1 Mr. Chairman, members of the Subcommittee, I am pleased to offer testimony on behalf of the Office of the Historian. The total appropriation we are requesting for fiscal year 1993 is $369,000. This represents a modest increase of only $8,000 over 1992 appropriations. The increase comes in the category of meritorious and longevity salary increases. Mr. Chairman, I would like to submit for the record the annual report of the Office of the Historian for 1991, which will give you an overview of the activities of the Office in the past year. We have completed all projects and publications that related to the bicentennial of the House of Representatives. The final three bicentennial publications, which were authorized by the Commission on the Bicentenary of the House, have been published since my last appearance before this subcommittee. These are: Women in Congress 1917-1990, which was prepared by the Office of the Historian, and two other publications prepared by other offices with editorial assistance from the Office of the Historian. These are: Understanding Congress: Research Perspectives and The United States Capitol: A Brief Architectural History. We are currently engaged in ongoing research to continuously update two of our earlier projects the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress 1774-1989 and A Guide to Research Collections of Former Members of the United States House of Representatives, 1789-1987. Furthermore we have just prepared a report "Documents of the Early Congress: Petitions to the House of Representatives, 1789-1817," on a major new documentary history project we hope to launch this year that will add considerably to our understanding of how the House of Representatives developed as an institution in the early days of the Republic. Among the earliest records of the House are about 10,000 petitions that citizens and groups sent to the House from 1789-1817, during the first fourteen Congresses. This material has not been systematically studied by any scholars. Only a tiny portion of the petitions have ever been published or made available to the public. Yet these petitions offer one of the richest resources on understanding the growth of the United States in the first three decades under the Constitution and they reveal a great deal about how the House developed internally in response to public demands. It is the best window I know of for exploring the early history of the development of the committee system. Mr. Chairman, I would like to submit for the record the executive summary of our proposed documentary history project. I also have made available to this subcommittee copies of 2 the full proposal including sample documents that we have gathered in the preparation of this report. This will give you a good idea of the nature of the documents and the kind of explanatory matter we would supply to place them in a historical context. This project can be undertaken with existing staff and resources and does not call for any additional appropriations beyond what we are requesting today. We see "Documents of the Early Congress: Petitions to the House of Representatives 1789-1817" as the first phase of a long range Documentary History of the House of Representatives, which we described briefly in our Final Report of the Commission on the Bicentenary of the House of Representatives (House Report 101-815, pp. 13-18). The Senate Historical Office is also laying the ground work for a similar documentary history of the Senate. DOCUMENTS OF THE EARLY CONGRESS: PETITIONS TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 1789-1817 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PROJECT DESCRIPTION -- The Office of the Historian proposes to prepare an annotated edition of selected petitions submitted to the House of Representatives between 1789 and 1817. This documentary publication would draw from more than 10,000 petitions considered by the early Congress and reflect research into the legislative process that evolved during the first thirty years of the federal government. Before the advent of modern political parties, petitions were an essential means of communication between constituents and their representatives as well as a principal source of legislative proposals. The petitioning process revealed popular expectations for the new government and helped to shape the internal structure of the House of Representatives. The varied content of the petitions indicated the range of policy issues confronting the only popularly-elected branch of the new government. The petitions are among the most significant of the manuscript records from the first fourteen Congresses. These documents on deposit at the National Archives are distinct from the Congressional Serial Set and other familiar sources available for research on the history of later Congresses. Publication of selected primary sources would convey the rhetoric of public discourse, the rituals of popular appeals to the government, and the unique political culture of the early republic. A documentary edition and a calendar of all extant petitions would make accessible these rich records that chronicle the developmental years of the House of Representatives. PLAN OF WORK -- The search and initial selection of documents would concentrate on the petition records at the National Archives. Further searches would examine committee records and related collections from executive departments that reported on the substance of petitions. An electronic database compiled from the House Journal and the Petitions Books would include information on all petitions submitted to the House of Representatives between 1789 and 1817 and provide a quantitative foundation for analysis of legislative consideration of petitions, patterns of political organization, and shifting policy concerns. A catalog of all extant petitions would allow the electronic search for each document by date, subject, and legislative disposition. The compilation of all names subscribed to the petitions will offer genealogists an invaluable resource and encourage scholars to investigate the mobilization of public opinion. The search process, compilation of databases, and annotation of selected documents would require three years for the staff of the Office of the Historian. OBJECTIVES -- The research and editing project would result in publication of the most significant petitions with annotations describing background and legislative action. A calendar of all extant petitions would facilitate further research. An extended essay introducing the publication would present the findings of the full research project and place the petitioning process within the context of the institutional development of the House of Representatives and the evolution of a representative democracy in an Office of the Historian The Office of the Historian conducts research and provides information on the history of the House of Representatives and keeps biographical data on the 9,441 Members who have served to date. The Office provides information on important historical events, dates, and institutional development of the House for use by Members offices, the media, scholars, and the general public. The Office maintains bibliographical data on books and articles written by or about Members of the House, maintains and updates the files of the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress and A Guide to Research Collections of Former Members of the United States House of Representatives, prepares exhibits and publications related to the history of the House, and advises Members on the proper disposition of their non-current office files. Summary of Activities 1. Publication of Women in Congress, 1917-1990. (House Doc. 101-238). This volume features biographical sketches and photographs of the 129 women who have served through the 101st Congress. 2. Publication of Understanding Congress: Research Perspectives. (House Doc. 101241). This 244-page volume contains the papers and commentaries from a bicentennial conference, held in 1989, featuring Members, former Members, historians, political scientists, and journalists. The conference was sponsored by the House and Senate bicentennial commissions and the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress. 3. Publication of The United States Capitol: A Brief Architectural History. (House Doc. 101-144). This 36-page booklet traces the architectural development of the Capitol from its earliest designs to the modern structure we see today. This was prepared by the Office of the Architect of the Capitol with editorial and design assistance from the Office of the Historian. 4. Publication of a visitor's brochure "The United States Capitol." (Senate Doc. 10130). This one-page color brochure describes the history and development of the U.S. Capitol as the most universally recognized symbol of democratic government in the world. It also provides visitors with information to help orient them as they tour the building. This brochure was a cooperative effort of the House and Senate historical offices, the Office of the Architect, and 2 5. Preparation of a 32-page booklet on The Mace of the House of Representatives (to be published in February 1992). At the request of the Sergeant at Arms, the Office of the Historian researched and prepared an updated booklet on the history of the Mace of the House on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the current Mace. 6. Preparation of an exhibit panel on the Mace of the House. In recognition of the 150th anniversary of the current Mace, the Office of the Historian, in cooperation with the Office of the Sergeant at Arms and the Office of the Architect, prepared a panel on the history of the Mace, which was installed on Jan. 2, 1992, as part of the existing exhibit in Statuary Hall. Ongoing Research during 1991 7. The Office of the Historian continued to maintain and update the biographical files of the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, last published in 1989. Because of changes made at the end of each Congress, new members, retirements, deaths, changes in committee chairmanships, special elections, etc., the Office of the Historian has made more than 1,500 modifications to the Biographical Directory since its last publication. 8. Additional information and refinement of the Office's 1987 national survey of manuscript collections, diaries, and personal papers of former Members has resulted in the location of new collections and other data. More than 300 changes have been made to this resource. 9. Work continued on an electronic version of the Biographical Directory and A Guide to Research Collections of Former Members of the House. This information will be available soon to all Members offices through the House Information System. 10. The Office of the Historian surveyed the records and journals of the first fourteen Congresses (1789-1817) for petitions sent to the House of Representatives. The journals indicate approximately 10,000 petitions were submitted in this time period, of which approximately 7,000 are extant. Others were lost when the Capitol was burned in 1814. Based on this survey, the Office has prepared a report calling for further study and selected publication of these important documents. 11. Ongoing bibliographic research on books and articles by or about Members has resulted in about 1,200 typed pages of information. The Office continues to update and refine |