Laura Galbraith and Joseph Hadwal
Contract Digital Humanities
About the Project:
This project’s goal is to condense, accumulate, and display the history of Wichita Falls Texas during the years 1914-1919. To complete the website the researchers will include numerous primary and secondary sources found in the Public Library of Wichita Falls, Special Collections at Midwestern State University, and the North Texas Museum Wichita Falls County archives. The end goal of this research project is to create a detailed record of digital history of Wichita Falls and the air base Call Field in relation to World War One. Because of the community involvement the intended audience will be students in primary and secondary schools as wells as university staff and students. The research is important to the community and thus the readability of the website will be aimed to accommodate a high school reading level.
The researcher’s thematic narrative for the history of Wichita Falls and air base Call Field website are:
1. Call Field:
The Call Field section will include photographs, summaries of historical significant events, and a listing of all service members who died while training. The North Texas Museum and the Wichita county archives have provided access to all relevant sources. These primary works include photographs, base schematics, and city directories. The Wichita county archive also lists the servicemen who died while training at Call Field. These sources however, lack consensus regarding the exact number of men who died. The research team will investigate this discrepancy. The Midwestern State University Special Collections contains secondary sources. Such works include a variety of local authors whose backgrounds range from history, education, and news reporting. However, this diversity presents challenges regarding credibility. Many of these secondary sources were published by non-academic presses and in some instances lack bibliographies. Before publishing the work, these sources will need to be further verified by other works. In addition to the base, the project will include a section regarding military technology. The subpage will comprise of weapons and airplanes summaries along with interactive videos.
2. Genealogy of Families:
This page will provide the origins of specific families that became successful from the oil boom in Wichita Falls in 1917-1918. The families include the McCullough, Bridwell, McCoy, and Killingsworth, Kemp, and Kell family. This page will include the beginnings of the family’s success and progress to modern day impact on the community. The majority of the information will be pulled from the public library archive and Wichita Falls directory. The amount of details will vary depending on the family and information available.
3. Spanish Flu:
This page will provide the viewer with a detailed account of the impact the Spanish Flue on the Wichita Falls community in 1918.-1919s. The page will include the first diagnosed patient to the conclusion of the epidemic. The page will be made up of mainly primary sources which include newspaper articles found in the Public Library and in the North Texas Museum in Wichita County archives.
4. Women’s role:
The research team has yet to investigate women’s role regarding World War One in Wichita Falls in depth. Preliminary research indicates that Women’s contributions were greatest in education and medicine. During the World War One era, Wichita Falls began constructing a new junior college and hospital. The team is also looking into how women contributed to the growing business sector. The page will organize women’s role by trade and describe how these contributions aided the war effort.
5. Oil Boom:
This section will include information pertaining to how business affected the War effort. North Texas witnessed an oil boom between the years of 1916 and 1918. This new capital created entrepreneurial dynasties such as Kemp and Kell. The page will include a photographs and historical summaries of significant contributions made by private citizens and local business that aided to the establishment of Call Aviation Field.
6. Bibliography:
Bibliography Page:
This page will provide an annotated list of all sources that were used to construct the website. A section of the page will be devoted towards giving special thanks to members of the community who have helped the research team. The team will also list the archives and museums that have granted permission to use photographs and materials. The page will also feature a “Further Research” section which will allow members of the community to build upon the team’s progress.
Schedule of Due Dates:
March 4: Scan in newspapers and images for narrative and bibliography. Academic paper will be complete along with slide show presentation.
March 11: Have a detailed narrative for each page of the website ready for review.
March 18: All videos will be recorded, saved and prepped for editing. About the Website, genealogy, and Spanish Flu will be complete.
March 25: Remaining pages will be completed. Final videos ready and placed on You Tube along with website.
April 1: Draft of Website Due
April 8: All images scanned and finalized along with finished time line and google maps
April 15: All YouTube videos and interactive videos complete
April 22: Final Draft of Website Due