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“A Remarkable Instance”: The Christmas Truce And Its Role In The Contemporaneous Narrative Of The First World War, Theresa Blom Crocker

Theses and Dissertations--History

The orthodox narrative of the First World War, which maintains that the conflict was futile, unnecessary and wasteful, continues to dominate historical representations of the war. Attempts by revisionist historians to dispute this interpretation have made little impact on Britain’s collective memory of the conflict. The Christmas truce has come to represent the frustration and anger that soldiers felt towards the meaningless war they had been trapped into fighting. However, the Christmas truce, which at the time it occurred was seen as an event of minimal importance, was not an act of defiance, but one which arose from the unprecedented …

Up In The Balcony: White Religious Leaders And School Desegregation In Arkansas, 1954-1960, David Andrew Lai

Theses and Dissertations--History

This paper examines the various responses of progressive white southern clergy to school desegregation events in Arkansas. I investigate why no major white clerical movement emerged to support civil rights, arguing that internal and external factors limited their genuinely motivated witness. National and local clergy endorsed Brown for both religious and practical reasons, arguing that segregation was counter to Christian brotherhood and hurt worldwide evangelism. However, like William Chafe’s progressives in Greensboro, too many clergy worked for school desegregation but ignored African American voices, believing that their demands unnecessarily inflamed the local opposition and unfortunately urged patience and civility instead …

Creating Heaven On Earth: Jim Bakker And The Birth Of A Sunbelt Pentecostalism, Eric G. Weinberg

Theses and Dissertations--History

This dissertation traces the rise of Jim and Tammy Bakker and analyzes the birth and growth of prosperity theology in the United States of America. It highlights how Jim and Tammy created a form of Pentecostalism that grew alongside and because of the growth of the Sunbelt. It blossomed in the new suburban enclaves of this region. Jim Bakker's religious ideas had their roots in an increasingly powerful anti-New Deal coalition that was led by the conservative business community. Positive thinking and the prosperity gospel reinforced their beliefs in unfettered markets and their opposition to activist government. Bakker combined these …

“The Pastime Of Millions”: James B. Haggin’S Elmendorf Farm And The Commercialization Of Pedigree Animal Breeding, 1897-1920, Amber Fogle Sergent

Theses and Dissertations--History

Called “The Pride of the Bluegrass,” Elmendorf Farm changed the style and substance of commercial pedigree breeding in early twentieth-century America. Between 1897 and 1914, James B. Haggin readily transformed the Kentucky farm first as a nationally preeminent horse stud, famous for its bloodlines and scales, and second as a premier dairy operation, exceptional for its sanitation, science, and size. Here rested the large-scale production of the world’s fanciest Thoroughbreds and finest milk. At the same time, Haggin’s farm reflected a lifestyle that has come to be celebrated and cherished as the ideal Kentucky landscape. A factory-style plant of large …

Contested Spaces In London: Exhibitionary Representations Of India, C. 1886-1951, Alayna Heinonen

Theses and Dissertations--History

Following the first world exhibition, the 1851 Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, exhibitions became routine events across the West that merged both education and entertainment to forward political and economic goals. For the most part scholars have taken the frequency, popularity, and propagandistic efforts of exhibitions at face value, viewing them as successful reassertions of the imperial, industrial, and technological superiority of Western nation-states. Though offering valuable insights into the cultural technologies of imperial rule, these works miss the complexities of imperial projects within specific temporal and geographical contexts.

This manuscript traces the historical dynamics of India at exhibitions held …

Inner Bluegrass Agriculture: An Agroecological Perspective, 1850-1880, Andrew Parker Patrick

Theses and Dissertations--History

This study examines agriculture in the Inner Bluegrass Region of Central Kentucky from 1850 to 1880. It utilizes an agroecological perspective, which interprets agriculture through the lens of ecology, to highlight the complex natural and cultural factors that combined to form one of the nation's most prosperous agricultural systems during the nineteenth century. Chapter One explores the agroecosytem Bluegrass farmers created and maintained, emphasizing dynamics in crop and livestock diversity and agricultural technology. Chapter Two examines the African-American labor force that played a key role in shaping the system, first as slaves and later as free men and women. Chapter …

Divisions Between Arkansans In The Brooks-Baxter War, Michael William Kraemer

Theses and Dissertations--History

Many historians have failed to consider seriously the role of the Brooks-Baxter War of 1874 in ending Reconstruction in Arkansas. Of those who have, they have not examined participants in the conflict nor attempted a robust study to determine who fought in the conflict. This thesis examines the soldiers and officers of the rival armies of Joseph Brooks and Elisha Baxter. It surveys the participants' class, race, professions, places of birth, and especially places of residence at the time of the conflict. This analysis of the Brooks-Baxter War reaffirms other historians' work on the fall of Reconstruction, while finding unique …