(Canyon)—Drs. Marty Kuhlman and Dave Rausch want to know why Canyon luminaries were proud to point out in 1909 that the city had "no politicians," a fact they listed among the city's attributes in a bid to become home to West Texas State Normal College—and why it worked.
In fact, the associate professors who are co-authoring WTAMU's centennial history, 1910-2010, would like to know a lot of things about the university's past, but it was the "no politicians" claim they ran across that led to the establishment of a blog.
Blog is short for weblog. A blog is basically a public website where users post informal journals of their thoughts. Blogs can be easily accessed and updated by people with little or no technical background.
"My hope is that this blog will help us gather all kinds of information about the history of West Texas A&M University," Rausch said. "We are looking for stories about the university from its founding through each of its subsequent four name changes.
"Marty and I naturally would like to know what it was that early Canyon residents thought about politicians that would require the college bid committee to distinctly mention that there were no politicians here. That's what made us think about a blog, but the main reason we decided to go ahead and establish it is because we think the people who were here, who helped create the history of the university, have plenty to tell."
Rausch, whose expertise is in political science, and Kuhlman, a historian, responded to a query in fall 2004 about writing the history of the university's first century.
According to a public notice, "A book of substantial length (300-450 pages), richly illustrated and well documented, is desired. When finished, the work should have appeal for a broad spectrum of people, including alumni, administrators, faculty, students and regional and state supporters as well as those interested in the history of higher education in general."
The book will be available in late 2009 or early 2010 in time for the Centennial celebration. Much of what it contains could depend upon the stories that present and former students, faculty, staff and friends of the university share at the centennial history blog.
"Marty and I will be irregularly posting stories and things that we have heard in order to help us check facts and get the most complete and accurate picture of this school's history," the blog states.
"We are looking for stories about life at West Texas State Normal College, West Texas State Teachers College, West Texas State College, West Texas State University, and West Texas A&M University."