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The Language Of Legal Violence: The State’S Role In Silencing Capitalist Dissent, 1877-1915, Jaclene Paolucci May 2023

The Language Of Legal Violence: The State’S Role In Silencing Capitalist Dissent, 1877-1915, Jaclene Paolucci

Theses and Dissertations

From the 1870s to the eve of World War I, the United States government enacted a violent and repressive campaign against labor activists and political radicals to protect capitalist interests. The growing alliance between employers and the government threatened American democratic traditions and turned those who challenged the capitalist system into potential enemies of the state.


Children And The Cold War: Race & Hypocrisy Amid Fear Of Nuclear War, Richard D. Mctaggart Jr. Jan 2023

Children And The Cold War: Race & Hypocrisy Amid Fear Of Nuclear War, Richard D. Mctaggart Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

During the Cold War, American propaganda centered the wellbeing of the child in its messaging warning of atomic attack at the hands of the Soviet Union. However, despite American claims that all children were valued by the United States, this was proven untrue by its unequal treatment of Black children.


Pioneers Of Evacuation, Pioneers Of Resettlement: The Photographic Archive Of The Japanese American Incarceration And The Settler Colonial Imaginary, Christina Hobbs Aug 2022

Pioneers Of Evacuation, Pioneers Of Resettlement: The Photographic Archive Of The Japanese American Incarceration And The Settler Colonial Imaginary, Christina Hobbs

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reexamines the photographic archive of the Japanese American incarceration during World War II produced by the US government, arguing that these images “restage” the evacuation, incarceration, and resettlement periods through a settler colonial “pioneer” mythology, thereby obscuring the precarity of Japanese Americans' racial positionality between “settler” and “native.”


Original Intent: Brown Vs. Board Of Education, White Backlash, & The Enduring Power Of De Facto Segregation, Aaron Brand Jan 2022

Original Intent: Brown Vs. Board Of Education, White Backlash, & The Enduring Power Of De Facto Segregation, Aaron Brand

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the factors and outcomes surrounding Brown v. Board of Education of 1954. The events that predated it and the resistance that followed determined the chain of consequences from this perceived victory over racial bias. The calculated and persistent backlash against integration obscured Brown’s intent of educational opportunity.


From Half-Free To Property: The Evolution Of Slavery In Dutch New Netherland And English New York, 1621-1712, Sarah E. Hendrickson Nov 2021

From Half-Free To Property: The Evolution Of Slavery In Dutch New Netherland And English New York, 1621-1712, Sarah E. Hendrickson

Theses and Dissertations

Between 1621 and 1712, Dutch and English colonists imported African slaves to present-day New York to help create a profitable colony. This thesis explores why the Dutch created a society with slavery and how the English transformed New York into a slave society during this period.


“Matrimonio”: Italian Brides, Grooms And Birthplaces At Our Lady Of Pompei In Greenwich Village, 1924-1933, Brendan O'Hagen May 2021

“Matrimonio”: Italian Brides, Grooms And Birthplaces At Our Lady Of Pompei In Greenwich Village, 1924-1933, Brendan O'Hagen

Theses and Dissertations

This study analyzes marriage patterns at Our Lady of Pompei (OLP), an Italian Catholic parish in New York City, during the 1920s and 1930s. It investigates whether intermarriage increased at OLP, but also links changes in marital practices to forces including government policies and demographic changes in the local community.


An Infinite Horizon: Space, Time, & Mind In The American Imaginary From Thomas Cole To Agnes Pelton, 1825-1961, Jason Friedman May 2021

An Infinite Horizon: Space, Time, & Mind In The American Imaginary From Thomas Cole To Agnes Pelton, 1825-1961, Jason Friedman

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how artists, intellectuals, spiritual seekers, and industrialists represented the American horizon across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The purpose of this inquiry is to show how art transmuted ideological and religious beliefs across time and to demonstrate the interdependence of esoteric self-perceptions and American hegemonic power.


Eagle Eye Vs. Gear Jammer, Jessica Danielle Ellis Apr 2021

Eagle Eye Vs. Gear Jammer, Jessica Danielle Ellis

Theses and Dissertations

Where similarities in class struggle have historically operated as a unifying force globally, the American crafted mythos isolates the individual and dehumanizes those that do not fall within the parameters of the cowboy archetype. The national protagonist is turned into a class traitor and an extension of government power.


The National Interest And The Roots Of American-Saudi Diplomacy, Oliver B. Wiegel Jan 2021

The National Interest And The Roots Of American-Saudi Diplomacy, Oliver B. Wiegel

Theses and Dissertations

This paper analyzes the beginnings of diplomacy between the United States and Saudi Arabia during the interwar years and World War II. It explores how national interest was decided upon, how oil companies affected American foreign policy, and the American government’s strategic interest in Saudi oil reserves.


Model Minorities: Asian Americans And The White-Black Racial Paradigm, Jason Tom Dec 2020

Model Minorities: Asian Americans And The White-Black Racial Paradigm, Jason Tom

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the racial wedge driven by Whites between Blacks and Asian Americans during the Cold War on to the present. Model minorities is a term coined by whites in the 1960s to suppress Civil Rights protests and Black demands. By elevating a minority group through success stories, whites constructed a means to suppress Black people’s organizing for change against systemic racism and oppression.


Prohibition And Religion: William H. Anderson, The Anti-Saloon League, And The Rise And Fall Of A Protestant Evangelical Crusade Against Alcohol In New York, Lionel Benavidez May 2020

Prohibition And Religion: William H. Anderson, The Anti-Saloon League, And The Rise And Fall Of A Protestant Evangelical Crusade Against Alcohol In New York, Lionel Benavidez

Theses and Dissertations

The Prohibition Era of the 1920s was a social and political condition created and designed by a nineteenth-century rural Christian Protestant crusade against alcohol. Evangelical Protestant activists took a very personal and spiritual approach to the issue of alcohol consumption and turned it into a far-reaching and long-lasting nationwide campaign aimed at changing American culture. The Prohibition Era which resulted was a brief noble experiment remembered more for its sensational news stories of organized crime, political corruption, and popular culture than for the religious crusade that produced this episode in American history. The untold story of Prohibition involves a social …


Divorce As Liberation: Marital Expectations Among The Working-Class In The 1950s, Kristin M. Catrone May 2020

Divorce As Liberation: Marital Expectations Among The Working-Class In The 1950s, Kristin M. Catrone

Theses and Dissertations

Divorce was a remedy employed by working-class Americans in the 1950s when their marital expectations went unmet. Spouses left emotionally, physically, or sexually abusive marriages. Expectations for marriage also centered around assumptions based on gender. Working-class women showed how divorce could be used as a tool of liberation and empowerment.


Benevolent Women And An Orphan Asylum: The Case Of Rochester, New York, Joseph Resch Jan 2020

Benevolent Women And An Orphan Asylum: The Case Of Rochester, New York, Joseph Resch

Theses and Dissertations

Rochester, New York typified the rapid growth towns were experiencing in the early 19th century. Benevolent women established charitable societies and institutions like the Orphan Asylum to combat the social ills brought on by that growth. Their humanitarian endeavors laid the foundation for today’s child welfare agencies.


From Mourning To Monuments: How American Society Memorialized The Dead After 1945, Eugenia M. Wolovich Aug 2019

From Mourning To Monuments: How American Society Memorialized The Dead After 1945, Eugenia M. Wolovich

Theses and Dissertations

The following four memorials — the World War II Memorial in The Fens in Boston, the Brooklyn War Memorial in Cadman Plaza Park, the Pennsylvania Railroad World War II Memorial in the 30th Street Station, and the East Coast War Memorial in Battery Park — suggest that mid-twentieth century commemorative architecture possessed defining characteristics that differentiated them from monuments of the previous era and from each other. These unique qualities make it difficult to define this architectural period in a unified way because multiple forms of memorials arose in the wake of World War II.


Why Does It Have To Be So Loud? A Social History Of The Electric Guitar, Thomas Dunne May 2019

Why Does It Have To Be So Loud? A Social History Of The Electric Guitar, Thomas Dunne

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis , I will examine the history of the electric guitar from it's earliest incarnations in the twentieth century up to the present day. I will argue that more than any other instrument, the electric guitar has achieved a special place in American society, and indeed has become an iconic symbol of American culture. I will further argue that the greatest electric guitarists playing in the genre of rock 'n' roll also achieved special place in American society that their peers playing in other genres did not attain. These rock guitarists were not just considered great musicians; they …


The Indirect Causes Of Haitian Migration Into The Dominican Republic During The Late Nineteenth And Early Twentieth Century, Porfirio A. Gonzowitz May 2019

The Indirect Causes Of Haitian Migration Into The Dominican Republic During The Late Nineteenth And Early Twentieth Century, Porfirio A. Gonzowitz

Theses and Dissertations

The concession system used by the Dominican government in the late nineteenth century led to the introduction of foreign production and manufacturing methods to the country, to which Dominican business owners had no access. This lack of access encouraged Dominican growers and producers to find other means with which to meet the demands of production brought about by fierce competition with American and other foreign capitalists. This paper seeks to illuminate what motivated the Haitian migrations during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and to offer other reasons that may have driven the Haitians into the Dominican Republic.


“Don’T Buy Where You Can’T Work:” Protest And Riot In Harlem, 1932 -1935, Christie Anderson May 2019

“Don’T Buy Where You Can’T Work:” Protest And Riot In Harlem, 1932 -1935, Christie Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

In the 1930’s, Harlem joined together to participate in a “Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work” campaign, to gain agency in their community. Store owners and legal decisions would block these efforts. This work explores the failure of this movement’s impact on the Riot of 1935.


The Narrative Of Revolution: Socialism And The Masses 1911-1917, Stephen K. Walkiewicz May 2019

The Narrative Of Revolution: Socialism And The Masses 1911-1917, Stephen K. Walkiewicz

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks to situate The Masses magazine (1911-1917) within a specific discursive tradition of revolution, revealing a narrative pattern that is linked with discourse that began to emerge during and after the French Revolution. As the term “socialism” begins to resonate again within popular American political discourse (and as a potentially viable course of action rather than a curse for damnable offense), it is worthwhile to trace its significance within American history to better understand its aesthetic dimensions, its radical difference, and its way of devising problems and answers. In short, this thesis poses the question: what ideological structures …


James Buchanan And Ideals Of Manhood In The Election Of 1856, Ryan Lockwood May 2019

James Buchanan And Ideals Of Manhood In The Election Of 1856, Ryan Lockwood

Theses and Dissertations

James Buchanan was the only lifelong bachelor to be elected President of the United States. While not seen as disqualifying in and of itself, his single status was often commented upon. Analysis of the campaign literature reveals competing ideals of manhood in the lead up to the Civil War.


Instituting Protest (Film), Joshua Eisenberg May 2018

Instituting Protest (Film), Joshua Eisenberg

Theses and Dissertations

The road-trip story of one man looking at how first and fourteenth amendment rights have effected college campuses over time in the United States, while also looking at the possibility of revoking a diploma from a white nationalist for having different views than ones preferential to a certain college.


Exorcising Power, John Jarzemsky Oct 2017

Exorcising Power, John Jarzemsky

Theses and Dissertations

This paper theorizes that authors, in an act I have termed “literary exorcism,” project and expunge parts of their identities that are in conflict with the overriding political agenda of their texts, into the figure of the villain. Drawing upon theories of power put forth by Judith Butler, I argue that this sort of projection arises in reaction to dominant ideas and institutions, but that authors find ways to manipulate this process over time. By examining a broad cross-section of English-language literature over several centuries, this phenomenon and its evolution can be observed, as well as the means by which …


The Breath Seekers: Race, Riots, And Public Space In Harlem, 1900-1935, Allyson Compton May 2017

The Breath Seekers: Race, Riots, And Public Space In Harlem, 1900-1935, Allyson Compton

Theses and Dissertations

This study seeks to explore the historical intersection of public space and equality by examining Harlem, New York, between 1900 and 1935.


A Charitable Scheme: William Smith, Michael Schlatter, And The German Free Schools, Daniel M. Crown May 2017

A Charitable Scheme: William Smith, Michael Schlatter, And The German Free Schools, Daniel M. Crown

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes William Smith’s development of “German Free Schools” in Pennsylvania between 1753-1755. It argues that these schools, ostensibly meant to acclimatize German immigrants to a British colony, were in fact intended to increase pro-Proprietary sympathy, isolate sectarian preachers, and end Quaker dominance over the Pennsylvania General Assembly.


Rationality, Parapsychology, And Artificial Intelligence In Military And Intelligence Research By The United States Government In The Cold War, Guy M. Lomeo Dec 2016

Rationality, Parapsychology, And Artificial Intelligence In Military And Intelligence Research By The United States Government In The Cold War, Guy M. Lomeo

Theses and Dissertations

A study analyzing the roles of rationality, parapsychology, and artificial intelligence in military and intelligence research by the United States Government in the Cold War. An examination of the methodology behind the decisions to pursue research in two fields that were initially considered irrational.


Toilet Talk, Michael Blake May 2016

Toilet Talk, Michael Blake

Theses and Dissertations

Toilet Talk explores both formal and autobiographical themes related to desire, sexuality, and the relationship between public and private space. My work and research aims to reposition and queer the industrial object and its promotion of hyper masculine ideals.


Transportation And Sanitation Drivers Of Land Use/Land Cover Change: Loss Of The Jamaica Bay Wetlands, Margaret Joy Cytryn Aug 2015

Transportation And Sanitation Drivers Of Land Use/Land Cover Change: Loss Of The Jamaica Bay Wetlands, Margaret Joy Cytryn

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents an analysis (1830-2014) of the historical events of land use/land cover change in the Jamaica Bay estuary, identification of the agents of change, and a perspective on the potential drivers of transportation and sanitation in land use/land cover change.