Middle Tennessee State University has launched a new online, searchable encyclopedia about the First Amendment with the university’s John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies.

The First Amendment Encyclopedia, which is free to access at http://mtsu.edu/first-amendment, contains more than 1,500 essays and articles about court decisions and doctrines; people, law and events; and general issues and organizations significant in the First Amendment’s history in the United States.

MTSU marked the online launch with a special event Monday, Sept. 18, in the Bragg Media and Entertainment Building.

MTSU leaders celebrate the online launch Monday, Sept. 18, of “The First Amendment Encyclopedia,” a searchable website with more than 1,500 essays and articles about court decisions and doctrines; people, law and events; and general issues and organizations significant in the First Amendment’s history in the United States. Pausing for a photo outside the offices of the university’s John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies in the Bragg Media and Entertainment Building are, from left, Alecia Heidt, web designer for MTSU’s Information Technology Division, or ITD; Deborah Fisher, director of the Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence; John Vile, dean of MTSU’s University Honors College; Ken Paulson, dean of the College of Media and Entertainment at MTSU, which houses the Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence; sophomore journalism major Olivia Anchondo of Smyrna, Tenn.; and Albert Whittenberg, director of academic and instructional technology services for ITD. Heidt, Whittenberg and colleague David Stevenson, not pictured, assisted with the new online encyclopedia’s web development and design. Vile was one of the original editors of the two-volume “Encyclopedia of the First Amendment,” published in 2009 by CQ Press, which provides the foundation for the site’s information, and Anchondo was one of four College of Media and Entertainment students who worked on the new site’s content. (MTSU photo by Jimmy Hart)

“Given our increasingly polarized society, it’s important to remember what should unite us: respect for freedom of speech, press, religion, and the right to assemble and petition,” said Ken Paulson, dean of the College of Media and Entertainment at MTSU, which houses the Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence.

“These five freedoms of the First Amendment are truly what make America special, and this new online resource is designed to give students and the public insight into these core liberties.

“John was an outstanding journalist and founder of the First Amendment Center who spent his entire professional life working to build understanding and support for the First Amendment through education and information. This new online encyclopedia continues his work.”

Deborah Fisher, director of the Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence, said no other reference work devotes such exhaustive attention to First Amendment freedoms.

“This is a living, breathing project that will continue to grow in a way that promotes awareness and understanding of the First Amendment and its role in American history,” Fisher said.

The foundation of the online encyclopedia is the two-volume “Encyclopedia of the First Amendment” published in 2009 by CQ Press, an imprint of SAGE Publications, Inc. The printed encyclopedia contained more than 1,400 essays written by more than 200 contributors.

Two of the three original editors of the volumes — Dr. John Vile and David L. Hudson Jr. — have spent the past several months reviewing and updating entries and adding new ones.

Vile is a professor of political science and dean of the University Honors College at MTSU, and Hudson is a former scholar at the First Amendment Center in Nashville who now teaches at the Nashville School of Law and Vanderbilt Law School. David Schultz, a professor in the School of Business at Hamline University and a senior fellow and professor at the Institute of Law and Politics at the University of Minnesota School of Law, served as the third original editor.

“I hope this new rollout will lead to a wider dissemination of the information that was confined originally to the two volumes,” said Vile. “I am a political scientist, and the First Amendment interests me because it fulfills two complementary functions: first, it enables and supports a number of personal freedoms … and secondly, it embodies freedoms which … are also essential to the perpetuation of democratic republican government.”

Both Fisher and Paulson acknowledged MTSU students in the College of Media and Entertainment — Olivia Anchondo, Troy Dixon, Zachary Frazier and Taylor Sturm — for their work on the content development of the new encyclopedia website.

Each encyclopedia article contains cross-referenced links to related articles, as well as outside references for further reading on the topic. A user can search the encyclopedia by any topic or name, browse two tables of contents organized by case category and topic category, or browse an alphabetical listing of all articles.

A chronological timeline on the development and history of the First Amendment contains links to articles with more information.

The encyclopedia also contains overview essays, including one written by John Seigenthaler when the encyclopedia was originally published.

Seigenthaler, who died in July 2014, was a longtime champion of First Amendment rights and was a reporter, editor, publisher, CEO and chairman emeritus of The Tennessean as well as an administrative assistant for then-U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. After serving as founding editorial director for USA Today, he established the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University in 1991.

The encyclopedia is one of the programs of the Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence, which MTSU established in 1986 to honor Seigenthaler’s lifelong commitment to free expression.

The Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence also supports First Amendment programs and lectures, including a Pulitzer Prize speakers series; sponsors hands-on journalism experiential programs for students; and houses “1 for All,” which provides teaching materials on the First Amendment.

For more information about the Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies at MTSU, visit www.mtsu.edu/seigenthaler.

Click on the image to visit the site.