25th Anniversary of the Agreement to Establish the National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center Fellows Denis Donoghue and George Watson with Academy Director of Programs Corinne S. Schelling and Center Director W. Robert Connor

In February the Academy joined with the National Humanities Center (NHC) to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the memorandum of understanding that established a center for advanced study in the humanities at Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. At a luncheon held at the NHC headquarters, Director W. Robert Connor praised the close ties between the Academy and the Center, noting that "we have good reason to look forward with confident anticipation to the new quarter century of continuing collaboration."

The 1976 agreement was the culmination of a three-year planning effort led by distinguished humanists Morton W. Bloomfield and Gregory Vlastos, along with John Voss, then Chief Executive Officer of the Academy. Together they secured planning funds for the development of the Center and enlisted other prominent scholars, scientists, and administrators in the effort. The planning group, chaired by Steven Marcus (Columbia University), included Robert McCormick Adams, Hannah Arendt, Frederick Burkhardt, Daniel Bell, Robert Goheen, Gertrude Himmelfarb, Stanley Katz, Leonard Meyer, and Lionel Trilling, among others.

After site visits to some 20 universities across the country, the Academy signed the agreement with the Triangle Universities Center for Advanced Studies, Inc., to construct a building on 15 acres of land in the "triangle" circumscribed by Duke University, North Carolina State University, and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Opened in 1978, the Center today provides year-long residencies for up to 40 scholars engaged in the study of history, languages and literature, philosophy, and other fields in the humanities.

Commenting on the Academy's long-standing interest in the humanities, Chief Executive Officer Leslie Berlowitz observed: "The role of the Academy as the principal catalyst in the establishment of the National Humanities Center is one of our most important accomplishments and the central inspiration for our new Initiative in Humanities and Culture. From the creation of a national center for advanced study in humanistic scholarship, we are now embarking on a major effort to develop a permanent institutional base for research and policy studies on the humanities in their larger social, cultural, and institutional context. The work we undertake will not only inform individuals and institutions concerned with the future of the scholarly disciplines; it will also explain to policymakers and the public what the humanities are and what they can bring to a larger society."

Back to the Spring 2001 Bulletin