Washington Insider

The following was originally published in the July 2008 PS: Political Science and Politics.  Sources for this column include the National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History's NCC Washington Update and the Consortium of Social Science Associations' Washington Update, and the National Humanities Alliance's NHA-Announce.

NARA Creates Plan for the Founders Online
The National Archives responded to concerns raised by the Committees on Appropriations of the U.S. Congress that the complete papers of America's Founding Fathers are not available online. Archivist Allen Weinstein submitted a report outlining the program “The Founders Online,” a plan for providing online access, to researchers, students, and the general public. The plan outlines three basic steps that remain: digitizing the existing 217 volumes and publishing the Papers on a single web site to allow for research and inquiry across America's Founding Era collections; transcribing and preparing the remaining papers (approximately 90,000 documents); and creating an independent oversight process to ensure that performance goals are established and met by the parties carrying out all aspects of the work. The report is available at http://www.archives.gov/nhprc/publications.

Commission to Consider Creation of National Museum of the American Latino
The week of May 9, the president signed into law a bill creating a commission to study the potential establishment of a National Museum of the American Latino. The new law sets up a 23-member commission charged with producing three things in a 24-month timeframe: (1) a national conference to bring stakeholders, experts, policymakers, and other interested parties together to discuss the museum's viability; (2) a fundraising plan to create an extensive public-private partnership; and (3) a report to Congress detailing a recommended plan of action on how to move forward with taking the museum from concept to reality. The report would include recommendations as to possible locations within the District of Columbia and the question of whether the museum should be part of the Smithsonian Institution.

Senate Panel Holds National Archives Oversight Hearing
On May 14 the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee's Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services and International Security held an oversight hearing on the programs of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).This was the first oversight hearing on the National Archives in well over a decade.

Smithsonian Says “Hooray for Hollywood”
The Smithsonian Institution this week announced an agreement with 20th Century Fox to allow the use of its name and facilities for the filming of “Night at the Museum II: Escape from the Smithsonian.” The movie is the sequel to the 2006 film “Night at the Museum” starring Ben Stiller that earned over $250 million at the box office in the U.S., and over $500 million worldwide. This is the first time in its 162-year history that the Smithsonian Institution has allowed its name to be used in the title of a movie produced for theatrical distribution.