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Displaying Race At The Jamestown Ter-Centennial Exposition, Bryan Patrick Bennett

History Theses & Dissertations

World expositions of the nineteenth and early twentieth century often displayed the latest anthropological, ethnological, biological, and technological research on race and ethnicity, promoting the view that whites were superior to all other peoples. The Jamestown Ter-Centennial Exposition of 1907, held in Norfolk, Virginia to commemorate the three-hundred anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown settlement and its contribution to the building of the United States, offers an opportunity to examine American perspectives on whiteness, race, and society.

First, the Jamestown Exposition offered a glimpse into the historical memory of white America, especially the influential citizens that comprised the controlling …

Nature And Norfolk: The History Of The Norfolk Botanical Garden, Cheryl S. White

Institute for the Humanities Theses

If what they say is true, that first impressions are always the most important, then the city of Norfolk, Virginia could impress anyone. The Norfolk Botanical Garden began as approximately 30 acres surrounding Mirror Lake, adjacent to the proposed Norfolk Municipal Airport in 1938. Today the Garden consists of 158 acres that include a variety of garden styles, manmade canals, and extensive educational facilities. It serves as the first and last view visitors have of Norfolk. The Norfolk Botanical Garden is an example of interdisciplinary co-operation. Biology, urban planning, landscape architecture, and various political involvements are all expressed within the …

Eldorado: The Poes In Norfolk, Myreen Moore Nicholson

Institute for the Humanities Theses

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the best known Americans in the world, as a great poet, literary critic and essayist, and innovator of the analytic detective story. Yet he basically remains his own best mystery. Major cities have monuments to him. This creative work's object is to show that Norfolk, Virginia, was central in his life and art. In fact, the theatre company with which his actress mother, Eliza Arnold Poe (and her friends, the Sullys), was longest affiliated, was headquartered there. Edgar's sister Rosalie was born in a house on Brewer Street. Times and the circumstances of Poe …

Annie Wood: A Portrait, Jo Ann Mervis Hofheimer

Institute for the Humanities Theses

In 1871, Anna Cogswell Wood and Irene Kirke Leache founded a school for girls in Norfolk, Virginia which had a profound influence on the community. The Leache-Wood Seminary became Norfolk's center for cultural pursuits. After the death of Irene Leache in 1900, Annie Wood established a memorial to perpetuate her friend's interest in literature, music, art, drama, and spiritual studies. Wood began a number of cultural programs which grew to shape the cultural life of the town in remarkable ways, leading directly to the Virginia Symphony, the Norfolk Little Theater, the Irene Leache Memorial, the Norfolk Society of Arts, and …

School Desegregation And Urban Renewal In Norfolk, 1950-1959, Forrest R. (Hap) White

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

Although a number of scholars have examined the impact that the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision had upon local school policies, there is a paucity of research on what repercussions that decision may have had upon a broad range of other related municipal issues. This historical case study explores the effect that opposition to court ordered school integration had upon the placement of school buildings and urban renewal projects in one Southern city, Norfolk, Virginia, where there was strong reason to believe that the municipal powers of school plant planning, redevelopment, and city planning were deliberately …

Spire And Tower: The History, Architecture And Art Of Two Norfolk, Virginia Churches, Judith L. Smith

Institute for the Humanities Theses

While St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church and Epworth Methodist Episcopal Church are dissimilar in origin, religious practices, and architectural style, when taken together, their periods of construction in their respective revival styles span and define an important era in Norfolk, Virginia's urban history.

Original research in the sparse records of several Catholic parishes identifies the previously known name of the architect of St. Mary's church. The study also offers additional information on that church's stained glass window.

The author presents the heretofore scattered history of Epworth Church in chronological order. The study develops new information concerning …

The Peaceful Resolution Of Norfolk's Integration Crisis Of 1958-1959, Nancy Parker Ford

History Theses & Dissertations

In 1958 Norfolk experienced one of the most serious crises in its long history when six of its public secondary schools were closed by the governor. The closings were a result of Virginia's massive resistance program and forced 10,000 students to seek alternative education for five months or abandon their education entirely. Interviews with major participants in the crisis as well as investigation of newspaper accounts and editorials, personal papers of participants, city and School Board documents, and major works on the period reveal the factors involved in Norfolk's peaceful approach to integration. A comparison with the situation in Little …

The Effect Of The Revolution On Norfolk Politics, Mary C. Chrysostomides

History Theses & Dissertations

This study sought to determine whether the Revolution had a revolutionary effect on Norfolk as measured by changes in the wealth and occupation of common councilmen, the nature of politics, and the formal structure of the government of the borough. The politics, politicians, and governmental structure of Norfolk twenty years before the Revolution were compared to the politics, politicians, and governmental structure twenty years after the Revolution. The data for the study were drawn from damage claims, newspapers, wills, probate records, tax records, personal papers, travel accounts, petitions submitted to the General Assembly, statutes and ordinances, and other public records. …

Walter Heron Taylor And His Era, Emanuel Meyer

History Theses & Dissertations

This biography examines Colonel Walter Herron Taylor’s involvement in the development of Norfolk, Virginia, into a modern urban seaport. Although this thesis depicts Taylor’s role as Robert E. Lee’s adjutant and Civil War historian, it clearly demonstrates that his civic accomplishments in the post-war era considerably outweighed his efforts for the Confederacy.

Colonel Taylor's lifetime career in banking and commerce reflected the changing society of the South from a backward province into a modern industrial and sophisticated section. The author illustrates the Colonel’s participation in Norfolk's growth from the stormy Reconstruction period to the eve of World War I. Throughout …

Thomas Sully (1783-1872): Beginning Portraitist In Norfolk, Beth N. Rossheim

Institute for the Humanities Theses

An examination of the Register of Paintings and Journal of Activities written by Thomas Sully reveals his attempt to begin a painting career in Norfolk, Virginia, 1801-1803. A discussion of portraiture in America in the early 19th century precedes the investigation of the Sully family, their theatrical background and influence on Thomas Sully. Descriptive material on Norfolk is provided as background to a close study of Sully's earliest patrons Several early portraits are presented to demonstrate a progressive sophistication.

Norfolk In The First World War, Stephen Paul Nasca

History Theses & Dissertations

World War I brought the military establishment in the form of bases and service personnel to Norfolk. Because of Norfolk's close proximity to the various military bases, recruiting for the various branches of the Armed Forces was carried on very diligently. Those Norfolkians who did not volunteer for one of the services, or were not drafted, were encouraged to join the Norfolk Home Guard.

To build the military bases and to work in the various government plants, thousands of workers were needed. This demand for laborers strained Norfolk's public transportation, health, and social services as well as housing accommodations and …

A Painful Case: The Wright-Sanborn Incident In Norfolk, Virginia July-October, 1863, Ervin Leon Jordan Jr.

History Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this paper is to study the political and legal implications of the shooting of a Union officer, 2nd Lieutenant Alanson C. Sanborn, by Dr. David Minton Wright, a Norfolk physician, on July 11, 1863 in that city. Dr. Wright, who was tried and found guilty by a military commission, appealed his conviction to President Abraham Lincoln, who denied it. The author, with the use of primary and secondary sources, raises the issue of several problems encountered by Americans during the Civil War such as civil liberties, the role of Negro troops, and the problems of administration of …

Blacks In Norfolk Virginia During The 1930'S, Norma Cromwell Fields

History Theses & Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the experience of blacks in Norfolk, Virginia, during the Depression decade of the 1930's. It emphasizes the problems blacks faced in an era of rising unemployment and entrenched segregation. The study uses a variety of tables to show comparatively high rates of' disease, joblessness, and crime along with related discrimination in pay and in the distribution of public and private funds for humanitarian purposes.

Using a wide variety of primary sources, including personal interviews, the study examines a variety of subjects. In addition to portraying the plight of the black population, the thesis discusses the role of …

Reformers And Bosses In The Progressive Era: The Changing Face Of Norfolk Politics, 1890-1920, James Sidney Kitterman Jr.

History Theses & Dissertations

Abstract unavailable.

A Marriage Of Convenience, Norfolk And The Navy, 1917-1967, Theodore A. Curtin

History Theses & Dissertations

Abstract unavailable.

Experiment In Municipal Reform: The Prohibition Party In Norfolk Politics 1892-1896, G. Clifford Boocks

History Theses & Dissertations

Abstract unavailable.

The Growth Of Norfolk Naval Air Station And The Norfolk-Portsmouth Metropolitan Area Economy In The Twentieth Century, Ira R. Hanna

History Theses & Dissertations

Abstract unavailable.

Norfolk And The K.K.K. In The Nineteen Twenties, Nancy B. Cuthbert

History Theses & Dissertations

Abstract unavailable.

Norfolk And Anglo-American Relations, 1805-1815, William Frey Carson

History Theses & Dissertations

Abstract unavailable.