Online Project Finalizing Preparation of a New look at KU History

Get ready for a new way of looking at the history of the University of Kansas. In Fall 2002, a web site called This Week In KU History will go online. The date-driven e-history - an adaptation and expansion of the "Today In History" columns published by most daily newspapers - will deliver more than 125 original articles focused on key moments in the University's history. The web site will also offer electronic access to over 1,000 digitized primary source documents from University Archives and links to approximately 350 related web sites. The project is a public outreach effort of the KU Memorial Unions.

"I think it's safe to say that we will be setting a new standard for college history web sites," says Henry Fortunato, a "non-traditional" student pursuing a graduate degree in history at KU after a 20-year career in magazine journalism and marketing communications, who is serving as project director. "This Week In KU History will provide visitors with readable history, rigorously researched. Anyone interested in KU will be able to get a weekly dose of University history, plus multiple opportunities to learn more by accessing our search engine, examining our electronic archive of contemporary texts, or checking out our collection of previewed web sites that examine related topics from another perspective or in greater depth. From what we've seen thus far, no other university in the country has anything quite like it. KU will be the first."

All material for This Week In KU History is being researched and written by a corps of KU graduate students well versed in scholarly methodology and skilled in writing in a popular style. An advisory board, led by professional historians and representatives from the KU campus and the Lawrence community, meets regularly to review the project's progress. The results to date appear extremely promising. "The articles I've reviewed range from solid to great," says Dr. Ted Wilson, a KU professor of history and a member of the project's advisory board. "This Week In KU History bridges the divide between academic work that typically appeals to a limited audience and popular history that can verge on the celebratory," adds Dr. Victor Bailey, a KU professor of history and the director of the Hall Center for the Humanities. "I believe this project will demonstrate how to deliver quality public history over the web and serve as a model for many other historical themes and subjects."

To learn more, go to www.kuhistory.com.

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