In
This Issue
Welcome
to the inaugural issue of the Northeast Ohio Journal of History.
An interdisciplinary and interactive publication, the NOJH combines
the high scholarly standards of refereed print journals with the
power and capabilities of the World Wide Web. As stated in its bylaws,
the journal’s purpose is:
-
to stimulate and publish high-quality research in Northeast
Ohio history and prehistory
-
to facilitate access to Northeast Ohio archives and historical
resources
-
to serve as a conduit of information for all archaeologists,
academic historians, public historians, and members of the general
public interested in Northeast Ohio history and prehistory.
With
an editorial board comprised of representatives from the major universities
and museums throughout the region, we will endeavor to publish the
best and most comprehensive research the area has to offer.
One
of the more challenging and rewarding aspects of this project is
the medium we have chosen to use. Publishing as a web-based journal
affords us opportunities that simply are not available to print
journals. Each issue, for example, will feature a virtual museum
exhibit on some aspect of Northeast Ohio’s past. In addition,
our “archives” link will contain not only past articles
from the journal, but also (in the near future) a growing list of
links to primary source documents. Our “Current History”
section will be updated regularly between issues, keeping our readers
apprised of new events and announcements. Between these features
and world-wide accessibility, we believe that the Northeast Ohio
Journal of History has the potential to become a necessary stop
for anyone interested in exploring the history of the region.
In this
issue, we feature a triptych of pieces sharing a Cleveland theme.
In our feature article, Dr. Arthur DeMatteo from the University
of Wisconsin-Fox Run discusses the life and significance of A.B.
duPont. DuPont, a member of the powerful family of American industrialists,
was a renowned businessman in his own right and a close friend and
confidante of Cleveland’s famous reform mayor, Tom Johnson.
DeMatteo argues not only that duPont was an important figure in
Cleveland history, but also a personification of the several strands
of reform that represent the often-confusing world of Progressive-Era
history.
Tom
Johnson, of course, was not the only Cleveland mayor who won great
recognition outside of Northeast Ohio. Dr. Melvin Holli of the University
of Illinois-Chicago has contributed an interpretive essay in our
“Notes and Comments” section on the unusual success
Cleveland mayors have had on the state and national scene. Holli,
the author of fifteen books and the country’s foremost expert
on the history of American mayors, argues that despite the fact
that the mayoralty is usually a political dead-end, Cleveland has
succeeded more than any other American big city in promoting its
former mayors to higher office.
The
final piece of this issue’s Cleveland trilogy can be found
in our virtual museum feature. Dr. Patsy Gerstner and Laura Travis,
under the auspices of the Dittrick Museum of the History of Medicine
at Case Western Reserve University, have produced a disturbing,
yet compelling exhibit on smallpox in Cleveland at the turn of the
twentieth century. In ways that words alone cannot express, this
display provides the viewer with a more profound understanding of
the terror that the specter of this disease evoked in the past,
and indeed still elicits a hundred years later.
Beyond
these featured items, this issue includes book reviews on Ohio topics
ranging from a military unit of the 1830s to football in the 1890s
to unsolved murder cases in the 1930s to the environment of today.
The “Notes and Comments” section also contains a prospectus
for the Consortium of Northeast Ohio History. This promising new
project is designed not only to encourage the use of the area’s
rich historical and archaeological collections, but also to provide
valuable opportunities for students and teachers of history alike
to perform and publish research on these materials.
Please
address any inquiries about this project (or about any other aspect
of the journal) to the editor at kkern@uakron.edu. We welcome all
comments and suggestions.
Kevin
Kern
Acknowledgements
We would
like to take this opportunity to extend a great deal of credit and
even greater thanks to some very important people. What you are
reading now would not have been possible were it not for crucial
material and financial support from the members of The University
of Akron’s Department of History, especially Chairs Elizabeth
Mancke and Stephen Harp. Their generosity to this project has been
unstinting from the beginning, and we are deeply appreciative. We
would like to give special thanks to Dr. Charles Monroe, Assistant
Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Interim Chair of the
History Department, who not only donated sorely-needed equipment,
but even helped carry it to our office. We also must express our
gratitude to The College of Arts and Sciences and Dean Roger Creel
for their support.
Credit
for the handsome look and layout of the journal belongs entirely
to one person: Patrick Tabatcher, Senior Multimedia Producer
for The University of Akron’s Design and Development Services.
John Hirschbuhl and Chris Collins from the Department of Learning
Technologies and Scholar/Learning Services also provided invaluable
help to us in the journal’s early stages. Credit for nearly
everything else rightly goes to Assistant Editor Dyan McClain.
Her
time and efforts have dwarfed those of a mere Managing Editor and
Publication Director.
Kevin
Kern
Gregory Wilson
|
