NCC Washington Update 2:35, 10/23/96

[mwidener@mail.law.utexas.edu (Mike Widener)]

NCC Washington Update, vol. 2, # 35, October 23, 1996
   by Page Putnam Miller, Director of the National Coordinating
      Committee for the Promotion of History <pagem@capaccess.org>

1.  Opening of New Nixon documents at the Archives
2.  National Park Service Releases Draft on Professional Standards
3.  NEH Establishes Funding Partnership with the Mellon Foundation

1.  Opening of New Nixon Documents at the Archives -- On October 17 the
National Archives opened 28,035 documents from the Special Files of the
Nixon White House.  The National Archives had originally intended to
release these records in 1987, but due to objections from Nixon and
others, they became part of what is often called the Nixon contested
materials and remained closed.  Subsequently, this body of 42,191
documents have undergone several reviews, the procedures for which are in
the regulations that evolved from the Presidential Recordings and
Materials Preservation Act, the legislation passed soon after Nixon's
resignation which preserved the Nixon tapes.

The most recent review board completed its work this summer and decided
that of the 42,191 documents the National Archives would retain 33,199
documents and return 8,992 documents -- deemed to be "personal" -- to the
Nixon estate.  Of the 33,199 documents that the Archives retained, 28,035
documents have been opened and are available for researchers to see at
Archives II in College Park, Maryland.  The other 5,164 documents remain
closed due to reasons of privacy or national security.

The release of these records came as a result of court ordered mediation
in a case that began in March 1992 when historian Stanley I. Kutler sued
the National Archives for repeatedly ignoring his legitimate requests for
access to the Nixon tapes.  In commenting on the opening of the documents
from the contested Nixon White House files, Kutler expressed considerable
concern that such a large portion of the collection had been categorized
as "personal records" and had been returned to the Nixon estate.
Throughout the various reviews of this material there have been lengthy
discussions about the degree to which campaign related records that
originated in the White House should be treated at personal records and
returned to Nixon.  Nixon's role as head of the Republican Party and his
role as President of the United States were frequently intertwined in a
way that makes it difficult to separate Presidential from personal
records.  The material just released, as widely reported in the press,
does include documents dealing with the Republican National Committee and
Nixon's desire to have Bob Dole dismissed as its chairman.  However,
Kutler believes that other campaign related documents that should have
remained at the National Archives are being returned to the Nixon estate.

2.  National Park Service Releases Draft on Professional Standards -- The
National Park Service has just released for review and comment a draft of
the Secretary of Interior's Professional Qualification Standards, as well
as Guidelines to assist in applying the standards to eleven disciplines
related to historic preservation.  The standards apply to all persons who
are under the Interior Department's authority -- which includes National
Park Service staff, contractors, and persons involved in the programs of
the State Historic Preservation Offices and Certified Local Governments,
both of which operate in partnership with the Department of Interior.  The
National Park Service developed the Secretary of Interior's Professional
Qualification Standards 20 years ago to ensure that a consist level of
expertise would be applied nationally to the identification, evaluation,
registration, documentation, treatment, and interpretation of historic and
archeological resources.

The 1992 amendments to the National Historic Preservation Act required a
revision of the standards and specifically called for the Secretary of
Interior and the Office of Personnel Management to ensure "equivalent
requirements for the disciplines involved " and to ensure that "such
standards shall consider the particular skills and expertise needed for
the preservation of historic resources."  The current regulations require
a graduate degree in history or American Studies OR a bachelor's degree
and some professional experience as the minimum qualifications for the
position of historian.  In contrast, for the discipline of archeology, a
graduate degree is required.  Many historians had hoped that the revised
standards would raise history to the standard of archeology, but it
appears that archeology is being lowered to history's standard.

The draft standards have three basic components for each discipline --
academic or comparable training, professional experience, and products and
activities that demonstrate proficiency in the field of historic
preservation.  While many think that the expanded section dealing with
demonstrated proficiencies has merit, there is still concern that after a
decade of calling for the raising of professional standards that a
graduate degree may still not be required for the position of historian.
The introduction to the standards does stress that the standards aim at
the "journeyman" level -- neither the beginner, nor the pre-eminent
authority in a discipline.

The National Park Service's Heritage Preservation Services Division, which
has responsibility for the draft hopes to post them by October 25 on the
WWW at <http://www.cr.nps.gov/ppb/qualstand/profqual.htm>   The
National Park Service would like to receive informal comments to this
draft before placing a draft in the Federal Register for formal comment.
Comments on this draft are to be sent by November 29 to:  Professional
Qualification Standards, Heritage Preservation Services, National Park
Service, P.O. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127;  or sent by E-mail to
rosemary_infante@nps.gov

3.  NEH Establishes Funding Partnership with the Mellon Foundation -- On
October 21, the NEH announced a new cooperative funding initiative with
the Mellon Foundation.  Since 1974 the NEH has supported the work of more
than 1,500 scholars at centers for a dvanced study, such as the Huntington
Library, the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Newberry Library, and the
Institute of Early American History and Culture.  With an additional $4.8
million funding from the Mellon Foundation, the NEH will be able to
enhance its support of advanced research fellowships in history,
literature, philosophy, classics and other humanities disciplines at the
nation's independent research libraries, museums and other centers for
advanced study.  NEH's funding to support fellowship programs at
independent research institutions will rise from the FY'96 level of $1.5
million to double that amount in fiscal 1997 and 1998.  There is some
concern in the scholarly community that this large grant to NEH will
decrease the Mellon Foundation's ability to fund other worth while
humanities projects.

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