Federation of State Humanities Councils
November 16, 2002

It is a great pleasure to be here among so many people united in their dedication to the humanities. I see many familiar faces and I look forward to meeting more of you in the course of the day.

I want to thank Dan Shilling and the rest of the Conference Planning Committee for putting together this important event and inviting me to join you today. I would also like to thank Federation Chair Jamie Doggett and the Federation's able President, Gail Leftwich. It's been a delight to work with you in the service of the humanities.

I'd also like to recognize some NEH staff members who are already very familiar to many of you, but have been particularly helpful to me in reaching out to state humanities councils. Lynne Munson is the Deputy Chairman of the Endowment, and Cherie Harder is the Senior Counselor to the Chairman. A person familiar to many of you is Carole Watson, our Assistant Chairman for Partnership and National Affairs, and Edie Manza is the steady hand on the rudder of our office of Federal/State Partnership.

Also here today is Lorraine Frank, a long-standing and valuable member of the NEH National Council, and a true friend of the humanities in general and the state councils in particular.

I have had the honor of serving as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities for nearly a year. Though I had served on the National Council for the Humanities and, many years ago, been a recipient of an NEH grant, I have learned a great deal in the past months about the NEH, its programs, and its many friends.

It has been a real pleasure to meet many of you in Washington or in travels around the country. And I look forward to getting to know more of you today and in the months to come.

I am deeply grateful for all that you do in bringing the best of the humanities to your states and territories. Each state council is unique, but you all have one important thing in common: a passionate dedication to the humanities. Without a doubt, there are many challenges you all face in your efforts to extend the reach and increase the impact of the humanities in your state. The savvy, shrewdness, and skill with which so many of you have faced these challenges is impressive, even inspiring.

You help the NEH realize that ambitious goals set forth in our new mission statement, which reads: "Because democracy demands wisdom, the NEH serves and strengthens our Republic by promoting excellence in the humanities and conveying the lessons of history to all Americans."

The Endowment works to cultivate the best of the humanities and share their wisdom and lessons with all the American people. From Washington, D.C., we disburse millions of dollars every year to support scholars, filmmakers, curators, libraries, and others across a wide range of programs. But we can hardly fulfill our mission from one building in the nation's capital. By law and by desire, a large share of our budget is dedicated to partnerships with organizations in 56 states and territories.

We work hard to extend the reach of our programs to every state and every level of society, but it is the state councils that are best positioned to capitalize on local strengths and respond quickly to local needs.

For example, in the days following the September 11 attacks, state councils swung into action. Your organizations sponsored lectures, forums, seminars, and publications that helped Americans to cope and to understand. You helped demonstrate how the humanities are an essential tool of citizenship.

On a regular basis, you find ways to bring the best of the humanities to both the inner cities and the outer stretches of rural areas. You train teachers and excite students. You underwrite informative public programs and fund important scholarship.

You help support those who bring us the best of the humanities, and, just as importantly, you help ensure that the humanities are accessible to as many Americans as possible. And by doing so, every day you enrich and enhance the lives of so many of our fellow citizens.

I am proud of the partnership between the NEH and humanities councils in the states and territories. As Chairman, I want to find more ways we can work together to promote our common goal of bringing the best of the humanities to all Americans. And so today, I'd like to share a few thoughts on ways that we can strengthen that partnership in working towards common goals, shared ideals, and new initiatives, so that the best of humanities scholarship, research and public programs are available to all.

Collaboration

Just a couple of weeks ago, directors and chairs of nine state councils met at the NEH in Washington. It was a productive and positive exchange. We discussed everything from fundraising to staff development to grant programs. It was the first of four such meetings, and I hope that representatives from all the councils can come to future gatherings. So for those of you who have not yet attended, let me roll out the red carpet right now: we are looking forward to hosting you.

My goal for these meetings is to establish and maintain more direct lines of communication between the NEH and each individual state council. I want to strengthen our relationship and ensure that there is a constant exchange of information and ideas.

Today's conference materials include an important observation. Though state humanities organizations have existed since 1971, the establishment of the Federation in 1977 "signified our need to work collectively to define and conduct programs in the… humanities."

The importance of working collectively is a point that bears emphasis. All of the organizations represented in this room, from Samoa to Seattle and Manhattan to Minneapolis, are part of an interconnected web. I see the National Endowment for the Humanities and state councils as partners in this collaboration. Together, we are the nation's advocates for the humanities.

We share common sources of funding and we are ultimately accountable to the public. Therefore, it is important to remember that our individual activities have a ripple effect throughout the world of the "public humanities." Our positive actions can resonate with, encourage and even inspire others. At the same time, the consequences of poor decisions and bad judgement can reverberate to everyone's loss. I want us all to remember that we share the same mission and will achieve the most when we work in concert. We have much to learn from one another and we should remain sensitive to our mutual ties and obligations.

Our work is vital and the legacy we carry is precious. By working together, we ensure that the humanities will have a prominent place in American public life. Indeed, the humanities are essential to the health of our democracy.

Importance of the Humanities

Little more than two months ago, we commemorated the one-year anniversary of one of the most horrific events of the last half-century. In such times of remembrance and in crisis, the humanities are often praised as sources of consolation and comfort. But they are much more than that. Indeed, the humanities help form the bedrock of civic understanding and civil order.

The range of the humanities disciplines is wide; their impact deep. The classics and archeology show us from whence our civilization came. The study of literature and art shape our sense of beauty. The knowledge of philosophy and religion give meaning to our concepts of justice and goodness.

The NEH was founded in the belief that cultivating the best of the humanities has real, tangible benefits for civic life. As our founding legislation and agency mission statement declare, "democracy demands wisdom." America must have educated and thoughtful citizens who can fully and intelligently participate in our government of, by, and for the people. The NEH exists to foster the wisdom and knowledge essential to our national identity and survival.

Indeed, the state of the humanities has real implications for the state of our union today. Our nation is in a conflict driven by religion, philosophy, political ideology, and views of history - all humanities subjects. To understand this conflict, we need the humanities.

Today, it is all the more urgent that we study American institutions, culture, and history. There is much we have lost, but there is much we have learned. Defending our democracy demands more than successful military campaigns. It also requires an understanding of the ideals, ideas and institutions that have shaped our country.

This is not a new concept. America's founders recognized the importance of an informed and educated citizenry as necessary for the survival of our participatory democracy. James Madison famously said, "the diffusion of knowledge is the only true guardian of liberty." The humanities tell us who we are as a people and why our country is worth fighting for. And by helping us understand past injustices, it helps us avoid future ones.

We the People

As such, I want to enlist your help in what I consider one of the great challenges facing our country: the threat of American amnesia.

One of the common threads of great civilizations is the cultivation of memory. Many of the great works of antiquity are transcribed from oral traditions. From Homer to the Beowulf epic, such tales trained people to remember their heritage and history through story and song, and passed those stories and songs throughout generations. Indeed, your work is predicated on the understanding that our lives are enriched--with meaning, clarity, and purpose--by understanding the past.

We are in danger of forgetting this lesson. For years, even decades, polls, tests and studies have shown that Americans do not know their history, and cannot remember even the most significant events of the 20th century.

Of course, we are a forward-looking people. We are more concerned with what happens tomorrow than what happened yesterday.

But we are in danger of having our view of the future obscured by our ignorance of the past. We cannot see clearly ahead if we are blind to history. Unfortunately, most indicators point to a worsening of our case of American amnesia.

I'll give just a few examples. One study of students at 55 elite universities found that over a third were unable to identify the Constitution as establishing the division of powers in our government, only 29 percent could identify the term "Reconstruction," and 40 percent could not place the Civil War in the correct half-century.

The recent National Assessment of Education Progress test found that over half of high school seniors couldn't say whom we fought in World War II. Perhaps even more horrifying, 18 percent thought that Germany was a U.S. ally in the Second World War.

Such collective amnesia is dangerous. Citizens kept ignorant of their history are robbed of the riches of their heritage, and handicapped in their ability to understand and appreciate other cultures.

If Americans cannot recall whom we fought, and whom we fought alongside, during World War II, it should not be assumed that they will long remember even what happened on September 11.

And a nation that does not know why it exists, or what it stands for, cannot long be expected to flourish.

To meet this challenge, we have launched a new initiative, with the support and leadership of the White House, to bolster the study and understanding of American history.

On September 17, Constitution Day, President Bush announced his history and civics initiative in a Rose Garden Ceremony. At the center of the White House effort is the National Endowment for the Humanities new initiative, called We the People.

It is the first time in the NEH's almost 40 year history that we have been the focus of a presidential Rose Garden announcement. I believe this demonstrates our President's exceptional concern for the problem of American historical amnesia, and commitment to its cure.

The first stage of the We the People initiative includes the following three elements:

First:

• Building knowledge: We the People has begun with a large-scale solicitation of grant applications that aim to enhance the teaching, study and understanding of American history. NEH will call upon humanities scholars, teachers, filmmakers, museums, libraries, and other individuals and institutions to develop projects (and grant applications) to enhance and expand understanding of the most significant themes, personalities, and principles of our nation's history and culture. Unlike such forms of government as a monarchy or dictatorship, democracy is not self-perpetuating. The survival of a democracy continually requires intellectual sustenance, and critical analysis on the part of its citizenry. We hope to encourage humanists to think deeply about these themes, and to sponsor the best of such thought. I hope it goes without saying that state councils especially are encouraged to participate in the full range of NEH grant programs. We need your ideas and expertise.

Second:

• We will celebrate the "Heroes of History": In studying history, too often the roles of individuals are overshadowed when we focus on sweeping impersonal forces and seemingly inevitable series of events. We should not underestimate the power of heroes, both in changing the course of history and inspiring us today. The NEH will initiate and sponsor an annual lecture on Heroes and Heroism, the first of which will be held next year. The lecture will feature a widely-respected historian, author, thinker, or other humanist who will discuss the life of an American hero and/or the ideal of heroism.

Finally we will challenge young people to study the "Idea of America": We need desperately to find ways to engage young people in the power and importance of history.

The NEH is sponsoring an annual nationwide essay contest for secondary school students. Students will write a short essay on the "Idea of America," and reflect on the fact that we as Americans are not bound by a shared race, ethnicity or religion, but by shared democratic ideas and ideals. Essays will be judged by a special NEH-convened panel of historians, authors, and other experts. The national winner will have his or her essay published in the NEH's Humanities magazine and receive an award at the annual "Heroes of History" lecture. Finalists will also have their essays published on the NEH web site. The deadline for this year's contest, by the way, is Monday--should any of you know a high school junior who can think and write fast.

Over the next couple years, We the People will expand to include new grant competitions and categories, such as a model curricula competition and expanded offerings in our Summer Seminars and Institutes series aimed at teaching American history content to history teachers.

These are, of course, only first steps - but they are important ones to take. In the coming months and years, I want the NEH, and its partners at the state level, to lead a renaissance in knowledge about our history and culture. Understanding ourselves is the first step to understanding our place in the world.

We want to work in concert with state humanities councils to ensure that this knowledge reaches all Americans throughout the nation. Of course, the underlying motive and method of the We the People initiative has been part of what you've always done.

I'd like to mention just a handful of the many programs launched by councils that reflect our hopes for the We the People initiative.

Councils in Georgia, New Mexico, Hawaii, Nevada, and Maryland are participating in preparations for National History Day. It's part of a nationwide effort to enrich history education and reach teachers as well as students in elementary and high schools.

In Nebraska last year, author David McCullough provided historical context for a live audience of more than a thousand after the President's September 20th speech to Congress.

The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities has published a book that brings the humanities to bear on fifty five landmark cases in American legal history. "The Bill of Rights: The Courts and the Law" is a book that gives context, history, and content to rights and responsibilities that are too often taken for granted.

Many of you here today have participated in the Federation's "Art of Association" program. Board members from twenty six councils have met to discuss the words and insights of de Tocqueville and how they bear on civic leaders today.

And, of course, civic education remains a core function for many state councils. Some councils, Georgia for instance, have put themselves at the center of their state's drive to equip young people with the tools of citizenship.

As the We the People initiative proceeds, I hope we can work together to make sure that the light of historical knowledge reaches every corner of our nation.

We all have a role to play. I want to enlist your help in that struggle. Your involvement, advice, and participation are essential.

The state humanities councils, with your deep roots in local communities, your quick reflexes in responding to local needs, and your broad reach into every state and territory, are valued and essential partners of the National Endowment.

Conclusion

We can draw from the humanities' deep well of wisdom. For perspective, guidance, and even consolation, we can look to history, literature, and the rest of the humanities.

But, as we are all too well aware, these resources are not available to everyone. Too many Americans, especially young people, have been deprived of the tools of citizenship and the building blocks of the good and examined life.

Together this is a challenge we need to meet and best. I want to enlist your help in that struggle. In your state, in your communities, I ask you to help begin the process of recovering our memories--recognizing, retelling, and retaining the story of who we are and what we stand for.

We cannot expect that a nation which has lost its memory will keep its vision. We cannot hope that forgetting the past will enhance our focus on the future. And we cannot neglect the great democratic imperative: to give each succeeding generation a brighter light, a broader perspective, and an enriched legacy with which to face the future.