Budget News and the Hawaii Judiciary History Center

Word has reached History Education Hawaii that the final hearing for the Judiciary's budget bill, which includes funding for the Judiciary History Center, is scheduled on Friday, April 1, 2011 at 9:00 a.m.

The bill, HB300 HD2 SD1, has already been heard by the House of Representatives' Judiciary and Finance Committees. Its third and final hearing is with the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. Our friends at the Hawaii Judiciary History Center are asking for testimony one last time.

IIt should be pointed out that each time the bill passes a committee hearing, it is amended. The bill's next hearing requires a new record of testimony.

If you didn't have a chance to submit testimony for the previous hearings, History Education Hawaii hopes you'll take just a moment to do so.

For those of you who were able to testify, please resubmit making note of the bill's current number (HB300 HD2 SD1).

Address your testimony to Senator David Ige, Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. The testimony must be received by March 31, 9:00 a.m.

You may email testimony to WAMTestimony@Capitol.hawaii.gov or fax to 586-6659 (Oahu) or 1-800-586-6659 (Neighbor Islands).

Sample testimony is provided below:

Dear Senator Ige,

I am writing in support of HB300 HD2 SD1, which includes funding for the Judiciary History Center.

[Your own statement about how the Judiciary History Center has affected you (free school tours, curricula, public programs, organizational partnerships, personal research, vendor or purchase of services, etc.) How would you be affected if the Judiciary History Center were eliminated?]

Thank you very much for considering my testimony in support of HB300 HD2 SD1.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME

PBS Hawaii Presents: Dolley Madison on the American Experience

(Picture Credit: PBS.org)

This coming Monday evening PBS Hawaii will be presenting a broadcast on the life and legacy of Dolley Madison on the series The American Experience. Go here for the official web site. Viewers can also go to this link to watch online.

History educators, students and historians will be pleased to find various supplemental resources available. These include a time line, related books and web sites, a teacher's guide and more.

Women's History Month: Gilder Lehrman Institute

We're pleased to share with you a sampler of published articles from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. March marks Women's History Month in the United States:

Thinking about Women: Nineteenth Century Feminist Writings
by Anne Firor Scott. W.K. Boyd Professor of History Emerita, Duke University

Reconstruction and the Battle for Woman Suffrage
by Ellen DuBois. Professor of History, University of California, Los Angeles

The Legal Status of Women, 1776-1830
by Marylynn Salmon. Research Associate in History, Smith College

The Seneca Falls Convention: Setting the National Stage for Women's Suffrage
by Judith Wellman. Director, Historical New York Research Associates, and Professor Emerita, State University of New York at Oswego

For these and other resources visit and support the Gilder Lehrman Institute today.

Hawaii Historians and History Educators: Please Contact Sen. Inouye Today

Aloha Kakahiaka:

As the founder and head of History Education Hawaii, Inc., formerly the History Education Council of Hawaii, I am writing today for your help about a critical situation. This regards continued funding for

the Teaching American History Grant program in 2011.

As you know, the federal government is currently operating under a two week short term Continuing Resolution (CR) while both houses of Congress attempt to resolve their differences in how they will approach funding the last five months of 2011’s federal operating budget.

There is a great deal of disagreement on the issue of how this will happen and no one is completely sure of what the final result will be.

The U.S. House’s recommendation (HR1) calls for the elimination of many programs including the Teaching American History grant program. The U.S. Senate’s version provides for cuts in many areas but preserves TAH at the same level as in 2010. In the next weeks, a conference committee from both houses will be meeting to hopefully hammer out a compromise in this area and that is where we need your

help.

I believe that it has been the advocacy efforts of the National Council for History Education (NCHE) that has kept TAH in front of key Senators. While other areas of educational professional development were cut in the two-week CR, TAH was not one of them. It was preserved. That tells me that our efforts are

connecting.

To that end I am asking for help. If you are concerned about history education and preserving the Teaching American History Grant program please contact Sen. Inouye. We share the view with our colleagues at the NCHE that Senator Inouye is perhaps the most key member of the Senate on this decision.

Please go to this link and contact Senator Daniel Inouye today. Thank you!

Historically yours,

Jeffrey Bingham Mead

History Education Hawaii, Inc.