AASLH Issues Statement of Concern

The American Association for State and Local History issued a Statement of Concern at its 2003 meeting of the board of directors. According to a press release, AASLH "is deeply concerned over the draconian reductions in public funding of historical organizations and activities that currently are being made across the country, most egregiously at the state level. These reductions demonstrate a wanton disregard of the relationship of the past to the future of the democratic institutions that define America and its position in the world."

The statement notes the connection between historical artifacts and democracy: "Whether in Iraq in 2003 or in Eastern Europe 15 years earlier, one of the first actions of newly freed peoples always is to open the previously closed governmental archives to public scrutiny. Through critical examination of the historical evidence the past is confronted and a future of new possibilities can be envisioned."

AASLH urges Americans to continue funding historical societies and other keepers of the historical record. For more information, visit www.aaslh.org.