To: All Employees. 

I have authorized the following facilities to begin implementing the workplace safety measures associated with substantial transmission levels in our Updated Reentry and Post-Reentry Plan.

Please join us for a Washington History Seminar Panel with Jason Steinhauer on “History, Disrupted”: How Social Media and the World Wide Web Have Changed the Past.

“Global Religion and American World-Making,” an April 8-9, 2022 conference at the University of Notre Dame

“Global Religion and American World-Making” aims to generate cross-disciplinary discussions on the role of religion in the projection of U.S. power in the world and in responses to it. A series of roundtables will bring historians, political scientists, and scholars from Religious Studies, American Indian Studies, American Studies, and Peace Studies into conversation over religion’s role in the exercise and legitimation of U.S. power abroad as well as resistance to it; sources, archives, and methods for writing religion into studies of American global power; and the implications of understandings of religion and U.S. power for secularization narratives.

Important notice regarding reopenining of National Archives facilities across the US

To: All Employees. 

SHAFR Manuscript Workshops for Contingent Faculty
Call for Applications

At its meeting in June, SHAFR Council approved a proposal to fund three manuscript workshops for contingent faculty who are members of SHAFR and work in the U.S. foreign relations field.  These workshops may be familiar to those who have benefited from them: established scholars read the work of others, often junior scholars’ revised dissertations, then meet together to discuss the work, with an eye toward preparing it for publication.  To this point, few foreign relations historians who do not have tenure-stream jobs or coveted post-doctoral fellowships have had access these sessions.  This program aims to remedy that.

Post-Conflict Workshop (June 2023)
Call for Papers

The Days After: U.S. Post-conflict Diplomacy since 1783

Some of America’s strongest bilateral relationships have been forged in the aftermath of a war. At the same time, war has failed in other cases to resolve outstanding underlying issues, and hostility has continued or intensified in the following years. Why have former adversaries at times become American allies, at other times remained enemies of the United States, and sometimes fluctuated between these two poles?  This conference is dedicated to exploring these fundamental questions. As such, we invite proposals that explore issues including: Distinctive U.S. approaches to repairing relationships; U.S. diplomatic efforts with a particular region or country; Situational factors that support or impede rapprochement; and, Particular tools (political, economic, public diplomacy, etc.) that facilitate closer ties after a war or conflict.

We anticipate that the papers will be initially presented at a one-day workshop at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, on June 14, 2023, immediately before the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations in Arlington, VA, with a potential edited volume and/or published case studies to follow.

To submit a proposal, please provide a 150-200 word abstract of your paper topic and a two-page C.V. by March 14, 2022. Questions and proposals should be sent to [email protected]. You can also visit our website here: https://isd.georgetown.edu/2023-post-conflict-workshop/

Organizers:

Brian Etheridge, Kennesaw State University
Andy Johns, Brigham Young University
Kelly McFarland, Georgetown University

Link to the video appearance: https://www.c-span.org/video/?517768-4/washington-journal-lee-white-discusses-presidential-records-act

I've just been confirmed as a guest on C-SPAN's Washington Journal program this Sunday, February 13 from 8:30 to 9:00 am (EDT). I will be discussing the Presidential Records Act and the recent developments concerning former-President Trump's mishandling of records from his administration.

New Faces is an annual conference, geared toward the professional development and networking of early career scholars in security studies. Started in 2000, New Faces is one of TISS’ signature programs with a vast network of former participants.

TISS New Faces Conference

New Faces is designed to offer advanced PhD candidates and newly-minted PhDs a chance to present their research and receive feedback in a format akin to an academic job talk.

Professor of National Security Studies

DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE

Air Education and Training Command

Air University's Air Command and Staff College invites applications from qualified individuals for the position of Professor of National Security Studies, eSchool of Graduate Professional Military Education. This position prepares officers of all services and mid­ career Civil Service employees to assume positions of higher responsibility within the military and other government arenas.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 8, 2022
CONTACT: Jenna Grande | [email protected]
 

For those who missed the Washington Post expose on former-President Trump's habit of ripping up presidential records, here is the link. It is chilling reading. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/02/05/trump-ripping-documents/

We’ve just heard from the AHA that our jointly sponsored session with SHAFR, America and the World: The State of the Field, has been scheduled for Monday, February 21 from 5-6:30 pm EST as part of the AHA22 Online conference.

This will be a roundtable session and we hope we can be interactive with the audience, though I suppose that will depend some on the platform AHA uses.  At any rate conversation and interaction rather than stand and deliver is our aim.

The Global Research Institute (GRI) at William & Mary invites applications for a two-year Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Security and Foreign Policy, with the possibility for renewal beyond that point if external funding is identified. The fellow will support GRI’s Security and Foreign Policy Initiative, which includes annual convenings on topics related to the fellow’s area of expertise. We welcome applications from scholars whose research examines international security and/or foreign policy issues broadly defined, including, but not limited to, trade, foreign aid, and human rights. This fellowship is designed to broaden the theoretical diversity of perspectives here at GRI. Review of applications will begin on 2/10 and continue until the position is filled. For further information on requirements for the position and how to apply, please click here. 

Please join us for a Washington History Seminar Panel with Klaus Larres on Uncertain Allies: Nixon, Kissinger, and the Threat of a United Europe.

Please join us for a Washington History Seminar Panel with Ada Ferrer on Cuba: An American History.

In July 2021, the National Archives announced the establishment of NARA’s Reparative Description and Digitization Working Group (RDDWG), implementing a key recommendation of the Archival Description Subgroup within the Archivist’s Task Force on Racism (NARA Notice 2021-184). Since then, the RDDWG has been meeting regularly and work has begun under NARA’s framework for implementing Executive Order (E.O.) 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, as described in NARA Notice 2021-162.

Reparative archival description aims to remediate or contextualize potentially outdated or harmful language used in archival description and to create archival description that is accurate, inclusive, and community-centered.

The RDDWG has been reviewing guidance, standards, and processes relating to reparative archival description as well as benchmarking the work of peer institutions. Recently, the RDDWG developed Guiding Principles for Reparative Description at NARA. There are six guiding principles, dealing with:

1. Transparency
2. Language
3. Institutional change
4. Collaboration
5. Iterative/reflective process
6. Leadership

The attached document describes each principle in detail.

The RDDWG will use these principles to ensure that decisions around standards and processes are in alignment with the NARA’s vision for reparative description and equity.

These principles will guide the efforts of the Working Group as they begin to draft agency guidance for identifying and updating harmful language in current Catalog descriptions and authority records, and for agency-wide reparative descriptive practices going forward.

NARA’s reparative description efforts are in keeping with the efforts of numerous other institutions in the archival community. Library and Archives Canada addresses reparative description in action item 17 of their Indigenous Heritage Action Plan. Reparative description is discussed throughout the Society of American Archivists archival description blog: Descriptive Notes. The University Archives and Special Collections in the Healy Library at the University of Massachusetts Boston posted a statement on reparative description. The Princeton University Library hosts a description working group to describe collections respectfully. Tufts University provides a listing of additional reading on this issue. The Cataloging Lab provides a long list of statements on bias in library and archives description.

These are just a few examples of the many archives that are focusing on reparative description. I am proud that NARA is one among them.


DAVID S. FERRIERO
Archivist of the United States

Archivist of the United States David Ferriero has announced his retirement effective mid-April 2022.

After 12 years as the 10th Archivist of the United States, I have decided to retire, effective mid-April 2022.

As I wrote to President Biden, it has been the honor of a lifetime to serve my country once more, this time to lead the Executive Branch agency charged with ensuring that the American people can hold their government accountable and learn from the past by accessing the records of our country. My time here has been filled with opportunities, challenges, and awesome responsibilities. Over the past several months, as I contemplated retirement and reflected on my time with you, I am humbled and awestruck and so deeply grateful—grateful to all of you.

I’m extraordinarily proud of what we have accomplished together during my tenure and hope that you too take pride in our efforts and results.

We have become a leader in the government’s transition to a digital future, electronic records management, and the principles of Open Government. We’ve served our customers in new and innovative ways, including increasing public access and engagement through the online catalog and social media; streamlining how we serve veterans; expanding access to museums, exhibits, and public programs in person and virtually; and establishing civic literacy initiatives. We’ve fostered strong relationships with partner organizations, and increased outreach to traditional and new stakeholders. Throughout, we’ve put the customer at the center of all that we do.

I’ve said many times that our employees are the real treasures of the National Archives.

I’ve tried to serve you well by fostering a collaborative approach to leadership and engaging you in sustained efforts to build a positive workplace culture that values creativity, civility, openness, diversity, and inclusion.

As Archivist, I’ve had the pleasure and honor to work with a team of highly talented and committed leaders at all levels of this agency in delivering transformational initiatives, improving our organizational effectiveness, and, most importantly, keeping you safe during this pandemic while still carrying out our responsibilities. I am confident that they will continue to work together and with the next Archivist to support you and the work of the agency.

It is not easy to leave you with our important work continuing, especially initiatives to foster equity and enhance the employee and customer experiences. However, our profession is one of stewardship, where despite our enduring responsibilities, we are here for what amounts to a brief period of time. We have come a long way since 1934, and we have made great strides in the last 12 years, but the need for thoughtful and deliberate progress and transformation remains. As the Archivist of the United States, I know that you will build on our work together in ways I cannot imagine. As a citizen and veteran, I am thankful that you will continue the noble work of the National Archives and Records Administration with skill, passion, and resiliency.

Deputy Archivist Debra Steidel Wall will serve as Acting Archivist until the President nominates and the Senate confirms my successor.

On January 8, 2022, SHAFR announced a number of awards at its luncheon at the American Historical Association conference in New Orleans.  These awards recognize some of the best emerging scholars in our field.  We are now happy to share those announcements with the rest of our community.

The Graduate Student Grants & Fellowships Committee–Sam Lebovic (chair), Kate Burlingham, and Hiroshi Kitamura–made the following awards to more than a dozen graduate students: