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The Effects Of The Nat Turner Slave Revolt On The Health And Welfare Of 19th-Century Slaves In Southeastern Virginia, Jeffrey Clifford Auerbach

Master's Theses

The Nat Turner Slave Revolt stands as a major turning point in the history of American slavery and represents a fundamental shift in the master slave relationship. This event shattered the previous paternalistic view and caused a fundamental reorganization of slave life. Included in this reorganization was a shift in the subsistence practice, moving away from morenutritious food grown by the slaves themselves to poor quality rations provided by the masters. This change in subsistence practices dealt a serious blow to the nutritional health of those living in the area surrounding the revolt.

By examining stature recorded in the County …

Ergonomics : A Focus On The Prince George County, Va Emergency Operations Center Workstations, John Leach

Master's Theses

This research paper examines the current ergonomic characteristics of the Prince George County Emergency Operations Center Workstations. Further, the research attempts to answer the following question: How do the Prince George County Emergency Operations Center Workstations compare with conventional wisdom, and literature on the topic of workstation ergonomics?

Are We All Together? : A Study Of Evacuation And Sheltering Of Public Safety Special Needs Populations In The Commonwealth Of Virginia, Anna M. Mcray

Master's Theses

Events thousands of miles away from Virginia have led to enhancements of the existing evacuation and emergency sheltering planning, highlighting the need to consider more than traditional special needs populations. Updated state-level plans specifically address the medical needs of evacuation populations. Pets were taken into consideration and inclusion of dogs, cats, and birds in traditional sheltering planning has begun. Planning began to address those with social needs such as low-income families who may not be able to evacuate until the final hours of an active evacuation. It became clear that there were specific populations that had not been included in …

"Carry Me Back To Old Virginny" : Virginia And The Bonus March Of 1932, Steven Patrick Schultz

Master's Theses

On 6 May 1932 the Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives declined to pass along for a full vote in the House a bill that would have provided for immediate and complete payment of the Soldiers' Bonus, a small sum of money due in 1945 to veterans of World War I. In doing so it set in motion a chain of events that led to one of the most sordid affairs in American history, the Bonus March of 1932, when tens of thousands of World War I veterans traveled to Washington to ask their government for …

The Effects Of Stress In The Workplace : An Investigation Of The Impact Stress Has On The Personal And Work Lives Of Police Officers Of The Fairfax County Police Department, Britta A. Connolly

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to identify the ways in which stress impacts the lives of police officers. A survey and observations were conducted at all levels of patrol within the Fairfax County Police Department to determine the impact of stress in the law enforcement environment. The results revealed stress on police officers were manageable yet several areas surfaced that increased stress. Areas where stress impacted the officers were health, absenteeism, and turnover. In order to manage the effects of stress for officers, the department must address and hold their employees as the most important asset in the organization.

Participation In The Police Promotional Process For The Rank Of Sergeant Within The Fairfax County Police Department Fairfax, Virginia, Purvis L. Dawson Jr

Master's Theses

Police Departments across the country are experiencing vast numbers of veteran supervisory and command personnel retiring from public service. Without careful planning, these retirements can create a leadership void that will be difficult to fill with well-qualified candidates. These separations pose a loss of institutional knowledge, expertise and leadership continuity. The research conducted focused on the underlying reasons why highly-competent, experienced police officers are refusing to advance their law enforcement careers in becoming supervisors. The study included a review of the published literature and surveys being administered to 105 non-supervisory Fairfax County Police Officers on their interest in becoming a …

Perceived Impact Of Paramilitary Training On Police Recruit Performance, Lauren Carol Nobles

Master's Theses

The topic of paramilitary policing within a police academy has been an exceedingly controversial topic within the Henrico County Division of Police. This study was completed to answer this research question: What is the perceived impact of paramilitary training on police recruit performance?

The controversy lies between a paramilitary structure of police recruit training and the current style of academy provided by Henrico County Division of Police. This study sought the opinions of police officers assigned to Uniform Patrol. The author wanted to reveal the style of police recruit training desired by current police officers to the Chief of Police …

An Exploration Of Effective Recruitment Sources For Norfolk Fire-Rescue, Beth Bruner

Master's Theses

Public Safety applicants have declined nationwide over the last several years, including those individuals applying to Norfolk Fire-Rescue (NFR). Declining applicants can be attributed to change in generational births, effects of 9/11, and change from the 18 year old high school graduate to a midtwenty year old college student. An applicant pool decrease requires more effective recruitment efforts. This study examines the NFR 2006 hiring process from written exam through applicants' hiring. A nonrandomized survey design examined 245 surveys of all exam applicants. Measured constructs included recruitment sources and demographic data and were analyzed specifically with regard to those who …

Stressors On The Detectives Of The Prince William County Police Department, William P. Mackay

Master's Theses

Law enforcement is a highly stressful occupation, with law enforcement officials facing critical incidents such as violent crime scenes and potential loss of life. These incidents, however, are not a daily occurrence. The most common daily stressors associated with law enforcement originate from the law enforcement organization itself, the daily interactions with coworkers, the usage or misusage of the assigned equipment, and the individual's perception of the work environment. This study collected survey data to analyze the prevalence and effects of the daily stressors perceived by the detectives of the Prince William County Police Department. This study identified three areas …

Is Alternative Transport A Viable Option For Norfolk Fire-Rescue?, Nicholas Edward Nelson

Master's Theses

Emergency medical providers transport 911 patients who do not warrant emergency room (ER) transport via ambulance. This study's purpose was to determine if prehospital care providers, using established protocols, could identify patients accurately to be seen by a physician but require ambulance transportation. Fourteen agencies have initiated emergency medical service (EMS refusal). Alternative transport options would free paramedics to respond to life threatening emergencies, while allowing low acuity patients ER access. Ninety-three study patients were enrolled and transported to emergency departments (ED) via taxi. EMS determined eleven patients met enrollment criteria though refused participation in the study. Nine taxi transported …

Slaveowners And Southern Soldiers : The Military Participation Of The Slaveholding Community In Civil War Lunenburg County, Virginia, Glenn Seiler

Master's Theses

Before the final shot of the Civil War rang out, the phrase "a rich man's war, poor man's fight" was well embedded in the psyche of Confederate citizens. Many historians credit such perceptions with ultimately condemning the Confederacy to failure. While numerous government policies seemed to emphasize a sense of protection toward the men of affluent Southern families, Confederate leaders disputed such claims. To the common Southerner the rich did not contribute in an equitable share of the fighting and often sought personal gain while the masses endured hardships. There can be no doubt internal class dissent plagued the Confederacy …

The Virginia War Department During The American Revolution, Thomas Gregory Tune

Master's Theses

This thesis will provide a comprehensive analysis of the Virginia War Office during the American Revolution. A study of the War Office must start with its origin and, therefore, with the legislation that created it. This thesis will explore the reasons for the creation of the War Office and its legislative evolution into one of the most powerful agencies in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It will also discuss the War Office's legislative demise near the end of the war as the Virginia General Assembly began to shrink the government in cost-saving measures.

The second part of this thesis will examine …

An Investigation Of The Changes Of Species Richness And Distribution Of The Unionidae (Bivalvia: Molusca) Within The Pamunkey Watershed, William Robert Lees

Master's Theses

A survey of the Unionidae within the Pamunkey Watershed was conducted to investigate changes in distribution and species richness compared to a previous survey (Riddick, 1973) conducted over 30 years ago. Species richness decreased from 10 species in the previous survey to four species in the present survey. Notable increases of species richness were found in the upper South Anna and the lower North Anna regions, while sizable decreases were found in the lower South Anna and the upper and middle regions of the Pamunkey River. Regression analyses and t-tests comparing mussel survey data with habitat parameters were conducted to …

The Vascular Flora Of Powhatan County, Virginia, Michael Austin Terry

Master's Theses

The project was undertaken with three main goals in mind: to provide as current and complete an account as possible of the flora of Powhatan County in the form of an annotated checklist; to integrate the information obtained from the inventory into phytogeographical and ecological generalizations currently being developed for the state of Virginia; and, to report any significant or anomalous discoveries. There is no previous county-wide inventory of plant diversity for Powhatan County. However, Corcoran (1981) published a list of plants from the Jones and Mill Creek watershed located in the Fine Creek Mills area of northeastern Powhatan.

Richmond, Virginia's Every Monday Club, 1889-1919, Maureen Elizabeth Salmon

Master's Theses

This thesis examines the formation and growth of the Every Monday Club, a woman's literary club in Richmond, Virginia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Since the group has never been researched before, most of the study concentrates on untouched archives. The study uses the extensive Every Monday Club papers which include club meeting minutes, letters, papers, pictures, yearbooks, and newspaper clippings. This information is also supplemented with obituaries, census, and other primary data. The records disclose issues of class, race and education.

The Troubled Intersection Of The Interests Of Christ And Commerce : Appellate-Court Review Of Virginia Sunday Closing Laws In Historical Overview Through 1942, William Robert Vanderkloot

Master's Theses

Virginia's Supreme Court of Appeals, between 1900 and the conclusion of this thesis in 1942, consistently narrowed Virginia's Sunday closing law, enacted in 1786 to prevent Sunday labor. While paying lip service to the statute's purpose, the court almost unhesitatingly chose statutory interpretations encouraging more Sunday labor, particularly by expanding its ''necessity" and "charity" exceptions. The legislature also granted additional statutory closing law exceptions. This reflected the preferences of the public as well, which increasingly depended on the services of others laboring on Sunday. These results were also due, in part, to inherent confusions and contradictions in the law itself, …

Learning To Lead And To Serve On Their Own Terms As A Means Of Transforming The Reservation : Female American Indians At Hampton Institute, 1878-1923, Elaine Tzu-Hsing Chou

Master's Theses

Female American Indian students who attended Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute defined their level of empowerment, playing pertinent roles within tribal communities during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. While the Institute left an important legacy in the cause for federally-funded American Indian education, student behavior further determined the lasting effects of vocational training and socializing efforts. Organized topically, Chapter One summarizes the Indian Program's philosophy. Chapters Two through Four investigate the academic curriculum and vocational training, while exploring the ways in which the youth experienced and interpreted extracurricular and personal relationships. Chapter Five analyzes activities of Hampton alumnae …

The Battle For Women's Suffrage In The Old Dominion, Amanda Garrett

Master's Theses

In 1909, twenty women launched an eleven-year campaign to win the vote in the Old Dominion. In 1920, the necessary number of states ratified the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution. However, Virginia was not among these states; her General Assembly rejected the "Anthony Amendment" by a wide margin. This study attempts to answer the following question: What was the woman's suffrage movement like in Virginia? By exploring the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia, its leaders, arguments for and against suffrage, the public's reaction, the reaction of the legislature and the conclusion, the answer(s) to this multi-dimensional question can be discovered. …

"Enough Glory For Us All" : The "Negro Exhibit" At The Jamestown Tercentennial Exposition, 1907, John Thomas Wilkes

Master's Theses

The Jamestown Tercentennial Exposition of 1907 invited the United States and the world to display their progress in a way befitting the dawn of a new century. Though this exposition fell short of matching the notoriety of other Victorian fairs, African- Americans successfully presented their advancement and historic contributions to American society, despite the shortcomings of the exposition itself and the dismal state of the nation's race relations. Black organizers at Jamestown underscored the rise of their people by maintaining firm control over the entire "Negro" exhibit, an achievement viewed as untenable at earlier fairs. Records of the United States …

Sufferers Of The Revolution : The Paper Money Movement In Brunswick County, Virginia, 1780-1787, David Alan Geraghty

Master's Theses

The years following the American War for Independence were marked by economic decline and political uncertainty. In the mid-1780s, Virginia was mired in a depression that gave rise to a vocal movement that called for a return to a policy of emitting paper currency to augment scarce supplies of gold and silver coin. While historians have discussed Virginia's monetary situation at length there has never been a satisfactory examination of the people who supported this particular movement. Petitions from Brunswick County residents who backed emissions of paper money provide an opportunity to develop a more accurate portrait of this group. …

A "Relatively Northern Southern State:" Civil Rights Protest In Richmond And Danville, Virginia, 1959-1963, Sally Ryan Burgess

Master's Theses

This thesis reveals the historical narrative of the civil rights campaigns in Richmond and Danville, Virginia, from 1959 to 1963, emphasizing how protesters experienced the movement through direct action and examining the way an inherited philosophy and strategy of non-violent protest was employed by demonstrators. Furthermore, it analyzes the role of Virginia as an Upper South state during the movement. The evidence presented verifies a direct correlation between community size, economic foundations, and social outlooks and the community's level of resistance to direct action tactics and youth leadership of the movement. Protests were successful in urban areas such as Richmond …

The Impact Of The 1918-1919 Influenza Epidemic On Virginia, Stephanie Forrest Barker

Master's Theses

In the fall of 1918 an unparalleled influenza pandemic spread throughout the world. More than a quarter of Americans became ill, and at least 600,000 died. For many Virginians, this was a time of acute crisis that only could be compared to the days of the Civil War. This thesis describes Spanish influenza's impact on Virginia, primarily focusing on the cities of Newport News, Richmond, and Roanoke. It details influenza's emergence in Virginia and explores how state and city officials dealt with this unprecedented epidemic. This study examines how the epidemic disrupted daily routines of life and overwhelmed the state's …

Storm-Related Suspended Particulate Matter In Little Westham Creek, John R. Jordan

Master's Theses

Properties of a watershed regulate the amount of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in a stream. The present study examined relationships between storm-related SPM and impervious area and tree cover in the suburban watershed of Little Westham Creek, Richmond, Virginia during Summer and early Fall, 1999. SPM concentration, SPM discharge, and turbidity due to clay, silt and sand, and the areas of impervious surface and tree stand cover in the watershed were measured at three sites. SPM concentration, SPM discharge, and turbidity due to clay were greater upstream than downstream. The percentages of watershed area covered by impervious surfaces and tree …

The First Fifty Years Of Professional Baseball In Richmond, Virginia : 1883-1932, Scott P. Mayer

Master's Theses

A detailed history of Richmond, Virginia's relationship with professional baseball has never been chronicled, especially the turbulent, early years of its development. This study explores Richmond's relationship with baseball from 1883-1932. It includes information about the men who played on the field, the team owners, and also comments on the relationship shared by the team and the city.

The most reliable source of information regarding early baseball is the local newspaper. A detailed reading of the Richmond Daily Dispatch, and the successive Richmond Dispatch and Richmond Times-Dispatch, was undertaken for this project. While several newspapers have existed in Richmond's history, …

Wounded Women: A Study Of Central Virginia's Civil War Pension Widows, Heather R. Racer

Master's Theses

This thesis investigates the lives of Civil War widows who applied for pensions under the 1888 law in Virginia, concentrating on Albemarle, Buckingham, Cumberland, Fluvanna, Goochland, Louisa, and Nelson Counties. The focus of the study centers on both their pre- and post-war lives to determine who these women were before and after the loss of their husbands. Using the Confederate Pension Applications, a group of 156 widows emerged from these counties. The Manuscript Census of 1860 presented a picture of pre-war life while the censuses of 1870, 1880, and 1900, along with the pension applications, helped reveal their lives after …

Nineteenth-Century Virginia Female Institutes, 1850-1890 : An Analysis Of The Effect Of Education On Social Life, Jennifer Harrison

Master's Theses

Until recently, serious study of women's education has been neglected, and studies of the educational systems of the South have lagged behind those of similar institutions in the North. This thesis examines female educational institutions in the South during the period 1850-1890, focusing specifically on four schools in Virginia: the Buckingham Female Institute in Buckingham County, the Southern Female Institute in Richmond, the Lynchburg Female Seminary in Lynchburg, and the Virginia Female Institute in Staunton. Using support from diaries, letters, and autograph books, mainly kept by the elite and upper middle class students who attended these schools, this study attempts …

Transplanting Broodstock Oysters, Crassostrea Virginica, Onto Reconstructed Oyster Reefs To Increase Spat Recruitment In The Piankatank River, Dawn Chentil Sherwood

Master's Theses

Four oyster reefs were recreated from oyster shells to historical proportions in the Piankatank River from 1993-1995. In December 1997, two of the reconstructed reefs were supplemented with large broodstock oysters from Tangier and Pocomoke Sounds. Since total quantity as well as density ofbroodstock were believed to be limiting factors for recruitment in this river, adding stock was expected to raise spat recruitment. Methods included dive surveys on the reefs, and dredge and patent tong surveys on the natural oyster bars. The recruitment of spat to both reefs and bars was significantly higher in 1998 (p<0.001) than in the previous four years and a positive interaction (p<0.005) was seen between the reefs and the year 1998. Based on these dat~ stock enhancement in the Piankatank River successfully improved recruitment and suggest oyster restoration may be facilitated in other areas of the Chesapeake Bay by strategic enhancement of spawning stocks.

A Profile Of Virginia Businesswomen During The Civil War Era, Robyn Mundy

Master's Theses

This thesis examines the role of white Virginia businesswomen during the Civil War era, focusing on the three specific communities of Norfolk, Lynchburg, and Staunton. The primary questions addressed are: who were these women; why did they own their own businesses; and how successful were they? After searching the available business directories for each city, the R. G. Dun & Company credit ledgers provide descriptions of business owners, including some of these women, which, along with the manuscript census, give a socio-economic profile of Virginia businesswomen. After the conflict, the numbers of businesswomen increased and the firms they owned became …

The Effect Of The Mail In Voter Registration Form On Voter Turnout In The Commonwealth Of Virginia, Leroy O. Pfeiffer

Master's Theses

Over the years, many states have undertaken different approaches to increase voter registration and stimulate voter participation in the electoral process. One such approach was the Commonwealth of Virginia's Voter Registration Extension Form, which was instituted in 1989. Using statewide voter registration statistics and a survey of state voter registrars, this paper attempts to measure the impact that this form had on voter registration and turnout in the electoral process from 1989 to 1994. This thesis finds that the registration extension form was reasonably successful in terms of increasing registration. Yet, easing registration requirements does not significantly increase voter turnout.

Area-Species Curve Applies To Gaps In A Canada Hemlock (Tsuga Canadensis (L.) Carr.) Forest In The Shenandoah National Park, Joseph John Lacroix

Master's Theses

A typical area-species curve shows that species richness (number of species) and island size are positively correlated. I tested whether the area-species concept, which was developed using islands, could be applied to herbaceous plants in canopy gaps in a hemlock community.

I conducted studies in Limberlost, Shenandoah National Park. I measured the species richness of herbaceous plants in six gaps during the summer and fall of 1995 and eight gaps and one non-gap site in the spring of 1996. The two additional gaps in 1996 extended the upper range of gap sizes. I calculated the correlation between species richness and …