Arts and Humanities Commons^™

A United, Not A Divider: Community, Identity, Performance & The Tomato Krewe Parading Group Of East Nashville's Tomato Art Festival, Allison Cate

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis is an ethnographic study of the “Tomato Krewe,” a social group that participates in the parade of East Nashville’s annual Tomato Art Festival. Drawing on participant-observation, interviews, and my own experiences as a member of the krewe and resident of East Nashville, I examine krewe members’ narratives about the festival, the material culture that they create for the parade, and the levels of performance that they engage in while parading. Central to my analysis is how krewe members understand the Tomato Art Festival as an expression of East Nashville identity.

Perceptions Of Roane State Community College Presidents On The Events Shaping The Institution’S Leadership History, John Norris Brown

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A major focus of policymakers in recent years has been community colleges, which have been viewed as potential engines for economic advancement and student success. I examined the leadership history of Roane State Community College, a two-year institution of higher learning serving a nine-county service area mostly in rural East Tennessee as perceived by individuals who have served as the college’s presidents. Five current and former presidents were interviewed about their experiences as president and their perceptions of the college’s history. Narrative research was used to recount a history of Roane State Community College, and the key events and factors …

Y'All Like Ike: Tennessee, The Solid South, And The 1952 Presidential Election, Cameron N. Regnery

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the changing nature of politics in the American South, specifically through the 1952 presidential election in the state of Tennessee. For much of the South’s history, the region was dominated by the Democratic party, earning it the nickname the “Solid South”. Following the Civil War and Reconstruction, the South became an aggressively one-party region in which the Republican party found little electoral success and the Democratic party reigned supreme. This partisanship began showing signs of fracturing in 1948 when southern Democrats began to leave the party over racial issues. The presidency of Harry S. Truman (1945-1953) further …

The Making And Unmaking Of An Appalachian “Home”: Tensions Between Tourism And Housing Development In Gatlinburg, Tennessee, J. Hope Amason

Anthropology and Museum Studies Faculty Scholarship

This article examines the economic and symbolic dimensions of redevelopment in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I focus on one particular project, the East Parkway at Baskins Creek Bypass District, which concerned ten acres that contained a vital housing resource for low-income tourism-industry workers: residential motels. I connect Gatlinburg’s housing crisis with changing labor patterns in the wake of economic restructuring. I present two letters submitted by real estate developers and solicited by the City of Gatlinburg. In analyzing the letters, I identify two tensions: (1) between workers’ homes and the aesthetics of “Appalachian” tourism, and (2) between representations of workers and the …

Feintuch, Burt, 1949-2018 (Fa 1315), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1315. Collection of folklife and folk arts by Burt Feintuch, ethnographer of traditional music and professor of folk studies at Western Kentucky University (WKU) from 1975 to 1988. Includes the session materials from the Folklife and the Public Sector: Assessment and Prognosis Conference at WKU, 1985, along with the manuscript and proof pages from his book Kentucky Folkmusic. Recordings of musicians and singers and interviews with the same in Barren, LaRue, Logan, Marshall, Metcalfe, Monroe, Muhlenburg, Todd, and Warren counties in Kentucky and Warren County, Tennessee.

Odum, Daisy Dean, 1877-1969 (Sc 3426), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3426. Letter, 19 August 1961, to WKU faculty member Frances Richards from Daisy Odum. She recounts a ghost story from DeKalb County, Tennessee, involving her nephew and the reaction of his horse to the sight of a spectral figure.

Heritage, Tradition, And Craft In Quiltmaking (Fa 1131), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1131. Collection contains Interviews, photographs, and informant data sheets relating to Sandy Staebell's project with quiltmakers in Allen County and Monroe County, Kentucky and Macon County, Tennessee for the 2017-2018 Osby Lee Hire and Lillian K. Garrison Hire Memorial Lecture Series.

Ballew, William A., 1842-1915 (Sc 3277), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3277. Letter, 12 November 1864, from William A. Ballew to Thomas Hopkins, Clinton County, Kentucky. Writing from Spring Hill, Tennessee, where he is serving with the 12th Kentucky Infantry, Ballew notes his regiment’s support of presidential candidate George B. McClellan (“little mack”). Although they were not yet enfranchised, he cites a mock election held by African Americans in Nashville as evidence for President Abraham Lincoln’s likely reelection. He notes the good health of his fellow soldiers, including Hopkins’ two sons, Lewis and Shelby.

Rains, B. Mickey (Fa 1178), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1178. Student folk studies project titled “The Crafting of Hickory Bottomed Chairs” which includes interviews and survey sheets about the process of making hickory bottomed chairs in Macon County,Tennessee. Sheets may include a brief description of a practice, a hotograph, and text classification.

Mortuary Patterns In West-Central Tennessee: Contextualizing Historic Field Data From Nine Mississippian Period Sites, Brooke Adele Wamsley

Theses and Dissertations

Middle Mississippian is a both a cultural and temporal (1200 CE – 1400 CE) archaeological context of Midwestern North America. This cultural tradition is associated with mound building, specific art motifs, arguably stratified societies, intensive agriculture, and specific ritual/mortuary practices. Burial sites can be very valuable to archaeologists because of the purposeful interaction between the living and the deceased and reconstruct cultural elements such as social identity and group membership. While American archaeology continues to be fieldwork-focused, there are a considerable amount of cultural resources housed in museum collections that could provide data for research into pre-Columbian lifeways in North …

Nicks, Sarah Elizabeth (Fa 1132), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1132. Student paper titled “Quilting: Past and Present” in which Sarah Nicks details the components of traditional quilt making. Nicks discusses piecing together patterns and the various motivations behind quilting. Information was collected by Nicks from family and friends. The collection contains color photographs of handmade quilts, a questionnaire related to quilting practices, and a sample piece of a quilt patch.

Suddarth, James Damon (Fa 968), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 968. Project titled: “Folk Songs.” Includes survey sheets with brief descriptions of folk songs collected in Warren County, Kentucky and Tennessee. Sheets include a title, lyrics, and informant’s name.

Slides: The Era Of River Anthropology: Social And Eco-Hydrological Science Connections And Capacity For Environmental Flows: Us Case Studies, Joseph E. Flotemersch, Lisa-Perras Gordon

Coping with Water Scarcity in River Basins Worldwide: Lessons Learned from Shared Experiences (Martz Summer Conference, June 9-10)

Presenter: Joe Flotemersch, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Research and Development

21 slides

Buckberry, Ray B., Jr., B. 1934 (Sc 2994), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2994. “Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Overview of Six Quiet Walkways,” by Ray Buckberry and Arnold Franklin, a guide, with maps and color illustrations, to six walking trails in Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Goddard, Stephen Ross (Fa 841), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archive Project 841. Ten interviews conducted by Stephen Ross Goddard for his graduate studies thesis at Western Kentucky University. These interviews include conversations on how the youth viewed their place within and/or apart from American culture and the Kurdish one into which they were born.

Chelf, Frank Leslie, 1907-1982 (Mss 492), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 492. Correspondence, photographs, scrapbooks, audiotapes, film and miscellaneous material relating primarily to the political career of Democrat Frank L. Chelf, who represented Kentucky’s Fourth District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1944-1966. Includes Chelf’s voting record and bills, research and speeches related to his legislative interests.

Clay, Henry, 1777-1852 (Sc 1222), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid, scan and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1222. Letter, 5 September 1840, written by Henry Clay, Ashland, Kentucky, to Henry Henion, Rushville, New York. Clay responds to a letter received from the Rushville Tippecanoe Club asking his opinion of the prospects of Martin Van Buren and William Henry Harrison in the upcoming presidential election.

Feather Crowns (Sc 1115), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1115. Correspondence concerning inquiry of Tom Russell, Dallas, Texas, with Western Kentucky University personnel, Bowling Green, Kentucky, about feather crowns. Includes family story regarding the formation of the crowns in a goose down pillow after an individual’s death.

Contextualizing The Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site (40wg59): Understanding Landscape Change At An Upland South Farmstead., Daniel Whitaker Howard Brock

Masters Theses

This thesis focuses on a contextual archaeological approach to investigate the historic landscape of the Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site. Tipton-Haynes is a late eighteenth- through twentieth-century upland south farmstead located in Johnson City, TN. Home to two prominent Tennessee families and occupied until acquired by the state in the 1960s, the site has experienced many alterations to the landscape over time. The analysis presented views the landscape as material culture investigated through a multidisciplinary approach including historic research, architectural survey, geophysical survey, dendrochronology, and archaeology. To make sense of the complex nature of the Tipton-Haynes site, multiple methods were used …

Slavery - Tennessee (Sc 704), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 704. Photostats of slave narratives which relate a folk history of slavery in Tennessee from interviews with former slaves. The records were prepared by the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-1938. Originals (typed) are in the Library of Congress.

Fitzgerald, Annamary (Fa 158), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 158. This collection contains a paper entitled “Yours truly, Bruno Gernt: A Glimpse At The Development Of A Small Town Through The Eyes Of Its Developer,” written by Annamary Fitzgerald as a part of an independent study class she took at Western Kentucky University in the fall of 1993 with Dr. Lynwood Montell. The paper transcribes the letters Bruno Gernt wrote to James Clarke regarding the development of Allardt, Tennessee from 1882-1891.

Jackson, Michelle Margie (Fa 159), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 159. This collection contains a paper entitled “Moonshining,” written by Michelle Jackson as a part of a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University in the spring of 1994. Also included is a cassette tape of an interview with Jerry Rhoton, sheriff of Clay County, Tennessee, as well as his informant data sheet and four photos of him.

Crisp, John J., B. 1839? (Sc 416), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 416. Certificate, 5 August 1869, confirming voter registration of J.J. Crisp, issued by the Commissioner of Registration for Warren County, Tennessee.

The Economic Impact Of Tennessee State University On The State Of Tennessee 2010-2011, Soumendra Ghosh, Anis Mnif, Sabeen Fahim

The Journal of Tennessee State University

No abstract provided.

Morse, Rebecca D. (Fa 67), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 67. Thesis: “Tinsley Bottom Tennessee: An Historical Reconstruction Utilizing Oral Narrative Traditions” by Rebecca D. Morse in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts, Department of Folk and Intercultural Studies at Western Kentucky University.

Kelly, Rita Helen Roberts (Fa 46), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 46. [A and G Specialty] Collection of typescripts, photographs and cassette tapes concerning the family/personal history and current occupation (flea market seller) of Vernon Anderson. Collection also contains information pertaining to Vernon’s childhood in Richmond County Georgia, career as a military M.P. and his various other occupations. The collection also contains interview typescripts, cassettes and photographs of Grace Little, who is an itinerant seller herself. Grace Little is interviewed concerning her childhood, family, and current occupation.

Taft, Ann Celine (Fa 49), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 49. Oral history interview with The Straightway Gospel Singers from Gallatin, Tennessee conducted by Ann Celine Taft for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University. Subsequent paper titled "The Straightway Gospel Singers" also included.

Johnson, Mackenzi (Fa 514), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 514. Collection consists of short interviews conducted by Mackenzi Johnson with Kenneth Nixon about folk customs and foodways, two of Johnson’s young cousins about children’s rhyming and clap games, an informal interview with Charita Swann, as well as discussions of Native American culture and life with Arigon Starr and Gay Wapecome. Also includes a performance by Arigon Starr at Bluebird Café in Nashville, Tennessee. This project was completed for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University.

Hog Butchering (Fa 24), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 24. Statements and reminiscences of Kentucky residents who participated in or conducted hog butchering in Kentucky. Information was gathered from various informants between 1963-1969. Material is arranged alphabetically by collector, consisting of specific detials about executing hogs, processing and preserving meat, and rendering lard. Includes papers by collectors and photographs. This project was completed by students at Campbellsville College under the guidance of Lynwood Montell.

Kentucky Council On Archives (Mss 364), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 364. Correspondence, meeting minutes, publications, photographs and audiotapes regarding the Kentucky Council on Archives, a statewide professional organization for archivists, records managers, manuscript curators, and others interested in the preservation and use of public records and manuscript collections in Kentucky.