—The Kuh Diaries—A Project on Digitalizing and Contextualizing the Personal Records of a WWII Journalist

Frederick R. KuhAs an American journalist for the London Daily Herald and the Chicago Sun during World War II, Kuh lived in London throughout the war and the Blitz. Through his work, Kuh came into contact with a number of significant contemporary figures and foreign officials. His wartime records of these meetings and his personal reflection offer unique insight on the press in WWII.

The ProjectThis project aims to digitalize and contextualize Kuh’s diary in order to

make accessible his insight on the wartime press and political atmosphere. The project is hosted on a free WordPress site and has multiple dimensions in order to ensure a high degree of accessibility and contextualization. A selection of diary entries from each year (1938-1944) have been uploaded in the form of blog posts. Each post contains a copy and transcription of the diary entry, alongside photos captioned with brief explanations of the people, places, and occasional obscure references made within. Photos of people and places link to more detailed profile pages with brief, researched summaries on key points and their relevance to Kuh and the time period. These profile pages are also accessible through the “People” and “Places” pages.

Cameron Sandlin

Example of a diary entry (June 22, 1940)

“Places” page (left), with modern photos linked to separate pages for each location.

“People” page, with Kuh at top and otherfigures listed alphabetically by last name.