State Department's Office of the Historian Meets the Public Today

Douglas Selvage, a historian and former employee of the State Department's Office of the Historian, has set the scene for this week's meetings of the Historical Advisory Committee with this post at the History News Network. Hat Tip to "Anonymous" for pointing out the post to me.

After summarizing the current state of play, Dr. Selvage concludes his posting with this call for openness:

We can only hope that this week’s Historical Advisory Committee meeting will provide additional information about the state of things at HO [Office of the Historian], including any potential reorganization. Within a few weeks, the OIG should complete its inspection [TSB Note: the Office of the Inspector General began a review of HO on February 20, at the request of the Undersecretary for Management], and its report should be made public as soon as possible. This will make clear whether the Department of State plans to take all necessary steps in terms of organization and personnel to ensure the timely publication of “thorough, accurate and reliable” FRUS volumes, in keeping with statutory requirements. It will also make clear whether the Historical Advisory Committee, the historical community, and the general public need to undertake further efforts to ensure openness and transparency at the Department of State and to save the Foreign Relations series.

I'm anxiously awaiting today's public session of the Historical Advisory Committee. Neither snow [there's about 6 inches on it today] nor sleet, nor freezing rain, etc., shall stay me from my appointed round. Not that there will be any fireworks at that session, but after so much highly public airing of the HO's dirty laundry, I'm curious about the personalities involved.