The Record - January 1998

News

Justice David Souter Joins NHPRC

Associate Justice David H. Souter has joined the National Historical Publications and Records Commission as the representative of the United States Supreme Court. Justice Souter becomes the fifth member of the Supreme Court to serve on the Commission. Others have included Justices Frankfurter, Brennan, Rehnquist, and Blackmun.

Justice Souter was named to the Supreme Court in 1990, prior to which he served as Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard, and was a Rhodes Scholar. After a brief career in private practice, he became Assistant Attorney General of New Hampshire in 1968, Deputy Attorney General in 1971 and Attorney General in 1976. His judicial service began in 1978 as Associate Justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court, from which he moved to the New Hampshire Supreme Court in 1983. He is a member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a former vice president of the New Hampshire Historical Society.

In welcoming Justice Souter to the Commission, Archivist of the United States John W. Carlin, who chairs the Commission, said, "Justice Souter's deep appreciation of history and his unique insights will be valuable contributions to the important work of the NHPRC."

Naomi Revzin Becomes NARA's First Development Director

Naomi Revzin has joined NARA as the director of its first financial development office. Archivist of the United States John Carlin says the establishment of a development office within NARA, and the appointment of Ms. Revzin to direct it, are major steps in the implementation of NARA's new Strategic Plan. She will be working with the National Archives Foundation, a private organization that assists NARA.

"Our plan calls for the creation of partnerships with private-sector donors," Mr. Carlin said, "for such special activities as developing exhibits and other means of bringing the treasures of the National Archives closer to the public, electronically and physically. I am pleased that a person of Ms. Revzin's experience is joining us in the effort to do that." Naomi Revzin comes to the National Archives with more than twenty years of fundraising success. She was most recently Kent State University's director of development, leading that institution's fundraising to increase private gift support from $6 million to $10 million in two years. Earlier, she was a senior development officer at Michigan State University where, among other things, she staffed its first capital campaign. Previously at Michigan State, she led development programs for individual colleges, campus museums, and the performing arts center.

Ms. Revzin is a certified fundraising executive in the National Society of Fundraising Executives and a member of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education.

NARA and NHPRC Join Digital Library Initiative

The National Archives and Records Administration and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission will participate in a major research and development grants initiative for digital libraries. The initiative is to be launched by the National Science Foundation with cooperation from several other Federal agencies including the Library of Congress, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Over the next 5 years, the program will award approximately $10 million for research on the preservation and accessibility of digital library content. Under the agreement, NARA and the NHPRC will provide reviewers for review panels, give information to grantees on archives and managing digital information, and provide other advice and direction.