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CREDITS
Chief Editresses:
Che Chenier, Kaylee Kincaid and Allison Raleigh.
Associate Editors:
Joey Bleam and Chris Dale.
Research Associates:
Adam Berry, Enishika Bilberry, Joey Bleam, Micheal Bradbury, Sarah Breitenstein, Fred Boyd, Corey Brinton, Lisa Carlino, Che Chenier, Katie Cramer, Wesley Cramer, Mia Cunningham, Chris Dale, Shelley Easterbrook, David Epperson, Eric Fleenor, Anthony Gayden, Ebony Gibson, Abbe Gomez, Christie Hill, Rachael Hill, Rachail Hartl, Barbara Jett, Melisa Kline, Mike Kuebelbeck, Katie Maskil, Sean Manion, Cammie Marceuax, Julie Marshall, Amanda McBride, Briana Mclilly, Jennifer McGuire, Brenda Melton, Stacie Moulden, Julie Orlowski, Angie Pierron, Angelique Price, Allison Raliegh, Rebecca Ruis, Nicholas Smile, Mike Smith, Mike Stine, Jake Streeter, Kellie Stuart, Paul Tigerstrom, Kori Trussell, Chad Wiggans, Terra Vanmol, Ana Vardijan.
From the FACULTY, STAFF and COMMUNITY:
Phi Theta Kappa Advisor
and Mentor for the Quindaro Chindowan Index Project:
Dr. Steve Collins.
Phi Theta Kappa Tutorial Instructors for the Chindowan Project:
Dr. Jim Brown, Dr. John Ryan, Dr. Janice MacIntyre, Martin Chisolm and Dorothy Collins.
Programming Consultant and Director of Instructional Technology and Information Services:
Mr. Bill Chennault.
Archival Consultant and Archivist at the Wyandotte County Museum:
Mr. John Nichols.
Director of Honors Education and Advisor to Phi Theta Kappa:
Pam Louis.
The Index is actually three indexes, the NAMES index, the SUBJECTS index, and the ISSUES index. To locate any name or article appearing in these indexes check the numberical locator at the end of each entry. The locator consists of the number of the issue, a forward slash; followed by the page of the issue (each issue had four pages), a forward slash; and finally the column of the page on which the name or article appears (each page has seven columns). For example if a name appeared on the second page of the third edition of the Chindowan in column five, the location would be expressed as 3/2/5.
The names index is a compilation of all the names in all of the issues of the Chindowan. The subject index is also a compilation of all the issues in one alphbetical listing. In the subject index for all issues you will find CAPITALIZED subject headings to help you in your search. In the indivdual issues subject listing we did not include these capitalized subject headings because the individual lists are much more manageable, (shorter in length), and can easily be searched in alphabetical order. Our method of creating an authority file was to let each Mu Delta researcher determine the subject of the article and create a word or phrase based on their reading of the article. After all the subject indexes were compiled in an alphabetic listing the editors categorized the entries based on the definitions found in our authority list. These subject headings were then alphabetized along with other subjects in alphabetical order. Within these larger subject headings, subjects also appear in alphabetical order. The authority list is found below.
When any name is listed for which a first name is unknown, four question marks in parentheses appear, e.g. (????).
Phi Theta Kappa research associates distinguished between "News Items" and "Articles." New items are usually very briefly written notices or bits of information. They are found in the first column of the second page, but can occur on the first, second and third page in the first column. Sometimes they will appear in the body of a page. They often have a small symbol of a hand with a finger pointing to the news item as shown below:
Articles are found with and without titles, and are longer informational pieces or opinion. As you read through the indexs you will find both 'News item' and 'Article' used to help you understand the type of format being used to convey the information that is being published.
If you have an approximate date of an event or person then you should consult the Issues Index where you will find the individual indexes for each of the issues. Clicking first on the "Issues" Index off of the Chindowan Homepage you will be linked to the "Name and Subject Index". There the number and date for each of the fifty-three issues are found. Then click on either the 'name' or 'subject' as you desire.
This project was very much a learning experience for all involved. None of us had ever completed an index of this type before. Your will help guide our future work.
UPIn order to group subject entries which we found occurring frequently, we established the following list of subject headings. Although subjective and not based on existing lists such as the Library of Congress headings, the list does reflect the items that emerged from the Chindowan most often and provide a kind of emergent picture of the issues most important to the editors of the newspaper. This was an experimental approach to subject headings and future attempts may well result in the use of headings from established lists. Finally we did not thoroughly cross-reference all materials. We hope this index is useful in your research.
AGRICULTURE: All information about crops, productivity, weather effecting productivity, farming implements, political decisions effecting agriculture and farmers themselves.
CRIME: All criminal charges, legal actions, trials, violent acts and community activities having to do with criminal activity except alcohol which is handled individually below.
ECONOMY: All economic activities including revulsions, wages, prices, market conditions, slave issues, land and production issues.
MILITARY: All reports of activity or commentary on military activity.
NATIVE AMERICANS: All issues pertaining to American Natives.
NEWSPAPERS: All newspapers mentioned in an article or news item.
POLITICS: All legislative activities, Conventions, Elections, Speeches by Politicians, Political rallies and meetings.
POSTAL SERVICE: All information on postal service including mail service, obstructions to mail service and method of delivery.
RELIGION: All notice of church organization, meeting, preachers and associated activities.
SLAVERY: All political, economic, and social issues relating to slavery.
STEAMBOAT: This category included stories about ferryboats, steamboats, navigation and weather effecting travel by water.
STREETS: All information concerning the conditions, destinations, and planning of streets and roads.
TEMPERANCE: All information about community actions for or against alcohol.
WEATHER: All information regarding the weather.
WOMEN: All issues regarding attitudes toward women, achievements of and legal, political, and social activities which would effect women.
All other subject headings were created by using a computer program to group together all identical subjects based on the first word of each entry.
UPThe rich history of Quindaro, Kansas Territory, and the Underground Railroad that was active there throughout its short but significant life, is an important part of Kansas History. The Mu Delta chapter of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society at Kansas City Kansas Community College devoted over 1,500 hours from late August of 1999 to February 18, 2000 in preparing and publishing this Index of the Chindowan on the Kansas City Kansas Community College web server. There are many people to thank for this effort.
Fred Boyd, Vice President for Scholarship in Phi Theta Kappa was one of the first to become interested in the idea and promoted it as the executive council debated what theme to pursue. It was decided that the example of multicultural cooperation that occurred in Quindaro with European, African and Native Americans uniting to help free slaves from bondage and fight for a free Kansas, was an ideal topic under the national theme of History: The Past as Prologue. What better model for progress to take into the year 2000 than that of cooperation between all the groups in our community to overcome discrimination and the forces that divide us racially.
The executive council confirmed the idea and a tour of Quindaro's ruins was arranged and the entire Chapter took part.
The entire two week period prior to the Fall semester involved Julie Marshal, President of the Mu Delta chapter, and the officers of Phi Theta Kappa working with John Nichols, archivist of the Wyandotte County Museum, to copy each issue which was only available on microfilm. This task alone required fully 60 hours over a two week period in late August of 1999. The cooperation and enthusiasm with which John Nichols assisted our students was admirable and certainly helped make this project possible.
With the copies ready, the task of dividing the labor to accomplish the strategic indexing plan began. Honors tutorial instructors Dr. James Brown, Dean of the Humanities Division; and Dr. John P. Ryan, historian and member of the Social Science Division were especially helpful in bringing this index to life. Tutorial instructors taught the history of Quindaro and aided students in resolving issues associated with the project. Each student was assigned one of the Fifty Three issues of the Chindowan and created a computor file for the names found in their issue, and another file for the subjects that were found in each of the articles. Advertisements were generally ignored in the interest of time and will become the focus of another indexing effort in the future.
After the basic research was completed by Mu Delta research associates, the editorial committee turned the 158 files into HTML code which were then reviewed for content, appearance, grammar, and spelling. These editors not only researched an issue themselves but also spent many more additional hours working to categorize the basic subjects into an authority file that we generated from the articles themselves. Our chief editresses were Allison Raliegh, Kaylee Kincaid, Che Chenier. Our associate editors were Joey Bleam. All the editors worked to organize and compile the 158 files, beginning their task in early November of 1999 and completing that task by Christmas. Allison Raliegh, Kaylee Kincaid and Che Chenier, our chief editresses, continued working throughout the first part of the Spring semester of 2000 to complete the webpages by the deadline of February 18th. Their work was very demanding and they completed the work with diligence.
The Director of Instructional Technology and Information Services at Kansas City Kansas Community College, Mr. Bill Chennault worked with us devising a series of programs which alphabetized the thousands of lines of records that had to be organized. Without his contribution this index would probably have never been completed on time. We thank him for his intelligence, experience and tireless effort to support this project. He saved us countless hours of tedious work.
Mr. Charles Cowdrick, the college web master and member of the Instructional Technology and Information Services staff, offered advice and assistance in providing space on the server for this Index.
Professor Pamela Louis, Director of Honors Education and Advisor to Phi Theta Kappa Chapter at Kansas City Kansas Community College, was from the very first mention of the idea to Index the Chindowan, enthusiastically supportive of every request to help complete the task. She expressed a desire to bring the history of this significant town to the public. She was and is our best friend in this effort.
Finally I could never fully convey the intensive effort poured into this project through hundreds of hours of research and editing by the members of Phi Theta Kappa. Yet it is not just their unbelievably hard work, but the product of their labor, the index they have produced which will continue to contribute to our collective appreciation of American History. Historic research about Quindaro, and the Underground Railroad that operated there, is now possible for virtually anyone because our students have made it accessible to everyone through this index. They have brought the past to the future in a way that can touch all of us. I thank them all for their good work.
Dr. Steve Collins
Phi Theta Kappa Advisor for the Chindowan Index Project
Kansas City Kansas Community College