March 21, 2005
Press contacts: Anneliesa Clump Behrend aclump@loc.gov; Audrey
Fischer afis@loc.gov
Public contact: (888) 371 5848
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT
NAMED “TOP 50” IN GOVERNMENT BY HARVARD
Award Recognizes Innovation in Government
The Library of Congress Veterans History Project was selected as one
of the “Top 50” for the 2005 Innovations in American Government
Award competition. Now in its 18th year, the competition is a program
of the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard
University’s Kennedy School of Government, administered in partnership
with the Council for Excellence in Government.
The Veterans History Project is honored to be recognized by Harvard as
an example of innovation in government,” said Diane Kresh, director of
the project. “The Library of Congress shares this recognition with the
thousands of veterans, civilian service workers and volunteers around the country
who have participated in this national documentation project of America during
times of war.”
Often referred to as the “Oscar” of government prizes, the award
recognizes 50 of the most creative, forward-thinking, results driven government
programs at the federal, state, county and city levels. The “Top 50” are
now eligible to win one of six $100,000 grants.
The Library of Congress Veterans History Project—a nationwide, volunteer
program—collects firsthand accounts of U.S. wartime veterans and civilian
service workers from World War I through the current conflicts. To
date, the project has
collected more than 33,000 oral histories and memorabilia from
individuals for the national collection in the American Folklife
Center at
the
Library
of
Congress. Selections from the collection are accessible through an interactive
Web site at http://www.loc.gov/vets/.
The six winning programs will be announced on July 27 by the
Innovations in American Government National Selection Committee. The
committee, chaired by David R. Gergen of the Center for Public Leadership
at Harvard, includes former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend,
former San Diego Mayor Susan Golding and former member of the U.S. House
of Representatives William Clinger.
For more information about the award and a description of each
of the 50 award-winning programs, visit http://www.ashinstitute.harvard.edu/ and http://www.excelgov.org/.
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PR 05-71
03/21/05
ISSN 0731-3527
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