I tried sending this from my AOL account about 20 minutes ago, I don't think it went through. Here it is again; you may end up getting the second version sometimes. Thus far the AOL version has not shown up in the Archives List web archives. Maarja
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NCH WASHINGTON UPDATE (Vol. 12, #19; 20 APRIL 2006)
by Bruce Craig (editor)
NATIONAL COALITION FOR HISTORY (NCH)
Website at http://www.h-net.org/~nch/
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1. WEINSTEIN PLEDGES NO MORE "SECRET" AGREEMENTS
2. GROUNDSWELL BUILDS IN OPPOSITION TO SMITHSONIAN "SHOWTIME" DEAL
3. OPM ANNOUNCES CHANGES TO ARCHIVAL OCCUPATION SERIES STANDARDS
4. FBI SEEKS TO REVIEW AND CULL JACK ANDERSON PAPERS
5. HISTORIANS SWEEP THIS YEAR'S PULITZER PRIZES
6. BITS AND BYTES: ICS "War Powers” Summer Seminar Announce”; State
Releases Vietnam FRUS
Volume; NEH Announces "We the People Bookshelf" Awards
7. ARTICLES OF INTEREST: "Washington's Museums: Worth the Price of Admission?
1. WEINSTEIN PLEDGES NO MORE "SECRET" AGREEMENTS
After learning of the existence of yet another secret agreement just this
last week -- this one between NARA and the CIA -- Archivist of the United
States Allen Weinstein has released a redacted version of that agreement
and has pledged that the National Archives and Records Administration
(NARA) would no longer enter into secret agreements with government
agencies that would allow them to withdraw documents from the archives for
national-security reasons. The NARA/CIA agreement that was discovered as a
result of the ongoing audit of the reclassification program. According to
NARA insiders, the October 2001 CIA agreement that was entered into shortly
after the 9/11 tragedy appears "to be the model" from which other
agreements such as the March 2002 agreement between NARA and the Air Force
that was released last week (see "NARA Releases Redacted Version of
"Classified or Sensitive" Records Memo" in NCH WASHINGTON UPDATE Vol 12, #
18; 14 April 2006).
Weinstein stated, "There can never be a classified aspect to our
mission. Classified agreements are the antithesis of our reason for
being. If records must be removed for reasons of national security, the
American people will always, at the very least, know when it occurs and how
many records are affected." Furthermore, stated the Archivist, "Our focus
is on the preservation of records and ensuring their availability to the
American public while at the same time fulfilling the peoples expectation
that we will properly safeguard the classified records entrusted to out
custody. Agencies have the prerogative to classify their requests to the
National Archives if disclosure of the reasons why they are asking us to
take action would cause identifiable damage to national security. However,
what we do in response to such requests, and how we do it, will always be
as transparent as possible."
Thomas Blanton, director of the National Security Archives who last week
criticized the agreement entered into by Weinstein' predecessor, John
Carlin, praised Weinstein. "He's doing the right thing, no more secret
agreements to classify open files" said Blanton. Steven Aftergood,
director of the anti-secrecy project at the Federation of American
Scientists, recently characterized the episode as "a genuine scandal for
the archives" also praised Weinstein: "He did not attempt to deny the
existence of the problem, and he did not attempt to evade responsibility
for it...instead he moved to fix it, and that is something we don't see
very often these days." In a letter to Weinstein, the Society for American
Archivists (SAA) also thanked the Archivist for "taking the several actions
you have taken to balance the public's need to know against national
security interests."
John W. Carlin, Weinstein's predecessor who ran the archives from 1995 to
2005 also has issued a statement fully supporting Weinstein's "quick
response." In that statement Carlin denies knowledge of the
reclassification program and asserts that he was "shocked" to learn of them
when he read about the program in a February New York Times article. NARA
insiders report that Carlin was briefed but has apparently forgotten about
it. According to these sources, Carlin authorized the agreements but he
did not personally read them.
Weinstein stated that the existing secret MOU's will soon be replaced with
thoroughly transparent versions that will be promulgated as a change to
"Classified national Security Information Directive No #1 (32 CFR Part
2001) following formal interagency coordination and an opportunity for
public comment. But for the time being, a moratorium on the withdrawal of
documents remains in place and an audit of the program is being conducted
by the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO). The audit is expected
to be completed and a report released 26 April 2006.
For the link to the NARA press release and statement of Archivist
Weinstein, go to:
http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2006/nr06-92.html . For
additional background on the MOU's, go to:
http://www.archives.gov/declassification/background.html .
2. GROUNDSWELL BUILDS IN OPPOSITION TO SMITHSONIAN "SHOWTIME" DEAL
More than 200 filmmakers, historians, archivists and others have signed a
letter calling upon the Smithsonian Institution to reveal details of its
deal with the Showtime Network and reverse the policy that limits access to
the Smithsonian's archives, collections, scientists, and curators for
anyone who wishes "more than incidental" use of SI resources.
The letter was released during a packed press event where filmmaker Ken
Burns passionately described his affection for the Smithsonian but then
rebuked its leadership for developing the new rules for filmmakers and
researchers. "We want them to stop the current arrangement, share it with
the public and hold hearings" said Burns. Restricted access to the
archives, he added, "will be a great inconvenience in the future for all
filmmakers."
The letter takes strong exception to the secrecy surrounding the contract
details. It states that the deal is troubling to independent filmmakers,
video bloggers, historians, and educators who make nonincidental use of the
Smithsonian's collections and staff in putting their work on the Internet
on a noncommmercial basis. The agreement is "an anticompetitive practice
that is extremely troubling...Closing off one of the most important
collections of source materials and limiting access to staff will have a
chilling effect on creativity, will create disincentives for digitization
of the collections for access by all Americans, and violates the mission
and purposes of the Smithsonian Institution."
The letter, signed by luminaries including filmmakers Michael Moore, law
professor Lawrence Lessig, senior PBS official Jacoba Atlas, Organization
of American Historians Executive Director Lee Formwalt and a host of well
known historians, is posted at the website of the Center for American
Progress <http://www.americanprogress.org/smithsonian>; and was sent to
Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence Small with copies to 23 members of the House
and 28 Members of the Senate who have jurisdiction over the Smithsonian and
its appropriations.
In addition, the American Historical Association (AHA) issued its own
letter raising concerns about the agreement, (for the AHA letter and
related postings, go to: www.historians.org). The AHA letter, signed by
President Linda Kerber, expresses "alarm and deep dismay" about the
agreement between the Smithsonian and Showtime because it "clearly curtails
and constrains the options of historians and documentary researchers
seeking to use the collections of the Smithsonian, obtain assistance from
the staff, and publish their work when and as they choose." Kerber’s
letter references the Association’s "Statement on Standards for
Professional Conduct" and asserts that the newly entered contract with the
Smithsonian is at odds with it. Furthermore, the agreement violates "the
trust of generations of Americans who have donated materials to which they
believed the public would have free, open, equal and nondiscriminatory
access forever."
Like the letter signed by Burns and others, the AHA letter calls for full
disclosure of the terms of the contract, revealing the details of the
criteria being used to restrict access, and calls for a suspension of the
terms of the arrangement "until these issues have been publicly discussed
with all of the stakeholders."
On a related note, the Smithsonian's Office of the Inspector General (IG)
is looking into the executive compensation and accounting practices of the
Smithsonian Business Ventures (SBV) -- the 430 full-time employee division
which has jurisdiction over all the institution's retail and publishing
operations, including deals such as the Showtime agreement. One of the
issues being investigated focuses on the SBV pay scale that enables its top
executives to draw salaries comparable to similar private sector
positions. For example, Secretary Small earns $813,000 while Gary M Beer,
the CEO of the SBV earns $525,000, many times more than the top pay scale
for federal employees that is set at $162,000. Critics complain that based
on their performance to date the salaries of SBV officials are excessive
and that they may not be in line with guidelines established by the Board
of Regents. The IG is also investigating alleged accounting irregularities.
3. OPM ANNOUNCES CHANGES TO ARCHIVAL OCCUPATION SERIES STANDARDS
On 31 March 2006, the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
announced a change in the Federal educational requirement for archivist
positions in the 1420 occupational series. The change will: 1) expand the
type of history coursework that can be credited towards qualification as an
Archivist; and 2) add to the list of qualifying coursework classes in
archival science.
Under the previous educational requirement, 18 out of the 30 semester hours
needed to qualify as an archivist must have been in American history,
political science, or government - a limitation that often excluded highly
qualified candidates with other types of history backgrounds from
consideration for NARA jobs. Courses in archival science were not mentioned
in the previous educational requirement at all. NARA will now be able to
recruit candidates from a broader range of history backgrounds, including
world and international history, social and cultural history, and public
history. This is important because just as the state of archival education
has evolved over the past 40 years, so too have NARA's holdings.
The new educational requirement reads as follows: (A) Bachelor's degree in
archival science or bachelor's with a major that includes 18 semester hours
in archival science, history and/or in political science or government, and
12 semester hours in one or any combination of the following: archival
science, history, American civilization, economics, political science,
public administration, or government; or (B) Combination of education and
experience - at least 30 semester hours that included courses as shown in
A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
Additional information on the new standard is available on the OPM web site
at http://www.opm.gov./qualifications/SEC-IV/B/GS1400/1420.asp.
4. FBI SEEKS TO REVIEW AND CULL JACK ANDERSON PAPERS
According to a 18 April report in the Chronicle of Higher Education, George
Washington University is about to receive nearly 200 boxes of papers
documenting the life and career of investigative journalist Jack Anderson,
but the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wants access first to scan
and pull documents prior to their public release.
It is well known that Anderson, who died last December at age 83,
cultivated secret sources throughout the halls of government. He had
scores of sources inside government and used their information to document
the contents of his "Washington Merry-go-Round" column. His insider
sources passed on information that enabled Anderson to investigate and
write about Watergate, CIA assassination schemes, and countless other
secret operations, many of which have turned into political and
institutional scandals for the FBI, CIA, and other national security
agencies as well as politicians on both sides of the aisle.
The collection is expected to be a treasure trove of information for
journalists and historians. But according to the Chronicle, "the
government wants to see the documents before anyone else. Agents from the
Federal Bureau of Investigation have told university officials and members
of the Anderson family that they want to go through the archive, and that
agents will remove any item they deem confidential or top secret."
The Chronicle reports that the trustees of the Anderson estate have yet to
transfer ownership of the archive to George Washington University but they
are outraged and plan to fight the FBI's request. According to Anderson's
son Kevin N. Anderson, if Jack Anderson were alive today, he "would
probably come out of his skin at the thought of the FBI going through his
papers." Furthermore, "If papers were taken -- even if some were stamped
"declassified" and returned -- that would "destroy any academic, scholarly,
and historic value" of the archive stated Kevin Anderson.
Some libraries and researchers see the FBI's request as part of a renewed
emphasis on secrecy in government. According to Duane Webster, executive
director of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) the FBI's interest
in the Anderson archive is "deeply disturbing and deeply in conflict with
the academy's interests in freedom of inquiry, research, and
scholarship." Others believe that while the archive may contain some
classified information, most of it is likely decades old and have no
implications for present day criminal investigations or national
security. The FBI, however, asserts that under current law, if there are
classified papers in the Anderson archive, those papers remain the property
of the United States. Furthermore, officials claim it is a crime for
anyone to unlawfully possess still classified documents and that the
government is well within statutory mandates to review the collection for
such materials.
Although the FBI has yet to detail its plans, sources close to this story
report that the FBI is in contact with Justice Department officials and may
well seek to subpoena the papers if an agreement cannot be reached with
Anderson's family and the university. Then the FBI would have free access
to the collection that has yet to be organized and cataloged by George
Washington University. In essence, the FBI would have to pick through the
entire collection and pull any documents it wished (probably those marked
"Confidential" or "Secret") consistent with national security directives.
5. HISTORIANS SWEEP THIS YEAR'S PULITZER PRIZES
Historians Kai Byrd and Martin J. Sherwin have won the Pulitzer Prize for
biography for their book some 25 years in preparation titled "American
Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer." Harvard
historian Caroline Elkins won the general non-fiction award for "Imperial
Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya" and David M.
Oshinsky won the history award for "Polio: An American Story." Congrats
one and all!
6. BITS AND BYTES
Item #1 -- ICS "War Powers” Summer Seminar Announced: The Institute for
Constitutional Studies at George Washington University has announced that
its seventh annual summer seminar for up to fifteen college teachers and
advanced graduate students will take place 12-23 June 2006 . The seminar
titled "War Powers and the Constitution" will be conducted by historian
Richard H. Kohn (UNC-Chapel Hill) and legal scholar Martin Lederman
(Georgetown University Law Center). The program is open to graduate
students and junior scholars working on any topic relating to the history
and/or current controversies surrounding the war powers. Applications are
due 12 May. For more information, please
visit: http://docs.law.gwu.edu/ics/summerseminar.htm or contact Maeva
Marcus, ICS director, at (202) 502-1040 or [log in to unmask]
Item #2 -- State Releases Vietnam FRUS Volume: The Department of State has
issued a new volume in the Foreign Relations of the United States series:
1969-1976, volume VI, Vietnam, January 1969-July 1970. The volume is the
first of five contemplated volumes that will cover the end of the Vietnam
War. Among other things the volume demonstrates that in the early months of
1969 there was no specific plan to end the war. Rather, the Nixon
administration searched for ways to demonstrate to the leaders in Hanoi
that there was a new "firm hand at the helm" prepared to both talk and
fight. The administration also sought to engage the Soviet Union to
moderate North Vietnamese behavior, but without much success. The volume,
and a summary are available at the Office of the Historian website at:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/nixon/vi
<http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/nixon/vi>; . Copies of the volume can
also be purchased from the U.S. Government Printing Office at
http://bookstore.gpo.gov
<http://bookstore.gpo.gov>; (GPO stock number 044-000-02602-3; ISBN
0-16-075260-4). For further information contact Edward Keefer, General
Editor of the Foreign Relations series, at (202) 663-1131; fax (202)
663-1289; e-mail to [log in to unmask] .
Item #3 -- NEH Announces "We the People Bookshelf" Awards: The National
Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded free copies of classic books
to 2,000 public, school, and military libraries throughout the United
States and overseas. Each library selected will receive the 15 classic
books on the theme of "Becoming American" from the "We the People
Bookshelf", along with copies of three of the titles offered also in
Spanish. The books will go to neighborhood, military, and public school
libraries as well as libraries at private schools, charter schools, and
home school cooperatives throughout the United States, each of which will
receive a set of the 15 books, posters, bookmarks, and other promotional
materials from NEH through the American Library Association, which is
working in partnership with NEH. As part of the award, libraries will hold
programs or events to raise awareness of these classic books and engage
young readers. This year's Bookshelf enables younger readers to see how
America's immigrants have shaped our history and culture and to examine
from many perspectives what it means to become an American. For additional
information on this year's awards go to www.humanities.gov .
7. ARTICLES OF INTEREST
One posting this week: In "Washington's Museums: Worth the Price of
Admission?" there is a discussion of the pros and cons of charging
admission to the Smithsonian * a revenue enhancement measure recently
advocated by several member of Congress to help address the institutions
financial woes. The article poses the question: "If the price of admission
were even just $1 would this change the magic of the Smithsonian?" For the
article go
to:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/12/AR2006041202127.html
.
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