Digital Commons Network^™

The Third Horseman: Preventability Versus Apocalypse In The Great Famine Of 1315 And The Irish Potato Famine, Luke Ziegler

Honors Theses

Famine is a huge problem for societies, even in the modern world. Throughout history, famine has reared its ugly head and brought about demographic and societal collapse. The Great Famine of 1315 Famine and the Irish Potato Famine, despite their differences, had similar underlying factors of land management and overpopulation paired with an environmental catalyst, and also show that governmental response has the potential to both cause and prevent a famine, but only if the scale of the problem is limited. They both examine the question of national identity and create a multitude of debates in later historiography. Although these …

The Context And The Commissioner: The Effect Of Milwaukee’S Health Commissioners’ Social, Cultural, And Historical Understanding Of Milwaukee’S People During The Last Five Pandemics, Madeline O'Dea Fruehe

Theses and Dissertations

Resistance to pandemic response policies was observed globally throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This resistance has been linked by researchers to the prolonged duration and higher mortality rate of COVID-19 compared to previous pandemics, despite advancements in modern medicine, extensive surveillance networks and record vaccine production. However, the strategies implemented by public health officials during the COVID-19 pandemic closely mirrored those successful in mitigating past pandemics. To elucidate this disparity, a historical analysis encompassing the 1918, 1957, 1968, 2009, and Covid-19 pandemics was conducted within the city of Milwaukee. By examining archival documents and over 800 newspaper articles, this research found …

I Belong Here Too: An Oral History Of The Immigration Of Bangladeshis To New York City, Subat Matin

Masters Theses, 2020-current

I Belong Here Too is an oral history project which consists of twenty interviews of the Bangladeshi community in New York. The oral histories touch on many aspects of Bangladeshi-American life, history, memory, identity, culture, and the struggles of being an immigrant. It tries to put the interviewees experiences in a larger historical context in order to understand how the Bangladeshi community in Brooklyn, New York has grown and the challenges they faced as immigrants in a new city. The two chapters of this thesis examines the oral history processes and the difficulties of Bangladeshi immigrant women. The project is …

I Belong Here Too: An Oral History Of The Immigration Of Bangladeshis To New York City, Subat Matin

Masters Theses, 2020-current

I Belong Here Too is an oral history project which consists of twenty interviews of the Bangladeshi community in New York. The oral histories touch on many aspects of Bangladeshi-American life, history, memory, identity, culture, and the struggles of being an immigrant. It tries to put the interviewees experiences in a larger historical context in order to understand how the Bangladeshi community in Brooklyn, New York has grown and the challenges they faced as immigrants in a new city. The two chapters of this thesis examines the oral history processes and the difficulties of Bangladeshi immigrant women. The project is …

Insane Asylums In Britain During The Nineteenth Century, Jeanna Mankins

History Theses

This thesis analyzes insane asylums, in Britain, during the nineteenth century and argues that government, society, and gender had a profound impact on insane asylums and determined the quality of care that female and male patients received as a consequence.

Analysis Of Artifacts And Storage Organization: Clinton Lock 2, Hannah Curtis

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

For this project, we are hoping to address the potential problems and help refine future work between the storage in the Cummings Center and the Anthropology Department. Some of the research questions that we have are: What is in the Cummings Center from the Anthropology Department? What type of techniques is the most beneficial in storing archaeological material? How are the items stored in the Cummings Center? Is this method of storage going to protect or damage the artifact? Do we still need to keep this material, returned to its original owner, or can it be deaccessioned? We plan to …

'A Deadly Menace To All Young Womankind': Seduction And Protective Legislation In America, 1850-1923, Elissa Michelle Isenberg

Dissertations - ALL

"A Deadly Menace to All Young Womankind": Seduction and Protective Legislation in America, 1850-1923 looks at sexual harassment before it was an actionable offense. Although female domestic servants have endured unwanted sexual attention for most of American history, the entry of women into wage labor in factories and offices during the late nineteenth century dramatically increased the number of girls and women that were subjected to what we today call harassment. Careful examination of American newspaper archives, court records, and reformers' personal papers have uncovered cases of unsolicited sexual advances toward women, and have demonstrated that sexual harassment was considered …

‘A Deadly Menace To All Young Womankind’: Seduction And Protective Legislation In America, 1850-1923, Elissa Michelle Isenberg

Dissertations - ALL

“A Deadly Menace to All Young Womankind”: Seduction and Protective Legislation in America, 1850-1923 looks at sexual harassment before it was an actionable offense. Although female domestic servants have endured unwanted sexual attention for most of American history, the entry of women into wage labor in factories and offices during the late nineteenth century dramatically increased the number of girls and women that were subjected to what we today call harassment. Careful examination of American newspaper archives, court records, and reformers’ personal papers have uncovered cases of unsolicited sexual advances toward women, and have demonstrated that sexual harassment was considered …

"Learning By Doing, By Wondering, By Figuring Things Out:" A New Look At Contemporary Homeschooling And Pedagogical Progressivism, Jacques Klapisch

History Honors Theses

Pedagogical progressive education, as defined through the work of John Dewey, Helen Parkhurst, and Carleton Washburne was the precursor to the contemporary homeschooling movement in ideology, practice, and rhetoric as defined by the writing and pedagogy of John Holt. Their shared beliefs in community, student freedom, and good experience as pertinent to education marked the relationship between these two pedagogical methods. Despite Holt's departure from the classroom through his unschooling method, the ideological consistencies between the movement are undeniable, suggesting we rethink the relationship between progressive education and homeschooling and our basic assumptions about the legacy of both movements.

The Poetry Of History: Irish National Imagination Through Mythology And Materiality, Ryan Fay

English Honors Theses

The thesis culminates in the twentieth century and yet it begins with the Ulster Cycle, a period of Irish mythological history that occurred around the first century common era. Indeed, since the time frame was before the arrival of the Gaels, Normans, or Christianity, the extent of this mythology’s relevance today is whatever extent it is conceptualized as “Irish.” As such, the first chapter locks onto an aspect that could feasibly transcend time and resonate with modern Irish society: gender. Of course, the epistemological dynamics of gender^[1] in the first-century common era are vastly different than the twentieth century …

The Roadmap: Exploring T.S. Eliot’S The Waste Land With World War One Literature, Matthew Bennett

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Through careful analysis paired with poetry, war memoirs, and novels from the same period, one can break down T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land to recognize the impact of The Great War on the world's modern memory while pondering the possibility of memory as a tool to overcome trauma.

Staging English Affairs In Early Modern Italy: History, Politics, Drama, Fabio Battista

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation looks at the creation and dissemination of alternative versions of English history through the means of dramatic fiction, and contextualizes them in the panorama of the intellectual debates of seventeenth-century Italy. Staging English Affairs in Early Modern Italy studies the ways in which the reinvention of Tudor and Stuart affairs in dramatic literature mirrored the ambitions, fears, and fantasies of a century in disquieting transformation. This research documents how news and information from England entered the Italian states, how they were perceived, and what their repurposing can reveal about the potentialities of intercultural exchange. Anglo-inspired drama became a …

From New York To The World : The American Jewish Committee And The Meaning Of India, 1945-1956, Ryan Charles Mcevoy

Honors Theses

In the 1940s and early 1950s, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) sought to develop an international vision in response to a world in flux. This project represents the first attempt to triangulate the relationship between India, Israel, and Jewish-American civil society, employing the case of India as a means for understanding the way in which the AJC shaped its worldview in the decade after World War II. Although Americans had been in contact with India well before the war, the AJC brought with it a unique lens for constructing meaning out of a new postcolonial space. A variety of factors …

Pittsburgh's Response To Deindustrialization: Renaissance, Renewal And Recovery, 1946-1999, Mariel P. Isaacson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Pittsburgh was able to gradually ease its transition into a post-industrial economy in the second half of the twentieth century because of an elite-driven planning movement known as the Pittsburgh Renaissance. The Renaissance first addressed the physical failings of the city and sought state legislation that would support further urban redevelopment immediately following World War II. While the physical improvements were underway, Renaissance organizers began working with the University of Pittsburgh to upgrade Pitt's educational and recreational facilities so that it would become an engine for the city's future economic growth. City support for improved facilities, especially those pertaining to …

White Female Criminals In Civil War Richmond, 1860-1865, Frances Sisson

Honors Theses

This study tells the story of white female criminals and addresses the problem of the white female criminality and the resulting reaction of the patriarchal society in Richmond, Virginia during the Civil War, specifically the years 1861-1864. During the Civil War, white female criminality became a daily occurrence because of the wartime conditions in Richmond, such as inflation and overpopulation. Because of the established patriarchal society and the lack of emphasis on the women's rights movement in the South, the female involvement in crime during the war was extremely shocking to the male driven society. The judicial system struggled with …

A “Christian America” Restored: The Rise Of The Evangelical Christian School Movement In America, 1920-1952, Robert G. Slater

Doctoral Dissertations

Finding the origins and causes of the twentieth century evangelical Christian school movement in America during the years 1920-1952 was the subject of this study. Numerous primary and secondary sources were utilized. Primary sources consisted of original minutes of the proceedings of the National Education Association, the National Union of Christian Schools, and the National Association of Evangelicals. In addition, numerous evangelical publications of this era such as Moody Monthly, The Sunday School Times, and United Evangelical Action were consulted. From within the movement original sources such as Christian School Statistics, The Christian Teacher, and The National Association of Christian …

Making Of A Second-Class Citizen: A Case Study Of The Institutionalized Oppression Of Blacks In New Orleans, Andrew Stowe

Senior Independent Study Theses

New Orleans has been a cultural melting pot since the four centuries since its foundation. Along with all the mixing of cultures and races in the former slave city, racial divisions were created by the governments that controlled the city. This history of inequality and oppression has been a blight on the city's records and this paper will explore the three main injustices that have placed blacks into the role of being second-class citizens. These three issues are race-based violence, environmental injustice, and neighborhood segregation. This paper will chronicle events of the three injustices that have pushed blacks to be …

Death And Disengagement: A Critical Analysis Of The International Community's Intervention Effort In Darfur, Victor Hodges

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks to analyze the international community's conflict management capabilities through its response to the Darfur crisis. Primarily, it aims to show through the lens of the Darfur crisis, which is widely accepted as the first genocide of the twenty-first century, that the international community has yet to develop a framework to collectively intervene in and resolve crimes against humanity. Additionally, this thesis will show the international community's recognition of their shortcomings through the gradual transformation of policies undertaken by several of its leading entities in response to the crisis. The research will pinpoint several major factors behind the …

Catholic Nationalism And Feminism In Twentieth-Century Ireland, Jennifer M. Donohue

Honors Theses

In the early 1900s, Ireland experienced a surge in nationalism as its political leanings shifted away from allegiance to the British Parliament and towards a pro-Ireland and pro-independence stance. The landscape of Ireland during this period was changed dramatically by the subversive popularity of the Irish political party, Sinn Fein, which campaigned for an Ireland for the Irish. Much of the political rhetoric surrounding this campaign alludes to the fact that Ireland was not inherently “British” because it defined itself by two unique, un-British characteristics – the Gaelic language and the Catholic faith.

As Sinn Fein’s hold on Ireland increased, …

The Free World Confronted: The Problem Of Slavery And Progress In American Foreign Relations, 1833-1844, Steven Heath Mitton

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Enacted in 1833, Great Britain’s abolition of West Indian slavery confronted the United States with the complex interrelationship between slavery and progress. Dubbed the Great Experiment, British abolition held the possibility of demonstrating free labor more profitable than slavery. Besides elating the world’s abolitionists, always hopeful of equating material with moral progress, the experiment’s success would benefit Britain economically. Presented evidence of the greater profits of free labor, slaveholders worldwide would find themselves with compelling reason to abandon slavery. Likewise, London policymakers would proceed with little need—and no economic incentive—to promote abolition in British foreign policy. British hopes foundered on …

The Role Of The Tobacco Trade In Turkish-American Relations, 1923-29., Robert Carey Goodman

Master's Theses

This study of the tobacco trade between Turkey and the United States provides new perspectives on two major themes in Turkish-American relations between 1923 and 1929: the effect of Turkish nationalism on American interests in Ataturk's Turkey, and the effort to restore Turkish- American diplomatic ties broken during World War I. The marked rise in American cigarette consumption after World War I made the tobacco trade a crucial link between Turkey and America because it required the importation of aromatic tobacco. During the Turkish Republic' s first decades, the value of American tobacco imports from Turkey exceeded the value of …

National Efficiency And Social Planning In Britain, 1914-1921, Norman Richard Eder

Dissertations and Theses

Traditionally, improvements in the quality of life in Britain resulted from the temporary fusion of sometimes opposite interests which spurred Parliamentary action. Therefore, reform was rarely a party issue. Each reform question was treated separately and never as a part of a body of similar measures. Individuals were free to support or oppose particular reforms according to their own interests and motivations. The result of this lack of strong consistent reformist sentiment was a pattern of piece-meal legislative action with a notable absence of comprehensive social planning. The First World War, however, brought new challenges to British society. As the …

A History Of Brigham Young College, Logan, Utah, Arnold K. Garr

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Before Brigham Young College was founded in 1877, a variety of schools existed in Utah. The Mormons at first, and later the Protestants and Catholics made significant contributions to education in the territory.

Education has always played an important role in the philosophy of the Mormon church. In the early days of church history, the Mormons founded schools in the places they settled. This policy continued when they settled in Utah.

George Reynolds: The Early Years, Grant R. Hardy

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this writing is to present a biography of George Reynolds from 1842 through 1872. This study was made using the historical approach of doing research. The primary sources were the "Journal of George Reynolds" in six volumes and personal interviews with his living descendants. Other unpublished documents were discovered, such as copies of letters and short sketches, and were used in the writing.

This biography is principally limited to a study of the first thirty years of the life of George Reynolds. It includes his early life, conversion, and first mission; his service as mission secretary and …

The History And Development Of Port Facilities Of The Chesapeake And Ohio Railway Company, Newport News, Virginia, Ronald Winborne Odom

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to present a survey of the history and ·development of port facilities of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad at Newport News, Virginia. This survey will cover the embryonic existence of the Port during the Colonial Period and trace its slow but progressive development up to and including the present day.

The German "Vormärz" And The Youth Of Carl David Weber, Ilka Stoffregen Hartmann

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

No biography has yet been written about the man who founded the city of Stockton, the first Californian town with an English name, a city which in 1851 was under consideration to become the state capital.

Little is known about the personal life of Charles M. Weber whom Erin G. Gudde calls "next to Sutter the most notable German pioneer during the transition period of California history".

A Study Of The Political Involvements In The Career Of Joseph Smith, Edward G. Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

It is the purpose of this study to examine the political elements and issues in the United States from the latter part of 1838 to June 27, 1844, to determine their relationship to the death of Joseph Smith. This study includes an analysis of national, state and local issues and sentiment during that time, as they have a bearing upon the subject.
The primary period of study is the Illinois era of Latter-day Saint history which includes the events that transpired from the winter of 1838-39 to June 27, 1844. A less intensive study includes events after June 1844, to …

Oberlin College And World War I, Todd Isao Endo

Honors Papers

Now trying to recover a short part of the past life of Oberlin, I have relied heavily upon The Oberlin Review for factual data and insight into the atmosphere of the times. By spot-checking the other town newspapers, The Oberlin Tribune and The Oberlin News with The Review, I concluded that the review is a reasonably reliable source.

To help construct the skeletal chronology of events I turned two other periodicals besides The Review. These included the Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer, The Oberlin College Alumni Magazine, and The Oberlin College Bulletin. These contained such valuable information as …

William Clayton: Missionary, Pioneer, And Public Servant, Paul E. Dahl

Theses and Dissertations

This work is a biography of William Clayton, an early missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a pioneer to the Great Basin. He was also a prominent individual in the political and economic development in the State of Deseret and the Territory of Utah. The purpose of the study is to write an account of Clayton's life and to show his contributions to both religious and profane history.

Political And Economic Factors In The Decline Of The British Empire, Pasquale Anania

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The decline of British influence in world affairs is one of the more pronounced political phenomena of modern times. Over the past century key territories subject to British rule have been slipping loose from their imperial moorings at an ever more rapid rate. Those remaining subject to British authority grow progressively more belligerent.

In his search for an understanding or this eclipse or British sovereignty, the contemporary historian finds himself groping through a network of complexly interrelated social, political, economic, and psychological processes. One or another student or history has argued that specific instances or groups of these processes are …