Over 21,000 pages of the Gadsden County Times from 1928-1963 have been digitized! This is one of the longest runs of newspaper in Chronicling America and documents 35 years of life in Gadsden County.

Years 1928-1960 are live in Chronicling America as of May 1, 2025. Years 1961-1963 will be added soon.

About the Gadsden County Times

The Gadsden County Times began publishing in Quincy, Florida in 1901 and is still in publication today. By 1909 it had consolidated with the Quincy Moon. In 1942, it changed to the Gadsden County Times and Chattahoochee Tribune after LaMar Watts, editor of the Chattahoochee Tribune and Chattahoochee correspondent for the Gadsden County Times was drafted in WWII. At the time, both papers were published by the Quincy Publishing Company. Watts never returned to either paper, and in 1951 or 1952 the masthead of Gadsden County Timeschanged to “The Gadsden County Times and Continuing the Chattahoochee Tribune”.  

Article announcing LaMar Watt’s departure to fight in WWII. Gadsden County Times, February 12, 1942

Nameplate change with addition of “and continuing the Chattahoochee Tribune”. January 1, 1953

The early years of the Gadsden County Times saw many dual publishers and editors. R. E. L. McFarlin published and edited the newspaper form from inception until sometime between 1913 and 1918 when R. L. Sweger joined the newspaper as editor. Sweger took over both editing and publishing in 1918 which continued until 1939, when the Quincy Publishing Company took over publication and C.C. Nicolet became editor.  

R.L. Sweger as pictured in a political ad for his Florida State Senate campaign. Gadsden County Times, April 28, 1938.Notice of the Quincy Publishing Company’s purchase of the River Junction Tribune. Gadsden County Times, September 12, 1940.

In the 1940s, the newspaper moved towards having separate publishers and editors. In 1942 the Quincy Publishing Company produced the paper with Stanley Parkman as editor. In 1944 K. A. MacGowan was named as publisher and Parkman continued as editor. In 1945 Cranston Thomas became editor. In 1946 H. C. McFarlin was listed as associate editor. MacGowan stopped publishing the newspaper in 1947 and it became “A John H. Perry Newspaper” until 1957 when J. L. Hutchinson became publisher. McFarlin continued as editor from 1947 until 1955 when he transferred to Marianna, Florida, to work for the Jackson County Floridian. C. Emery Edwards took over as editor of the Gadsden County Times from McFarlin’s departure until his own move to Jacksonville in February 1957. McFarlin briefly returned to the Gadsden County Times for several months before departing for the final time in May 1957. From that time until at least 1963, J.L. Hutchinson is listed as publisher and no main editor’s name is given. As of 2025, the newspaper is published by the Gadsden County News Corp and Erin Hill is managing editor. 

Publisher’s block listing MacGowan, Parkman, and Payne. Gadsden County Times, September 7, 1944.

The weekly newspaper ranges in size from four to over twenty pages. Regular issues from 1928 to 1963 were usually eight to sixteen pages while special issues, including that for the annual tobacco festival, and recurring “In Gadsden County” editions were often over twenty pages. From 1947 to 1948 the paper also included “Florida Feature”, a section containing news from around the state with an emphasis on tourism and promoting Florida history, food, and culture, as well as nationally syndicated celebrity news and household advice columns. 

Page One of the Florida Feature Section, a recurring section containing news from around the state with an emphasis on tourism. October 9, 1947.

The weekly newspaper covers news from the county seat, Quincy, and the rest of Gadsden County including (in order of first appearance chronologically) Wetumpka, Midway, Mt. Pleasant, River Junction, Chattahoochee, Bristol, McRae, Greensboro, Gretna, Sycamore,  Providence, Hardaway, Havana, Concord, Little Sycamore, Flat Creek, Hinson, Old Mt. Pleasant, Edwards and Glen Julia. On and off from the 1930s to the 1950s, the Gadsden County Times also published high school newspapers from Havana High School and Gadsden County High School.  

Havana section of the Gadsden County Times, December 5, 1929.

The Gadsden County Times covered local and county personal and civic news as well as state legislative news, especially concerning agriculture. The newspaper provided consistent and significant coverage of shade tobacco farming, one of the most lucrative industries in Gadsden County and a critical piece of the state and national tobacco industry. The paper also regularly covered the development of Chattahoochee’s largest employer, the State Mental Hospital, the first and, until 1947, only state mental institution in Florida. The management of the Apalachicola River including New Deal Projects such as the Apalachicola River Bridge and various initiatives to dam the river are also heavily covered by the paper.   

From 1953 to at least 1963 the newspaper contained a “News and Views of Gadsden’s Colored People” (later renamed “News-Views of Gadsden’s Colored People”) section to share news from and for Gadsden county’s African American population. Usually one to two pages, this section published personal news, including births, deaths, marriages, illness, travel, military training, and educational milestones, and meetings and events including church news, PTA meetings, sorority and fraternity information, as well as sports from Florida’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities, including Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M. The section does not include the names of any editors or correspondents.  

News and Views of Gadsden’s People shared news about, by, and for Gadsden County’s African American Population. Gadsden County Times, July 12, 1956.

About Gadsden County

Gadsden County, located in the Florida Panhandle along the Florida/Georgia border northwest of Tallahassee is notable for its historical importance in the shade tobacco industry, African American majority population, and economic impact of Coca-Cola. Gadsden County has historically been and, as of 2022, remains the only county in Florida with a majority African American population. The county seat, Quincy, was once the wealthiest small town in the United States per capita thanks to the so-called “Coca-Cola Millionaires”. At least sixty-seven townspeople, mostly, if not exclusively, white, invested in Coca-Cola during the Great Depression at the urging of Quincy State Bank President Pat Munroe. 

Wisconsin woman who disappeared more than 60 years ago has been found alive by authorities.

Audrey Backeberg left her Reedsburg home in July 1962 when she was 20 years old, a press release from the Sauk County Sheriff's Office said.

During a review of cold cases earlier this year, a detective reassessed the initial evidence and re-interviewed several witnesses, Sheriff Chip Meister said in the release.

Why It Matters

Law enforcement departments across the country have been reviewing cold cases with the aid of new DNA technology, including the self-submit websites such as Ancestry.com.

As such sites have expanded, so have the number of solved cold cases, although not many cases result in a positive ending, especially over half a century later.

What To Know

A babysitter for the Backeberg family originally told investigators that she and Audrey had hitchhiked to Madison, Wisconsin, where they caught a bus to Indianapolis, according to a missing poster that was on the Wisconsin Department of Justice's (DOJ) website.

The babysitter said she last saw Backeberg walking away from the bus stop around a corner on July 7, 1962.

Detectives were able to determine Backeberg left her home of her own accord, the Sauk County Sheriff's release said.

Backeberg, now 82 years old, was found living out of state and confirmed to law enforcement she decided to leave and had not been a victim of criminal or foul play.

Detective Isaac Hanson spoke with local news station WISN about the process he went through that lead him to finding Backeberg.

Hanson told WISN that Backeberg's sister had an Ancestry.com account that linked to an address connected to her.

"So, I called the local sheriff's department, said 'Hey, there's this lady living at this address. Do you guys have somebody, you can just go pop in?' ... Ten minutes later, she called me, and we talked for 45 minutes," he said.

Backeberg may have originally left home due to an abusive husband but it's unclear why she stayed away and out of touch for all these years, Hanson explained.

He would not reveal what exactly they discussed during that 45-minute call, saying, "I told Audrey I'd keep it private. She had her reasons for leaving."

Inset: Missing woman Audrey Backeberg seen in her missing poster from 1962. A Sauk County Sheriff police car is seen.WISCONSIN DOJ/SAUK CO SHERIFF

What People Are Saying

Sauk County Sheriff Chip Meister said in the press release: "The Sheriff's Office would like to acknowledge the work of Investigators, both past and present. Despite the significant challenges that many cold cases present, this resolution underscores both the importance of continued work and the dedication of the Sheriff's Office to providing answers to families and the community."

Detective Isaac Hanson told local news station WISN: "I think she just was removed and, you know, moved on from things and kind of did her own thing and lead her life. She sounded happy. Confident in her decision. No regrets."

What Happens Next?

Hanson said Backeberg lives outside the state of Wisconsin.

It is unclear if she plans to reconnect with family.

This article, originally posted in Japanese on 20:00 May 03, 2025, may contain some machine-translated parts.

David Rosenthal, a digital archivist who has been working on the long-term preservation project at Stanford University Libraries since 1998, has summarized the contents of his lecture ' 

Archival Storage ' that he gave at the University of Berkeley in March 2025 on his blog. In this lecture, Rosenthal argues that 'it is a misconception that archive data must be stored on semi-permanent media.'

DSHR's Blog: Archival Storage
https://blog.dshr.org/2025/03/archival-storage.html 

Typically, Rosenthal backs up his email and web servers once a week to a Raspberry Pi on the same network, then does incremental backups every day, and writes these backups to two DVD-Rs each week. He rotates between three external hard drives to create a full backup of his desktop PC every night, and backs up his iPhone every day to a MacBook Air. He also rotates between three external SSDs to perform a Time Machine backup of the MacBook Air every day, and moves the DVD-Rs and used SSDs and HDDs to a different location every week.

The purpose of these backups is to ensure that in the event of a disaster, such as a fire or ransomware, you can recover as close as possible to the state you were in before the disaster, and in the worst case scenario, you won't go back more than a week.

The important point here is that 'the useful life of backup data is only the time between the last backup before the disaster and recovery.' Rosenthal says he keeps hundreds of DVD-Rs, but the only time the DVD-Rs are accessed a few weeks after writing is during an annual ' optical media durability check .' Rosenthal reports that this check confirms that data can be read normally from CD-Rs that are more than 20 years old and DVD-Rs that are nearly 18 years old without any special storage measures.

However, Rosenthal's reason for backing up with DVD-R is not because he found that DVD-R media can last for more than 15 years, but because he values the write-only nature of DVD-R. The advantage of being write-only is that the backup data can be destroyed but not changed.

Rosenthal argues that backups and archives are fundamentally different. Backups are merely insurance for short-term storage, and the longevity of the media is essentially irrelevant, but the fundamental design goal of archive storage systems is to 'reduce the cost of long-term storage by tolerating increased access latency,' he emphasized.

For example, the private organization Long Now Foundation is building a clock called the 'Clock of the Long Now' that will keep time for more than 10,000 years, and is also considering creating an archive that will be preserved for 10,000 years.

However, while Rosenthal acknowledges that he is looking at a very long-term preservation of 10,000 years, he points out that 'a time scale of 10,000 years is at least two orders of magnitude longer than the time frames currently considered in digital preservation discussions.' Given that the first computers capable of storing programs first appeared only about 75 years ago, and the overall history of digital technology is very short, 'ultra-long-term preservation of 10,000 years may be ideal, but there are challenges such as rapid changes in technology, compatibility issues, and media degradation, and even aiming for a preservation period of 100 years is quite ambitious,' Rosenthal points out.

Similarly, research is underway to use DNA as a long-term data storage medium, but in a 2019 experiment it took 21 hours to write and read five bytes of data, and the operation cost $10,000 (approximately 1.4 million yen), so it cannot be considered a practical archival medium. Rosenthal warns that the economics of the entire system are more important than the physical lifespan of the media, and that excessive expectations for 'semi-permanent media' will overlook the essential challenges of digital preservation.

In particular, Rosenthal points out five commonly held misconceptions about archival storage:

1: Misunderstanding the market size
New technologies developed in laboratories, including DNA storage, are expected to be able to store large amounts of data for long periods of time in the future, but in reality, the market for storage dedicated to archiving is only a small portion of the total storage market. (PDF file) According to IBM data , even LTO tape accounts for less than 1% of the total media market in terms of value and less than 5% of the total capacity, making the market for storage dedicated to archiving very small. Rosenthal argued that the discontinuation of Sony's Optical Disc Archive in 2023 due to market insufficiency also shows how small the market is.

2. Misunderstanding timescales
It is often thought that new storage technologies will appear on the market soon, but in reality, it takes a very long time for storage technologies to be developed and brought to market. For example, Seagate's next-generation hard disk technology ' HAMR ' has been in research for 26 years, and it took 2025 for it to actually be shipped to the market. Silica data technology , which stores data on glass, has been researched for 15 years, and DNA storage has been researched for 36 years, but both are expected to take more than five years to be brought to market.

3. The misconception that it will become a consumer product
While there is sometimes hope that new archiving technologies will become consumer products, the reality is that the overall cost of the archive system is much higher than the media itself, and archival storage needs to operate at a data center scale to be economical. It is economically impractical for individual consumers to adopt these technologies, and cost-effective archiving solutions will never be within the reach of consumers, Rosenthal said.

4. Misunderstanding consumer interest
Consumers don't care about what media their data is stored on, only the big cloud companies do. Users trust that their data is safe in the cloud, but they don't really see the need for backups or archiving. Even if you use a service like Amazon Web Services' Amazon S3 Glacier storage class , you don't know what media your data is stored on.

5. The misconception that natural data degradation is the only problem
While the natural degradation of data tends to be the focus, even semi-permanent media requires multiple copies to keep data safe, says Rosenthal. No media is perfect, and there is a concept called Unrecoverable Bit Error Rate (UBER). For example, a typical disk has an UBER of 10-15 , which means that up to eight errors can occur when reading one petabyte. In addition, it is important to note that even semi-permanent media such as silica and DNA are vulnerable to other threats such as fire, flood, earthquake, ransomware, and internal attacks. Therefore, multiple copies must be maintained even for long-term storage, which significantly increases costs.

Rosenthal urges us to return to the core tenet of LOCKSS (Lots Of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) : that given limited budgets and a range of realistic threats, data is more likely to survive as many cheap, unreliable, loosely coupled replicas than as a single, expensive, durable copy.

For example, Facebook's data storage , announced in January 2014 (PDF file) , will accommodate approximately 10,000 100GB Blu-Ray discs, boasting a capacity of 1 petabyte per rack. A writable Blue-Ray disc costs around 100 yen per disc, so the media cost per rack is about 10,000 yen. Considering that data storage using 20 IBM LTO tapes costs at least $20,000 (about 2.8 million yen), and the price of two LTO tapes is about $4,000 (about 650,000 yen), Facebook's archive data system can be said to be very inexpensive. Rosenthal also appreciated that Facebook operates this system on a data center scale, while utilizing warehouse space that is more cost-effective than a regular data center, and optimizing costs such as power, cooling, and staff. This Facebook archive data system is an example of Rosenthal's argument that 'archiving is an economic problem, not a technical problem.'

He quoted Brian Wilson, chief technology officer at cloud storage company BackBlaze, as saying , 'Doubling reliability is only worth 0.1% of the increased cost.' He added, 'The lesson from Wilson's point is to design for failure and buy the cheapest parts possible.'

Shutterstock

A new partnership will digitize historical records from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to help preserve them, protect their ownership and incorporate them into genealogy search tools.

Getty Images announced in a news release this week that it will collaborate with the genealogy company Ancestry as part of its HBCU Grants Program, bringing school records to Ancestry websites. The grant program previously focused primarily on photos, making more than 10,000 photos available for viewing in the HBCU Collection on Getty Images.

“However, during our visits to partner institutions, we recognized that our scope should be broader,” Cassandra Illidge, executive director of the HBCU Grants Program, said in a public statement. “Vital records and historical documents also need attention, as they significantly contribute to the important legacy of HBCUs.”

The new partnership expands digitization work to documents such as newsletters, newspapers, student records and yearbooks. Ancestry will work with schools to handle their archival materials onsite.

The news release said Lincoln University was the first to join the partnership. The school has already contributed hundreds of photos to the HBCU photo collection, and Ancestry is starting to digitize school records and newspaper archives.

“Combining Getty Images’ expertise in producing high-quality visuals with Ancestry’s unparalleled genealogical resources, this collaboration will enrich our educational programs, foster deeper connections to our heritage, and empower our community to explore and celebrate the rich history of our university,” Brenda Allen, Lincoln University president, said in a public statement.

The news release said the alliance will help amplify the legacy of HBCUs while ensuring they retain full copyright to print and digitized assets.

Schools will also benefit from earnings from licensing fees and campuswide access to Ancestry’s platform.

“By combining the vast archives of these historic institutions with Ancestry's cutting-edge technology, we’re protecting these important documents and opening the door for families to uncover untold stories of inspiring HBCU alumni and ancestors,” Lisa Pearl, head of U.S. content and philanthropic initiatives at Ancestry, said in a public statement.

Augusta Genealogical Society

Augusta, Georgia

May 17, 2025, Virtual Genealogical Program

Your Ancestors are Lying to You
(Here's How to Catch Them)

Presented by Jennifer Dunn

Sometimes the clues our ancestors leave behind only tell part of the story, or obscure the truth altogether. Using genealogical methods, we will learn about the most common ancestral “lies” and how to uncover the truth! 

Jennifer Dunn is a Georgia-based genealogist and historian specializing in tracking poor and hard-to-find ancestors in the Southern US using strategies such as social history, little-known records, and cluster research. Her engaging presentations have been featured at the Georgia Genealogical Society, Allen County Public Library, and local societies throughout Georgia.

When:  Saturday, May 17, 2025

Time:  11:00 am - 12:00 pm  EST 

Where:  Online 

Price:   FREE to AGS members and $10 for nonmembers

The registration deadline is May 15.

Augusta Genealogical Society

Augusta Genealogical Society Find out more about your family history with the Augusta Genealogical Society.

Click the above link to register

Limited seating is available to view the virtual presentation at the Adamson Library.  ​To reserve a seat, please call (706) 722-4073.

JOIN AGS NOW and enjoy the benefits of several programs, free to members in 2025

The Augusta Genealogical Society is a non-profit organization founded in Augusta, Georgia , in September 1979.

The Northern Territory Police Force, in collaboration with the Australian Federal Police National Missing Persons Coordination Centre, are embracing innovative technology to help solve long-standing missing persons cases.

Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy (FIGG) combines DNA testing with genealogy research to offer fresh hope for cases that have remained unsolved for years, particularly those of unidentified human remains.

The Northern Territory currently have 64 cases of unidentified human remains under investigation with the Cold Case Taskforce. FIGG technology presents a new frontier in forensic science and allows investigators to use genetic data to trace family connections through DNA. The use of genealogy databases is a game-changer, providing families of missing persons a much-needed opportunity to find closure.

What is Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy (FIGG)?

FIGG is an emerging technique that combines the power of DNA analysis with genealogy research. By comparing genetic material from unidentified remains with databases of individuals' DNA, investigators can trace family relationships and potentially identify those who have been missing for years, or in some cases, decades.

This process can be particularly effective for cases where traditional investigative methods have not yielded results. The ability to access and cross-reference large, publicly available DNA databases greatly enhances the likelihood of making connections that would otherwise be impossible.

How Can You Help?

Members of the public who have already submitted their DNA to consumer databases such as Ancestry.com can play a pivotal role in solving cold cases. By downloading your DNA results and uploading them to genealogy databases like GEDmatch or FamilyTreeDNA, you could help solve a case that has left families without answers for years.

Instructions on how to upload DNA results to these databases can be found on their websites:

• GEDmatch - How it Works
• FamilyTreeDNA - Help

The key to achieving success with the use of this cutting-edge technology lies in the support of the community.

As FIGG continues to evolve, it holds promise for solving numerous unresolved missing persons cases across the Northern Territory and beyond. With 64 ongoing cases of unidentified human remains in the NT alone, this new method offers a renewed sense of optimism for those seeking answers.

The Northern Territory Police Force is encouraging members of the public to consider participating, helping to bring answers to families and giving long-term missing persons a chance at being identified.

For more information about how you can assist, please visit the websites linked above.

The Solano County Genealogical Society will host a Zoom discussion titled “Genealogical Research with the Witkin State Law Library,” featuring speaker Elena Smith, starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 3.

The Witkin State Law Library is the law library of the California State Library, with a premier collection of legal materials.

Participants will learn how to mine legal resources for genealogical treasures that can provide rich details about an ancestor’s life. Did your ancestor commit a crime? Maybe they filed a lawsuit—or perhaps a law was enacted in their honor. Smith will discuss which records are available from the comfort of your home (or at your State Law Library) and which types of records are available elsewhere. She will then use several examples to explore how to use those resources to find information about ancestors.

Smith is a reference and outreach librarian for the Witkin State Law Library. In addition to two years of experience as a law librarian, she has more than a decade of experience helping patrons with their history and genealogy research in a wide variety of local libraries and archives. Her professional passions include historic California law and public access to legal resources.

To attend this presentation, send an email to scgs@scgsca.org no later than 4 p.m. Friday, May 2, and request an invitation. More information on events can be found on the society’s website at www.scgsca.org and its Facebook page.

A high-tech tool that cracked the infamous Golden State Killer case is giving new life to unsolved crimes in Waco.

Waco PD adopted Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy — which uses DNA and public genealogy databases to generate leads — in 2020. 

“As the cold case investigations began, we received training from the Attorney General’s Office on FIGG,” Detective Francisco Reyes, head of the Cold Case unit, said via email. “We have several cases in mind that could benefit from FIGG.”

One such case is the 2002 death of an abandoned infant, known only as Baby Angelina. While leads in the case had long gone cold, FIGG recently brought in promising new directions.

“All leads in this case had been exhausted in 2002,” Reyes said. “FIGG was not available at that time. Since this case was sent to Othram Inc, we have had multiple leads to follow and continue to follow to this day.”

The technique works by uploading DNA from a crime scene or unidentified remains into public databases like GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA, according to Christi Guerrini, associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine. From there, genealogists build family trees using matches to identify potential relatives — and eventually, suspects or victims.

“It is becoming well integrated into law enforcement practices,” Guerrini said. “Law enforcement agencies are training individuals in-house to do that work, or they’re just hiring those independent practitioners to come work for them.”

However, Reyes said the method isn’t quick or easy.

“FIGG cases are extremely time-consuming,” he said. “There are several challenges we face … One is getting the public to share their DNA results with law enforcement. Another is that there are only a few DNA genealogy websites that are law enforcement-friendly.”

Cost is another obstacle; while traditional DNA testing is usually handled by state labs, Reyes said FIGG often requires private companies, making the cost of analysis about $7,600.

To help with funding and resources, Waco PD works with forensic DNA laboratories like Othram Inc., Bode Technologies and the University of North Texas Health Science Center, Reyes said.

However, the tool also depends heavily on public cooperation, as DNA matches rely on users who voluntarily upload profiles and opt in to law enforcement access.

“Public trust is the foundation of this technique,” Guerrini said. “FIGG relies for its very existence on individuals being willing to participate in these two databases and opt in to their profiles being matched.”

Guerrini said she’s encouraged by efforts to professionalize the field, with organizations like the new Investigative Genetic Genealogy Accreditation Board helping to set standards.

“I’m very encouraged by the efforts that are ongoing now … to ensure that there are good, scientific and ethical guardrails around the practice of this technique,” she said.

Waco has over 140 unsolved cold cases, and Reyes believes FIGG may help solve many of them.

“I know for a fact that about 80% of our cases could benefit from forensic genealogy,” he said. “This will be one of the multiple tools we will use in attempt to solve these cases.”

Wichita State’s Dean of University Libraries Brent Mai has been accused of copyright infringement, false endorsement and unfair competition for using the work of researcher Margreatha Hein, the proprietor of a company documenting the history of a group of German immigrants.

Both Mai and Hein have done research centered on the genealogy, culture and origins of Volga Germans, an ethnic group of German migrants who settled along Russia’s Volga River and who have since been scattered across the globe.

The lawsuit filed with the state of Kansas alleges that Mai has and continues to regularly publish research belonging to Hein and other researchers, “often verbatim, sometimes paraphrased, and always without proper attribution as to source.” This research includes, according to Hein’s attorneys, copyrighted photos and literary works including names, dates and city and settlement names.

Mai, who was named Wichita State’s dean of University Libraries in 2023, asserts that the information he used, often with credit to Hein, is discoverable information and not subject to copyright.

“Your name, your birthday, your birthplace … The name of the town you were born in — these are facts,” Mai said in an interview with The Sunflower. “ … And I’m sorry, that’s not copyrightable. It never has been.”

Research interest

Mai said he’s been researching the history of Volga Germans his entire life. Since discovering his Volga German ancestry at a family reunion as a child, he’s devoted time and effort to tracking the socioeconomic movement patterns of the population. 

Mai operated a different website to house Volga German research at each university where he was employed. The websites, with the exception of his current website volgagermaninstitute.org, were registered under an educational institution (.edu) domain name, affiliating it with the respective universities. In the counterclaim, Mai denies that any of his websites were published under the “auspices” of the universities where he was employed.

“So with the institution that I was at, every time I would change jobs, then I had to move the database to a new place,” Mai said. “When I came here (to WSU), I set it up as a .org … If I retire, then I don’t worry that the university will decide to shut it off

According to the suit, Mai’s current website first appeared under the Wichita State logo, name and address. The lawsuit purports that WSU’s branding was removed after Hein, in December of 2023, sent a letter to WSU’s General Counsel Stacia Boden and then-Provost Shirley Lefever notifying them of examples of plagiarism and copyright infringement.

Hein’s letter requested that WSU “not host, promote or otherwise support” the Volga German Institute until Mai removed copied or plagiarism material, added proper citations and attributions, eliminate reference to Hein as a contributor where permission to use material wasn’t given, and to correct the name of a location that was misstated “when he copied my research.” A similar letter was sent to the University of North Florida, where Mai was previously employed as the dean of the Thomas G. Carpenter Library.

Hein’s attorney, Todd Todesco, said Wichita State responded by asking Mai to remove mention of the university from the website.

“I think WSU’s response was, ‘Hey, that’s personal, that’s entirely his. We’re not involved in that,’” Todesco said. “But we’ve told them to remove WSU insignia from that page to show that there’s no affiliation.”

The Sunflower reached out to Lainie Mazzullo-Hart, the director of strategic communications, asking for WSU’s perspective and involvement in removing WSU branding from Mai’s website. The Sunflower did not receive a response.

In response to Hein’s letters to WSU and UNF, Mai has filed a counterclaim of  defamation against Hein. 

“That’s just because she’s trying to go after me and my job. And I’m like, ‘That’s not acceptable. You shouldn’t be able to get away with that sort of thing,” Mai said.

The lawsuit

According to Hein’s attorney, Catherine Simmons-Gill, Hein first became aware of the extent of Mai’s use of her research in November 2023, shortly after Mai was named dean of University Libraries at WSU. 

“She was aware that there were a few things here and there, sure, but she, for the first time, looked up things on his website by her own name, and there were something like 385 references to her name,” Simmons-Gill said.

She also became aware of copied photos, eight of which have since been registered for copyright. Simmons-Gill said Mai published the photos in 2017, where they remained on his website until they were removed sometime in January or February 2024, shortly after Hein filed for copyright registration.

“(But) he has never done anything to change, give credit for, (or) cite the textual information,” Simmons-Gill said.

In dozens of his website entries containing textual information from Hein, Mai lists her as a contributor. Hein’s lawyers said this insinuates that Hein works for Mai or gave him permission to use her work, both of which are untrue.

“He cites the sources that she cites on her website, and then he just lists her as a researcher or contributor,” Todesco said. “Because what would happen if he linked to the actual source where he got the information? It would send people to her site, and he does not do anything to send people to her site. He — in our opinion — he makes it look like she works for him.”

Simmons-Gill and Todesco said that through his representation, Mai appears to be “the apex of research in this field,” enabling Mai to financially benefit from the use of Hein’s information. Todesco also asserts that Mai’s website “was a huge basis for him obtaining employment at Wichita State.”

“People like (Hein) keep pushing him up, as he’s got it set up, which then allows him to capitalize on his expertise and generate income from his nonacademic pursuits,” Todesco said.

According to his cover letter for the dean of University Libraries position, Mai speaks internationally as an expert in Volga German history and has fundraised over $2 million for the Center for Volga German Studies. Additionally, he leads tours in Germany, visiting the villages of Volga Germans. According to the Volga German Tours website, Mai is scheduled for a tour this June.

The Sunflower asked Mazzullo-Hart how significant Mai’s Volga German work was in his hiring. The Sunflower did not receive a response.

In the counterclaim, Mai denies that his website competes with any other websites. The information offered and available on both Mai’s and Hein’s websites is offered without cost and does not feature ads, according to the counterclaim, eliminating the possibility of competition between the websites.

According to Hein’s attorneys, there is a disagreement as to whether Hein gave Mai verbal permission to use her information.

“(Mai) has admitted that there is no written permission. He’s admitted that. So the issue is, did (Hein) ever give him oral permission? And she says, ‘No,’” Simmons-Gill said.

Simmons-Gill asserts that in 2020, Hein sent Mai a text, saying, “If you ever think you had permission to copy any of my textual materials, you don’t.”

But Mai said that regardless, the information in question is not copyrightable.

“Anyone could discover it; you, me. So therefore, it’s not copyrightable because it could be discoverable by all of us,” Mai said. “… I don’t deny that I copied her information. What I deny is that that’s illegal.”

Mai compared the relationship between Hein and the data on her website to that of a scientist who has discovered a new element.

“Scientists will work their entire careers, their entire lives, to discover a new element on the periodic table,” Mai said. “Maybe they get their name on it, but the element doesn’t belong to them because it was discoverable, no matter how difficult it is.”

But the considerable lengths Hein went to to obtain and verify the information used on Mai’s website and the conclusions she’s made as a result of that research, her attorneys said, also make it grounds for a proper subject matter of copyright.

“She goes to multiple different sources, and she has to use judgment to select the sources,” Simmons-Gill said. “… She translates from this kind of unique old German. She goes to birth records, settlement records, baptismal records, marriage documents. These might all be in different places, and yet, she pulls a series of facts out of multiple different records, which she translates and puts them all together based on then probably confirming them from other records.”

Mai acknowledged that while the information was laborious to obtain and corroborate, that doesn’t make it Hein’s. 

“She says, ‘I worked really hard to find this stuff.’ And I was like, ‘It’s your gift to humanity; it doesn’t belong to you,’” Mai said.

What comes next

The suit is ongoing, with the most recent activity occurring on March 3. Mai said he’s confident the suit against him has no merit.

“She has little or no understanding of how copyright really works,” Mai said. “ … The law is on my side. We’re (Mai and his attorney) lost for what she thinks is going to happen here.”

Conversely, while Simmons-Gill and Todesco said they would love for Mai to settle, they’re certain the final decision will rule in Hein’s favor.

“He has built his website on a lot of other people’s work, and he thinks, for some reason, because nobody has put his feet to the fire, that this is okay,” Simmons-Gill said.

As of July 2024, a trial is designated to take place in Wichita, with no set date yet. Until then, Mai said he’ll continue to do the work that he does despite the lawsuit’s claims.

“I continue to work, continue to do the research that I do, speak, do all that sort of stuff. It’s what I do. I don’t think that somebody like this should be allowed to stifle that sort of work that goes on,” Mai said. “ … (But) I’d rather spend my time on that, on supporting student research, faculty research that’s going on here, putting my time and energy into other things.”