Arts and Humanities Commons^™

On The Record : The Visibility Of Race, Class, Gender, And Age In Richmond, Virginia's Newspaper Coverage Of 1960'S Sitdown Movement, Jill Eisenberg

Honors Theses

This research project is an analysis of the representation of race, class, gender, and age in local newspapers during the early 1960 civil rights' sitdown movement in Richmond, Virginia. Political figures and heads of media were predominantly older, elite, white- and male-oriented and -dominated. Through studying both white Richmond and African American Richmond newspapers, this thesis explores how these interlocking and interdependent systems of oppression and privilege affected the portrayal of groups and individuals in the media. Gender, race, class, and age cannot be studied in isolation from one another when analyzing the Civil Rights Movement and newspapers as primary …

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 …

The Great Pestilence: Yellow Fever In Portsmouth, Virginia, 1855, Burden Susan Lundgren

Health Services Research Dissertations

In 1855, the town of Portsmouth, Virginia was devastated by an epidemic of yellow fever. Most citizens fled. Of those who remained, most became infected and a thousand died. The municipal government collapsed. In their place, a small organization known as the Portsmouth Relief Association assumed responsibility for ensuring the survival of the town. This organization managed the care of the sick, the burial of the dead, and the care of orphans. It was the sole agent receiving and allocating the funds and resources that poured into the community. Scarce food, drugs and other supplies were available only through the …

The Gray Ghost's Sanctuary: Civilians In Mosby's Confederacy During The Civil War, James J. Cain

Honors Theses

This work examines why civilians in Mosby's Confederacy supported the 43^d Battalion of Virginia Cavalry. The tactics used by Mosby placed civilians at considerable risk with Union authorities, for his men did not live in a separate camp but stayed either in hideaways in the mountains or, more commonly, with families they knew in the area. The nature of the guerrilla warfare practiced by Mosby's men, which involved late night gatherings, lightning strikes on the enemy's weakest points, and then dispersal into the countryside until the next raid, frustrated the Federal commanders who fought against them. These commanders, however, …

Orphans And Guardians In Eighteenth-Century Virginia, Sarah M. Goldberger

History Theses & Dissertations

This study will demonstrate that changes in the early American family can often indicate significant changes in early American culture. These changes are especially apparent in the ways in which eighteenth-century Tidewater Virginians provided for poor and wealthy orphans in Middlesex and Henrico counties. Employing a patriarchal system of patronage, colonial Virginians relied upon both the local community and individual households to care for the colony's orphans. As the early American household became more nuclear and sentimental in the late eighteenth century, such relationships of patronage between the household and community began to erode. By evaluating colonial court orders, deeds, …

Josiah Gorgas And The Richmond Ordnance Industry: The Arsenal Of The Confederacy, J. Michael Moore

History Theses & Dissertations

This study determines that Richmond, Virginia was the center of the Confederate domestic ordnance industry, and Josiah Gorgas, the Confederate Chief of Ordnance mobilized the city's industrial potential. Richmond's government ordnance facilities and private companies manufactured artillery, shoulder arms, ammunition, tools, and other ordnance materials that prolonged the war. In addition, Richmond became the center for Confederate ordnance research. Despite serious logistical problems, Gorgas supplied the Confederate Army's demand for arms and ammunition until 1865. Finally, Gorgas's mobilization of Confederate industry remains instructive for any nation going to war. These conclusions are based on extensive research of the National Archives …

Lower Chesapeake Maritime Enterprise: 1781-1812, D. Dennis Duff

History Theses & Dissertations

The American Revolutionary War, officially concluded by the Treaty of Paris of 1783, forever changed American maritime enterprise. An examination of the response of Lower Chesapeake merchants to elimination of the British monopoly on American seagoing commerce reveals that Virginia shipping activity recovered quickly after the conflict, then expanded and prospered until the War of 1812. In addition to propelling the Commonwealth's post-war economic resurgence, Virginia's prosperous foreign trading interests influenced political decisions on Constitutional ratification, establishment of Confederation period and early national commercial policies, and diplomatic initiatives to strengthen American overseas exchange.

Principal sources include customs records of the …

"Preservation...From The Dangers Of The Enemy As Well As Seas": The Establishment Of The Old Cape Henry Lighthouse, Kevin Charles Valliant

History Theses & Dissertations

As the federal government of the United States began its existence, the Chesapeake Bay had gone without a significant navigational aid for nearly two centuries. What factors then led the newly established government to build a lighthouse on Cape Henry, at the entrance of the Bay? Although the colonial governments of Virginia and Maryland failed to build a lighthouse, their efforts provided the groundwork for the Cape Henry light, which the federal government envisioned not only as a device to guide ships to safety, but as part of a system designed to ensure revenue for the new nation. This study …

The African-American Community Of Richmond, Virginia : 1950-1956, Michael Eric Taylor

Master's Theses

This thesis offers a topical narrative of the history of the African American camrunity of Richmond, Virginia, during the early 1950s.A number of areas are explored including demographics, econcmic issues, housing, the black business camrunity, the church, social life, education, politics and the battle against segregation.Despite the hardships inposed by segregation, blacks in Richmond forrned a vigorous camrunity and during the period 1950 to 1956 won sane victories and suffered setbacks in their quest for a better life.

Newspaper accounts fran both black and white newspapers in Richmond were the major source for this paper.Government reports, city directories, church documents, …

Whither Went The Upstairs Gentry? : The Colonial Council Of Virginia From 1763 To 1776, Charles Stephen Weidman

Master's Theses

Of the three branches of Colonial Virginia government, only two, the House of Burgesses and the Royal Governor, have been well chronicled during the period immediately preceding the American Revolution. The ignored third branch, the Colonial Council, has been largely dismissed by the few historians treating the subject as inconsequential-both as a political institution, and in the influence of its individual members. Witness both the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography and the William and Mary Quarterly, each with over a century dedicated to the nooks and crannies of all history Virginian, have collectively produced but a single article …

Francis Gildart Ruffin: A Jeffersonian Agrarian In The Old South And New Virginia, 1816 - 1892, R. Allen Brahin

History Theses & Dissertations

For over forty years, Francis "Frank" Gildart Ruffin derived his livelihood from slave labor and agricultural pursuits. Like Jefferson, Ruffin believed that the nation should be based on the industry of small farmers. Once the Civil War began, he served the Confederacy on the staff of the Commissary Department. Following the war, Ruffin actively engaged in politics in the Old Dominion, though he never sought office. He became associated with the "Readjuster" party in Virginia. Its goal was to readjust or reduce the state's debt, which was to be particularly beneficial to farmers. Ruffin was an original Readjuster, but later …

A Heritage In Stone: The History Of Norfolk's Burial Grounds And Customs Seventeenth To Nineteenth Century, Cheryl Copper

History Theses & Dissertations

The study of death and burial grounds is not one of endings as much as it is a search for perspective in the continuum of life. Burial customs and graveyards offer a rich thread in the tapestry of local history. From poignant epitaphs to newspaper ads for mourning goods, from stone carvings to grave robbing, a colorful story unfolds; a story whose characters are rich, poor, female, male, black, white, young and old. They are doctors, strangers, craftsmen, mothers-thieves. The fabric of Norfolk's history is woven with their lives-and their deaths. This study is intended to root out the many …

The Road To Reorganization: The First Convention Of The Protestant Episcopal Church In Virginia, May 18-25, 1785, William C. Barnhart

History Theses & Dissertations

Following the War of Independence the Anglican church in the United States was all but defunct. In the eyes of many American communicants, political independence from England necessitated a comparable ecclesiastical divorce. The postwar years produced various plans aimed at the reorganization of the Protestant Episcopal Church. The Episcopalians of Maryland and Pennsylvania took the lead in awakening their brethren to the advantages of national unification.

How did Virginia, perhaps the most Anglicanized state of all, respond to this call for religious solidarity? This matter, and others, were addressed at the first convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Virginia, …

John Bankhead Magruder And The Defense Of The Virginia Peninsula, 1861-1862, Leonard W. Riedel Jr.

History Theses & Dissertations

The viability of the Confederacy depended on its ability to organize a government and military defense force. Two early concerns were the operation of Gosport Naval Shipyard and protection of the Confederate capital at Richmond. Poised between them was Fortress Monroe.

With undisputed Union mastery of the Chesapeake Bay, Fortress Monroe was a constant reminder of the tentative security of these critical points. The man chosen to protect the Peninsula was Virginian, John Bankhead Magruder. Less than one year later, his efforts were denigrated by Commanding General Joseph E. Johnston who wanted to pursue his own strategic plan.

Under constant …

Politics Of Self-Destruction: The Virginia Republican Party Split Of 1895-1897, Michael Anthony Southwood

History Theses & Dissertations

In explaining the rise of Democratic rule in Virginia, political historians have overlooked the significance of the Republican split of 1895-1897. Drawn mainly from primary source materials, this thesis traces the rupture that divided the GOP leadership after the death of General William Mahone, one of the Commonwealth's most remarkable political figures. The controversial election of Mahone's successor (Colonel William Lamb of Norfolk) as party chairman in November 1895 sparked two years of bitter struggle, a conflict that ultimately left the state Republicans shattered as a political force. An understanding of Democratic dominance as it developed in Virginia is incomplete …

The Evolving Tactics Of The 4th Virginia Cavalry: A Study Of The Adaptability Of Stuart's Cavalry, 1861-1865, Kenneth L. Stiles

History Theses & Dissertations

Very little has been written about the doctrine and tactics employed by Major General J. E. B. Stuart's Cavalry Corps, Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War. This study will examine how Stuart employed his cavalry in large-scale raids against his adversaries and as dismounted infantry in the battleline. These tactics contradicted the accepted European doctrine of the times, the doctrine that was taught by the U.S. military community in the mid-1800s. This study of the Confederate cavalry's evolution of tactics and .its employment in battle will center around the Fourth Regiment Virginia Cavalry, Stuart's Cavalry Corps, ANV. The …

A Study Of Federalist Motivation In The Virginia Ratifying Convention Of 1788, Rosemarie Yoder

History Theses & Dissertations

This study seeks to discover the Federalists' motivation for ratification of the Constitution in the Virginia Ratifying Convention of 1788. Thirteen Federalist delegates were selected as representative of that group. Their backgrounds, previous voting records, and the areas they represented were studied to ascertain their motives in endorsement of the Constitution. The debates that took place at the Virginia Ratifying Convention, the delegates' correspondence, and public statements were also studied to affix motivation.

Although it was found that individual differences in motivation existed, as a group, the Virginia Federalists were motivated primarily not by economic considerations but by their desire …

A Humanistic Consideration Of The Farm Security Administration Photographs Made In Virginia, Brooks Johnson

Institute for the Humanities Theses

During the years 1935 to 1943 photographers employed by the Farm Security Administration documented America struggling through the Great Depression and its subsequent entry into World war II. Originally conceived as a way to provide information about problems in the rural areas of the country and to help sell the New Deal. The director, Roy Stryker, transformed the project into more than just a bureaucratic exercise in propaganda. Instead, Stryker consciously attempted to create a photographic portrait of the American culture.

The majority of the 159 photographs on which this thesis is based have not been seen outside of the …

The Shenandoah National Park: Its Impact On A Mountain People, Scott Shelton

History Theses & Dissertations

The creation of the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia during the 193Os profoundly affected the lives of hundreds of mountain people who had eked out an existence to the region for generations. While removing these people naturally caused inconveniences and disrupted a way of life, the positive results outweighed the negative. Higher standards of living generally accompanied the change, and few former residents expressed discontent over their new way of life.

This removal of the mountaineers was simply one of many episodes in American history where the federal government has played a role in moving people, thereby changing their lifestyle. …

Seventeenth Century Settlement Of The Nansemond River In Virginia, Emmett Edward Bottoms

History Theses & Dissertations

The estuarine Nansemond River in southeastern Virginia provided exploitable resources to Indians and English colonists during the seventeenth century. Colonization of the Nansemond, attempted in 1609, was resisted by the Nansemond Indians and was accomplished only after they were decimated and displaced. Anglicans and dissenting Puritans and Quakers established churches and meeting houses along the river. Richard Bennett, a Puritan and later a Quaker, brought the first Negro into the Nansemond River area and served as Governor of Virginia. Settlers established farms, conformed to a socio-political system, questioned royal authority during Bacon's Rebellion, and were afforded the protection of a …

The 1969 Democratic Party Gubernatorial Primary: A Watershed In Virginia Political History, Patrick Anthony Parr

History Theses & Dissertations

In Virginia, the Democratic Party primacy, since its inception in 1905, was tantamount to election as every party nominee won the general election. During the 1969 Democratic party gubernatorial primary, however, bitter intra-party rivalry between the conservative, moderate, and liberal factions coupled with the conflicting personalities of the three gubernatorial candidates, William C. Battle, Henry E. Howell, Jr., and Fred G. Pollard, left the party badly divided. Ultimately, the party's gubernatorial nominee, William C. Battle, failed to harmonize the three conflicting factions and, therefore, lost in the election to the Republican candidate, A. Linwood Holton. The 1969 primary also witnessed …

Benjamin Butler And The Bureau Of Negro Affairs In Tidewater, Virginia, 1861-1865, Steven Frank Petrine

History Theses & Dissertations

The subject of this paper is the development of govern­mental policies toward the freedmen especially labor policies and the establishment of schools and relief programs for the freedmen in the tidewater area of Virginia during the Civil War. The first extensive school system for the freedmen was launched in this area, and it was in this area in November, 1863 that General Benjamin F. Butler created a central authority for the administration of Freedmen's Affairs. Government farms were also established in the area for those freedmen needing care and guidance while those deemed capable of managing their own plots were …

Mob Violence In Prerevolutionary Norfolk, Virginia, Edward A. Smyth

History Theses & Dissertations

This study examines mob violence in pre-Revolutionary Norfolk, Virginia. Four chronologically distinct mob incidents are considered: the Arundel riot of 1762, the Stamp Act riot of 1766, the impressment riot of 1767, and the smallpox riots of 1768-1769. Emphasis is placed on the identification of mob participants and the motives for their involvement. Quantitative methods are used to assess the degree of participation by influential Norfolk residents in mass violence.

Statistical evidence reveals that an unusually large number of rioters were influential Norfolkians. Motivation for their participation is attributed to English Parliamentary decrees and the growing economic and political influence …

A Political History Of The Poll Tax In Virginia, 1900-1950, Conley L. Edwards

Master's Theses

The poll tax occupies a unique place in Virginia's suffrage history. Basically a twentieth century device ostensibly originated to provide revenue for the state by requiring payment of a fee before the exercise of the franchise, there was probably no other practice quite as foreign to the expanding suffrage traditions of Virginia's history as the poll tax. The only precursor to this tax was a capitation tax levied intermittently, the first such tax appearing in 1623 in the form of a levy of ten pounds of tobacco to meet the debt arising from defenses against local Indians. Free Negroes and …

Governmental Elites In Three Virginia Counties: A Reappraisal Of The Turner Thesis, Harry Stuart Holman

History Theses & Dissertations

Abstract unavailable.

The Fur And Skin Trade Of Colonial Virginia, Shirley-Virginia Parrish

History Theses & Dissertations

Abstract unavailable.

Public School Desegregation In Virginia From 1954 To The Present, Adolph H. Grundman

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation is an examination of the struggle to desegregate the public schools of Virginia from 1954 to 1972. The Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education attacked the social foundation of eleven southern states when it declared that racially segregated schools were "inherently unequal." Brown I,, in fact, was one of many controversial decisions made by the Supreme Court as it reflected the egalitarian spirit of the 1950's and 1960's. By 1970, however, a growing list of legal scholars questioned the wisdom and effectivemess of the Warren Court's judicial activism. My major objective was to trace the tortuous …

The Participation Of The Richmond Negro In Politics, 1890-1900, Joe B. Wilkins

Master's Theses

This short treatise on one aspect of Negro history is the result of the author's pro'ound interest in United States history. The author's personal interest in the history of the Negro in the New South contributed to the selection of this topic.

The Richmond Negro by the end of the decade,1890-1900, was Virtually powerless politically and was ostracized from white society. All Negro Councilmen and Aldermen had been defeated in the May 1896 municipal elections and had been unsuccessful in regaining their seats. Thus in ten years the Negro had lost almost all political rights and witnessed the paternalistic attitude …

Tobacco And Soil Relationships In Tidewater Virginia To 1670, Harold E. Conover

Honors Theses

The seventeenth century was the golden age of Virginia's Tidewater tobacco industry. The virgin soils had not yet been exploited by a careless agriculture. Before 1670, adventurous men had not planted west of the Fall Line, where superior tobacco land waited quietly. The shadow of chronic debt to his English factor had not yet fallen on the Virginia planter. Fortunes were still to be drawn from the rich earth; there was promise in the golden leaf for ambitious pioneers. The tobacco kingdom was young, and it was Spring in Tidewater.

Child Labor Reform Movement In Virginia: 1890-1938, Yukiko Maritani

History Theses & Dissertations

Abstract unavailable.