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(FWD) NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 8, #7, February 19, 2002



NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 8, #7, February 19, 2002
by Bruce Craig <rbcraig@nccph.org>
National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History (NCCPH)
*****************

1.    House Holds Reauthorization Hearing on Museum and Library Services Act
2.    Senator Requests Exhumation of Meriwether Lewis
3.    Invisible Ink Formula to Remain Invisible
4 .   News Bits and Bytes: GPO Announces E-mail Alert Service; Veterans
History Project; LC On-Line Collections Additions
5.   Articles of Interest: "Monumental Ambition" (Washington Post)


1.   HOUSE HOLDS REAUTHORIZATION HEARING ON MUSEUM AND LIBRARY SERVICES ACT
On February 14, the House Subcommittee on Select Education of the House
Education and the Workforce Committee held a hearing on the reauthorization
of the Museum and Library Services Act.  The Act is slotted to expire at
the end of 2002.  The hearing was conducted by Representative Pete Hoekstra
(R-MI), chair of the Select Education Subcommittee.  He was assisted by the
ranking minority member Representative Tim Roemer (D-IN) and
Representatives Major Owens (D-NY), Robert Scott (D-VA), Susan Davis
(D-CA), Rush Holt (D-NJ), and Patrick Tiberi (R-OH).

Testifying on behalf of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)
was Dr. Robert Martin, the new Director of the Institute.  Appearing on
behalf of libraries and museums were Linda Yoder, Director of the Nappanee
Indiana Public Library; Dr. Lucille Thomas, Vice Chairman of the Brooklyn
Public Library Board of Trustees; and Steven Hamp, President of the Henry
Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan.

Dr. Martin, who has only recently been appointed Director of IMLS,
expressed his gratitude to the subcommittee for holding the hearing.  He
explained how the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which Congress
created in 1996, is a successful partnership.  Martin said that citizens
must be both educated and informed and museums and libraries assist in
performing those vital functions.  He pointed out that federal dollars
serve a critical role in enhancing services at the local level and detailed
some digital technology projects that could not have been accomplished
without the impetus of federal funds.

A panel of several "friendly" witnesses testified as well. Ms. Yoder
described a Library Services and Technology grant that her library had
participated in that "allowed a consortium of 10 small libraries in
northern Indiana to hire technical assistance, sharing the same service
provider among the participating libraries." Yoder stated that without the
grant her library might still be years away from using technology.  Dr.
Thomas detailed the many programs her large Brooklyn Public Library system
provides for the community. She discussed how much the library, librarians,
and library resources had helped parents and children in the aftermath of
the World Trade Center disaster.

All of the witnesses requested a speedy reauthorization with the funding
levels set at $500 million. As the hearing came to a close, Representative
Hoekstra stated that it was important to move the reauthorization speedily
through the House and he intended to do so.

2.  SENATOR REQUESTS EXHUMATION OF MERIWETHER LEWIS
Senator Frank H. Murkowski (R-AK) - the ranking member of the Senate Energy
and Natural Resources Committee -  has requested that the National Park
Service (NPS) exhume the body of frontier explorer Meriwether Lewis to
determine whether he died by murder or suicide.

Historical records are not conclusive on how Lewis died though some
histories label it a suicide. Lewis died in at a frontier outpost near the
present day Natchez Trace Parkway, a unit of the National Park System that
runs through Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. According to historical
sources, in the early morning hours of an October day in 1809, an innkeeper
heard two shots and found Lewis fatally wounded.  Lewis asked to no avail
that he be killed stating, "I am no coward but I am so strong, so hard to
die."  He died a few hours later at the age of 35 and was buried near
Hohenwald, Tennessee.

Many of Lewis' living relatives hope that the results of a study would stop
the continuing speculation about the cause of their ancestor's
death.  Murkowski believes that science can provide a definitive answer to
the question before the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition is
kicked off next year. "Meriwether Lewis deserves better than to be in the
middle of a mystery whose solution is within reach," stated
Murkowski.  "World-class scientists are standing by ready to give his
family and history the answers."

Back in July 1998, the NPS denied a research request for the exhumation by
James Starrs, a George Washington University professor of law and forensic
sciences.  Starrs has previously exhumed other historical figures including
outlaw Jesse James.

NPS policy on exhumations is clear cut -- the Service is not to disturb
graves unless they are threatened with destruction by commercial or park
development or natural forces.  The NPS also has concerns about setting an
undesirable precedent. Murkowski said that the NPS denial to Starrs back in
1998 was "filled with a number of inconsistencies" and the "thin excuses"
were "simply groundless."  The Service is considering the Senator's
request; a decision is expected in the near future.

3.   INVISIBLE INK FORMULA TO REMAIN INVISIBLE
On February 14, 2002 a federal judge agreed with CIA lawyers who argued
that the now 80-year-old secret invisible ink formula should remain
secret.  U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson disagreed with
arguments advanced by attorneys for the James Madison Project, a nonprofit
group that aims to reduce secrecy and promote government accountability,
and ruled that release of the secret World-War I formula - since it remains
viable for use by the CIA - could compromise national security.

The legal battle over the ink formula began back in 1998 when the Project
asked the National Archives to identify the oldest classified document in
its custody.  The Archives responded with six documents dealing with secret
ink. The Project requested copies but the request was denied.

The CIA was pleased with the ruling. According to CIA spokesman Mark
Mansfield, "We don't want information that would be useful to terrorists
and others who wish to harm Americans out in the public domain...Just
because a document is dated doesn't mean it has lost its usefulness and
sensitivity. It could be very useful to someone who wishes to communicate
secretly and do harm."

4.  NEWS BITS AND BYTES:
Item #1 - GPO Announces E-mail Alert Service:  The US Government Printing
Office has initiated a program, New Titles by Topic Email Alert Service,
that allows users of government documents the advantage of notification
when new publications are released and available to the public.  This new
service is a convenient way for scholars, historians, and others to find
out about the latest military history publications from the U.S.
government. Subscribers can receive free email announcements on new
military history publications from all branches of the armed
forces.  military history publications include valuable reading material,
posters, and CD-ROMs on military topics ranging from the American
Revolution through the Vietnam War.  Additional information is available by
joining a free online service
at:  <http://bookstore.gpo.gov/alertservice.html> Readers may also want to
visit the complete military history collection at the U.S. Online
Government Bookstore at: <http://bookstore.gpo.gov/sb/sb-098.html>.

Item #2 - Veterans History Project: The Veterans History Project, an
activity of the Library of Congress's American Folklife Center, seeks to
collect and preserve oral histories and documentary materials from veterans
of World War I, World War II, the Korean, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf
Wars. Especially during African-American History Month, individuals, family
members, veterans, civic groups and organizations are invited to interview
African-American veterans by contacting the Veterans History Project, where
staff will provide guidance to make an audio or video interview to be
preserved at the Library of Congress as part of the permanent record of our
nation's history.  To learn more about the project,
visit:  http://www.loc.gov/folklife/vets>. For those who would like to
participate in the program, call the toll-free message line (888-371-5848)
(leaving their names and mailing addresses) to request a kit or contact the
Veterans History Project by email at: <vohp@loc.gov>.

Item #3 - Library of Congress, On-Line Collection Additions:  The Library
of Congress announces that the papers associated with Samuel Morse, Woodie
Guthrie, the Haymarket Affair, American maritime expansion, and the church
in the Southern Black community are now available through the American
Memory project of the National Digital Library Program of the Library of
Congress.  "The Samuel F. B. Morse Papers at the Library of Congress"
comprises about 6,500 items that document Morse's various inventions, his
career, and his correspondence.  The "Woody Guthrie and the Archive of
American Folk Song Correspondence, 1940-1950" highlights letters written
primarily in the early 1940s. The collection reflects Guthrie's past, his
art, and his life in New York City.  "Chicago Anarchists on Trial Evidence
from the Haymarket Affair, 1886-1887" showcases more than 3,800 images of
original manuscripts, broadsides, photographs, prints and artifacts
relating to the 1886 Haymarket Affair that proved to be a pivotal setback
in the struggle for American workers' rights. "Westward by Sea: A Maritime
Perspective on American Expansion, 1820-1890" is a selection of items from
Mystic Seaport's archival collections and includes logbooks, diaries,
letters, business papers and published narratives of voyages and travels.
Finally, "The Church in the Southern Black Community, 1870-1925" is a
compilation of printed texts from the libraries at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill. These documents trace how southern African
Americans experienced and transformed Protestant Christianity into the
central institution of community life.
To access the collections tap into: <http://www.loc.gov>.

ARTICLES OF INTEREST:
This week's pick article appeared in the February 17, 2002 issue of the
Washington Post Magazine: "Monumental Ambition" by Paula Span. Span traces
the history of the presidential libraries and asks, "Are they worth the $55
million taxpayers spent last year to maintain them."
Tap into http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1441-2002Feb12.html
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  * * * * * *
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