Thursday, April 05, 2007

Unanswered Questions about NEH Role in Ken Burns Scandal

I sent the following email to the National Endowment for the Humanities about that organization's responsibility for the Ken Burns documentary that has caused such great offense to Hispanic-American veterans of World War II. So far, no answers. I'll let readers know what Dr. Bruce Cole's organization has to say in this regard, as soon as I get a reply...The following email was sent to NEH Public Affairs on March 31, 2007:
Dear NEH Public Affairs,

I have been reading about the controversy over Ken Burns' new documentary about World War II with interest, and would appreciate information on the NEH role, which presumably should safeguard historical accuracy against a filmmaker's "artistic license" in portraying historical events. I assume that is the purpose of academic review and the peer panel process.

Therefore, for publication on my blog, I would appreciate written answers to the following questions:

How much has NEH paid for this documentary? What were the conditions of the grant relating to historical accuracy and comprehensiveness?

Who are the historical advisors for this project?

Who reviewed the grant application for NEH--peer panelist names as well as staff names?

Who signed the final approval for this project?

Did anyone notice the absence of Latino veterans in the documentary prior to the current controversy--as part of the NEH peer review process?

I look forward to hearing from you in this regard.

Yours sincerely,
Laurence Jarvik
Laurence A. Jarvik, Ph.D.
http://laurencejarvikonline.blogspot.com
UPDATE: I have received an email from info@neh.gov calling the attention of "Noel" to this request. I assume that is Noel Milan, director of communications for NEH. So, I'll post NEH's answers to the above questions --once the NEH sends them to me...