Message to the Congress Transmitting First Annual Report of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

To the Congress of the United States:

I am pleased to transmit the First Annual Report of the National Endowment for the Humanities. This report, together with the annual report of the National Endowment for the Arts, are truly significant documents. They record a pioneering Federal effort to enrich the cultural and human quality of American life.

The National Endowment for the Humanities was established to support exploration into the nature of man and his culture and to deepen understanding of the goals of human activity. The first year's activities have been devoted to developing plans to strengthen scholarship and teaching in the humanities and to foster greater public appreciation and understanding of the humanities.

These plans provide the basis for programs which will

--increase the number of outstanding scholars in the humanities through annual fellowship awards to some 350 individuals-both promising and established scholars

--heighten public understanding of the humanities through improvements in education in the school, in the home, and in the community

--support research in specific fields to expand the range of our knowledge

--enable American scholars to make a greater contribution to the exchange of knowledge essential to international understanding.

More than 100 outstanding educators and scholars have advised the Endowment in the development of these programs. The views of these and other great humanists will be sought as plans for subsequent years are developed.

I am satisfied that the National Endowment for the Humanities has established a firm foundation for extending the boundaries of our understanding. It is with great satisfaction that I now submit to you this record of its achievement.

LYNDON B. JOHNSON

The White House

February 15, 1967