National Historical Publications Commission Research Articles

Partners in Preservation: New Mexico

Archival repositories in New Mexico have benefited greatly from funding provided by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), and its predecessor, the National Historical Publications Commission (NHPC). Since 1967 NHPRC funds have supported records and publication projects that ensured the preservation of and access to New Mexico's historical patrimony.

The Beginnings of the NHPRC Records Program

In 1974, federal legislation enlarged the scope and function of the National Historical Publications Commission (NHPC) by providing authority for the Commission to support archival projects in public and private institutions. The first six years of the newly formed National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) were devoted to the development of state structures to assist in the program's implementation, and national priorities that could address questions of documentary preservation and enhanced researcher use. The debates within the Commission and among archivists nationwide during the startup period centered on three questions: how much appropriated funding would be provided to the Commission for grants?; what role should the states play in shaping and implementing the program?; and what priorities should be established in order to advance the solution to national research needs? The staff, the Commission members, the Archivist of the United States, the state archivists, and the professional archival organizations all became important contributors to the initiation of the first national effort to improve archival processes and the condition of documentary resources in the United States.

The Government, the Historical Profession, and Historical Editing: A Review

Just over thirty years ago in a ceremony at the Library of Congress Harry S Truman was presented with the first volume of The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. That same year the Federal Records Act resuscitated the National Historical Publications Commission, which had been created at the same time as the National Archives in order to plan and recommend a national program of documentary publication. In 1954, in response to Trumen's requests and after considerable study, the commission sent to President Eisenhower A National Program for the Publication of Historical Documents and thus launched a renaissance of historical editing in the United States. We have come far in three decades. By early 1979 the expanded and retitled National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC)* spending some fourteen millions of federal dollars itself and with over eighteen million more of private donations, had sponsored the publication of some 237 letterpress volumes and nearly 5000 microfilm reels of historical documents, with many more partially completed and projected. The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) contributed at least another seven and a half million dollars, and what with support from the institutions sponsoring and housing the projects, university presses, business, and foundations, the amount of money devoted to historical editing has undoubtedly exceeded forty million dollars. What has this money accomplished, and what is being accomplished now, every year, by the expenditure of over three million dollars in federal funds alone?1 Without question the huge outpouring of documents published with NHPRC and NEH guidance and encouragement has bestowed on historians greatly expanded access to the sources for teaching and research. Scholars now have much more accurate texts of important documents, large runs of

The Historian and the Federal Government

OR specialists in United States history, nothing has more influence upon research than the policies of the federal government-policies that also affect teaching and employment. The way in which the government documents its operations, maintains records of lasting significance, protects them against destruction, insures equal access to all scholars at the earliest possible date, and provides finding aids is of primary concern to our profession. Appropriations for the National Archives, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, and other facilities can shape the course of writing in many fields. Publication of source materials is a practice as old as the republic. Recently, the allocation of federal funds has supported advanced research, teaching abroad, graduate training, and the preservation of manuscript collections. Although there is no book-length account of the influence of governmental policies on historical writing from the early nineteenth century to the present, several individuals have dealt with parts of the subject. John Higham, Walter Rundell, Lester J. Cappon-among others-have noted the government's contribution to an emergent profession, have described the wide range of federal historical activities, and have stressed the interests shared with archivists and editors.1 The purpose of this essay is neither to retrace the trail blazed by earlier authors nor to break new ground in unexplored areas, but rather to discuss some of today's important questions and to see how the Organization of American Historians and the American Historical Association have responded to them. It will consider the renewed drive for an independent National Archives, the changing focus of the National Historical Publications Commission, the continuing controversy over presidential libraries, the future course of the

Herbert A. Johnson, editor. <italic>The Papers of John Marshall</italic>. Volume 1, <italic>Correspondence and Papers, November 10, 1775–June 23, 1788; Account Book, September 1783–June 1788</italic>. (Sponsored by the College of William and Mary and the Institute of Early American History and Culture, under the auspices of the National Historical Publications Commission.) Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 1974. Pp. xlvi,

Herbert A. Johnson, editor. The Papers of John Marshall. Volume 1, Correspondence and Papers, November 10, 1775–June 23, 1788; Account Book, September 1783–June 1788. (Sponsored by the College of William and Mary and the Institute of Early American History and Culture, under the auspices of the National Historical Publications Commission.) Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 1974. Pp. xlvi, 448. $17.95 Get access Johnson Herbert A., editor. The Papers of John Marshall. Volume 1, Correspondence and Papers, November 10, 1775–June 23, 1788; Account Book, September 1783–June 1788. (Sponsored by the College of William and Mary and the Institute of Early American History and Culture, under the auspices of the National Historical Publications Commission.) Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 1974. Pp. xlvi, 448. $17.95. Maxwell Bloomfield Maxwell Bloomfield Catholic University of America Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The American Historical Review, Volume 81, Issue 5, December 1976, Page 1225, https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr/81.5.1225 Published: 01 December 1976

The World's Longest Footnote and other useful creations of the National Historical Publications Commission

(1975). The World's Longest Footnote and other useful creations of the National Historical Publications Commission. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning: Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 55-57.

Herbert Weaver and Paul H. Bergeron, editors. <italic>Correspondence of James K. Polk</italic>. Volume 2, <italic>1835–1834</italic>. (Sponsored by Vanderbilt University, the National Historical Publications Commission, the Tennessee Historical Commission, the Polk Memorial Association.) Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press. 1972. Pp. xxxvi, 645. $15.00

Herbert Weaver and Paul H. Bergeron, editors. <italic>Correspondence of James K. Polk</italic>. Volume 2, <italic>1835–1834</italic>. (Sponsored by Vanderbilt University, the National Historical Publications Commission, the Tennessee Historical Commission, the Polk Memorial Association.) Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press. 1972. Pp. xxxvi, 645. $15.00

The Recollections of Philander Prescott: Frontiersman of the Old Northtwest, 1819-1862 (review)

70CIVIL WAR HISTORY 1865 when Davis had left die public stage. Their publication does shed light upon certain aspects of Davis' private life—his unique relationship widi his niece Mary Stamps, his quarrel with his brother's family, and his abiding affection for his wife and in-laws. Numerous gossipy letters of Davis' wife Varina Howell afford fresh insights into her spirited mind and serve as sources of social history. Within a few years, however, this collection will probably serve only die general reader. The Jefferson Davis Association , endorsed by die National Historical Publications Commission and under the editorial direction of Frank E. Vandiver and Haskell M. Monroe, is currently preparing a definitive edition of The Papers of Jefferson Davis in fifteen-plus volumes. It is the general reader, the Civil War buff, dien, who will fall victim to Strode's techniques of selection and editing. Strode has deleted portions of letters without die customary ellipsis marks "for the reader's convenience ." The index is poor. Because he does not believe Davis capable of rancor or obstinacy, Strode does not include letters, and they do exist, which betray Davis' very human traits. Instead, Davis appears as a man of principle, acquainted with sorrows, who before his accusers is mute. Strode allows the President who feuded with generals, governors, and congressmen both during and after the war to display an obstinate spirit only in such matters as refusing to submit to the "rejuvenation treatments" of a French physician. In place of notes, Strode has written a brief paragraph to introduce each letter or series of letters. These paragraphs are, for die most part, inadequate . They are written in an annoying combination of the historical present and past tenses. They display little consistency as to who should be identified, when tiiey should be identified, or what circumstances should be explained. All too often Strode uses diese introductory paragraphs to supply the reader value judgments on such subjects as reconstruction and Davis' enemies. Some assertions made by Strode are debatable; others are simply inaccurate. For example, Strode states diat during the Richmond "bread riot" Davis "calmed the mob by making them a speech and exhibiting his own empty pockets." (p. 521) In lauding Davis' role in the incident, Strode fails to mention die calming effect of the detachment of troops who stood ready to enforce the President's desires. It is highly unusual to criticize the editor of a book of historical documents for a lack of objectivity. Yet in this collection of letters the editor's bias intrudes. It may be true, as Strode asserts, that Jefferson Davis deserves more sympadietic treatment from historians. But it may also be true in Davis' case that sympadiy and objectivity need not be mutually exclusive. Emory M. Thomas University of Georgia The Recollections of Philander Prescott: Frontiersman of the Old Northivest, 1819-1862. Edited by Donald Dean Parker. ( Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1966. Pp. xi, 272. $5.95.) BOOK REVIEWS71 Philander Prescott spent more dian forty years in the Old Northwest as a fur trader, interpreter, superintendent of Indian farming, and mill owner, beginning in 1819 when, at die age of eighteen, he journeyed to Detroit to join his brother, and ending with his death at die hands of the Sioux during the uprising in 1862. About 1860, Alexander Ramsey, governor of Minnesota and president of its historical society, urged Prescott to record his many experiences. Prescott's countless financial ventures and his attention to detail as a memoirist combined to produce a manuscript of broad scope and historical value. It is published now in its entirety for the first time. Prescott ranged throughout the upper Mississippi region, and his recollections testify to die harshness of die land: icy winter gales and snows which penned in human life and forced Indian and white man to live for months on fish and potatoes. At Fort Snelling, he observed garrison life during the early 1820's. When the sale of the Columbia Fur Companv put him out of work in 1827, the young pioneer took a job on a Mississippi steamboat and visited such river ports as Natchitoches and the fast growing city of New Orleans...

Underdeveloped Sources of Understanding in American History

'W~ORK in the history of the United States has taken great steps forward in the accumulation of data and the development of techniques of research and analysis during the past two dozen years. Repeatedly demonstrated has been the fact that more historical knowledge can be gained and more generalizations tested by the use of statistics.' That work has been especially furthered during the past three years by the efforts of the American Historical Association's Committee to Collect the Basic Quantitative Data of American Political History.2 The use and usefulness of archives and manuscripts have been substantially increased, thanks in part to the accomplishments of administrators and scholars like Solon Buck and Ernst Posner and in part to the publication of finding aids like Guide to the Records in the National Archives (Washington, 1948), Alice Smith's Guide to the Manuscripts in the Wisconsin Historical Society (Madison, 1944), Philip Hamer's A Guide to Archives and Manuscripts in the United States (New Haven, 1961), and the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (Hamden, Conn., 1959). Other significant developments have been the spread of oral-history research, the increased publication of documents (encouraged by the reinvigorated National Historical Publications Commission), the heightened inter-

Toward Equal Opportunities for Scholarship

O NE of the small but pleasant aspects of cultural life in this Republic is that its archival and manuscript repositories have not been too overburdened with archivists and curators who assume that ownership is more important than scholarship. On the National Archives staff there are none. The professional staff organized in 1935 took for granted that it was to serve scholarship throughout the nation, not merely those scholars who could make their way to the National Archives building in Washington. This desire to serve has led to a program that is not nearly as well known among scholars as it should be-the National Archives Microfilm Publication program. This paper will recount some of its history, what it has meant most recently in its impact upon the work of the National Historical Publications Commission, and how it is being further developed as an aid to scholarship. The emphasis in the title of the paper, it should be remarked, is on the word toward and certainly not yet-if indeed it can ever be-on the bold words, equal opportunities. The use of microfilm by the National Archives to supplement reference service was begun as early as 1936, shortly after the opening of the building. Card files at the Library of Congress and at the Veterans Administration, as well as the Mereness Calendar at the University of Illinois, were placed on microfilm to augment the finding aids in the National Archives' Division of Reference. Microfilm was already beginning to be used in the solution of records problems involving storage and security, and its use as a medium for increasing and extending the availability to the public of documentary materials in the custody of the National Archives was natural and logical.' The immediate occasion for the development of the microfilm publication program was the need to minimize the deterioration of certain record Mr. Grover was Archivist of the United States from 1948-1965.

African Studies Association Guide to Archival and Manuscript Materials Relating to Africa in the United States

There is an extensive documentary reflection in the United States, as yet only partially known, of American diplomatic, military, commercial, explorative, missionary, philanthropic, educational, scientific and other activities in, and contacts with, Africa over the past three and a half centuries. This vast accumulation, distributed throughout the country, has considerable research potential not only for historians of Africa and of American relations with Africa, but also for Africanists working in various social scientific disciplines. In order to bring to light and to acquaint interested American and foreign scholars with the entire broad range of Africa-related archival and manuscript materials extant in this country, the African Studies Association sought foundation support for a comprehensive descriptive guide to these materials. The Ford Foundation has awarded a grant of $54,000 to the Association for the production of the guide over a three-year period. The Archives-Libraries Committee of the Association, under the chairmanship of Dr. William A. Hance, has arranged with the Archivist of the United States for the National Archives and Records Service to assume joint responsibility with ASA for the conduct of the guide project. Morris Rieger, a senior member of the NARS staff, and as ASA Fellow, will serve as project director. The project, which began on February 1, 1964, has been placed under the immediate jurisdiction of the National Historical Publications Commission, a body, linked to NARS, of which the Archivist is Chairman. This link will give the project the valuable advantage of NHPC's close ties with archival and manuscript depositories throughout the country.

The Prehistory and Origins of the National Historical Publications Commission

The Prehistory and Origins of the National Historical Publications Commission

A Report to the President Containing a Proposal... For the Collection, Preservation, and Publication, or Dissemination by Other Means, of the Documentary Sources of American History. National Historical Publications Commission

<i>A Report to the President Containing a Proposal... For the Collection, Preservation, and Publication, or Dissemination by Other Means, of the Documentary Sources of American History</i>. National Historical Publications Commission

The Literary Estate of Lorado Taft

the 361 great Americans proposed for inclusion in A National Program for the Publication of Historical Documents a report made to the President in 1954 by the National Historical Publications Commission 47 have worked in the fields called in current academic parlance the humanities, which in the Report are limited to architecture, music, painting, literature, and sculpture. The name of only one sculptor appears in the first group of 112, whose papers were recommended for immediate attention Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1 848-1 907), uOne of the greatest of American sculptors. Three others, in the second group, are listed by name and dates only: William Rimmer ( 181679), William Rush (1 756-1 833), and Lorado Taft (1 860-1 936). Though the authors of the Report made it abundantly clear that their recommendations were neither complete nor final, it is somewhat puzzling to see the physician-would-be-artist Dr. Rimmer listed at all, whereas a casual scanning of Lorado Taft's History of American Sculpture suggests any number of worthier subjects Henry Kirke Brown or Taft's contemporary Daniel Chester French, for instance. There is no doubt that Lorado Taft was himself of national

A Guide to Archives and Manuscripts in the United States: Compiled for the National Historical Publications Commission

A Guide to Archives and Manuscripts in the United States: Compiled for the National Historical Publications Commission

A Guide to Archives and Manuscripts in the United States. Edited by &lt;italic&gt;Philip M. Hamer&lt;/italic&gt;. [Compiled for the National Historical Publications Commission.] (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. 1961. Pp. xxiii, 775. $12.50.)

Journal Article A Guide to Archives and Manuscripts in the United States. Edited by Philip M. Hamer. [Compiled for the National Historical Publications Commission.] (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. 1961. Pp. xxiii, 775. $12.50.) Get access A Guide to Archives and Manuscripts in the United States. Edited by Hamer Philip M.. [Compiled for the National Historical Publications Commission.] (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. 1961. Pp. xxiii, 775. $12.50.) Ray Allen Billington Ray Allen Billington Northwestern University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The American Historical Review, Volume 66, Issue 4, July 1961, Pages 1049–1051, https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr/66.4.1049 Published: 01 July 1961

Report of the Activities Committee to the Civil War Centennial Commission

Report of the Activities Committee to the Civil War Centennial Commission Eoitor's Note: On January 6, 1959, Major General U. S. Grant 3rd, chairman ofthe Civil War Centennial Commission, appointed a Committee on Historical Activities. This Committee, consisting of David C. Mearns, Avery O. Craven, Congressman Fred Schwengel, and Bell I. Wiley, chairman, was charged with the responsibility of considering and recommending effective ways of promoting the historical aspects of the Commission's program. On April 6, 1959, the Committee submitted the following report to General Grant. The Executive Committee of the Commission at its meeting on May 6, 1959, unanimously approved the report in principle and agreed that the projects listed in it should be undertaken as circumstances permitted. The Commission , owing to its small budget, cannot hope to assume financial responsibility for more than a few of the least costly projects. But it is hoped that historically minded organizations, institutions, and individuals will undertake some of the more important projects. This hope has been stimulated by the fact that at least three historical projects of vital interest to the Commission have already been initiated. The National Archives is preparing a guide-index to facilitate use of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies; the New York Public Library has awarded an Emily F. Skeels Fellowship to C. E. Dornbusch to enable bin torevise and bring up to date the Bibliography of State Participation in the Civil War; and Thomas Yoseloff is reprinting Frederick A. Dyer's massive, scarce, and exceedingly helpful Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. The Report of the Committee on Historical Activities was not prepared with any thought of publication. General Grant has consented to its reproduction in Civil War History to pubh'cize the Commission's deep interest in promoting a better understanding of the Civil War and to call attention to the need of sponsors for the projects listed in the report. I. During the period March 10-20, 1959, the Committee held several informal sessions and met in conference with visiting historians on March 10 and March 16. Both of these conferences were attended by General U. S. Grant, Karl Betts, and Edmund C. Gass of the Commission staff. The visiting historians were: Professor David Donald, Columbia University Colonel Ernest Dupuy, military historian Mr. Ira Lykes, The National Park Service Dallas Irvine, The National Archives 374 Christopher Crittenden, Director, North Carolina Historical Commission C. E. Dornbusch, New York Public Library Charles O'Neill, Greens Farms, Conn. (Guggenheim Fellow, author of Wdd Train) Professor Frank E. Vandiver, The Rice Institute Clyde C. Walton, Illinois State Historian; Editor, CtOtZ War History Professor T. Harry Williams, Louisiana State University William J. Van Schreeven, State Archivist, Virginia State Library Philip M. Hamer, Executive Director, National Historical Publications Commission II. On the basis of deliberations in these sessions, the Committee respectfully makes the following recommendations: A.In all of its historical activities, the CivU War Centennial Commission should encourage treatment of the Civil War as a broad and complex phenomenon reaching deep into American experience. It should insist that the war be regarded and treated not as an isolated episode, with rigid boundaries of time, locale, or events, but as an inseparable part of the general stream of American history. It should also encourage consideration of the war as a phenomenon extending far beyond a succession of political and military activities and one which encompasses social, cultural, economic and other broad movements which go far back into the prewar years and which continue to exert a tremendous influence on down to the present time. Moreover, it should emphasize the relation of the war to international trends and events. B.The Commission should set up as its number-one historical publication objective the preparation and publication of a comprehensive syllabus or guide to CivU War history. This should meet tiie highest standards of scholarship and should be of a quality comparable to that of the Harvard Guide to American History. It should exceed the scope of the Harvard Guide in some respects, particularly in that it should attempt to evaluate the books listed ( as does Larned in the Literature of American History), and should...

Book Reviews

Book Reviews Get access A National Program for the Publication of Historical Documents: a Report to the President by the National Historical Publications Commission. Washington, U. S. Government Printing Office, 1954. viii, 106 pp. $.50. JOHN B. BLAKE JOHN B. BLAKE Assistant Historian, The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, New York City Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, Volume X, Issue 4, October 1955, Page 451, https://doi.org/10.1093/jhmas/X.4.451 Published: 01 October 1955

The National Historical Publications Commission

The National Historical Publications Commission