Free Republic

For many, meeting the president of the United States would be an intimidating affair. Forrest McDonald, however, approached George W. Bush with nary a shiver. “I walked up, pointed my finger at him and said, 'I know you, you’re the president of the United States,’ " McDonald said. To which George W. Bush replied, “Oh, you’re the famous historian." Which he certainly is. McDonald, a professor emeritus of history at the University of Alabama, is one of America’s most noted scholars on the Constitution and the founding fathers. And on Dec. 11, he attended a holiday dinner at the White...

"Reconstruction was a failure, but a splendid failure," says historian Leon Litwack. An NEH-supported documentary provides a new examination of the twelve years that followed the Civil War, when America struggled to reunite and to extend rights to former slaves. It was a time that saw new hope for Southern blacks as citizens and officeholders and sweeping changes in laws and government. But it was also a time of violence and terror, white racist retrenchment, and broken promises. In the end, the goal of Reconstruction--equality before the law for black citizens--would not be fulfilled until the next century."It didn't fail...

NEH ANNOUNCES IRAQ INITIATIVE Up to $500,000 for preservation, documentation of cultural heritage WASHINGTON, D.C., July 14, 2003 -- The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) today announced a special initiative, "Recovering Iraq's Past," to support projects that would preserve and document cultural resources in Iraq's archives, libraries, and museums. Projects funded under this initiative also would disseminate information relating to the materials and bibliographic records of civilization in Iraq from the earliest times to the present. With this initiative, NEH joins the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and other federal agencies in an...

Bill promotes anti-gun teaching in schools? Group fears 2nd Amendment will be downplayed, ridiculed -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: September 1, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Jon Dougherty © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com A national gun organization is urging its members to contact their legislators in opposition to a bill it says will lead to more anti-gun education in public schools. Virginia-based Gun Owners of America claims H.R. 1078, which establishes "academies for teachers and students of American history and civics and a national alliance of teachers of American history and civics," would further erode support for the Second Amendment. A version of the bill...

In rare moments when Congress isn't preoccupied with the war, taxes or prescription drugs, Congress is worrying that American students don't know any American history. Congress is right to worry because this is true, but it doesn't follow that the federal government is capable of remedying the problem. The National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the Nation's Report Card, reported that less than half of high school seniors demonstrate even a basic grasp of history. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni, in a report called "Losing America's Memory: Historical Illiteracy in the 21st Century," charged that 55 colleges...

Teaching History: Fact Or Fiction? by Phyllis Schlafly Posted Aug 1, 2003 In rare moments when Congress isn’t preoccupied with the war, taxes or prescription drugs, Congress is worrying that American students don’t know any American history. Congress is right to worry because this is true, but it doesn’t follow that the federal government is capable of remedying the problem. The National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the Nation’s Report Card, reported that less than half of high school seniors demonstrate even a basic grasp of history. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni, in a report called Losing...

• Program Description • Award Information • Eligibility • How to Prepare and Submit a Proposal • Proposal Review • Award Administration Along with the instructions contained in this document, you will need to download the following forms--provided as Adobe PDFs--to complete a proposal: • cover sheet • budget form (6 pages) If you do not already have Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free from Adobe's website. Questions? Questions about this request for proposals can be answered by Charles Kolb in NEH's Division of Preservation and Access at 202-606-8570 and via e-mail at iraq-initiative@neh.gov. Hearing-impaired applicants can...

<p>If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be.</p> <p>Bruce Cole, chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, enjoys a nice view of the Capitol dome from his office window. He is less satisfied with what he sees of America's common culture.</p>

<p>The National Endowment for the Humanities will be doling out $500,000 in grants to restore Iraq's cultural heritage, the federal agency announced yesterday.</p> <p>Beginning Aug. 1, the agency will receive proposals for projects that can last for up to two years. Known as "Recovering Iraq's Past," the initiative is geared toward shoring up collections in Iraq's archives, libraries and museums. Projects may start as soon as Jan. 1.</p>

<p>Lynne Cheney invited 33 D.C. schoolchildren to her home yesterday to talk about the importance of courage.</p> <p>"What do you think courage means?" the wife of Vice President Dick Cheney asked the 8- and 9-year-olds who surrounded her on the front veranda of the vice-presidential residence at the Naval Observatory.</p>

On a mission to develop in young Americans what President Ronald Reagan called "an informed patriotism," the non-profit, Alexandria, Va.-based Bill of Rights Institute is slated to unveil this fall a new curriculum for high school students emphasizing the principles of the Constitution. The institute, established in 1999, aims to educate high school students and teachers about our country's founding principles through programs that explore what the nation's first leaders said, what their documents communicated and how these ideas affect our daily lives and shape our society, according to Victoria Hughes, institute president. "We believe that informed patriotism depends upon...

<p>The culture wars have entered a new phase and the feds have the big guns. They've put the politically correct educationists on the run, overwhelming them with intellectual firepower, campaigning to restore the teaching of civics and American history to the nation's schools.</p>

In a large event, much commented on, the Justice Department last week told the Supreme Court that the Second Amendment (“A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed”) “broadly protects the rights of individuals,” not just the right of states to organize militias. This event was pertinent to a small event two weeks earlier, noticed by almost no one. The National Endowment for the Humanities demanded a review of “the serious charges that have been made against Michael Bellesiles’ scholarship,” which...