|
|||||
| |
by Tom Troy, Blade Staff Writer
The Blade (Toledo, OH)
11-08-97
The scholarly journal that revealed the true location of the Battle of Fallen Timbers is in what seems to be a losing battle for its future.
In its 70th year, the Northwest Ohio Quarterly may cease publication soon because the managing editor position funded by the University of Toledo is being eliminated.
The quarterly is printed and owned by the Maumee Valley Historical Society. But the editorial duties are handled by Anne Burnham, who works part time on the staff of the history department at UT.
Ms. Burnham was notified Oct. 23 that her job is being eliminated as part of $4.5 million in cost-cutting measures to balance the university's budget. Her salary and fringe benefits cost about $18,000 a year.
UT President Frank Horton ordered the colleges and university departments to make the cuts in response to enrollment declines this fall. While Ms. Burnham has been promised another position on campus, the historical publication may not be so lucky.
"If Anne goes, this publication will stop. That's the bottom line," said editor Diane Britton, a UT history professor.
The magazine was founded as the historical society's bulletin in 1927. In 1943, it moved to UT, where it was edited by legendary history professor Randolph Downes until just before his death in 1975. It was then edited at Bowling Green State University by David Skaggs. When he gave up the editing role, the magazine returned in 1993 to UT.
A typical publication is about 60 pages, with two long articles and half a dozen book reviews. This isn't the quarterly's first death notice. Subscribers were told in 1990 -- prematurely, it turns out -- that they had received their last issue.
Perhaps the quarterly's biggest scoop occurred in 1995, when it published a paper by archaeologist G. Michael Pratt of Heidelberg College. Dr. Pratt located the 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers site at a 185-acre parcel near U.S. 24 and I-475. The paper spurred national coverage, and Dr. Pratt's studies led to a proposal by U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine (R., O.) to declare the battlefield a National Historic Site.
Patricia Cummins, dean of UT's college of arts and sciences, in which the history department is located, said she concluded that saving faculty positions is more important than preserving the journal of an outside organization.
"I am giving priority to what has to happen for students. I'm giving priority to instruction, and the functioning of departments," Dr. Cummins said.
"There are several ways journals can be taken care of. Usually it isn't one institution by itself. Sometimes it's done with the assistance of graduate students."
But Dr. Britton said the journal needs at least a part-time editor for editing and layout.
"We wouldn't have the consistency. Anne is a trained copy editor. Students are not," Dr. Britton said.
William Longton, chairman of the history department, said he was "dumbfounded" when told of the elimination of the editing position. He said the journal helps attract graduate students, and he called the decision to cut it off "penny-wise and pound-foolish."
UT's history department suffered a blow a year ago when the Ohio Board of Regents eliminated the subsidy for history Ph.D. students. Since then, the university has covered the costs of the doctoral program internally.
Marilyn Wendler, director of the historical society, said the quarterly is one of the few Ohio history journals published and may be the only one still published quarterly.
"We're having a meeting Monday to discuss this, but it doesn't look very likely" that publication can continue, Mrs. Wendler said. She said printing costs about $6,000 a year. The magazine has less than 1,000 subscriptions, including all members of the society.
NOTICE: This article, which may be copyrighted, is reprinted with specific permission granted to Heidelberg College. Further reprint rights must be secured from the publisher.
Heidelberg College / Office of College Relations
/ webmaster@heidelberg.edu