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Through A Glass, Darkly: The Changing Past Of Coffee County, Georgia, Jonathan Hepworth

All Theses

In 1954, Coffee County, Georgia, commemorated its centennial with a massive celebration that essentially shut down the county seat of Douglas for a week. Parades, fireworks, speeches, and above all a large-scale historical pageant, the 'Centurama,' were components of the celebration. The history celebrated in 1954, however, did not necessarily match up with Coffee County's actual history. This thesis examines the history of Coffee County and its changing nature, looking at politics, economics, and culture. It finds that historical 'memory' is not always planned out by society's elites, but can change as the result of politics, demographic shifts, and commercial …

Will The Real Miss Scarlett Please Stand Up: How The Life Of Mary Boykin Chesnut Can Be Considered A Model For Margaret Mitchell's Scarlett O'Hara, Anna Braunscheidel

All Theses

Scarlett O'Hara may well be one of the most well known Southern women of all time. Outside of the world of fiction, Mary Boykin Chesnut is probably the most famous woman of the Confederate era. There are striking similarities between both women, not only in terms of their experiences but also their reactions to these experiences, as well as their striking personalities. Because of these similarities, it is quite easy to draw parallels between the two women, and surprisingly, this subject, although it has been suggested, has not been explored in greater detail.
Mary DeCredico's introduction to her biography of …

From Confederate Expatriates To New South Neo-Filibusters: Major Edward A. Burke And The Americas, Michael Powers

All Theses

The traditional historiography of the American South presents the New South creed as a vision emphasizing national reconciliation based upon the advancement of Southern commerce and industry. In addition, scholars broadly define New South spokesmen as men who came to maturity after the Civil War and did not involve themselves in state or national politics. An examination of Major Edward Austin Burke, however, reveals that at least one pivotal New South booster was a Confederate veteran and leading political figure; it also suggests the presence of an international component inherent in the New South paradigm of the 1880s. It is …

Paradise Found: Religiosity And Reform In Oberlin, Ohio, 1833-1859, Matthew Hintz

All Theses

Founded as a quasi-utopian society by New England evangelists, Oberlin became the central hub of extreme social reform in Ohio's Western Reserve. Scholars have looked at Oberlin from political and cultural perspectives, but have placed little emphasis on religion. That is to say, although religion is a major highlight of secondary scholarship, few have placed the community appropriately in the dynamic of the East and West social reform movement. Historians have often ignored, or glossed over this important element and how it represented the divergence between traditional orthodoxy in New England and Middle-Atlantic states, and the new religious hybrids found …

Slavery, Imprinted: The Life And Narrative Of William Grimes, Susanna Ashton

Publications

In 1824, in a fury over the injustices of slavery, racism in the North, and exploitation of the workingman, William Grimes wrote the story of his life. The Life of William Grimes, the Runaway Slave (1825) ends with a visceral and violent image of literary sacrifice: Grimes offers to skin himself in order to authorize the national story of the United States:

If it were not for the stripes on my back which were made while I was a slave, I would in my will leave my skin as a legacy to the gover(n)ment, desiring that it might be taken …