A team of professors and students at Wichita State University is working on a photo history of tornadoes in Kansas.

Jay M. Price, associate professor of history at WSU, is editor of the project that includes co-authors Craig Torbenson, WSU professor of geography and history, and history students Sadonia Corns, Bethany Kennedy, Keith Wondra and Jessica Nellis.

The Department of History is the sponsoring organization for the book.

The group will look at the various ways in which Kansas has embodied the region known as “Tornado Alley.” While the project covers the stories of infamous twisters as well as the development of warning and emergency response systems, main emphasis will be on the ways that tornadoes have become part of the everyday lives of Kansans.

The twister

From the association of Kansas with Dorothy and “The Wizard of Oz” to periodic “tornado bait parties,” the twister has become as much a part of local culture as a destructive force.

The book will be published by Arcadia Publishing, and its tentative release date is early 2012.

Those who have interesting stories and pictures dealing in particular with how tornadoes touch everyday life and influence culture in Kansas can reach Price at (316) 978-7792 or jay.price@wichita.edu.