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(FWD) NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 7, #49, December 6, 2001



NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 7, #49, December 6, 2001
by Bruce Craig <rbcraig@nccph.org
National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History (NCCPH)
*****************

1.  NCC Board Meeting / "Hill Rat" Open Forum Session Scheduled
2.  Fire at NARA Suitland Facility Damages Records
3.  UPDATE: Events of September 11 - National Task Force Meets
4.  ISOO Issues Declassification Oversight Report
5.  OAH Suit Settled
6.  Bits and Bytes: NHPRC Fellowship in Historical Documentary Editing;
Annenberg Project Update; Jefferson Day Date Change; Eisenhower War-time
Diaries Found


1.  NCC BOARD MEETING / "HILL RAT" OPEN FORUM SESSION SCHEDULED
During the upcoming annual meeting of the American Historical Association,
the NCC Policy Board will meet from 7:30 - 9:30 am on Friday, January 4, 2002
in the Ascot Room of the Westin St. Francis Hotel located at 335 Powell
Street, San Francisco, California (phone 415. 397-7000).  This year there
will be no pre-board "NCC Breakfast," rather, a formal session, "The Hill Rat
Open Forum" (see page 37 and 115 of the AHA program guide) targeted to the
interests of NCC members has been scheduled for later in the day (2:30 - 4:30
pm).  The recent executive order on presidential records will be a focal
point of discussion.  Plan on attending!

2.  FIRE AT NARA SUITLAND FACILITY DAMAGES RECORDS
On December 4, 2001 a fire of undetermined origin broke out in stack 12 at
the Washington National Records Center, a National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA) storage facility located in Suitland, Maryland.  A
sprinkler system contained the fire which was brought under control within a
few minutes but not before damaging some 500 boxes of State Department and
other records.

National Archives staff is still assessing the extent of the damage.  What is
currently known is that the State Department passport files appear to have
been hardest hit, though Coast Guard and Navy records also appear to have
suffered some water damage.  Reportedly, constituent correspondence from four
members of Congress (Senator Thomas Daschle [D-SD], Senator Gordon Smith
[R-OR], Senator Patty Murray [D-WA] and Representative Jesse Jackson Jr.
[D-IL] that were in courtesy storage suffered water damage. A team of
National Archives conservators are on the scene and are evaluating what
conservation measures need to be taken to preserve the affected records.

3.  UPDATE: EVENTS OF SEPTEMBER 11 - NATIONAL TASK FORCE MEETS
On December 3, 2001 the National Task Force on Emergency Response met at the
Old Post Office Building in Washington D.C.  During the meeting participants
reported and shared information on their institutions' various recent
activities to preserve and protect heritage resources since the attacks on
the World Trade Center on September 11.

Task Force members reported that a programmatic agreement for disaster
assistance programs responding to the terrorist attacks at the World Trade
Center is being developed by the New York State Historic Preservation Office.
Also, a GIS database of properties with National Register status or
eligibility has been produced.  The Lower Manhattan Emergency Preservation
Fund (LMEPF) is up and running and is making grants in the range of $5,000 to
$15,000 to help alleviate the impact of the disaster (for information about
the Fund tap into: http://www.nycpreservation911.org).

A host of agencies are also expected to participate in a conference on public
safety and heritage scheduled to be held in Washington D.C. January 22, 2002
in conjunction with the meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors (for
information, contact Constance Ramirez 202. 343-9569 ). Archival
organizations reported on the ongoing efforts of a working group to provide
information and coordinate assistance to impacted records repositories
(http://www.nyshrab.org/WTC/wtc.html)

The GSA reported good news - that 80 to100 boxes of artifacts from the
African Burial Ground excavations that previously were believed to have been
destroyed (see NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 7, #38, September 20, 2001) have
been recovered from the ruins of 6 World Trade Center.  Also recovered were
the photographic files, field notes, and computers used during the analysis
of the collection.

News from the Pentagon: The Center of Military History now confirms the loss
of eight works of art - four of which were in the office of Lt. General
Timothy Maude, Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel and the highest ranking
officer killed in the attack.  The Center of Military History, in conjunction
with other service branches, has also been coordinating artifact recovery.
Collecting guidelines for artifacts associated with the attack are crafted
and object collecting is ongoing. The Pentagon Library suffered smoke and
water damage; some  82 boxes of books have now been retrieved and 95% appear
to be in relatively good condition. Currently officials are studying options
of where to relocate the library.

Finally, a disturbing report from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
While the most immediate consequences of the devastation in New York and
Washington D.C. were the irreplaceable loses - both human and physical -  the
nationwide financial fallout from economic uncertainty and shifting
philanthropic priorities appears to be significant.  According to the results
of a NEA sampling of arts organizations throughout the country, in the days
following September 11, museums and non-profit agencies have been
experiencing dramatic downturns in year-end giving; they report decreased
membership and subscription revenue, event and fundraiser cancellations, lost
revenue from canceled performances, and perhaps most importantly, the
likelihood of significant cuts of state and local public agency support for
the arts and humanities. New York City, for example, has already announced an
across the board 15% cut in funding for cultural organizations.

4.   ISOO ISSUES DECLASSIFICATION OVERSIGHT REPORT
The Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), the National Archives and
Records Administration office that oversees the government-wide security
classification program, has issued its Report to the President for FY 2000.

According to the report, 75 million pages of records having permanent
historical value have been declassified this year by various federal
agencies. This brings the total number of pages declassified since the
program's inception in October 1995, when President Clinton issued Executive
Order 12958, to 795 million pages.  This figure represents a net drop in
total declassification of documents by 42% in FY 2001.  Regardless, according
to ISOO Director Steven Garfinkel, "The hundreds of millions of pages
declassified under this Order will provide researchers and historians with
information that will help write our nation's history for years to come."

The report contains a number of interesting factoids: For example, the CIA
declassified 5 million pages in FY 2000, a seemingly small figure that
nonetheless is a record high for the agency. A second example, the Treasury
Department, accelerated its declassification activity by a whopping 9,721%.

In addition to the data regarding declassification, the report also notes
that the number of authorized original classifiers throughout the executive
branch increased by 284 to 4,130. The report also states that the total
estimated costs of the security classification government-wide increased by
$200,000 million in FY 2000 to $5.2 billion.

Copies of the report are available from the ISOO's offices in Room 100 of the
National Archives Building, 700 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20408,
or by contacting ISOO:  telephone, (202) 219-5250;  FAX, (202) 219-5385.
Thanks to the Federation of American Scientists, Project on Government
Secrecy, the report is also posted at:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/isoo/2000rpt.html.

5.  OAH SUIT SETTLED
On December 3, 2001, as part of a larger settlement over a discrimination
case with five African American college students and the NAACP, the Adam's
Mark Hotel chain dropped its $100,000 lawsuit against the Organization of
American Historians (OAH).  The hotel agreed to pay $2 million to settle the
suit brought by five students who had charged the Adam's Mark Hotel in
Daytona Beach, Fla. with racial discrimination during the 1999 Black College
Reunion weekend.

"We are extremely pleased to have taken a stand against racism and to have
reached an end to the past year of legal wrangling," said OAH Executive
Director Lee W. Formwalt.  "The NAACP deserves our thanks for ensuring that,
as part of its settlement with Adam's Mark, the suit against OAH would be
dropped.  Now we can return, full-focus, to our mission of promoting history
education and research." Formwalt added that "OAH is grateful to its members,
other scholarly associations, the academic community, and the people of St.
Louis for standing by us."

6.  BITS AND BYTES
Item #1 -  NHPRC Fellowship in Historical Documentary Editing: The National
Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) is accepting
applications for one fellowship in historical documentary editing. The
Fellowship in Historical Documentary Editing is designed to give participants
hands-on experience in historical documentary editing including documentary
collection, document selection, transcription, annotation, proofreading, and
indexing. Candidates must hold a Ph.D. or have completed all requirements for
the degree except the dissertation.  Applications must be postmarked no later
than March 1, 2002.  This year's host institution project is the Lincoln
Legal Papers centered in Springfield, Illinois. The fellow will be selected
by the host project from the pool of candidates and will begin in the late
summer or early fall of 2002. A stipend of $35,000 with a benefit payment of
$8,750 is available.  Applications and related forms may be found on the
NHPRC website: http://www.nara.gov/nhprc or by calling Michael Meier at (202)
501-5610 extension 252.

Item # 2 - Annenberg Project Update:
The Annenberg/CPB Channel has an enviable track record of providing quality
professional development to teachers at no cost.  The Channel is pleased to
announce the availability of an eight-part workshop in social studies,
"Primary Sources Workshops in American History" targeted to high school
history teachers.  It is available through broadcast or videotape and is
coordinated with the Channel's popular series, "A Biography of America."  For
additional information about the Channel and for specifics relating to the
"Primary Sources" workshop, visit the Channel at: http://www.learner.org/ or
call Joyce Gleason, Director of Outreach, The Annenberg/CPB Channel at (617)
496-7684 / 800-228-8030 extension 2; e-mail: jgleason@cfa.harvard.edu

Item #3 - Jefferson Day Date Change:
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has announced a date/location
change for the annual Jefferson Lecture from Monday March 25, 2002 to Friday
March 22, 2002. The location also has changed from the Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts to the 1,000 seat atrium at the Ronald Reagan Building on
Pennsylvania Avenue in downtown Washington D.C.  The date originally schedule
ended up not being convenient for the agency or this year's lecturer. The
date for the annual advocacy event that takes place around the Jefferson Day
event organized by the National Humanities Alliance and co-sponsored by more
than twenty organizations to promote support for the NEH, may also be
rescheduled to Friday.  The new dates will be reported in this newsletter
when we have additional information; for more on the annual Jefferson Day
advocacy event, tap into: http://www.nhalliance.org/jd/

Item #4 - Eisenhower War-time Diaries Found:
Dwight D. Eisenhower's handwritten diaries from 1944-45 that document the
invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe through the surrender of Germany in May 1945
 have been found among the personal possessions of Barbara Wyden, a ghost
writer of a memoir of Eisenhower's wartime secretary Kay Summersby. The two
leather-bound diaries are available to researchers at the Dwight D.
Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kansas.

**********************************************************************
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