AUSTIN — The history department at UT is unveiling a website dedicated to the 1966 Tower Shooting that changed Austin, and the country, forever.
The project took approximately seven months to complete. Maria Hammack, a UT History Graduate Student, said the creators wanted a site that had legitimate information as well as archival research.
“If you don’t take the time to actually look through the records most people won’t know,” said Hammack.
Now the events are immortalized, just a click away. The website strives to be as comprehensive as possible.
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“Anytime you suppress information about anything you’re even more likely to mystify it and create a kind of aura around it,” said UT History Professor Joan Neuberger.
The website strives to maintain its vision, even when it comes to some of the most sensitive sides of the story, such as the lone gunman, Charles Whitman.
“We came to the conclusion that it was really important to try and provide some kind of biography of him to not leave him out of the story,” said Neuberger.
Historians say omitting Whitman truth would have been a disservice.
“Being sensitive to both the needs of history but also being sensitive to the people who were involved many of whom are still alive or the families of victims who are still around,” said Neuberger.
The history department is also working on an augmented reality app. The app will be designed to give users a real-time look at the events leading up to the shooting, and is expected to be released in the fall.