Digital Commons Network^™

Creating Community: Examining Black Identity And Space In New Guinea, Nantucket, Jared Muehlbauer

Graduate Masters Theses

In the late 18th century, the abolition of slavery through manumission initiated a period of enormous change in the lives of people of African descent living on Nantucket, MA. Newly free, people of color living on the island immediately began to establish families and purchase property. At the end of the 1700s, they founded the community of New Guinea, located on the southwestern edge of the town of Nantucket. Though enslavement had been abolished and the whaling industry brought economic opportunity to Nantucket, the people of New Guinea continued to experience evolving forms of racial inequality, discrimination, and violence. To …

Personalized Nutrition As A Key Contributor To Improving Radiation Response In Breast Cancer, Anuradha A. Shastri, Joseph Lombardo, Samantha C Okere, Stephanie Higgins, Brittany C Smith, Tiziana Deangelis, Ajay Palagani, Kamryn Hines, Daniel A. Monti, Stella Volpe, Edith P. Mitchell, Nicole L Simone

Department of Radiation Oncology Faculty Papers

Understanding metabolic and immune regulation inherent to patient populations is key to improving the radiation response for our patients. To date, radiation therapy regimens are prescribed based on tumor type and stage. Patient populations who are noted to have a poor response to radiation such as those of African American descent, those who have obesity or metabolic syndrome, or senior adult oncology patients, should be considered for concurrent therapies with radiation that will improve response. Here, we explore these populations of breast cancer patients, who frequently display radiation resistance and increased mortality rates, and identify the molecular underpinnings that are, …

Postcard: Hello From Hot Springs, Arkansas

Tim Johnson Postcard Collection

This colorized photographic postcard contains three images. The top left image shows two black attendants wrapping two customers in cloth. The photo on the right depicts a black man handing a man in the bathtub something to drink. The bottom left picture shows a man in an steam sauna with his head sticking out of the top. He has a towel wrapped around his neck. There is printed text in the top right corner. There is printed text on the back of the card.

Postcard: Cartoon Advertising Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas

Tim Johnson Postcard Collection

This color printed cartoon is advertising the Hot Springs National Park bath houses. The cartoon shows a white man in a bathtub with exaggerated long legs. A black man is on a ladder wearing shorts and a hat. He is washing the man's legs. There is a purple shower curtain behind them. The background is orange with a darker orange border. There is text dialogue next to both men. There is text at the bottom of the card in a blue box.

Postcard: The Celebrated Tally-Ho

Tim Johnson Postcard Collection

This printed postcard is color illustrations on the front with black and white illustrations on the back. The color illustrations depicts four black men running down a road. A crowd is in the foreground cheering them on. There is a man on the left side of the road wearing a hat who is watching the four runners. The background is full of spectators and a tent with the American flag. The top and bottom of the card has text. This black and white side of the postcard features an illustration of coal or wood stove with the name TALLY HO …

Examining The Healthcare Journeys Of African American Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes Amid Covid-19, Lei Edmerson

Honors Theses

The overall purpose of this study is to explore the pandemic experience of African American’s with Type 2 Diabetes. This study was done to highlight a specific group of people who live with a chronic illness and the steps they took to ensure their safety during a pandemic. The COVID- 19 pandemic had been shown to adversely and disproportionately impact minorities and those with diabetes in regards to mortality rates. This study aims to bring light to the stories of those dealing with more than just the pandemic. It wanted to explore how they made it thus far, and if …

Aa Ms 19 Eugene Jackson Papers, Emily Margaret Newell

Search the Manuscript Collection (Finding Aids)

This collection is comprised of family photographs, photo albums, bibles, hymnals, and newspaper from the early 20th century onward. The collection is organized into three series:

Series 1: Photographs

This series includes the personal photographs of Eugene Jackson’s friends and family as far back as the early 1900s. The most common themes and activities found in these photographs are leisure activities such as trips to the beach or the mountains, family get-togethers, professional portraits, and Christmas greeting cards.

Subseries 1.1: Loose Photographs

Loose photographs are organized into topical folders.

Subseries 1.2: Ruby Family Photograph Album

The photograph album includes black-and-white …

Homegrown Stl 4th Annual Regional Summit On The State Of Opportunities For Black Boys And Young Men: Closing The Health, Growth, And Opportunity Gaps, Sean Joe, Maribeth Clifton, Demeisha Carlton-Brown

Center for Social Development Research

Convened annually, HomeGrown StL’s annual regional summit brings together service providers, government officials, private-sector partners, and residents to strengthen, align, and accelerate local collective-impact strategies that support the health, development, and economic mobility of Black boys and young men in St. Louis City and in St. Louis County.

This report summarizes developments from the 4th Regional Summit on the State of Opportunities for Black Boys and Young Men: Closing the Healing, Growth, & Opportunity Gaps, which convened June 3, 2021. Priority Objectives and Key Results developed during the summit are described. In addition, the report details the progress of HomeGrown …

Why So Negative? Street Literature And Its Negative Effects On The African American Psyche, Lilly Lamia Simone

Theses (2016-Present)

Urban literature, more widely known as street lit is a genre of literature that glorifies and exaggerates drugs, violence, and sex in the lives of its African American characters. Through Street lit readers are introduced to the black man as a figure of power through illegal activity in his community, and black women as either overly aggressive or figures in need of protection. These novels choose loyalty over family, drugs, and athleticism over education, and money and power over morality. These novels and their glorifications cause African American people to see dream lives in goals that are not only unattainable …

The Almost Forgotten History Of Claver College, Katrina M. Sanders

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

This essay examines Claver College, an African American Catholic College located in Guthrie, Oklahoma, from 1936-1942. The author argues that while there is still much that is unknown about the short-lived college, the institution provided an opportunity for African Americans west of the Mississippi River to access higher education and served as an entre for the Catholic Church into an African American community.

The Church Bridge Project Focus Group Results: African American Perspectives Of Weight Management Programs To Improve Nutrition And Physical Activity Behaviors, Jennifer L. Lemacks, Laurie S. Abbott, Tammy Greer, Renee Gunn, Ashley Bryant, La Shaundrea Bradford, Penny A. Ralston

Faculty Publications

Background: The prevalence of obesity is disproportionately high among African Americans in the Southern US. More information is needed about factors that influence participation in nutrition and physical activity programs to promote healthy weight.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to explore the weight management perceptions of young to middle aged adult African Americans.

Methods: The Church Bridge Project intervention participants were recruited for two focus groups. Qualitative data were recorded, transcribed and a thematic content analysis was conducted to identify major themes.

Results: Barriers included technology learning curve/burden and competing priorities. Facilitators included support, …

Developing A Therapeutic Alliance In Counseling African American Women Experiencing Domestic Violence, Andrea Kenney

Dissertations

African American women victims of domestic violence (DV) present with unique experiences, requiring counselors to possess multicultural competencies that can cultivate an alliance in which this cultural group feels comfort and trust in the therapeutic process. While there is an awareness of the complexities in counseling African American women who experience DV, gaps in research reveal a need for counselors to improve cultural competency and gain a contextual understanding of the factors that influence this population’s help-seeking behaviors. The purpose of this research was to examine counselors’ experiences with and understanding of multicultural competence in developing a therapeutic alliance with …

From Perpetual Struggle To Liberation And Freedom: An Analysis Of Two Predominately African American Churches, Stanley Bernard Baldwin Ii

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

African American Church Music has a unique and robust history dating back to the era of the African Slave Trade. This project will focus on African American Church Music and its effect on the African American worship experience in the 21st century. The creation of spirituals and gospel music helped shape the doctrine and identity in the African American Church. However, its message of suffering and “longing to go home” has limited the worship experience of the African American demographic. Musical style, historical significance, and racial issues have played a significant role in shaping the African American worship experience. These …

Understanding The African American Male Student Experience Of Being Diagnosed With Emotional Disturbance Through The Use Of Counter-Storytelling, Sara Ordaz

Doctoral Dissertations

In the U.S. educational system, it is too common to see African American males overrepresented in special education classrooms, including segregated special education settings. African American males continuously experience disproportionate representation and placement in special education, especially under the label of ED (Harry & Anderson, 1994). Twice as many African American students in the United States are receiving services for Emotional Disturbance than their White counterparts.

Students who are labeled with ED have the lowest educational outcomes as well as lower success rates in life than any other disability classification (Merrrell & Walker, 2004). The consequences of the ED label …

The Psychosocial Experiences Of African American Sexual And Gender Minority Caregivers Of People With Dementia, Lakeva Harris

Doctoral Dissertations

Over 50 million people in the United States provide unpaid care to a family member or friend. One-third of these caregivers (16 million) provide care to someone with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). Of these caregivers, more than 20% state caregiving has led to a decline in their health. African American caregivers are less likely to report being in very good or better health than their white caregiving peers. Similarly, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer (LGBTQ) caregivers are more likely to report fair or poor health than their heterosexual, cisgender peers. The overlap of these minoritized identities may …

Language Variation In The Writing Of African American Students: 6 Factors Predicting Reading Achievement, Lisa Fitton Ph.D., Lakeisha Johnson, Carla Wood, Christopher Schatschneider, Sara A. Hart

Faculty Publications

Purpose

This study aims to examine the predictive relation between measures obtained from African American students' written narrative language samples and reading achievement, as measured by standardized academic assessments.

Method

Written language samples were elicited from 207 African American students in Grades 1–8. The samples were examined for morphosyntactic variations from standardized written Generalized American English (GAE). These variations were categorized as either (a) specific to African American English (AAE) or (b) neutral across AAE and standardized written GAE (i.e., considered ungrammatical both in AAE and in standardized written GAE). Structural equation modeling was employed to then examine the predictive …

The Impact Of Stress, Depression, And Anxiety On African American Student Success During Their First Undergraduate Semester: A Qualitative Case Study, Anthony Jerome Howard

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this case study was to understand the impact of stress, depression, and anxiety on African American students’ success during their first undergraduate semester at House A&M University. The terms stress, depression, and anxiety were defined respectively as the feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. Schlossberg’s transition theory, which defines transitions as events or experiences that result in changed interactions, habits, expectations, and responsibilities, framed this study. The study's central research question was designed to elicit participant descriptions of the ways stress, depression, and anxiety impact the …

From The Margins: The Underrepresentation Of Black And Latino Students/Teachers In Music Education, Lisa C. Delorenzo, Marissa Silverman

Visions of Research in Music Education

There is an alarming gap between rising numbers of minority students and a shrinking minority teaching force. The purpose of this research was to explore the question: Why are so few students of color preparing to teach music in the public schools? Black and Latino music students and teachers who graduated from urban high schools in northern New Jersey were interviewed about their race/ethnic related experiences in college along with their ideas about the scarcity of music students of color in music teacher education. Data, presented in narrative form, indicated a complex web of factors that discourage high school students …

Assessing The Success Of The 2020 Kansas State Research And Extension Summer Research Program: A Virtual Research Experience, Lonnie Hobbs, Jr., Zelia Z. Wiley, Raymond Thomas

Professional Agricultural Workers Journal

Ethnic minorities, and specifically African American students are not participating in graduate programs at the same rate as non-minority students. In 2006, Kansas State University College of Agriculture Diversity Programs Office (DPO) established the Kansas State Research and Extension (KSRE) Summer Research Fellows Program to expose African American and other ethnic minority students to the agricultural sciences graduate research opportunities. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 KSRE Summer Research Fellows Program was held virtually to protect the health and safety of participants. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the virtual program. Data from five …

Detection Of Breast Cancer In African American Women Using Walk-In Mammography, Munachi Nwosu

Dissertations

Abstract

Problem: Breast cancer is a life-threatening condition, in which the prognosis could potentially worsen with a delay in the detection and commencement of treatment. Scheduling patients for mammograms continues to allow for long wait times that exist in screening mammography. Lower rates of participation in scheduled screening mammograms contributes to the increased rate of advanced breast cancer diagnosis that exit in African American women and threatens their health outcomes. The purpose of this project was to implement walk-in mammography to increase participation for early breast cancer detection.

Methods: An observational descriptive design with a retrospective chart review. A PDSA …

Factors Associated With Parent Involvement For African American Youth With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities: Findings From The Nlts-2012, Latonya J. Harris

Theses and Dissertations

This study used a correlational design to explore the association between parent demographics, parent experiences, and parent expectations, and parent involvement for families supporting African American youth with IDD. Chi-square statistical analyses were used to determine the associations between parent involvement and factors related to post-school planning. Associations were found between parent involvement and parent demographics, parent and youth experiences with professionals, parent expectations. The findings of this study provide opportunities for professionals and other stakeholders to intentionally develop actionable goals and objectives aimed at redefining parental involvement through a culturally responsive lens that positions parents as a resource, create …

Higher Command: An Examination Of African American Leadership In The Vietnam Era, Amanda Abulawi

Master's Theses

Since the founding of the United States, African Americans have sacrificed their lives to uphold the nation’s democratic ideals, all while being denied equal access to voting, education, employment, and housing rights at home. Military service appealed to many African Americans who hoped it would lead to social and economic advancement for themselves and their race. Despite African American military participation throughout the nation’s history, these soldiers were treated as outsiders through segregated units and often relegated to non-combative duties, until the Vietnam War. This was the first major conflict in which African Americans had been deployed in large numbers …

Review Of Liberia, South Carolina: An African American Appalachian Community, By John M. Coggeshall, Cicero Fain

History Faculty Research

Examining 150 years of history of a small, rural African American community, John M. Coggeshall’s Liberia, South Carolina: An African American Appalachian Community, contributes to recent studies elevating Black Appalachian voices, perspectives, and cultures previously historically elided. Located in Pickens County in the Blue Ridge region of western South Carolina, Liberia, like a lot of rural communities, exists less “as a legally defined entity and more a culturally defined area of recognized neighborly ties.”

Through The Ivory Curtain: African Americans In Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Before The Fair Housing Movement, J. Mark Souther

History Faculty Publications

This article examines the largely neglected history of African American struggles to obtain housing in Cleveland Heights, a first-ring suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, between 1900 and 1960, prior to the fair housing and managed integration campaigns that emerged thereafter. The article explores the experiences of black live-in servants, resident apartment building janitors, independent renters, and homeowners. It offers a rare look at the ways that domestic and custodial arrangements opened opportunities in housing and education, as well as the methods, calculations, risks, and rewards of working through white intermediaries to secure homeownership. It argues that the continued black presence laid …

The Messiah, The Mandate, And The Mission To Implement Multicultural Evangelism Through Intentional Racial Reconciliation Among African Americans And Caucasian Christians, Panisha Levern Stigger

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

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Bearing Report: A Roundtable On Historians And American Veterans, James Marten

History Faculty Research and Publications

Five historians—each an expert on a specific era and issue related to veterans—were asked to ponder the following questions: 1. What are the most important questions explored by historians in veterans studies? 2. What are the books that have been most useful to your particular area of interest in veterans studies? 3. How can the history of veterans help us understand larger cultural, social, and economic issues during the time periods in which the veterans you study lived? 4. What are the particular contributions that a historic sensibility can bring to the study of veterans of any war? 5. How …

'Our Duty Is To Furnish Such Education:' Black Children And Schooling In Baltimore City, 1828 - 1900, Lisa Rose Lamson

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation focuses on the ways Baltimore City’s public school system developed in the nineteenth century as it was shaped by Black Baltimorean’s expectations of their children’s schooling. From the beginning of the city’s public school system, established in 1828, Black Baltimoreans advocated for their children’s futures by demanding access to universal, state sponsored education. Black Baltimoreans declared that children had a right to an education that was in sufficient buildings, had appropriate graded curricular choices that would benefit their futures, and were taught by black teachers or those “in sympathy” with them. This dissertation argues that for Black Baltimoreans, …

#Blackfemaleteachersmatter: The Experiences Of Three African American Female Teachers Who Left The Classroom During Their Induction Years, Ashlye Victoria Wilkerson

Theses and Dissertations

This study captured the lived experiences of three African American, female classroom teachers who left the profession within three years of beginning their careers. The main goal that led this research was to center the perspectives of African American women in the conversation about teacher retention, turnover, and attrition percentages that plague the field of education. The primary questions that guided this study were: (1) “What can be learned from the life stories of former African American female teachers who left the teaching profession from South Carolina public classrooms during their induction years?”, (2) “What do their life stories reveal …

Disparities In Programming African American Solo Vocal Music On College Campuses Across The United States, Ramelle Brooks

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the representation of African American composers within the solo vocal literature genre of classical music. Literature suggests the music of African American composers is seldom taught in classical musical studies. The study explored one publicly available college recital database from each U.S. geographical region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West), which included listings of songs performed at each recital. The researcher recorded the number of recitals including African American composers and provided a numerical breakdown of song genres associated with African American Americans that included African American arts songs, Spirituals, Blues, Gospel, Jazz, and operatic arias. The number of …

African American Teachers' Experiences Of Becoming A Teacher In Ohio: A Case Study, Feon M. Battiste

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There has been a hiring discrepancy in the recruiting and hiring process of African American teachers in Ohio (Stein, 2019). The purpose of this descriptive case study was to explore African American teachers’ experiences of becoming teachers in Ohio and their suggestions for improving the hiring process. Five research questions guided the study: (a) What were African American teachers’ lived experiences of becoming a teacher in Ohio? (b) How do African American teachers perceive the obstacles and catalysts of becoming and remaining teachers in Ohio? (c) How do African American teachers view diversity in the teaching force? (d) What policies …