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FW: [NCCmailings] NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 8, #22, May 31, 200 2



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From: rbcraig@nccph.org [mailto:rbcraig@nccph.org]
Sent: Friday, May 31, 2002 6:13 AM
To: NCCmailings List Member
Subject: [NCCmailings] NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 8, #22, May 31, 2002

NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 8, #22, May 31, 2002
by Bruce Craig <rbcraig@nccph.org>
National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History (NCCPH)
*****************

1.   Newberry Library Responds to NEH Criticism
2.   The Bryn Mawr Case Comes to Closure
3.   Discharged Bills: Martin's Cove Land Transfer; Memorial to Victims of
Terrorist Attacks
4.   News Bits and Bytes: NARA Web Site Redesigned; Call for Nominations,
National Humanities Medals
5.   Articles of Interest: "Webmasters Agree Not All Web is Archive Worthy"
(The Washington Post, 5/28/02)

1.  NEWBERRY LIBRARY RESPONDS TO NEH CRITICISM
Following up on last week's posting, "NEH Withdraws Name From Fellowship"
(NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 8, #21, May 23, 2002) in which the National
Endowment for the Humanities revoked the NEH name from Michael Bellesiles'
Newberry Library/NEH Fellowship, the Newberry has issued a formal response
to the NEH.  According to the statement issued by Charles T. Cullen,
President and Librarian of the Newberry, while the Library has complied
with all NEH requests during this process "in a collegial and cooperative
manner. . . .[the Library] cannot, however, agree with the NEH's assessment
of the Newberry's fellowships review process or its criticism of the
Library's commitment to academic integrity."

Last week, the NEH accused the Newberry of awarding a fellowship to
Professor Bellesiles despite the existence of "widespread" scholarly debate
at the time of the award.  The agency charged the Library with inattention
to academic integrity because "the federal research misconduct policy calls
for investigation and adjudication of fraudulent claims made not only in
grant products, but also in applications for federal funds submitted to
federal agencies and to their institutional grantees."  However, according
to the Newberry, the controversy that has developed over Professor
Bellesiles' book, "Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture,"
did not take on a scholarly character until well after February
2001.  According to Cullen, "We disagree that our review process was
"flawed" and that our actions afterwards reflect inattention to issues of
academic misconduct."

The Newberry awarded a fellowship to Professor Bellesiles late in February
2001, after an outside peer review committee of distinguished humanities
scholars recommended him among other scholars for an NEH-funded
fellowship.  The decision to make the award was based on evaluations of
applicants' research proposals, along with letters of recommendation and
statements by Library staff assessing the value of the Library's
collections to the proposed research.  In the case of senior scholars like
Professor Bellesiles, the quantity and significance of previous
publications are among the factors considered in the evaluation
process.  The review committee and Newberry staff were well aware that
Professor Bellesiles' book "Arming America" attracted public
controversy.  According to Cullen, but if there was "serious and
widespread" debate as charged by NEH Deputy Chair Lynn Munson, it
"certainly was not taking place in the scholarly arena."  By February 2001,
some isolated criticism existed, but "widespread" debate had "not yet
emerged among scholars." In fact, at the time the fellowship was offered to
Professor Bellesiles, the scholarly reviews were "overwhelmingly
laudatory." Academic criticism began only when Northwestern University Law
Professor James Lindgren, whose criticism was presented publicly on that
referenced radio program in January 2001 served as the catalyst for a "the
second wave" of criticism in which scholars have since played an active
role.

According to the Newberry, "Our disagreement with the comments offered by
Ms. Munson and Dr. Cole are offered in this spirit of continued collegial
relations with the NEH.  The humanities are about free inquiry and
scholarly engagement based on reasoned, civil discourse.  This often means
that honest scholars disagree while respecting the integrity of their
colleagues.  This kind of scholarly debate relating to Professor
Bellesiles' book became widespread only after we awarded the
fellowship.  Just as we hope that Professor Bellesiles and his critics
welcome reasoned debate on his work (past and present), we welcome
questions and criticisms of our fellowships program offered in that
constructive spirit."

2.  THE BRYN MAWR CASE COMES TO CLOSURE
After much controversy, a book chronicling the history of the Bryn Mawr
School in Baltimore Maryland is set to be published, thus bringing to a
close a dispute between a young historian and a private girls' school that
had sought to block the publication.

The case centers around Andrea D. Hamilton, currently a part-time associate
professor of history at Southern Methodist University.  Hamilton spent
three years writing a history of Bryn Mawr School while a doctoral student
at Tulane University.  Bryn Mawr had control over the publication of the
book because of a provision in a contract signed by Hamilton that gave her
access to the school's archives.

After peer reviewers praised the manuscript, it looked like Johns Hopkins
University Press was going to publish it.  Bryn Mawr claimed that the
manuscript was not a full or accurate account of the institution's history
and threatened to sue Hopkins if the book was published.  Hopkins withdrew
its support.  Subsequently, several other publishers expressed an interest
in the manuscript as well, but like Hopkins, they also ultimately withdrew
offers after discussions with Bryn Mawr.

The situation gained a high profile a few weeks ago, when the Baltimore
daily newspaper The Sun and the weekly Chronicle of Higher Education
published accounts about the situation. After hearing about Hamilton's
dilemma, Laura Kalman, a professor of history at the University of
California at Santa Barbara, decided to write a letter of appeal to the
Bryn Mawr School in support of Ms. Hamilton. Ultimately, Kalman's letter
was signed by over 140 prominent historians including Alice Kessler-Harris
at Columbia University, Peter S. Onuf of the University of Virginia and
David J. Garrow, of the Emory University School of Law. For one, Garrow was
"outraged" when he read about how Ms. Hamilton had been treated and said,
"I hope that both the letter itself and the ensuing news coverage will
shame the institution into reinstating permission to publish the thesis."

Hamilton was "greatly humbled" by the support she received from the
historical community. While the Bryn Mawr School Board of Trustees claimed
the historians' letter had no effect on the Board's decision, the fact
remains that subsequent to the negative publicity, the Trustees met and
agreed to allow the publication on the basis that the book contain
disclaimers that it is "not an official or sanctioned history" and that
"the opinions expressed do not represent the opinions of the Bryn Mawr
School, its trustees, administrators, faculty, alumnae, or students."  Jim
Jordan, director of the Johns Hopkins Press stated, "We're certainly
delighted by the news. . . .We look forward to publishing [the book]."

3.  DISCHARGED BILLS
The House Committee on Resources has marked-up two bills which will now
move to the full House for action:

MARTINS COVE: Introduced by Representative Jim Hansen (R-UT) this
legislation (H.R. 4103) seeks to sell approximately 940 acres of historic
lands in the public domain to the Mormon Church for the purpose of "public
education, historic preservation and enhanced recreational enjoyment to the
public."  Located on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands along the
Sweetwater River, the historic Martin's Cove site is where several
companies of Mormon pioneers became stranded in the October 1856.  Nearly
150 members of the Martin Handcart Company perished due to deep snow and
freezing temperatures. Until five years ago (when the Mormon Church
purchased part of the Sun Ranch and signed a cooperative agreement with the
BLM) the public did not have access to Martin's Cove.  As it passed out of
Committee the legislation enables the Mormon Church to purchase the land;
it ensures perpetual public access to the site free of charge, and grants
the government the right of first refusal to acquire the lands should the
Church ever decide to divest itself of the property. Critics of the
legislation fear that this sale of a government-owned historic site to a
private entity will establish a dangerous precedent with enormous
consequences.  The measure is expected to pass the House easily, but may
not find as many sympathetic ears on the Senate side.

MEMORIAL TO THE VICTIMS OF TERRORIST ATTACKS
Introduced by Representative Jim Turner (D-TX), this legislation (H.R.
2982) would authorize the establishment of a memorial on the National Mall
or on other land in the District of Columbia to the victims of terrorist
attacks on the United States. The legislation seeks to establish a "living"
memorial to officially recognize those who have lost their lives -- either
at home or abroad -- to terrorist acts. By some estimates, America has lost
more than 4,000 citizens to acts of terrorism. The legislation authorizes a
commission to raise funds and determine the location of the memorial in
conjunction with the National Capital Memorial Commission and other
entities. The bill is expected to pass the House without difficulty.

4.  NEWS BITS AND BYTES
Item #1 -- NARA Web Site Redesigned:  On May 31, 2002 the National Archives
and Records Administration (NARA) will launch its redesigned web site
http://www.archives.gov. NARA's former web site www.nara.gov will be merged
with www.archives.gov to form a site that provides online visitors
with  improvements in navigation, uniformity, appearance, and accessibility
to users with disabilities.  The online visitor will have immediate access
to the web site's major topic areas that allow browsing and searching
through information about Federal Government records, services provided by
the National Archives, and online presentations of exhibits including the
Charters of Freedom: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and
the Bill of Rights.  New features on the web site will include
print-friendly versions of the web pages, news and events notices, a
drop-down box providing direct access to web pages, a site index, and an
FAQ page.  The web site is designed so that its content will also be
available to persons with disabilities who use assistive software
to  navigate the World Wide Web.

Item #2 -- Call for Nominations, National Humanities Medal:  The National
Humanities Medal honors scholars and other individuals and groups whose
work has strengthened citizens' understanding of or engagement with
history, literature, philosophy, or other humanities subjects. The National
Endowment for the Humanities is now accepting nominations of scholars and
other individuals or organizations whose activities support
excellence.  The deadline in June 6, 2002.  For more information, tap into:
<http://www.neh.gov/news/medals.asp>.

5.  ARTICLES OF INTEREST
This week an article on the preservation of federal records, "Webmasters
Agree Not All Web is Archive Worthy" (The Washington Post, 5/28/02). The
article focuses on a recent conference at the National Institutes of Health
in which National Archives officials and other agencies were unable to
reach consensus on rules governing retention and disposition. For the story
tap into
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20930-2002May28.html>.

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