As I mentioned some months ago, 2011 marks the U.S. Government Printing Office’s 150th anniversary. Since no history of the agency has been written since 100 GPO Years in 1961, and a great deal has happened to both GPO and the Nation since then, Keeping America Informed: The U.S. Government Printing Office, 150 Years of Service to the Nation is a welcome addition to a relatively sparse collection of books on the subject. (Full disclosure: I was a member of the editorial group that worked on this book and I wrote several of the sidebars scattered throughout – whew, glad to get that off my chest!)
Perhaps because GPO still is at its original location at the corner of North Capitol and H Streets Northwest, just down the street from the U.S. Capitol, it has a remarkable collection of photographs of its buildings, equipment, and especially people. Those photographs really make this new book something special. It’s impressive and oddly moving to see the printers of a century ago gazing solemnly at the camera, “getting the books out” just as we do here today. For many readers, these images will put a human face on a little-known but vital aspect of the Government.
The text is impressive, too. In the 50 year since the last GPO history was published, a lot has happened. There are triumphs (the transition from hot metal to computer typesetting, the advent of the digital age and the Internet, GPO Access and the Federal Digital System) and frank discussions of controversial matters (the McCarthy era investigations of GPO, the 1968 riots that disrupted nearby neighborhoods). There is also more information on aspects of the more distant past, such as GPO’s reluctant role in Theodore Roosevelt’s abortive attempt to simplify the spelling of words in Government documents – and the editorial cartoonists had just as much fun with it then as they would now!
Since I’ve referenced my own peripheral role, I would be lax if I didn’t mention that George Barnum, GPO’s Historian, and Andy Sherman, our Chief Communications Officer, used both primary and secondary sources to turn what easily could have been a turgid “official history” into a clear, readable narrative. George also did a great job of selecting the photos. One of the book’s key sources was a series of articles diligently researched by Dan MacGilvray, a former GPO Historian. Dean Gardei’s book design skills contributed mightily and GPO craftsmen produced a first-rate final product, as always. To quote Don Ritchie, the Senate Historian, “Congratulations on all this work, it’s a great achievement.”
Above all, Keeping America Informed does a masterful job of showing how GPO has used the best technology available to ensure the dissemination of Federal Government information to the American people – from the original printings of the Emancipation Proclamation and the UN Charter to online versions of today’s Congressional Record and the Federal Register. You can get a copy here. It’s also available via GPO’s Federal Digital System here. As to which sidebars I wrote, I’d be interested in your guesses!
govbooktalk
Trudy Hawkins
Government Book Talk 
[…] Department’s Office of the Historian, was first published in 1861 in the same year that the Government Printing Office was founded and is the official documentary history of U.S. foreign policy decision-making and major diplomatic […]
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[…] On October 24, 1863 – 148 years ago today – President Abraham Lincoln visited the Government Printing Office, the only sitting president to visit the agency. To celebrate the anniversary of his visit, Government Book Talk is taking another look at GPO’s own publication, Keeping America Informed: The U.S. Government Printing Office, 150 Years of Service to our Nation (the book was previously featured on this blog on June 15). […]
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Happy Birthday US GPO!
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I was also wonding if it’s availible in PDF to download?
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Here’s a link to the PDF:
Click to access GPO-KEEPINGAMERICAINFORMED.pdf
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CONGRATULATIONS!THIS IS A SPECIAL ARTICLE!”…150 YEARS OF SERVICE TO THE NATION”!I ADMIRE VERY MUCH THIS EFFORT!
I RESPECT AND I ADMIRE GPO!!!
IN MY OPINION , THE NEW HISTORY OF GPO WILL BE VERY SUCCEED ,
AND VERY INTERESTING , AS THE PAST!A SIGNIFICANT HISTORY WHICH
INCLUDES MANY ASPECTS , CONTROVERSIAL MATTERS , HISTORICAL
PESRONS SUCH AS THEODORE ROOSEVELT , MCCARTHY …AND OTHERS
TOPICS!!!
CONCLUSION:I MUST AGREE WITH THE SENATE HISTORIAN DON RITCHIE:
“CONGRATULATIONS ON ALL THIS WORK ITS A GREAT ACHIEVEMENT”
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Thanks for the post. I’m especially interested because my Dad worked for the GPO many decades ago. He worked with those hot metal plates. Later he purchased a very old printing press and began his own small but successful printing business.
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It’s amazing how many people have family members who have worked at GPO, and striking how many have maintained their interest in what used to be called “the big shop.”.
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Thanks for the post, it was very informative!
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Is it available as a PDF to download?
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That’s a good question. I’ll ask and get back to you.
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It’s available via GPO’s Federal Digital System at:
Click to access GPO-KEEPINGAMERICAINFORMED.pdf
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Thank you for the link, Jim. The historical photos and the stories of the people who have contributed so much to producing these publications are absolutely fascinating.
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[…] This is a highlighted new Government document from the Government Printing Office’s blog. For more information, check out GovernmentBookTalk […]
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By the any power, I hope GPO always exist and establishment forever!!!
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