William Volker Memorial Fountain, one of hundreds of cultural and historical landmarks explored on the Clio website (courtesy Clio)
What if a mobile app could clue you in on more than 40,000 historical and cultural landmarks (1,300 of them in the KC metro area alone) with just the click of a button? Or guide you on hundreds of tours here and across the country. For free.
That digital “curiosity machine” actually does exist, and it’s called Clio. The man who nurtured it is David Trowbridge, associate research professor of digital and public humanities in the history department at UMKC. “Clio started in the middle of a class,” he explains. “Where I said, ‘this just isn’t working. I’m teaching history to an answer. It’s actually a process. Let’s do the process.’”
At the time, Trowbridge was teaching in Huntington, West Virginia. He assigned his students to “tell me the story of something that matters to you, and I’m going to help you create an article.” Their articles were collected on a small website, augmented by what Trowbridge now laughingly calls “cheesy maps.”
In 2013 he asked an app developer, “What can you make me for $10,000?” The result was Clio, named for the ancient muse of history but attuned to the modern world, one where users can easily access GPS data, archival photos and audio clips to learn more about notable things nearby.
Trowbridge knew that similar apps (all commercial) had come and gone. He opted to take Clio down the nonprofit route instead. Thus, he pays for the server, shores up the app’s “framework,” and then gives the technology to libraries and historical societies.
“I just made the platform and I maintain it, keep it free for everybody so that they can build awesome stuff for their town,” he says.
Early on, Trowbridge hit a lot of brick walls. But his stubbornness paid off when funders like the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Mellon Foundation began to take note. The William T. Kemper Foundation has also been a vital part of Clio’s support system. The foundation contributes significantly to the Digital and Public Humanities program at UMKC — Trowbridge’s academic home since 2021.
Jonathan Kemper, retired Chairman Emeritus of Commerce Bank, marvels at the pace Trowbridge manages to maintain. “David teaches half-time and does his work on digital history the rest,” Kemper says. “And somehow fits in eating and family and everything else.” “He is fearless. But also he’s a very curious guy who figures out a way to get things done.”
Trowbridge is quick to point out that Clio is no solo act. Interns, for example, have played a big part in several new tours — both of which focus on art. “I worked with Nichole Stahly to build the tour for the sculpture garden at the Nelson-Atkins. She recorded artists and people like Steve Kraske who agreed to be ‘the voice’ of several Clio entries. And Brandon Allen took the lead in building the art tour inside the new airport.”
Though Trowbridge admits he didn’t know a lot about public art when he started, working on tours that highlight the Tomahawk Creek Trail in Johnson County and the Arterie in Midtown has begun to change that.
“You might not notice the William Volker sculpture (in the fountain near Brush Creek) when you’re driving by. But when you hear the story of this generous man and how the artist chose to depict his life… Every time I drive past it now, it’s like, I want to be more like that.”
Clio can be found on the web at theclio.com or by downloading the Clio app.
