This photograph was taken on September 29, 1965 during the bill signing ceremony enacting the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act of 1965. The act established the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as independent government agencies. The ceremony was held in the Rose Garden on the White House Grounds, where President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the bill. Distinguished guests represented both the arts and the humanities worlds: Gregory Peck, Edward Steichen, Ansel Adams, Ralph Ellison, and Paul Mellon, among others, were present.