[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
[May 21, 1998]
[Page 822]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Message to the Congress Transmitting the Report of the National 
Endowment for the Humanities
May 21, 1998

To the Congress of the United States:
    I am pleased to present to you the 32nd annual report of the 
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Federal agency charged 
with advancing scholarship and knowledge in the humanities. The NEH 
supports an impressive range of humanities projects advancing American 
scholarship and reaching millions of Americans each year.
    The public has been enriched by many innovative NEH projects. These 
included a traveling exhibit, companion book, and public programming 
examining the history and legacy of the California Gold Rush on the 
occasion of its Sesquicentennial. Other initiatives promoted humanities 
radio programming and major funding for the critically acclaimed PBS 
series, ``Liberty! The American Revolution.''
    The NEH is also utilizing computer technologies in new and exciting 
ways. Answering the call for quality humanities content on the Internet, 
NEH partnered with MCI to provide EDSITEment, a website that offers 
scholars, teachers, students, and parents a link to the Internet's most 
promising humanities sites. The NEH's ``Teaching with Technology'' 
grants have made possible such innovations as a CD-ROM on art and life 
in Africa and a digital archive of community life during the Civil War. 
In its special report to the Congress, ``NEH and the Digital Age,'' the 
agency examined its past, present, and future use of technology as a 
tool to further the humanities and make them more accessible to the 
American public.
    This past year saw a change in leadership at the Endowment. Dr. 
Sheldon Hackney completed his term as 
Chairman and I appointed Dr. William R. Ferris to succeed him. Dr. Ferris will continue the NEH's 
tradition of quality research and public programming.
    The important projects funded by the NEH provide for us the 
knowledge and wisdom imparted by history, philosophy, literature, and 
other humanities disciplines, and cannot be underestimated as we meet 
the challenges of the new millennium.

                                                      William J. Clinton

The White House,

May 21, 1998.