Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Review Of Afro-Dog: Blackness And The Animal Question, By Bénédicte Boisseron, Thomas Aiello

Between the Species

This review evaluates Bénédicte Boisseron's Afro-Dog: Blackness and the Animal Question. In the process, it tracks the development of the academic relation between Blackness and animality.

The Women Of Justice: Narratives Of Women Attorneys In California During The 1960s And 1990s, Sarah Zion

Master's Theses

This thesis interviews two women attorneys who have not previously shared their stories to relate their experience of going to law school and entering the field after graduation. The study of women lawyers and their stories is not a new topic, however, there is a focus in the scholarship to only explore the tales of the women who reached the big firsts, such as first female lawyer or first female judge. By providing interviews of women who have not reached these big accomplishments, the field gains a more rounded understanding of the history of female lawyers. The two women interviewed …

Reconstructing Identity: Carlton Burgan, Patient Zero In The Development Of Plastic Surgery, Civil War Through World War I, Teresa M. George

Master's Theses

Plastic surgery has played an integral role in helping people achieve societal expectations of appropriate physical appearance since its inception. Through the story of Carlton Burgan, a Union soldier during the American Civil War, who suffered severe facial trauma by mercury poisoning, this thesis hopes to reconstruct the conversation around plastic surgery’s origins as it is influenced by societal standards of the day. Specifically, this thesis argues that the seminal moments leading to plastic surgery being seen as a worthwhile medical specialty was during the Civil War, not World War I as so many scholars have put forth. Violent acts …

“Let's Hear It From The Girls”: Abortion Activism At Cal Poly, 1970-1980, Michelle L. Mueller

The Forum: Journal of History

No abstract provided.

“No Concealed Motives”: How The U.S. Came To Dominate Micronesia, Sean F. Senn

The Forum: Journal of History

No abstract provided.

“Filipinos In California, Community, And Identity”: A Personal Inquiry, Sam T. Mcclintock

The Forum: Journal of History

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

The Forum: Journal of History

No abstract provided.

Making Patriots Of Pupils: Colonial Education In Micronesia From 1944-1980, Julia Taylor

The Forum: Journal of History

This article explores American colonial education in Micronesia from the final months of World War Two to the late 1970s. The primary research question concerns American usage of education to pursue political and military goals, and how this affected multiple dimensions of Indigenous life. Although the dominant narrative at the time blamed Indigenous people for difficulties in implementing American education, the Western values permeating the American consciousness significantly inhibited the possibility of success as Americans defined it. This article details American motivations and efforts to implement an educational system as part of a larger goal of “economic development” and analyzes …

Forgotten Crime And Cultural Boom: New York And Brazil's Coffee Trading Relationship In The Early Twentieth Century, Collin Green

The Forum: Journal of History

In the United States of America, coffee and its ever-evolving culture has become a focal point of everyday life. However, we did not just stumble upon this phenomenon; the popularity of coffee was carefully calculated by leaders of the wealthiest coffee companies of the early 20th century in America’s biggest city, New York. In this paper, the history of the powerful coffee trading relationship between Brazil and New York is analyzed on two different levels. Firstly, I examine how New York's big coffee companies successfully participated in criminal activity on an international and national level. Secondly, my focus shifts to …

Not So Dystopian: A Historical Reading Of Eugenics In Science Fiction, Riley Sanders

The Forum: Journal of History

Broadly, this paper is an effort in complicating traditional readings of eugenic themes in science fiction. Two landmark novels, Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896) and Huxley’s Brave New World (1932), are highlighted as representative of the early and late stages of eugenics. By focusing on the troubling historical context surrounding these authors, I denounce the simple reading of these works as merely “dystopian”. Scholars like Francis Fukuyama advance these simplistic readings by instinctively assuming that Wells and Huxley were against eugenics. This paper continues the tradition that David Bradshaw popularized in his book The Hidden Huxley, which argues …

Stigma On Campus: The Precarious Situation Of Iranian Students At Cal Poly, November 1979, Chance Coates

The Forum: Journal of History

Exploring the ways in which the seizure of the American embassy and subsequent hostage situation of American nationals within Tehran in 1979 transcended international boundaries, this paper discusses the backlash that Iranian students at Cal Poly faced during this pivotal geopolitical crisis. In doing so, I review various protests and public statements that gave rise to a distinct social discourse that stigmatized Iranian students, effectively transforming this group into an “Other.” Further, I explore the ways in which the university as an institution contributed to this stigmatization. The paper overall concludes that the Iranian students on campus were, like the …

A Lifeline For Millions: American Relief In An Age Of Isolationism, Matteo Marsella

The Forum: Journal of History

American military involvement in the Great War is a widely discussed aspect of the conflict. The period following the war is often considered an example of American isolationist foreign policy. Lesser well known are American efforts to provide food relief to starving populations in Europe, which began during and continued well after the war's conclusion. This paper seeks to locate American relief efforts within broader postwar foreign policy. Although President Harding’s 1920 election victory on a platform of a “return to normalcy” is often construed as a rejection of Wilsonian internationalism and a return to prewar isolationism, there is no …

Full Issue

The Forum: Journal of History

No abstract provided.

The Free Arena Of Literature: Science Fiction Films’ Critiques Of Capitalism In The United States, John (Jack) Michael Bilello

History

Capitalism is an inherently flawed system. The ideologies of Karl Marx have remained relevant for their critiques of the system, yet socially, his ideas are not accepted in the capitalist United States. Capitalism, as the dominant economic system of western civilization, has become synonymous with patriotism in the U.S. This has proved incredibly harmful to criticisms of capitalism, as they are met with questions of allegiance and patriotism rather than a careful reconsideration of ideals. Through science fiction films, these ideas that are usually difficult to express become much more palatable to a capitalist society. But to fully appreciate the …

Equity In Accessibility, A Case Study Of City Of Sacramento, Meredith C. Milam

City and Regional Planning

This paper is a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) spatial analysis of the transportation accessibility and equity in Sacramento, California. A literature review examines discriminatory regulatory policies in the 1900s that wrote racial segregation into law. The effects of these policies have lasting effects on spatial dispersal of people and create barriers to accessibility and therefore result in inequitable transportation systems. The accessibility and equity analysis in Sacramento explores demographic data, job concentration and available modes of transportation, and commuter data. The results of the analysis suggest that there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach when it comes to measuring accessibility and equity. …

Upending The "Racial Death-Wish": Black Gay Liberation And The Culture Of Black Homophobia, Kailyn Pope

Master's Theses

This thesis analyzes the origin and impact of Black homophobia found in activist spaces of mid- to late-twentieth-century American society. Black gay Americans were subjected to intersecting forms of systemic and cultural oppression that were exceedingly hard to escape due to both the homophobia in Black spaces and the racism in gay spaces. Black gay activists and artists thus had to create their own avenues of expression where they and others could fully embrace what it meant to be Black and gay. This work utilizes a Black feminist framework to explore the roots of Black homophobia and how this type …

A Battle Over 20th Century Textbooks: How The Civil War Is Still Fought In American Classrooms, Katie Court

History

This paper analyzed the emergence of Lost Cause history textbooks in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Following the Civil War, Confederate societies such as the United Daughters of the Confederacy and United Confederate Veterans had a vested interest in positively portraying the South. From 1890-1930, Confederate societies attempted to expel textbooks that spoke unfavorably of the Confederacy, and instead encouraged states all around the country to follow stringent rules of how to discuss historical events. This research was led by material written by these societies and the textbooks they endorsed or expelled, in order to analyze the origins …

Silence Over Their Tombs: A Microhistory Of American Perceptions Of Alcoholism In The Late Eighteenth And Early Nineteenth Centuries Using The Adams Family Papers, Lucy Rebecca Wickstrom

History

The perception of alcohol addiction in the United States of America has changed numerous times throughout the nation’s history, with people accepting it as a mere part of life in the colonial era before preachers and thinkers began to denounce it as a vice and a moral failure. The influential writings of respected patriot Dr. Benjamin Rush, however, initiated a fundamental shift in the way that Americans understood alcoholism, as he was the first to make the argument that it was a disease beyond the control of its sufferers. This paper uses the example of the famous Adams family to …

The Midnight Ride Of Sybil Ludington: A Forgotten Hero In The Shadow Of Paul Revere, Jessica Kay Rebollo

History

The American historical narrative has always been dominated by men; the achievements of women are often left to the past. One such woman who has been forgotten is Sybil Ludington, who in 1777 at the age of sixteen, rode forty miles to alert a unit of the Continental Army of advancing British troops. In this paper, I will compare Sybil Ludington to history’s most renowned nightrider, Paul Revere. I will study the way in which Sybil Ludington and Paul Revere are memorialized in American history, and expose the reason for the lack of Sybil Ludington’s popularity in the American historical …

What Didn’T Happen: Analyzing Cal Poly’S Proposed Educational Assistance Program Following The Korean War, Sam Mcclintock

The Forum: Journal of History

Following the Korean War, Cal Poly was approached to take part in a program to provide technical education assistance to vocational schools in the Republic of Korea by the newly formed United States Foreign Operations Administration. This paper seeks to analyze that program in the context of Cal Poly’s history, especially in comparison to other international education programs and other dealings between the University and the United States Government. Although Cal Poly ultimately never took part in the Korea Program, the negotiation process still provides insight into the priorities of the college and its place in the context of US …

Consider The Source: The Media’S Coverage Of Female Fbi Agents In The 1970s, Kali Devarennes

The Forum: Journal of History

This paper explores the representation of female FBI agents in newspapers throughout the 1970s until the early 1990s. While this subject is not widely discussed, due to lack of exposure and research, this paper reveals how crucial these women were during this period as they redefined how society and male FBI agents viewed women in previously male-dominated fields. In 1970, the media responded to these women with a variety of assumptions and stereotypes defining women as sex objects, physically weak, and mentally unable to handle the dangerous work environment. Through examination of scholarly and primary sources, this paper uncovers the …

Abalone Fishermen, Changing Management Practices, And The Creation Of A False Dichotomy, Tyler G. Hoyt

Master's Theses

This thesis traces the history of the abalone fisheries on the California Coast and how those fisheries have been understood and shaped by humans over time. An overarching interest that guides this effort is how indigenous populations used abalone and otters (as well as other marine resources) purposefully for millennia prior to European arrival. However, this work is not entirely focused on prehistory. Instead, it shows how a lack of understanding of this prehistory shaped the conservation efforts of the California Department of Fish and Game and its ultimate decision to close the commercial fishery in 1997. In this sense, …

The Yanks Are Striking: Kern County, The 1921 Oil Strike And The Discourse On Americanism, Peter F. Hussey

Master's Theses

In the fall of 1921 oil workers of the San Joaquin Valley faced a post-war economic slump, wage cuts across the board and an increasingly hostile attitude of oil operators towards consultation with the federal government on labor relations. They voted to strike, and the next day eight thousand workers walked off the fields. Strikers crafted an image of “patriotic unionism,” underpinned by a faith in the federal government and the ideology of the American Legion. The strike did not end in gruesome class warfare like had been seen months earlier in the coal mines of West Virginia, but rather …

Custodians Of Memory: A History Of American Archival Science With Suggestions For Future Digital Preservation Efforts, Courtney Thompson

Master's Theses

The archive and the historian are symbiotically dependent on one another. The archive relies on the historian to make use of the records it houses, and the historian looks to the archive to reconstruct history. But can a historian responsibly reconstruct history when the archive is fraught with relativity and bias? This thesis serves two purposes; one, pulling from seminal archival science and collections management texts, it chronicles the monumental, intellectual changes to American archival sciences, theories, and institutions, and two, it shows how these early conversations pertaining to archival theories are both not far removed from digital preservation efforts …

New England Slave Trader: The Case Of Charles Tyng, Paul J. Michaels

Master's Theses

Charles Tyng has been heralded as an American hero after the posthumous publication of his memoir, Before the Wind: The Memoir of an American Sea Captain, 1808-1833, in 1999. Recent research involving British Treasury report books from the nineteenth century suggest otherwise – that Tyng actively promoted and was engaged in the illicit trade of African captives. A Boston Brahmin, Tyng applied the lessons of his time at sea with Perkins & Company, the opium trading firm, to his occupation as an agent of notorious slave trading firms in Havana. This paper uses as evidence records of the captures …

The History Of High School Ethnic Studies Courses In California: A Case Study Of Santa Maria Joint Union High School District, Brian Gounod

History

Ethnic studies in California's high schools has a 51-year history, beginning in 1968. The growth of ethnic studies has occurred through this period and can be separated into four key time periods. The growth of ethnic studies across these time periods have been issues of ethnic segregation, ethnic self-determination, educational inequalities and immigration issues The greatest period of expansion for ethnic studies has been the 5-year period from 2014-2018, when numerous high school districts adopted new courses and requirements for ethnic studies.

One such high school district to expand its ethnic studies department was Santa Maria Joint Union High School …

Old Belief And The Balance Of Red And Blue: How Old Believers Managed Cultural Infringement, Joseph K. Van Den Berg

History

This paper covers the spread of the Old Believers into Western society, studying how they changed and evolved during the Cold War. The paper focuses on two communities, using them to compare the different attitudes Old Believers had towards differing host cultures. Using a litany of newspapers and the work of a few dedicated anthropologists, "Old Belief and the Balance of Red and Blue: How Old Believers Managed Cultural Infringement" shows the vast array of responses to a small group of Russian sectarians establishing themselves within Western Cultures of differing size and values.

President Jimmy Carter As An Activist?: Understanding President Carter’S Human Rights Policy In El Salvador During 1980 Through A Social Justice Lens, Vanaaisha Das Pamnani

History

During 1980, Salvadoran citizens endured increased violence, torture, and overall suppression of their basic human rights. Many prominent figures were assassinated by either right-wing death squads or leftist insurgents. Then on December 2, 1980 came the murder of four American churchwomen from the Maryknoll Order. Their purpose was to aid the poor within Latin America; El Salvador gave them the opportunity to help the Salvadoran poor in the midst of this violence. However, they were met with suspicion by security forces and, as a result were raped and killed on a dirt road. Within a week, President Jimmy Carter cut …

The Taiko Connection: Reclaiming History, Activating Equality, Tamiko Cavey

History

Taiko drumming has been a Japanese cultural art form from as early as the fifth century. A taiko "boom" in which ensemble groups gained popularity took off in Japan post-WWII, and in the United States during the late 1960s-early 1970s amid the Asian American Civil Rights Movement. In discussing the historical experiences of the burakumin outcastes of Japan and Japanese Americans, this paper explores how taiko has been used as a form of social activism for these marginalized groups, and how this cultural reclamation facilitates the process of developing self-identity.

Let's Talk Story: Waikiki And Its Social Displacements In Oral Histories And Print, 1901–1935, Alika Bourgette

Master's Theses

The everyday experiences of Waikiki’s residents of color often escaped official and semi-official records of historical events. When concerning Native Hawaiians and other nonwhite peoples, haole elite journalists and policymakers viewed their land, possessions, and bodies as opportunities for the cultural commodification, sexualization, and reimagination. As part of the redevelopment efforts of the Waikiki shoreline in the early twentieth century, state and commercial actors worked to affect the systematic erasure of Native Hawaiian and resident Asian spaces. This study utilizes extensive collections of oral histories from marginalized Waikiki residents of color to provide counterpoint to notions of indigenous passivity and …