About the First Amendment Center
How you
can help
To reach a First Amendment Center staffer, call
615/727-1600.
First Amendment Center fact
sheet
First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University 1207 18th Ave.
S. Nashville, TN 37212 Tel: 615/727-1600 Fax: 615/727-1319 E-mail:
info@fac.org
First Amendment Center/Washington 555 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington, DC
20001 Tel: 202/292-6288 Fax: 202/292-6295
First Amendment Center
We support the First Amendment and build understanding of its core freedoms through education, information and entertainment.
The center serves as a forum for the
study and exploration of free-expression issues, including freedom of speech, of
the press and of religion, and the rights to assemble and to petition the
government.
The First Amendment Center, with offices at Vanderbilt University in
Nashville, Tenn., and Washington, D.C., is an operating program of the Freedom
Forum and is associated with the Newseum and the Diversity Institute. Its
affiliation with Vanderbilt University
is through the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies. Its offices on
the Vanderbilt campus are located in the John Seigenthaler Center.
The center’s programs provide
education and information to the public and groups including First Amendment
scholars and experts, educators, government policy makers, legal experts and
students. The center is nonpartisan and does not lobby or litigate.
The center’s Web site, www.firstamendmentcenter.org, is one of the most
authoritative sources of news, information and commentary in the nation on First
Amendment issues. It features daily updates on news about First
Amendment-related developments, as well as information and detailed reports
about U.S. Supreme Court cases involving the First Amendment, and commentary,
analysis and special reports involving free expression, press freedom and
religious-liberty issues.
Freedom Forum The Freedom Forum, based in Washington, D.C., is a
nonpartisan foundation that champions the First Amendment as a cornerstone of
democracy.
The Freedom Forum is the main funder of the operations of the Newseum in
Washington, D.C., the First Amendment Center and the Diversity Institute. The
First Amendment Center and the Diversity Institute are housed in the John
Seigenthaler Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. The First
Amendment Center also has offices in Washington and the Diversity Institute has
offices and programs at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion.
The Freedom Forum was established in 1991 under the direction of Founder Al
Neuharth as successor to a foundation started in 1935 by newspaper publisher
Frank E. Gannett. The Freedom Forum is not affiliated with Gannett Co. Its work
is supported by income from an endowment of diversified assets.
Newseum The Newseum educates the public about the value of a free
press in a free society and tells the stories of the world’s important events in
unique and engaging ways.
In its prominent location on historic Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington,
D.C., the Newseum blends 500 years of news history, up-to-the-second technology
and hands-on exhibits for a one-of-a-kind museum experience.
The Newseum is funded by the Freedom Forum and, while independent of any
media companies, receives additional support from individuals, corporations and
foundations.
Charles
Overby is Freedom Forum chairman and chief executive officer.
Ken Paulson is president and chief
operating officer.
Gene Policinski is vice
president and executive director of the First Amendment Center.
History The First Amendment Center, founded by
John Seigenthaler, was created on
Dec. 15, 1991, the 200th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights —
the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
The center has had three executive directors: From 1992 to 1997, Paul K.
McMasters, later First Amendment ombudsman for the Freedom Forum and now
retired; from 1997 to 2004, Ken Paulson, now president of the Freedom Forum; and
Policinski, appointed in 2004.
The center’s Vanderbilt campus offices opened in 1993 in a new building
funded by a $2 million grant from the Freedom Forum. The building, which also
houses VIPPS, incorporated the former residence of the president of Peabody
College, now a part of Vanderbilt University. Work was completed in November
2001 on an $8 million building expansion, which is home to offices and
classrooms of the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute and administrative offices
of the Freedom Forum.
In remarks on Dec. 15, 1991, announcing the creation of the First Amendment
Center, Seigenthaler said it would be “a catalyst for study … of the values of
free expression and religious liberty protected by the First Amendment.”
See FAQs about the First Amendment
Center.
For more information: See First
Amendment Center programs.
Map to First Amendment Center, Nashville,
Tenn.
Executive staff & contacts Vice president and executive
director: Gene
Policinski Founder: John Seigenthaler Freedom
Forum chairman and chief executive officer: Charles
L. Overby Freedom Forum president and chief operating officer: Ken Paulson Press contact:
Office of the executive director, 615/727-1600
Other staff
Religious liberty Charles C.
Haynes, senior scholar
Legal research Tiffany
Villager, director/First Amendment studies
David L. Hudson Jr., First Amendment
scholar, 615/727-1600
The First Amendment Library Ronald K.L. Collins, First Amendment
scholar
Web site Brian J.
Buchanan, managing editor
(Note to First Amendment attorneys or others: The Newseum is looking for actual
items that were at the center of First Amendment legal cases, such as T-shirts,
protest posters, censored newspapers/magazines, records, etc. If you have an
artifact that you think might be suitable, please contact Carrie
Christofferson.)
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