    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
    [March 22, 2000]
    [Page 522]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 522]]

    Message to the Congress Transmitting the Report of the National
    Endowment for the Humanities
    March 22, 2000

    To the Congress of the United States:
        I am pleased to transmit the 1998 annual report of the National
    Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Federal agency charged with
    advancing knowledge and public education in the humanities. Throughout
    1998, the agency provided crucial support to hundreds of research and
    educational projects throughout the United States and its territories.
    The Endowment also provided grants to innovative educational projects
    employing the latest computer technologies, as well as to efforts to
    preserve library and archival resources and make such resources
    available to schools, scholars, and citizens.
        In 1998, the NEH continued to exercise leadership in applying
    technology to the humanities. The Endowment launched Schools for a New
    Millennium, a program that provides funding to schools to further
    humanities education through the creative use of new technologies. In
    Lawrence, Kansas, one Schools for a New Millennium project is digitizing
    photographs and historical documents for use in junior high classrooms.
    The Endowment also extended its Internet strategy by expanding its
    EDSITEment project in partnership with the Council of Great City Schools
    and MCI WorldCom, more than doubling the number of high quality
    humanities sites available to students and teachers.
        I am especially pleased by another of the agency's partnerships
    employing both the Internet and traditional broadcasting. The Endowment
    is partnering with the White House Millennium Council on the
    presentation of ``Millennium Evenings at the White House,'' a series of
    showcase events that explore the ideas and creativity of the American
    people on the eve of a new millennium. These programs feature prominent
    scholars and creative thinkers and are accessible to the public by
    satellite and cable broadcasts, and many State humanities councils are
    coordinating local downlink sites. With support from SUN Microsystems,
    these lectures and discussions are cybercast live from the East Room in
    the White House. Viewers can submit questions via the Internet to the
    guest speaker or to the First Lady and me.
        The NEH is well-known for its support of documentary films based on
    a collaboration between filmmakers and humanities scholars. In 1998, the
    Endowment maintained this tradition of excellence with its support of
    Eleanor Roosevelt, which drew upon outstanding new historical
    scholarship, archival films, photographs, and first-hand testimonies to
    paint a vivid portrait of one of America's most outstanding women.
        The Endowment's grants also addressed the long-term needs of the
    Nation's cultural and academic institutions. In 1998, the NEH created a
    special program designed to aid the Nation's public libraries in serving
    the public with humanities programming. Among the institutions aided in
    1998 by Challenge Grants was the African American Research Library and
    Cultural Center, a new facility created by the Broward County Public
    Library to serve Broward County's growing and diverse population.
        Through its Preservation Programs, the NEH is preserving the content
    of hundreds of thousands of brittle books, periodicals, and American
    newspapers--priceless sources for present and future historians and
    scholars. The Endowment's initiative to save much materials is now
    entering its 10th year, and will preserve nearly a million books and
    periodicals by the time it is completed. The U.S. Newspaper Project, an
    equally important effort to microfilm historic newspapers, is creating a
    comprehensive national database for scholars, students, and citizens who
    wish to research their community's history.
        In November 1998, the First lady and I joined the Endowment in
    honoring at the White House nine distinguished Americans with the
    National Medal of the Humanities. Through these awards and its grants
    programs, the National Endowment for the Humanities recognizes and
    promotes outstanding efforts to deepen public awareness and
    understanding of the humanities.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    The White House,

    March 22, 2000.