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Vol. 31:1 ISSN 0160-8460 March 2003
Mary Giunta Retires from Commission Staff
Mary A. Giunta has retired from the staff of the NHPRC. While completing her doctorate in history at Catholic University, she worked for a time with the Documentary History of the First Federal Congress project, searching for records in the National Archives. In November 1973, she joined the Commission staff, and thereafter worked with the editors of most of the NHPRC-sponsored editions, helping find elusive documents, assisting the publications projects in innumerable ways. In 1991, the Association for Documentary Editing presented its Distinguished Service Award to Mary for her service to the field.
In 1991, Mary also became chief editor of a major project undertaken by the Commission staff to edit the documents of early American foreign policy. Along with staff colleagues and volunteers, she did a marvelous job of editing The Emerging Nation, a three-volume documentary publication. In addition to the scholarly edition, the project included two other components: a reader for college and university classroom use and an educational kit for grade-school use. In 1997, the Society for History in the Federal Government awarded the publication its Thomas Jefferson Prize. In accepting the award, Mary praised the work of more than 20 National Archives and Records Administration volunteers who worked on the project.
Mary's work on a series of early American diplomacy seems fitting. She herself was, in a large sense, a diplomat for the NHPRC throughout her career, bringing people together to start projects, making individuals aware of the work of the Commission. In 1998 alone, for example, she participated in sessions at the annual meetings of the Organization of American Historians, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, and the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic. All of this was in her usual role as one of the most effective ambassadors the NHPRC has ever had.
