald Reagan Memorial Commission which would be established
with the enactment of this legislation. Controversy is expected to center on
one section of the bill that seeks to exempt the legislation from provisions
of the Commemorative Works Act.  That provision specifies that someone has
to be deceased 25 years before a monument can be considered. In the final
weeks of the 106th Congress, Young's legislation was reported out of
Committee but failed to reach the House floor in time for action by the full
Congress. Rapid action on this legislation by the Committee and the full
House of Representatives is expected.

2.  LEGISLATION INTRODUCED TO DESIGNATE KATE MULLANY NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
Representative Michael McNulty (D-NY) has introduced legislation (H.R. 464)
to establish the Kate Mullany National Historic Site in Troy, New York. This
legislation has been several years in the making.  It is based on the
findings of a National Historic Landmark theme study on American Labor
History that concluded that the Mullany house meets the criteria of
"national significance, suitability, and feasibility" for inclusion as a
unit of the National Park System. Mullany's house was the home of the first
women's labor union.

The legislation focuses on more than just the activities of labor
leader/activist Kate Mullany. It recognizes the unique role that Troy, New
York (today parts of Troy are designated a state heritage area representing
industrial development and labor themes) played in the development of the
iron industry as well as the "collar and cuff industry," and the rise of
men's and women's worker and cooperative organizations. Establishment of the
Mullany House NHS, which is located at 350 Eighth Street in Troy, would be
the catalyst for a cooperative interpretive/preservation endeavor between
the National Park Service and the Hudson-Mohawk Urban Cultural Park
Commission. The legislation authorizes the NPS to acquire the property "by
donation, purchase from willing sellers with donated or appropriated funds
or exchange." No hearing date for the legislation has been set.

3.  REPORT: MEETING OF THE STATE DEPARTMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON HISTORICAL
DIPLOMATIC DOCUMENTATION

On February 12, 2001, the State Department's Advisory Committee on
Historical Diplomatic Documentation met in open session for 3 hours. The
meeting, chaired by Dr. Robert Schulzinger, was the first officially
attended by the new chief historian of the Department's History Office who
also serves as the Executive Secretary of the Advisory Committee, Dr. Marc
J. Susser. (Susser succeeds William Slany who retired last year. Susser, a
career State Department employee, most recently was Director of the Office
of County Reports and Asylum Affairs in the Bureau of Democracy, Human
Rights, and Labor; he possesses a Ph.D. in American diplomatic history from
Harvard University.)

After the approval of minutes for the April, July, and December 2000
meetings, the Executive Secretary gave his report. Susser announced that
three new historians had been hired to fill various vacancies and that by
the end of the summer, the History Office (HO) should have a total of five
new staff. He reported that contact had been made with the new Secretary of
State briefing him on the HO's activities and that a positive response back
was received. The Committee was informed about the possibility of the
creation of a new "policy support" function which would be placed in the
office of the Under-Secretary for Management.  They also were updated on th=
e status of the Nazi War Records project, heard about a visit by staff to
the CIA Center for the Study of Intelligence, and were informed about
upcoming conferences.  The Committee was then updated on the status of
various Foreign Relations of the United Stated (FRUS) volumes.

There was extended discussion on e-publication of the FRUS series.  Staff
reported that based on estimates provided by the Library of Congress, the
cost to create a web site and digitize some 4,000 pages would run about $10
a page (the going rate appears to be between $10-$30 per page; adding a
searchable text function would be an additional $8-10 per page) verses $50
per page to produce a printed version.  The Committee discussed the
possibility of purchasing a scanner for internal use by the HO.

The Electronic Records subcommittee reported on the status (including some
problems) relating to the transfer of State Department records that are 25
years or older to NARA. Staff reported that it was the Department's goal to
transfer the records by the end of the year.

Brian Dowling of the Office of IRM Programs and Services reported in detail
on the status of the Nazi War Crimes project; he said that September, 2001,
is the target date for completion. Comment and discussion by the Committee
focused on matters relating to various review exemptions.

Finally, the Committee heard a report by National Archives staffers Nancy
Smith and Karl Weissenback on the status of the Nixon presidential materials
project. The Committee was informed that staff is currently working on
materials centering around the dates January - June 1972; December 2001 was
mentioned as the target date to open the next batch of materials. The HO
staff reported that a Nixon era FRUS volume "Foreign Economic Policy,
1969-1972" is nearing completion. A streamlined process devised by
NARA/State Department to obtain clearance for classified documents in order
to facilitate the integration of such documents into various FRUS volumes
was discussed. Clearance procedures relating to privacy concerns and
national security exemption review procedures for the Nixon tapes of
conversations was also addressed. The meeting adjourned around 5:00 pm;
closed session meetings took place the next day.

4.  NEWS BITS AND BYTES:
Item #1 - Preservation Conference: The National Archives and Records
Administration's 16th Annual Preservation Conference entitled "2001, A Case
Oddity: Preserving the Physical Evidence of Artifacts and Records" will take
place March 27, 2001, at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland.

This year's day-long conference will bring together forensic and
conservation scientists, archivists, and conservators to discuss technical
issues related to the preservation and handling of artifacts and records
which have been or may be subjected to forensic examinations. Registration
is $75 (including a buffet lunch). For more information contact Eleanor
Torain at (301) 713-6718 or tap into
http://www.nara.gov/arch/techinfo/preserva/conferen/2001.html

Item #2 - Institute for Teachers: The Foreign Policy Research Institute will
conduct its 7th Annual History Institute for Teachers, April 28-29, 2001 at
the Gregg Conference Center at American College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
This year's institute is entitled, "Teaching World Religions" is specially
designed for secondary school teachers, curriculum supervisors, and junior
college faculty. Participants receive free room and board, a modest stipend
as well as various publications and teaching materials; partial travel
scholarships are available for some participants. For additional
information, contact Alan H. Luxenberg at  (215) 732-3774 ext 305 or e-mail:
fpri@fpri.org

Item #3 - Civil War Museum Opens: The National Civil War Museum, a $38.5
million project that traces the history of the four-year conflict that
pitted North against South opened February 12, 2001 in Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania. While Richmond, Virginia, and Hagerstown, Maryland, also have
plans in the works for similar museums, officials operating the new 66,000
square-foot museum claim that theirs is the only such facility that tells
the story of the entire Civil War, not just the story of a single battle or
specific aspect of the war. The State of Pennsylvania contributed $16.2
million toward construction. Some 12,000 artifacts comprise the museum's
collection of which only about 10% will be on display at any given time.

Item #4 - Nixon Materials Release: On April 5, 2001, the National Archives
and Records Administration intends to release some 48 cubic feet of
materials from the Nixon Presidential collection. Included in the release
are materials from both the White House Central and Subject Files. In
addition, a number of documents which were previously withheld from public
access have been re-reviewed for release and declassified. For further
information, contact Karl Weissenbach, Director of the Nixon Materials Staff
at (301) 713-6950.

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