A biographical multimedia Web site detailing the life of Henry Wriston, former Brown president and prominent advocate of liberal education, was recently introduced by Wesleyan University's Academic Media Studio.
The site was sponsored and initiated by members of the Wriston family. It provides a detailed biography of Wriston, who graduated from Wesleyan in 1911, and it consolidates his speeches and writings in a single location,said Mariah Klaneski, a Wesleyan alum hired to research, design and create the site.
The site also contains a comprehensive timeline of Wriston's life and achievements, numerous photographs of him and images of documents related to his career.
The site aims to make resources regarding Wriston "accessible to the average person interested in Wriston for any number of reasons," Klaneski said.
Before becoming Brown's 11th president, Wriston served as president at Lawrence College in Appleton, Wis. He earned degrees at both Wesleyan and Harvard. After retiring from Brown, Wriston left academia and served as chairman of President Eisenhower's Commission on National Goals, chairman of the Secretary of State's Public Committee on Personnel, president of the American Assembly and president of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Klaneski said the Brown archives were "very helpful in developing the Web site," as "a lot of projects have the content already worked on, or a professor working on it, whereas this project didn't have anyone to generate the actual writing," Klaneski said.
Klaneski spent a significant amount of time at the John Hay Library looking through Brown's collection of writings and photographs associated with Wriston, and obtained albums of Wriston's speeches at the Orwig Music Library, said Raymond Butti, senior library specialist at the archives.
"Most of the material from the Brown portion of the Web site came from us," said Butti, who scanned many documents and photographs for the site.
"Wriston was a very popular president when he was here - he was his own man and didn't follow many trends," Butti said.
Wriston catalyzed many changes at Brown, including an improvement of its public image. Under his leadership, admission officers were instructed not to admit anyone "who had been denied admission elsewhere" or "who had not named Brown as first choice on the College Entrance Examination Board blank," which helped to establish Brown's reputation as a selective university, according to Encyclopedia Brunoniana.
The new Web site can be accessed at http://www.HenryMerrittWriston.org.
