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God And Reason: An Intellectual Religious Journey Through The Mind Of Thomas Paine, Jason R. Patterson May 2022

God And Reason: An Intellectual Religious Journey Through The Mind Of Thomas Paine, Jason R. Patterson

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Thomas Paine was one of the most prolific writers in the Age of Revolutions. His writings can be analyzed from a political, philosophical, humanitarian, or religious point of view. However, it was Paine's use of religious rhetoric that ultimately led to the demise of his character and reputation as a popular actor in the American Revolution. Most historiography on Paine focuses in on one of the mentioned perspectives, leaving out a much larger narrative or arch of Paine's life. This thesis will cover a series of Paine's writings beginning with his first, The Case of the Officers of Excise (1772) …


A Comparative Analysis Of Montpelier's, Monticello's, And Mount Vernon's Collaborative Effort With Their Descendant Communities, Rachel Gregor May 2022

A Comparative Analysis Of Montpelier's, Monticello's, And Mount Vernon's Collaborative Effort With Their Descendant Communities, Rachel Gregor

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Historical homes and plantation sites focus interpretation on the life and legacy of the white owners of the property and the architectural and decorative elements of the home. In order to tell the whole-truth history of these sites, there must be an active discussion regarding the lives of the enslaved population, especially since the enslaved individuals were the reason the white owner was able to be successful. While very little written historical records exist for enslaved communities in comparison to those that survive for the white plantation owner, the surviving documentation, when coupled with archaeological evidence and especially the oral …


Walking The Line: The Legacy Of The Lost Cause In Redefining Femininity At The Normal, 1909-1942, Jennifer D. Page May 2022

Walking The Line: The Legacy Of The Lost Cause In Redefining Femininity At The Normal, 1909-1942, Jennifer D. Page

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The students who attended the State Normal and Industrial School at Harrisonburg during the early period (1909 – 1942) used social organizations to echo, amplify, and rehearse Lost Cause hierarchies of class, gender, and race. The Lee and Lanier Literary Societies were the two elite groups on campus which provided spaces for the women to practice these societal norms. These groups created a system of gatekeeping that ensured exclusivity and elevated the social standing of those who were members. These organizations were spaces to rehearse refinement and to practice the white women’s own roles in society. Their understanding of their …


Shape-Note Music Traditions Of The Shenandoah Valley, Tyler Brinkerhoff May 2022

Shape-Note Music Traditions Of The Shenandoah Valley, Tyler Brinkerhoff

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Though over the years documents about shape-note music from Joseph Funk and Sons and the Ruebush-Kieffer companies have been spread throughout many archives, they are now being brought back together online in one digital archive. Interpreting the information contained in these documents and the ledger book of subscribers for The Southern Musical Advocate and Singer’s Friend magazine through graphs and maps makes the information contained in them easier to access for researchers. The collaboration between a physical museum site, a website, and a Omeka site allow for multiple ways to learn about the history of shape-note music in the Shenandoah …


Praying For The South: Catholics And The Confederacy, Thomas Richardson May 2022

Praying For The South: Catholics And The Confederacy, Thomas Richardson

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This thesis examines the distinctiveness of Southern Catholic support of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, with a geographic emphasis on Virginian Catholics. During the antebellum decades, the Catholic Church in America thrived despite facing increasing hostility from the largely-Protestant United States. In response to these challenges, Catholics learned to support their state and federal governments whenever and wherever they could as a means to defuse anti-Catholic attacks. This led Catholics to condone (and involve themselves in) American racialized slavery, even after the Church itself condemned the practice. Seen in this light, Catholics who fought for and supported the …


The Child Development Act Of 1971: The Closest America Has Ever Gotten To Universal Child Care, Rory Cochran May 2022

The Child Development Act Of 1971: The Closest America Has Ever Gotten To Universal Child Care, Rory Cochran

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The significance of this thesis is on how a bill, the Child Development Act (CDA), and other complementary policies created a phenomenon of biracial and bigendered cooperation among socioeconomic boundaries to push for a reprioritization of children’s rights in the welfare system of the United States. Although the CDA never passed the White House desk its influence was significant on how national social activism influenced the interpretation of universal child care. The thesis sheds a light on the influence of women in politics, welfare, civil rights, Chicano, and children rights and their cooperation and appeasement in pushing for a national …


America's Main Street Misremembered: The Myth Of Route 66, Jessica Corsentino May 2022

America's Main Street Misremembered: The Myth Of Route 66, Jessica Corsentino

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Most Americans’ idea of Route 66 is misinformed. The collective memory of the iconic highway was built on the existing problematic image of the American West, shaped by early Route 66 boosters, and perpetuated through popular media and amateur preservationists, all of whom stood to benefit from a selective, marketable version of the highway’s past. The gaps left by these promotional revisions are indicative of problems with the transmission of collective memory on a larger scale, in which elements of history that do not align with the desired image are softened or removed. The sense of continuity and shared identity …


Walking The Line: The Legacy Of The Lost Cause In Redefining Femininity At The Normal, 1909-1942, Jennifer D. Page May 2022

Walking The Line: The Legacy Of The Lost Cause In Redefining Femininity At The Normal, 1909-1942, Jennifer D. Page

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The students who attended the State Normal and Industrial School at Harrisonburg during the early period (1909 – 1942) used social organizations to echo, amplify, and rehearse Lost Cause hierarchies of class, gender, and race. The Lee and Lanier Literary Societies were the two elite groups on campus which provided spaces for the women to practice these societal norms. These groups created a system of gatekeeping that ensured exclusivity and elevated the social standing of those who were members. These organizations were spaces to rehearse refinement and to practice the white women’s own roles in society. Their understanding of their …


Badger State Nationalism: World War I, The Ku Klux Klan, And The Politics Of 'Americanism' In 1915-1930 Wisconsin, William Levi May 2022

Badger State Nationalism: World War I, The Ku Klux Klan, And The Politics Of 'Americanism' In 1915-1930 Wisconsin, William Levi

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The Ku Klux Klan is most synonymous with racism and religious bigotry, especially during the revival period of the 1920s. What is often less understood is the aggressively nationalist nature of the Klan, which in some locales proved to be its most potent symbol and recruiting tool, epitomized by the use of the American flag and the ‘100% Americanism’ slogan. In Wisconsin, where entry into World War I was least popular in 1917, the following months saw a series of ‘loyalty struggles’ develop; many Wisconsinites regretted their early lack of support and sought to prove their loyalty and patriotism to …