Digital Commons Network^™

"Meeters In Secret": The History Of Freemasonry And Its Influence On Conspiracy Culture In The United States, Emily Mcgee

History Class Publications

George Washington. Theodore Roosevelt. John Wayne. Henry Ford. Booker T. Washington. Mark Twain. Lewis and Clark. Harry Houdini. Buzz Aldrin. The names, initially, seem to have no correlation. These men come from different centuries and economic backgrounds. They are presidents, authors, entertainers, inventors, and adventurers. They are important symbols of American culture, but their connection reaches deeper even than that. All of the men listed above, and countless others, were part of the Freemason Society. For some, this might be a shocking revelation, but, for others, this may not be surprising. Freemasons have permeated American politics and popular culture since …

Dream Visions As A Safe Space For Purgatorial Speculation, Tucker Douglass

History Class Publications

People have believed in something like purgatory for thousands of years. Their specific ideas reflect their cultural environments and their personal feelings about the human condition. By looking at the dream vision genre over the past 2,000 years we may get a better idea of the development of the doctrine of purgatory and, with it, how people have understood themselves in history.

African American Service In The United States Civil War: The Forgotten Ten Percent, Jacob Roberts

History Class Publications

Throughout the early years of the development of the United States, the outright discrimination and prejudice directed against African American men, women, and children unfortunately became widely accepted, specifically in the southern regions of the country. Even in today’s society, in the 21^st century, instances of racism and hatred towards people of color are still prevalent. Despite over 200 years of growth and progress, many individuals in the United States still hold true to the beliefs that were consistent with racists and bigots of the pre-Civil War era. African Americans continue to experience the same trials and judgment that …

Knights Of The Middle Ages, David Sikes

History Class Publications

As humans began to grow in numbers, they began to create civilizations for themselves in order to better survive, and as those civilizations grew, there came to be a divergence of roles for people to perform. The most universal of all these was the Warrior Elite, a class of people who were part of the lesser nobility and would function as officers and generals in times of conflict. For Japan it was the Samurai, for Iran it was the Persian Immortals, and for Europe in the 9^th to late 15^th century, there were the Knights. Let us look …

Chivalry And The Knight, Kyle Burrow

History Class Publications

What does it mean to have honor? Cultures from across the world have asked this question for millennia, and most of them have come up with very violent answers. Probably the most recognizable form of honorable conduct that we see in history is the idea of chivalry. Born in the Middle Ages, this idea bloomed in a troubled time, when wars were a pretty common occurrence, and the upper class was starting to need to justify their existence-- or distract the population with another shiny crusade. This is where chivalry comes in. At first, it was little more than a …

What Can People Learn About The American Revolution Through "Assassin's Creed Iii"?, Katie Kitchell

History Class Publications

Video games have been a source of entertainment for people of all ages since the creation of the first video game, Pong, in 1958. Over time, video games have been improved upon to provide better graphics, better stories, better gameplay, and more fun for the family. Careers are now based on the creation of video games and their development, leading to the rise of companies such as Ubisoft, Nintendo, Electronic Arts, Sony Computer Entertainment, and many others who base their entire company on the creation and selling of video games. Today, they have been integrated as an almost essential …

A God Of Unity And A People Of Division: Segregation In The Christian Churches Of Arkadelphia, Arkansas, Zackary Kelley

History Class Publications

Arkadelphia, Arkansas is a small town that suffers from the great divide on Sunday morning. In this paper, I attempt to unravel why churches in town are segregated, what is being done about it, and what the church leaders have to say about the topic.

Public Verses Private Desegregation: A Comparison Of Integrating Into Arkansas' Public And Private Education Systems, Kaleb Mcadams

History Class Publications

It was May 17, 1954, when the Supreme Court issued its decision ruling the segregation of public schools to be unconstitutional. The case, Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, has maintained its significance in American history due to the way it brought about cultural change in the south. Before then, many southern states were dominated by white democratic state legislatures and had mandated Jim Crow laws which forced African American and white children to be enrolled at separate schools.

There was an uproar after the court ruling, which led many states to resist the push for integration. …

Find Your Decade: A Study Of Beauty Ideals From The 1900s To The 2020s, Kristi Roshto

Honors Colloquium

This is the flyer for Kristi Roshto's Honors Colloquium.

“We Are Worried Mothers:” A Panel Of “Ordinary South Africans” On Us Capitol Hill, Myra Ann Houser

Articles

In 1986, a “panel of ordinary South Africans” addressed members of the US Congress. Their visit did not command as much attention as would the visit of (future president) Nelson Mandela in 1990 or as did (former prime minister) Jan Smuts in 1930. Yet, for an increasing number of Americans watching closely, it represented a momentous public rebuttal to apartheid. The visit responded to ongoing celebrity protests and built public support for sanctions. While many Americans instigating “designer arrests” believed that they spoke for South Africans, in 1986, physicians, activists, and children who had faced detention spoke for themselves on …

Life In The Time Of Covid-19, Joe Jeffers

Articles

This narrative is a personal account of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on my life in 2020. Three factors come to bear on my reactions. First, I am 75 years old. Second, I have a minor heart condition. Third, I am a scientist. The first two put me in a higher risk category, and my behavior changed accordingly. The third is the window through which I view the world. It affects my reaction to data as the nature of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 are revealed. I follow numerous information sources about the pandemic and share those articles on Facebook. Retirement …

Henry Ivens Stone, Local Inventor, Lisa K. Speer

Articles

Henry Ivens Stone was born October 30, 1866, in Clark County, Arkansas to William Clark "W.C." and Mary Ann (Smith) Stone. Stone's mother, Mary Ann, was the daughter of Dr. Willis and Margaret Janes Smith. Stone married Sara L. "Sallie" Turbeville on May 14, 1887, in Nevada County. Henry and Sallie lived in Whelen Springs, and were the parents of three children--Willie Mae, Warner "Cap," and Henry Jr., who died before his first birthday. Henry Ivens Stone died from pneumonia on November 20, 1900. Frederick Vallowe, the great grandson of Stone, donated the original patent, transcribed below, to the Archives …

Another Man Done Gone, Lisa K. Speer

Articles

Author’s note: I grew up hearing stories about a maternal great uncle who died young following an arrest for some minor offense. As an adult, I hadn’t thought much about his story until earlier this year. While hunkered down in quarantine during the COVID-19 outbreak, a cousin texted a photograph and a newspaper clipping to me and asked if I knew who the man was, or anything about what had happened to him. The photograph was of our great uncle, Richard Audell Clift, and the clipping was about his death. Reading about his death made me realize that there was …