KU history prof makes important Italian discovery
By JUDY JARRELL Kansan Staff Writer
A recent discovery in Italy by Benjamin F. Brown, assistant professor of history, has been proclaimed by a Harvard professor as being "the biggest archival find in Europe in the 20th Century."
The University of Kansas now possesses the only original microfilm of these archives. Slightly less than a mile in length, the microfilm will turn out between nine and ten volumes of Italian diplomatic history from 1866 to 1922, Brown said.
He explained the documents will probably necessitate a re-evaluation of why World War I began and just exactly what happened.
Thesis begins it all
Brown identified Sonnino as a "political figure of significance in Italian history who probably was deliberately forgotten." Of all the belligerent government heads in World War I on both sides, he was the only man who remained in office throughout the war as the Italian foreign minister.
The story behind the discovery begins 10 years ago when Brown began his doctoral dissertation on Sidney Sonnino.
Thus Sonnino is the only person who had knowledge of the continuity of the entirety of the war, the professor said.
Brown said he learned of the existence of various documents which Sonnino had left in the possession of his descendants.
Paint and pot holes
By connections through family and friends, Brown finally managed permission to survey the documents for his dissertation.
Photo by Ron Bishop
In early August 1967, Brown began the venture. After much difficulty in finding the keys, he finally entered a little room on the side of a villa 20 miles outside of Florence.
Sealed room
The door to the room had been sealed shut, wallpaper plastered over it, and a china closet placed in front of it. Brown explained the German army had supposedly searched for Sonnino's papers when they began their occupation of Italy in World War II.
The papers include a massive amount of state correspondence, as well as the manuscript of the Treaty of London, when Italy entered the war on the side of the Allies.
In this little room, Brown found 14 trunks full of papers—with the entire diplomatic conversations of the Italians in World War I.
The same thing can be found in the Italian archives in Rome, Brown said, but the Italian government has never let anyone see them.
It was this secret treaty which caused a crisis among the council members representing the United States, Great Britain,
Every side of the war has been documented accurately until now except the Italian, Brown commented. The war diaries found in these papers will clarify various points and tell specifically who said what.
Painting and filling pot holes are part of the spring clean up around campus. West Campus Drive is the scene for some of this badly needed work by Buildings and Grounds crews.
France and Italy in the conferences of the Treaty of Versailles.
"Everyone had always presumed that the papers from the Treaty of London had been destroyed,"Brown said.
Unification to racism
The entire history of Italy from the time of unification to the time of the fascist takeover is documented by these papers. They fully clarify the Italian role in World War I as the pivot of the southern front.
Brown suggested one segment of the papers might even have political repercussions now.
One major importance of this discovery, Brown said, is it might possibly determine who was responsible or irresponsible for Italian action between 1914 and 1915.
Mussolini might never have launched his movement if the course of action had been different, he continued.
Because of this discovery, many historians may have to re-evaluate their explanations of Italian diplomacy during World War I, he said. Before, information had to be obtained through documents from other countries, and estimations made of what really happened. But now the information will be made available from the source.
The microfilm of the papers will be opened here in June, Brown said, after the exploration of the Italian 50-year state security law so the action may remain within ethics.
50 year law
The law states that 50 years after the death of a person, his possessions may fall into the public domain. Under this law, the papers would become a public possession in 1972.
For this reason, Brown recently made a trip to Italy to conclude negotiations for co-publication of these papers
by the University of Kansas Press and an Italian publishing house.
Brown will return to Italy in June to spend 15 months working on the manuscript for publication.
This find not only gives a tremendous boost to the new Center of Mediterranean Studies in Rome this summer, Brown said, but also adds prestige to the KU department of history, especially for studies of contemporary Italy.
Brown added the University owes a considerable debt to Baron Lodovico, Baroness Ginevra, and deRenzis, Sonnino's descendants in Italy for preserving the documents exclusively for KU.
The Continental Divide is an elevation of land that separates rivers that flow to opposite sides of a continent.
Coed to produce Rock Chalk
Only one other time in its 20-year history has Rock Chalk Review had a coed producer.
Miss Colton was selected by officers of KU-Y during interviews. Rock Chalk business
Kathy Colton, Omaha, Neb., sophomore, has been named producer of the 1970 satire-variety show sponsored by the KU-Y. The other KU coed held the job in 1958.
2 KANSAN Apr. 24 1969
manager is Jim Fritzemeier,
Wichita junior.
The producer of the Rock Chalk Review is responsible for organizing and coordinating the entire Revue, said Tom Moore, executive director of the KU-Y
Miss Colton was a cast member of the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority—Alpha Tau Omega fraternity Rock Chalk skit this year, and she also worked with sets and make-up. She is majoring in theater at KU and has been a crew member for "Macbeth" and "A Little Princess."
MEN-McCOY'S HAVE THE SANDALS