Constitutional Hotline: What was happening between May and September 1787? To find out, call 1-800/3-B PROUD—your ticket to the past for fun and interesting facts about the adoption of the US Constitution. The History Hotline is sponsored by Tthe Historical Society of Pennsylvania and AT&T. It’s a toll-free, nation-wide, twenty-four hour hotline, which presents a different message each week about the adoption of the Constitution. History Hotline also includes information on upcoming bicentennial events across the country.
The Historical Society owns the original first and second drafts of the Constitution, in addition to other resources on American history. Announcements for upcoming events to include on the tape are welcomed by the society. It will also be collecting 1987 Constitutional memorabilia to include in a permanent collection. For information write: History Repeats Itself, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107.
Smithsonian Symposium on the Constitution: Preparing for the third century of American citizenship and self-government on the basis of constitutional knowledge and understanding is a theme of the Smithsonian’s international symposium on the US Constitution. The symposium, “Constitutional Roots, Rights, and Responsibilities,” scheduled for May 18–23, 1987, is jointly sponsored by the American Bar Association and the University of Virginia.
“The Constitution has steered the na tion through triumphs and tragedies,” said A.E. Dick Howard, White Burkett Miller Professor of Law and Public Affairs at the University of Virginia and chair of the symposium. “Its history is rich in instructive lessons for changing times and future generations. The symposium will probe the workings of the Constitution as tested under a variety of ordinary and extraordinary circumstances. The results of this inquiry can help future generations grapple with the challenges posed by self-government.”
Professor Howard, a former Rhodes Scholar and former member of the joint APSA-AHA Committee on the Bicentennial of the Constitution, will edit a book, published by Smithsonian Press, on the symposium proceedings.
Symposium topics include the origin of American constitutional thought; the evolution of citizen rights and responsibilities; judicial interpretation; the impact of technology on public life; the Constitution’s influence on constitution making in other countries; Constitutional reform; and lessons of amending the Constitution. A full day’s program on citizenship and the Constitution will deal with schooling and other avenues for teaching constitutional values, the interdependency of rights and responsibilities, the importance of citizen participation in politics, voluntary associations and community life, and the role of the press and media in a democracy. For further information contact Neil Kotler, Smithsonian Symposia, 202/357-2047.
A/An Historian: This commentary was found in a newsletter on editing and proper English usage.
An comes to us from the Old English word for one, and back then, there was no a. The choice between a and an is dictated by rules of pronunciation, not of spelling; words beginning with a consonant sound take a, those with a vowel sound take an. Customarily, spelling has followed pronunciation, which is why we say a horse but an honor.
History, historian, and historic have become special cases because the h in these words was not pronounced in earlier times, thus bringing the vowel sound rule into play. People used to say “an ‘istory book written by an ‘istorian treats ‘istoric events.” Today we do pronounce the h in these words, so, for consistency’s sake, we should use a, not an. The use of an with these words is thought by many . . . to be affected, but it probably derives from the fact that lazy American tongues tend to elide the h, creating the “need” for an an. Most usage authorities agree, however, that the best way to proceed is to use a before consonant sounds and an before vowel sounds; therefore, say and write a historian.
Reprinted with permission of The Editorial Eye, 85 S. Bragg Street, Suite 400, Alexandria, VA 22312-2731.
Status of Presidential Libraries: Approximately one and one-half million pages of Richard M. Nixon’s presidential papers were made public in December by the National Archives and Records Administration. More documents are due to be released in May. The documents were the first of the Nixon papers to be opened to the public since the former President began a campaign to control access to them following his resignation in August 1974.
Access to nearly 700 cubic feet of “special files,” which pertain to Water gate, has been stalled but may change this spring. Scholars generally agree that the long-awaited papers will prove invaluable to the study of the Nixon Administration. The National Archives hold forty million pages of papers and thousands of hours of tape recordings from Mr. Nixon’s terms in office. No tapes were among the material made available in December.
The Jimmy Carter Library in Atlanta, Georgia officially opened its research facilities on January 27, 1987. President Carter cut the ribbon in a ceremony in the main research room. More than six million pages of material documenting the Carter Administration were opened to the public on the 28th. This is, however, only a fraction of the twenty-seven million documents from the Carter Administration.
The documents that were released mostly came from the White House Central File, a collection of documents from all White House offices, and from the files of such aides as Jody Powell, press secretary; Stuart E. Eizenstat, as sistant to the President for domestic affairs; Gerald Rafshoon, director of the White House Communications Office; and Sarah Weddington, director of the Office of Women’s Affairs. Most of the sensitive papers dealing with foreign policy, particularly the Iran hostage crisis, were not made public in the first batch of documents.
Plans are advancing for the Reagan Presidential Library. The design for the library in Palo Alto, California was unveiled on January 28, 1987 by its architect, Hugh A. Stubbins Jr. The $30 million project is being privately funded by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, and upon completion will be administered by the National Archives. The mission-style complex will be located on the southwest portion of the Stanford University campus, though there is protest from residents of Palo Alto about the location.
Franklin Roosevelt was the first president to establish a library for his papers, although Herbert Hoover liked the idea so much he followed suit. Until then the Library of Congress received the papers of the presidents. Currently, the Library of Congress Manuscript Division holds most of the pages of twenty-three presidents, up to Calvin Coolidge.
