The Rockefeller Commission's "Report on the Humanities in American Life" is critiqued with special emphasis on its implications for historians. The Report's salient features are discussed first, including: the premise that the humanities are a vital social good; the call for closer ties with the sciences; the assertion that money alone will not strengthen the humanities; and the recommendation that advocates of the humanities separate themselves from the back-to-basics movement. The paper then presents a critical analysis of the Report's recommendations dealing with community colleges, school/college collaboration, and federal aid administered through the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Central to this critique are the observations that: (1) community colleges hold little promise for strengthening the humanities; (2) the integration of humanities instruction into educationally unsound vocational courses may be counterproductive; (3) the Report's recommendations for increased school/college articulation suggest that things be done to schools rather than with schools; and (4) the NEH has been successful in affecting all levels of education, considering grant proposals on their own merits, and separating itself from the responsibilities of the Department of Education. Finally, the paper concurs with the Report's contention that history is within the scope of the humanities and urges historians to increase their professional contacts with other humanists. (JP)