Cultural History Commons^™

Dead Is Dead: Why 20% Doesn't Matter, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

Over at Cosmic America, Keith Harris beat me to the punch on this one. But Jake can attest to the fact that, since the "news" of the revision of Civil War dead up by 130,000 broke, I have been grumbling on and off.

The Grizzly, April 12, 2012, Nick Pane, Liz Kilmer, James Noebels, Olivia Minick, Lisa Jobe, Chelsea Callahan, Riley Pembroke, Sara Hourwitz, Sophie Zander, Sarah Bollert, Tracie Johnson, Allen Weaver, Shane Eachus

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Fong Inauguration Approaching • UCDC Mixing Up Spring Routine • Housing Lottery Anxiety Addressed • Cuts for a Cause on Campus This Weekend • Ursinus Alumni Return to Work at Alma Mater • UC Students Travel to National Model UN Competition in NYC • Hart Interns at Great Wall Club in Beijing, China • Opinion: Saying "No" is Man's Responsibility, Too; Delphi was a Positive Experience Despite Criticism • Men's Lacrosse Battles #18 Gettysburg • Seniors Wrapping up Athletic Careers

The Red Scare, Allison Ellis

Undergraduate Research Conference

The Red Scare describes the time in American History following World War II when tension between Americans and other Communist countries, specifically the Soviet Union, were threateningly high. Each county was equipped for, yet fearful of an atomic war. The United States government tried to use this fear to motivate the American public to become mobilized. American citizens were encouraged to rely on themselves and prepare for the worst. Even though they were ignorant to the effects of such an attack, Americans tried desperately to prepare their homes and families. The government published articles, pamphlets, short films, and held drills …

Once Upon A Time In Gettysburg: Sometimes It Works, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

Monday night, I took my class out on the 'battlefield.' I know some of them are taking my class because, "it's Gettysburg College and I should take a Civil War class before I leave." I couldn't resist the siren call to show them where they have lived for four years and transform the meanings of that ground for them. So we went on a campus tour, the battlefield they walk everyday when they go to class or dinner or out to party on a Friday night. [excerpt]

The Grizzly, April 5, 2012, Nick Pane, Liz Kilmer, Michael Schmidt, Samantha Mascia, Lisa Jobe, Sara Hourwitz, Allen Weaver, Sarah Bollert, Chelsea Callahan, Carly Siegler, Victoria Cameron, Shane Eachus, Keith Baker

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

String Ensemble Impresses Hope • Career Services Hosts Webinar • "Ball at the Bellevue" a Success, Continues to Draw Large Number of Student Participants • Sue Thomas Retires from Admissions Staff • Caitlin Callahan Interns as Veterinary Tech • Greek Week Approaches, MAA and Quiz Club Plan to Participate • UC Welcomes Teisa Brown to President's Staff • Nothing to Hate About this Hamlet • Phillies to Continue Success Despite Worries • Senior Spotlight: Garrett Smith, Baseball • Bears Battle Through Wet Weekend • Player Spotlight: Jenni Weber, Softball

Guest Post: Fear And Loathing At Shiloh, Vanessa Smiley

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

Everyone is and has been talking about the Shiloh 150th commemoration, whether it be the NPS event starting this week or the battle reenactment that took place this past weekend. It has been called the 'Antietam of the West.' All the events surrounding its 150th anniversary have been heralded as being one of 'the big ones' this year. Over 23,000 casualties of both sides in two days - a pretty significant and bloody battle. [excerpt]

From Another Era: Living In The Moment, Jacob Dinkelaker

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

I’m the child of Baby Boomers, born and bred in Ohio. Although I’ve since moved away, Ohio is and always will be home. The one thing that I always remember about springtime and Ohio is May 4th. All throughout high school and college, it seemed liked every spring, as the days inched closer and closer to May 4th, talk among teachers and parents would invariably drift towards Kent State and the memories of the terrible shootings that happened there. Growing up in Ohio, it's just a fact of live that everyone learns about Kent State. It is ingrained into state …

Farm Women, Solidarity, And The Suffrage Messenger Nebraska Suffrage Activism On The Plains, 1915-1917, Carmen Heider

Great Plains Quarterly

In the weeks and months following the November 3, 1914, vote on the Nebraska suffrage amendment, activists picked up the pieces after male voters for the third time defeated the proposition in their state. Thomas Coulter explains that in the days leading up to the vote, ''A feeling of impending victory suffused the hearts of pro-suffrage workers," but in the days after, "a sense of shock was widespread."¹ The vote had been close: 90,738 for the Nebraska amendment and 100,842 against it.² In fact, Attorney General Willis Reed later stated that had there been a recount, the amendment …

Not Your Family Farm Apiculture In South,Central Montana, Miles Lewis

Great Plains Quarterly

The rolling prairies and sheltering mountain ranges of the Upper Musselshell Valley in Montana are nearly perfect for cattle and sheep grazing. Some areas, more topographically similar to the Great Plains than to the mountainous West, are (at least in wet years) highly conducive to growing alfalfa or wheat. Overall, the pastoral setting calls to mind images of weathered cowboys, grizzled sheepherders, and stoic farmers. However, closer inquiry into the region's agriculture reveals that cattle and wheat are by no means the only product being harvested from the land. Found buzzing around flowering foliage or swarming the rearing hindquarters of …

Review Of State Of Minds: Texas Culture And Its Discontents By Don Graham, Ken Baake

Great Plains Quarterly

Don Graham sets out in State of Minds to address two threats he sees to the literary landscape of Texas: one, the perception that Texas culture, if it exists at all, is inconsequential and "lowbrow"; and, two, that college students even within Texas are becoming illiterate in regards to their state's rich heritage of creative fiction and nonfiction writing and film. The book succeeds on both counts, reminding readers familiar with the canon of how much fun it is to enter the world of Texas's written and film literature and how much one can learn from it about the timeless …

Review Of Principle Over Party: The Farmers' Alliance And Populism In South Dakota, 1880-1900 By R. Alton Lee, Francis Moul

Great Plains Quarterly

"During this era, farmers and workers watched as forces of wealth captured control of both major political parties, promoting the formation of monopolies. . . . In the process, the small capitalist class gained control of the great bulk of the nation's wealth. This monetary disparity exacerbated class divisions in the country, and many worried that it would lead to violence and upheaval." That sounds like contemporary headlines about the Occupy Wall Street movement. It isn't. Those words in this book's introduction describe the era from 1865 to 1894, taking in the conditions that spawned one of the most successful, …

Review Of The Art Of John Snow By Elizabeth Herbert, Robert Steven

Great Plains Quarterly

Elizabeth Herbert's aim in The Art of John Snow is to restore John Snow (1911-2004) to the register of the most significant artists in Calgary's recent art history. She does this by documenting the recognition he received in his lifetime, the close working relationship he had with other significant artists of his day, the reasons she sees for his neglect by historians, and, more than anything else, the sophistication she sees in his work.

The book is the ninth in a series titled Art in Profile that aims to provide "insight into the life and work of an artist or …

Pure Land And The Social Order In Twelfth-Century China: An Investigation Of "Longshu’S Treatise On Pure Land", Trevor Davis

Student Work

A 2012-2013 William Prize for best essay in East Asian Studies was awarded to Trevor Davis (Saybrook College '13) for his essay submitted to the History Department, “Pure Land and the Social Order in Twelfth-Century China: An Investigation of Longshu’s Treatise on Pure Land.” (Valerie Hansen, Professor of History, advisor.)

Davis' essay makes a powerful argument about the Pure Land Buddhist Wang Rixiu's understanding of Southern Song (1127-1279) society. Although Pure Land Buddhism is often thought to be egalitarian - or at least to challenge traditional hierarchies - Trevor shows that for Wang Rixiu, an egalitarian Pure Land coexists …

The King’S Best Highway: The Lost History Of The Boston Post Road, The Route That Made America (Review), Michael R. Fein

Humanities Department Faculty Publications & Research

No abstract provided.

Review Of Texas Through Women's Eyes: The Twentieth-Century Experience By Judith N. Mcarthur And Harold L. Smith, Jean A. Stuntz

Great Plains Quarterly

Texas Through Women's Eyes tells the story of twentieth-century Texans who are mostly left out of Texas history texts. Including women of all races and social classes, the book is arranged to make it especially useful for college classes, but is written in a manner non-academics can enjoy. Each of its four chronological parts (1900-1920, 1920-1945, 1945-1965, and 1965-2000) begins with a lively narrative broken down into several topics, accompanied by a suggested reading list, and ends with a selection of documents pertaining closely to the narrative.

Part 1, "Social Reform and Suffrage in the Progressive Era, 1900-1920," effectively links …

Review Of Empire Of The Summer Moon: Quanah Parker And The Rise And Fall Of The Comanches, The Most Powerful Indian Tribe In American History By S. C. Gwynne, Joseph A. Stout Jr.

Great Plains Quarterly

By 1836, white settlement had moved steadily westward into the Southern Plains, confronting nomadic Indians and leading to increasing violence between the two. When Nokoni Comanches that year attacked Fort Parker-a stockaded fort in east central Texas-they killed or captured white settlers, nine-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker numbered among them. Parker survived to become the wife of Peta Nocona, a Comanche warrior known for his hatred of whites and ferocity in battle. She bore him children, including Quanah Parker.

Review Of Working The Land: The Stories Of Ranch And Farm Women In The Modern American West By Sandra K. Schackel, Mary Zeiss Stange

Great Plains Quarterly

In 1995 Sandra Schackel, then professor of history at Boise State University, was asked to contribute a chapter about rural women's experiences to an anthology on the post World War II American West. The research Schackel accumulated for that chapter, largely in the form of interviews of farm- and ranchwives, provided the foundation for this slender volume. It is a foundation upon which she did relatively little to build. While her oral historical approach suggests some tantalizing avenues for further exploration, they remain for the most part rural roads not taken.

Review Of The Notorious Dr. Flippin: Abortion And Consequence In The Early Twentieth Century By Jamie Q. Tallman, Sarah B. Rodriguez

Great Plains Quarterly

Born into slavery, the child of Hugh Flippin and one of his slaves, Vera Denipplf, the teenage Charles Flippin joined the 14th United States Colored Troops Company A in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1864. While enlisted, he learned to read. Following the war, he married, had two children, and, following his wife's death, moved to Kansas to start a farm. In the 1880s, Flippin apprenticed with an eclectic physician in Kansas and traveled to the Bennett College of Medicine in Chicago for further study. The local newspaper announced his return as "the only colored medical graduate in the state of Kansas."

Review Of A New Heartland: Women, Modernity, And The Agrarian Ideal In America By Janet Galligani Casey, Pamela Riney-Kehrberg

Great Plains Quarterly

In A New Heartland, Janet Galligani Casey tackles the difficult issue of how to judge modernity in early twentieth-century America by focusing on a group often thought to embody traditional and antimodern America, its rural women. The book is not about the realities of rural life. Instead, it is about the depiction and idea of rural life, and women's place within these. Galligani Casey examines women's place in the periodicals, literature, and photography of the time, doing a particularly good job of analyzing the leading farm women's periodical of the day, The Farmer's Wife. The book connects agrarian …

Review Of All Indians Do Not Live In Teepees (Or Casinos) By Catherine C. Robbins, Bruce E. Johansen

Great Plains Quarterly

Catherine C. Robbins's highly personal tour of contemporary Indian Country begins with a moving description of 2,000 sets of human remains being returned from Harvard University "to the people of the Pecos Pueblo and their kin at Jemez" in 1999. The book then degenerates into a long rant of pet peeves that annoy its author.

Robbins's portrait of Indian casinos is not flattering (their glitziness spoils reservation vistas, she says). She doesn't think Indians dignify themselves by lecturing whites about sovereignty. In Robbins's view, Indians practicing their hunting and fishing rights under treaties bring an unwelcome din to the streams …