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History in the making

Megan Brooks, Chelsey Telliard and Hayley Day

For Miami University there is no present like the time.

So when American studies professor and director of McGuffey Museum Curt Ellison was trying to think of what to give the university for its bicentennial birthday in 2009, only a history book would do.

With the help of current and past faculty members, Ellison is heading the creation of the approximate 300-page social history book, Miami University, 1809-2009 Bicentennial Perspective that is expected to be published in October 2008. According to Ellison, the book; which will print approximately 5,000 paperback editions and 2,000 hardback; will have a variety of uses.

"The book addresses members of the public, alumni and students and should appeal to all members of the university as well as scholars studying history," Ellison said, who assures the paperback editions will cost well under $50.

Although Ellison didn't pick out the present until 2001, his 37-year career at Miami, including teaching the History at Miami course, has placed him and Miami archivist Bob Schmidt as the undeclared experts on Miami history.

"Well since Curt teaches the course on Miami history and I'm the archivist I guess you can call us the go-to people as far as (Miami) history goes," Schmidt said.

According to Schmidt, this book will follow suit in Miami's long history of historical texts. Like Miami's first anecdotal history books in 1899 and 1909 and Walter Havighurst's more popular The Miami Years published in 1959, The Bicentennial Perspective will include both information and stories. According to Schmidt, Miami intends to include information left out in previous historical texts, such as Miami's early curriculum and information on women and minorities at the school in its newest edition.

Section editor and chair of the department of educational leadership, Kate Rousmaniere, agreed.

"I want people to learn about Miami's complex and diverse history, the different types of students and faculty who came here as well as curriculum, and relations with community that have changed over time," Rousmaniere said.

The book's editorial board; Ellison, Rousmaniere and three other professors; each designated a certain time period to focus on, ranging from the Miami Indian tribe to the current administration under President David Hodge. While editors will collaborate with Ellison to write the broad narrative of the book, 60 contributors ranging from former professors and students will add sidebars and essays on more specific topics. With the help of past publications on Miami's history and university archives, editors were able to assemble their sections over the course of a year.

According to history professor and section editor Andrew Cayton, the editorial board decided as a whole on what issues should be discussed in each section of the book. Yet according to Cayton, writing history is a difficult process.

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"The job of a history book is not to present facts and have people memorize them," Cayton said. "It's to provide facts and write responsibly so readers can think about it and make their own conclusions."

Cayton, who is in charge of the last decade of the book, deals with the burden of recent subjects and even some controversial issues such as the closing of the Western College Program (WCP) last year. Although readers may be more interested in current topics like WCP, Cayton must balance a 200-year history book with equal attention to every subject.

"People may be upset about things that happened a year ago but when you write about recent controversies in a history book you try to write them as if they happened before WWII," Cayton said. "You don't take sides and you show as many perspectives as possible."

According to Rousmaniere and Ellison, each section editor and contributor was chosen on his or her expertise.

"We picked topics we wanted covered in the book and then we discussed who we were aware of that would be capable of contributing," Ellison said.

Rousmaniere, for example, chose the time period when the School of Education and Allied Professions opened because she had written about the topic before. Schmidt also wrote his sidebars on topics he was interested in, including early Miami faculty member J.W. Scott and U.S. President - and Scott's son-in-law - Benjamin Harrison.

However other information was revealed to him on accident. Renowned American poet Robert Frost's famous Miami quote, for example, was discovered by Schmidt to not be exactly accurate.

"It is said that Frost's quote about Miami is 'the most beautiful campus there ever was' but it appears to be less poetic than that," Schmidt said.

According to Schmidt, Frost once introduced some Miami alumni at a luncheon, describing the school as the most beautiful campus he had ever seen. Schmidt believes Frost's reputation as a famous poet may have altered his true quote.

Art professor, director of the Miami Art Museum and image editor Robert Wicks compiled the approximate 115 illustrations in the first section of the book alone. Images included early examples of The Miami Student, 19th century photos and a CD-ROM to supplement all the book's illustrations.

"I tried to find the best images to complement the text while trying to get as close to the original image as possible," Wicks said.

Although several historical texts have been written about Miami, Schmidt understands the importance of different historical perspectives, just as the book's title alludes. Yet according to Schmidt there will never be one definite history book on Miami.

"Every generation needs to write their own history on Miami because each generation has their own perspective," Schmidt said. "Things in 1959 may not seem as important as they do today. History is evolving and there is never a final history on anything."