Best of luck to everyone in the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic in the path of tropical storm Ernesto! I hope you all escape wind/rain/storm damage. It's been raining since early morning here in the DC area. Have a Happy Labor Day, all! Maarja ********************************************************************** NCH WASHINGTON UPDATE (Vol. 12, #34; 1 September 2006) by R. Bruce Craig (editor) NATIONAL COALITION FOR HISTORY (NCH) Website at http://www.h-net.org/~nch/ *********************************************************************** 1. DEVELOPERS BREAK FEDERAL LAWS, BUT WILL THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT ACT? 2. DEADLINE APPROACHES FOR COMMENT ON PROPOSED CHANGE IN NARA RESEARCH HOURS 3. PUBLIC INPUT SOUGHT ON “PRESERVE AMERICA” PROPOSAL 4. BITS AND BYTES: Information on State Civil Service Requirements Requested; NEH Announces Scholarly Edition Grant Competition; Best High School Essays Announced; NPS Historians’ Directory Published Online 5. ARTICLES OF INTEREST: No posting this week 1. DEVELOPERS BREAK FEDERAL LAWS, BUT WILL THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT ACT? Civil War battlefield enthusiasts were outraged to learn that developers, in conjunction with a local utility company, flagrantly violated federal laws when they trenched some 1,900 feet across the government-owned Harpers Ferry/Boliver battlefield and then installed a six-inch sewer line and a 16-inch water line without first obtaining the required permits. The question now is, what are Interior officials prepared to do about it? The battlefield property was recently donated to the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, a unit of the National Park System. When the property conveyed, an existing utility easement also transferred with the title. However, in the view of the National Park Service (NPS), the developers violated federal law as the government owns the land and it has exclusive authority over all construction activities within the boundary of a federal park, regardless of the existence of an easement. The developers were not ignorant of this assertion of federal authority – they were well aware of the federal permitting process, but when the special-use permit they requested was not issued in what they considered a timely fashion they commenced work anyway. The action has prompted both the National Parks Conservation Association and the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) to release statements questioning the legality of the line work. CWPT President James Lighthizer states, “the developers had neither the authority nor the permits necessary to do this,” a view mirrored by Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Superintendent Donald Campbell who stated, “violations of federal law have occurred, and we are weighing the legal options and considering the steps with which to proceed.” But what action can the federal government take now, in that the “desecration” has already taken place? Without question, the proposed action by the utility company and the federal permitting that was required prior to commencement of work by the developer and the utility company, constituted what is known as a “federal undertaking” and it was subject to compliance provisions of the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) as well as several other federal preservation laws. As required by law, the NPS had solicited public comments on the proposed action. According to Interior sources, over 100 comments in opposition to issuance of the permit had been received. When the developers took direct action and began trenching, the NPS was in the middle of the compliance process; officials were still soliciting and assessing comments from other federal and state agencies so as to fully comply with environmental compliance procedures. Based on public comments and agency concerns Interior officials had concluded that additional assessment was warranted and that issuance of the use permit most likely would be delayed, according to sources inside the Interior department. Those same sources report that the Assistant Attorney General assigned to the Department of Justice is now assessing various criminal and civil options open to the government. Unless the Interior Department acts and prosecutes those who flaunt the law, preservationists fear that the inaction of the government to protect the park resources may well signal a greenlight for other developers to ignore compliance requirements knowing full well that the federal government will not prosecute such violations. The NCH has contacted the Interior department and has urged the government to act quickly and decisively in prosecuting the violators. 2. DEADLINE APPROACHES FOR COMMENT ON PROPOSED CHANGE IN NARA RESEARCH HOURS The deadline for public comments on the rule recently published in the Federal Register on proposed changes in the hours for conducting research at the National Archives Building (DC) and the National Archives facility at College Park (MD) is drawing near – 8 September. If you have not already done so, please provide NARA with your views and concerns this week. As regular readers of this newsletter are aware, NARA is proposing a series of drastic budget reduction actions in order to address a projected budget shortfall in the federal government fiscal year (FY 2007) that begins on 1 October. In order to reduce costs of operations, NARA proposes to have research facilities open 9 a.m. to 5 p. m. Monday through Friday only no longer would there be evening or Saturday hours. Regional archive facilities would also modify their extended hours. If approved as drafted, the rule and the changed hours will go into effect as soon as the new fiscal year begins – 2 October 2006. To date nearly 300 comments have been received, but there is still time for concerned individuals, organizations and institutions to comment on the proposed changes. Comments must be received by 8 September 2006. A link to the rule is at: http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo. gov/2006/pdf/E6-11763.pdf . Comments may be forwarded via www.regulations.gov . 3. PUBLIC INPUT SOUGHT ON “PRESERVE AMERICA” PROPOSAL Mrs. Laura Bush, the President's wife and Honorary Chair of the “Preserve America Program” (a White House initiative that encourages and supports community efforts to preserve and enjoy the nation’s cultural and natural heritage), has announced that, in cooperation with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), she will lead a national “Preserve America Summit” in October 2006 to mark the 40th anniversary of the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. As part of that effort, a panel of experts representing historic preservation, education, history, and related fields, has been appointed to review the major components of the national historic preservation program in advance of the summit. The panel, which met in Detroit, Michigan, on 8 August, is beginning to consider how best to build a preservation ethic and public appreciation of history; it is charged to make recommendations designed to improve the nation’s historical preservation policy and programs. Among those appointed to the panel are Heather MacIntosh, President of Preservation Action; James G. Basker, President of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History; Spencer Crew, Executive Director and CEO of the National Underground Railroad and Freedom Center; and Libby O’Connell, Senior Vice President/Chief Historian of The History Channel and about a dozen others. While the historic preservation, museum, and public history communities are well represented on the panel, substantive representation from the archival community is noticeably absent, and there is no representation whatsoever from the higher-education academic history community. Nevertheless, the panel is seeking public responses (academics are welcome to respond) to the following questions: “How can the significance and value of our authentic heritage resources and appreciation for the importance of knowing and understanding history be more broadly integrated into our national consciousness? The panel also wants to know, “ is the present situation in regard to historic preservation and broad public appreciation of the importance of history education already sufficient in America?” E-mail comments should be sent to [log in to unmask] . 4. BITS AND BYTES: Item # 1 – Information on State Civil Service Requirements Requested: This week the NCH received a letter from a historian who had applied for a vacant historian position with the state of Pennsylvania. But the applicant was ultimately deemed “ineligible” to apply because, according to Pennsylvania Civil Service rules, she was not a “resident” of the state. Now we wonder, just how wide-spread is such a state Civil Service residency requirement? If you have information about similar or contrary state Civil Service requirements, please e-mail the editor at [log in to unmask] with whatever information you may have on this issue. We will publish our findings in a future NCH WASHINGTON UPDATE. Item #2 – NEH Announces Scholarly Edition Grant Competition: The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has announced the annual competition for Scholarly Editions Grants that support the preparation by a team of at least two editors and staff of texts and documents that are currently inaccessible or available in inadequate editions. Projects involving significant literary, philosophical, and historical materials are typical in this grant program, but other types of work, such as musical notation, are also eligible. In applying, applicants will need to demonstrate familiarity with the best practices recommended by the Association for Documentary Editing or the Modern Language Association Committee on Scholarly Editions. This year, there is a new twist on the application process that has caused some consternation within the documentary edition community: in keeping with the goals of the NEH Digital Humanities Initiative, the Scholarly Editions Program now requires that applicants employ digital technology in the preparation, management, and online publication of all critical and documentary editions. Also projects that include TEI (Text Encoding Initiative) conformant transcription and offer free online access are encouraged and will be given preference. Guidelines may be found at: http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/editions.html . Item #3 -- Best High School History Essays Announced: Each year, the Gilder Lehrman Institute joins with The Concord Review to co-sponsor the Gilder Lehrman Prize in American History. The prize recognizes exceptional American history essays submitted to The Concord Review, the only journal to publish exemplary historical writing by high school students. In 2006 jurors for the Gilder Lehrman Prize in American History were Steven Mintz (University of Houston, Texas), Sharona Kay (Boca Raton Community High School, Florida), and Anthony Napoli (Salesian High School, New York, and the Gilder Lehrman Institute), who deliberated with James Basker (President of the Gilder Lehrman Institute) to determine the winners. For more on the program and to read the winning essays, go to: http://www.gilderlehrman.org/teachers/student6.html . Item #4 – NPS Historians’ Directory Published Online: The 2006-2007 National Park Service Historians Directory, an electronic edition that includes the contact information relating to more than 275 historians and other National Park Service staff who work in parks and communities across the United States and its territories. To download and save the latest copy (PDF; 1.54 MB) from the Park History website, go to: http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/NPShistorians06.pdf . 5. ARTICLES OF INTEREST One posting this week: No posting this week. ************************************************************************ Who We Are... The National Coalition for History (NCH) is a nonprofit educational organization that provides leadership in history related advocacy; it serves as the profession's national voice in the promotion of history and archives, and acts as a clearinghouse of news and information of interest to history related professionals. Membership in the history coalition is open to organizations that share our concern for history and archives. For information on how your history/archive organization can become a member, visit our website at http://www.h-net.org/~nch/ and click on the "Join the Coalition" web link. Contribute and Support this publication... Individuals are invited to help support the NCH by sending a donation directly to the NCH at 400 A Street S.E., Washington D.C. 20003, or, by making an online donation at http://www.conservenow.org/detail.asp?ORGID=2032&memflag=true. All contributions are tax deductible. Subscribe Today! We invite individual readers to subscribe to this FREE weekly newsletter! You are also encouraged to redistribute the NCH Washington Updates to colleagues, friends, teachers, students and others who are interested in history and archives issues. 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Breaking news, video search, pictures, email and IM. All on demand. Always Free. A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org. For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname *or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>