Digital Commons Network^™

Interpreting The Taiping Rebellion, Thomas Donovan

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This paper offers an evaluation of the Chinese Nationalist and Communist interpretations of the Taiping Rebellion (December 1851- August 1864). As the largest uprising of the time, whose importance was central to the course of modern Chinese history, prominent members of both the CCP and the KMT perceived the seeds of their political movements in the Taiping Rebellion. What evidence supports their claims, to what extent they are rational, and how their narrations illuminate aspects of the rebellion is our primary task. In addition, the particular Taiping creed, and the many interpretations of it, will be analyzed and a cross-cultural …

Black Pugilism: The First Act In Twentieth Century America, Angel Mario Lopez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

When teaching about the twenty-first century in the United States of America, educators delve deeply into how the Jim Crow Era was but a new manifestation of a slave-era philosophy. As W.E.B. Du Bois states in his 1903 book The Souls of Black Folk, “the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line.” Inspiring pro-Jim Crow government officials and citizens to impose economic and political segregation on black citizens that, on paper, are “separate but equal” when infringing on their civil and human rights deliberately. Limiting the black individual to the status of second-class citizenship where …

Student And Youth Sandinistas In Nicaragua, 1979-2018, Viviana Alvarez Rodriguez

History in the Making

In June 1979, Sandinista forces in Nicaragua successfully overthrew a decades-long multi-generational United States-backed military dictatorship. The vanguard, a diverse coalition of secondary and university students, youth, clergy, and peasants, defeated the highly-trained Guardia Nacional (National Guard) and ended the authoritarian Somoza regime. This paper examines how Carlos Fonseca and other Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) leaders resisted the liberal reformist model inherited by student-youth of the late 1960s to demand a more radical political platform. By bringing a relatively isolated student movement into the masses, this paper seeks to understand how a privileged class of university students became …

Seeking Social Justice In The City Of Los Angeles: Mary Julia Workman, Jose Luis Castro Padilla

History in the Making

Mary Julia Workman (1871–1964) was a Catholic social activist in the early twentieth century. She was the founder of the Brownson Settlement House in Los Angeles established in 1902. By the twentieth century, during the Progressive Era (1896–1916), Workman led a group of volunteer women to help immigrants, the majority being Mexicans, who were segregated and discriminated against in the growing city of Los Angeles, California. Although Catholic activism was influenced by the Protestant Progressive ideology, Workman provided social justice to the marginalized communities with education, health, and job training. In a time when Americanization efforts imposed by conservative and …

Black Female Athletes’ Use Of Social Media For Activism: An Intersectional And Cyberfeminist Analysis Of U.S. Hammer-Thrower, Gwen Berry's 2019 And 2021 Podium Protests, Ariel Newell

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Much attention has been paid to Black male athlete activism both historically and in the contemporary movement for black lives. Black female athletes have also made historic contributions as activists, and they continue to do so. However, Black female athlete activism has not always been acknowledged or heard. This is a problem, as Black women in American sports and society face overlapping racial and gender inequities and injustices that distinctly marginalize and oppress them. However, some Black female athlete activists (BFAAs) have begun using social media to challenge media narratives about themselves, to redefine what it means to be a …

Film Review: “Cats Are Excellent Conductors Of Electricity”: A Review Of The Electrical Life Of Louis Wain, Brittany Mondragon

History in the Making

No abstract provided.

Mary Julia Workman: Catholic Progressivism In Los Angeles (1900-1920), Jose Castro

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Mary Julia Workman was a social activist in the early twentieth century. She was the founder of the Brownson Settlement House in Los Angeles. By the 1900s. during the Progressive Era, Mary Julia Workman, a Catholic activist, led a group of women to help the immigrants that were segregated and discriminated in the growing city of Los Angeles. Although Catholic activism was influenced by the Protestant Progressive ideology, Mary Julia Workman provided social justice to the marginalized. Her Americanization methodology would be focused to learn from the foreigner culture and adapted it to our society. Meanwhile, the Americanization efforts promoted …

Building A Coalition In California: The 1911 Campaign For Women's Suffrage, Kristina A. Cardinale

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Women in California gained the right to vote in 1911 after a mass-organized campaign across the state. Suffrage, labor, and temperance organizations were driving forces behind the women’s suffrage proposition passing and being amended to the state constitution. The women figureheads and membership of these associations were responsible for organizing politically and reaching across class lines in order to build a coalition for women’s suffrage in the state. This research serves as a compilation and analysis of the female-driven clubs, leadership, and strategies behind the Campaign of 1911.

The “Honorable” Woman: Gender, Honor, And Privilege In The Civil War South, Sarah West

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

When past wars are discussed or taught in a mainstream setting, the focus is often on the soldiers, the battles, and the generals that led them. The topic of the people who passively lived through them is rarely included in the narrative and when it is, it usually pertains to the people on the winning side. During the Civil War, the Southern women made tremendous contributions on the home front. Although social construction of southern honor paved the way for patriotic expressions, as the war went on many women found themselves discarding these honorable gestures in favor of self-preservation. The …

Causal And Contributing Factors In Lynching Women, Cecelia Smith

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The violent act of lynching has mostly been identified as a method of vigilante justice perpetrated against African American men. During the Reconstruction Era (1865-1877) in the south, these efforts of terror by violent mobs were employed to instill fear, to preserve an economy that had been fortified by a now-extinct slave industry, and to facilitate a white supremacist ideology. Initial lynching and data analyses have often seen scholars focus explicitly on male experiences. Women, however, were also victimized by this type of mob violence. African American women, White women, and Mexican women were lynched, but justification for such actions …

Rabble-Rousers: A Brief Treatise On Populism And Its Ascent In The West, Andrew Baechtel

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This project aims to examine the causes for the recent ascent of populism in the West during the last dozen or so years with a lens focused on the United States and France. The primary area under observation is both the historical and contemporary role that populism and its adherents have played within our cultures. I aim to address the following: What is populism, how has it been broadly understood and how do its adherents regard it and what causes populist movements to develop. Academics in the field have produced a rich historiography that reveals a divided discourse. Previously analysts …

Flora's Fourth Child: Race, Gender, And Botany In The British Colonial Caribbean, Brittany L. Mondragon

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

In 1824, an enslaved woman named Catalina (alias Susannah Mathison) induced an abortion by drinking an herbal mixture on the Castle Wemyss Estate in Jamaica. Consequently, the estate’s attorney denounced her as an African witchcraft practitioner. Many enslaved women faced similar convictions for their botanical knowledge as British colonists misinterpreted Obeah for witchcraft or superstition. This thesis sheds light on these women’s experiences and examines how the British Empire imposed imperial rule over enslaved women by reflecting on the intersectionality of race, gender, and botany. Focusing on the Greater Caribbean area and centering primarily around Jamaica, this research explores the …

The Manchu Queue: A Complex Symbol In Chinese Identity, Alexander Jesus Serrano

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The queue hairstyle that was enforced on all Chinese men for over 260 years in China was, in fact, not a Chinese hairstyle. It can be traced to the Jurchen tribes north of the Great Wall and became a complex political and cultural symbol under the Manchu Qing dynasty (1644-1911). The queue signified many things to different people at different times from its 1645 widespread implementation to its sudden disappearance following the revolution of 1911. It is in this ambiguity that the queue provides a rich analytical window through which curious minds can observe sentiments of Ming loyalism, bodily modification, …

Improving Veteran Access; Status Of Operations Of The United States Department Of Veteran Affairs Work-Study Program, Kirk Allen

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The usage status of The U.S. Department Veterans Affairs Work-Study Program is examined. Beneficiary numbers from the Global, Unites States, State, and Local/County perspective are reviewed. While of essential value, the program suffers from a lack of scholarly research and government oversight, and is further hindered by restrictive administrative rules lived first-hand. Research suggests that the program is operating outside of accountability to the taxpayer, presents as unnecessarily/overly-restrictive in accessibility, and is underutilized. The program appears to not be serving all veterans to full potential.

The Work-Study Program is codified in Veterans Benefits', Title 38 United States Code, Part III, …

Book Review: China’S Good War: How World War Ii Is Shaping A New Nationalism, Alexandro Serrano, Brittany Mondragon, Jacqulyne R. Anton, Sarah West

History in the Making

No abstract provided.

A Comparative Review: Obeah, Race And Racism: Caribbean Witchcraft In The English Imagination And Experiments With Power: Obeah And The Remaking Of Religion In Trinidad, Brittany Mondragon

History in the Making

No abstract provided.

World War Ii Photographic Essay: Inherited Private Memories Of World War Ii Through Family Photographs, Brittany Mondragon, Cecelia Smith, Jacqulyne R. Anton, Sarah West

History in the Making

No abstract provided.

A Natural Arch: Ecological Imperialism And The “Crosby Effect” In American Environmental Historiography, Joseph Esparza

History in the Making

No abstract provided.

Barbara Johns: A Lasting Legacy In National Statuary, Hannah Knight

History in the Making

No abstract provided.

“The Great Dissenter”: Ruth Bader Ginsburg And The Fight For Equality, Celeste Nunez, Jacqulyne R. Anton

History in the Making

No abstract provided.

Sexual Violence Against Women During The Holocaust: Inside And Outside Of Extermination Camps, Jessie Williams

History in the Making

The article will explore women’s sexual experiences during the Holocaust, specifically the experience of those who were targeted by the Nazi regime for being “inferior” to the Aryan race. During this period, Jewish women, women categorized as “asocial” despite their German citizenship, women who identified as Romani, and Soviet or Ukrainian women were targets of sexual violence mostly at the hands of members of the Nazi Party.1 However, these women were also assaulted by the partisans who helped hide them, liberating soldiers, and male prisoners because of the vulnerable situations many women found themselves in. This article focuses first on …

From Concubine To Ruler: The Lives Of Emperor Wu Zetian And Empress Dowager, Hannah Ferla

History in the Making

Emperor Wu Zetian and Empress Dowager Cixi were the only two women to hold full control over China. They lived during different periods in Chinese history, but they accomplished the same goal. This paper will begin with the history of these two remarkable women, and it will give some background information on the respective dynasties that they lived under, the Tang (618- 907) and Qing (1644-1900). Then, the reader will learn about their journeys from the concubines of emperors to the most powerful people in China. Next, this article will cover the interesting information about Empress Dowager Cixi that Princess …

The Chinese In California: Archaeology And Railroads At The Turn Of The Century, Evelyn Hildebrand

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Research on Chinese sites in California have focused on ethnicity, ethnic relations, and the material expression of ethnicity all of which are key issues in overseas Chinese archaeology. Chinatown sites produced data that helped define Chinese culture and experience in historical California. One railroad construction work camp site identified in 2016 located in the Cajon Pass in the late 1800’s offers the potential for insight into the lives of the workers. Chinese occupation in San Bernardino is not well understood, and the site may offer information on the culture, traditions, and integrations of the workers. Thousands of Chinese men left …

The Development Of Literature In The Suffrage Movement: Western Successes From Eastern Lessons, 1848-1911, Michelle Dennehy

History in the Making

Female suffragists in the United States at the turn of the 20th Century fought to gain more protection under the law than the laws had granted women in entire history of the nation. The suffragist movement symbolically began at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, in which the "Declaration of Sentiments" dictated women’s precise requests for equality. This early industrialism-era suffrage campaign focused mainly on the East coast of the United States, while the nation expanded into the West. Ironically, while the first generation suffragists experienced many failures in their efforts for suffrage, the second generation found many successes in …

In Pursuit Of The Sixth Star: An Analysis Of Literature And Tactics From The 1911 California Woman Suffrage Campaign, Sarah Trevino Promnitz

History in the Making

California reorganized their efforts and in 1911 campaigned for a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing women the franchise. In order to combat fierce opposition and to increase public awareness of the proposed amendment, California suffrage advocates developed new forms of campaign literature and tactics. An analysis of 1911 suffrage campaign literature uncovers that the campaign was based upon the core arguments of innate womanly virtue and the need to create an inter-class coalition of women dedicated to the suffrage cause. The campaign to gain the franchise was considered a radical movement at the time, and an attempt to alter fundamentally the …

Home Lands: How Women Made The West, Oceana Collins

History in the Making

No abstract provided.

Indian Boarding School History: An Analysis Of Two Letters From The Perris Indian School, Erica Maien Ward

History in the Making

This paper is not meant to be the traditional research paper. It is a brief look into the documents researchers find and analysis while researching on a topic. The documents provide a view into the people and policies of that time period. The two letters that will be analyzed later in this paper are examples of Indian boarding schools’ policies that had direct effect on the lives of the students and their families.1 In the turn of the twentieth century, Indian boarding schools were still operating on the premise of assimilation of the American Indian into the "white culture." Hopefully, …

The Trokosi Tradition In Ghana: The Silencing Of A Religion, Rhonda Martinez

History in the Making

When does tradition and religion infringe upon human rights and who has the right to impose restrictions on them? Slavery is still an ongoing phenomenon that should no longer be denied. Trokosi, still being practiced today, is a relatively unknown African religion in which young girls are sexually enslaved to pay for crimes committed by their families. This paper highlights the terrible tradition of trokosi in order to bring public awareness to its three-hundred-year practice. Through the examination of a variety of secondary sources, definitions of slavery and explanations of the trokosi traditions are first established. Next, debates for and …

Rape Regiment: Sexual Violence Against Women During War, Andrea Roskam

History in the Making

Despite the extensive research on World War II, little is known about a system created by the Japanese government in which women were forced into sexual slavery. This system, known as the Comfort Woman System, enabled soldiers to systematically and heinously rape young women for the sole purpose of self-satisfaction and as a reward for their military efforts as a man in combat. This study uncovers some of the brutality for a mature audience through an analysis of credible data, photographic evidence and an extensive look into the oral histories of former Comfort Women. These firsthand accounts give the women’s …

Bound Feet And Western Dress: A Memoir. By Pang-Mei Natasha Chang. (New York: Anchor Books, 1999)., Briana James

History in the Making

No abstract provided.