Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Grounding History Instruction: Engaging Place And Scale Through Iterative Local Inquiry Design, Megan Vangorder

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Teaching local history is often an afterthought in the high school history classroom. It is difficult to find enough instructional time to incorporate local stories and there are often gaps in resource development and approach from a local lens. This article seeks to help teachers articulate a locally driven inquiry approach. Using Illinois as the local framework and the C3 Inquiry Design Model as the tool, teachers can begin to map out how to implement the competing mandates to promote disciplinary skill development, demonstrate content expertise using state mandated units of study, drive student-oriented history, and foster civic competence all …

Graduate, 1st Place: World War I War Front And Home Front: The Correspondence That Brought Them Together, Michelle Thole

2023 Awards for Excellence in Student Research and Creative Activity - Documents

The First World War was the first time American soldiers had participated in a war at a distance from home that did not easily facilitate home furloughs. Although the United States and Europe are physically separated by more than 3,500 miles, the relative distance between American World War I soldiers on the war front and their families on the home front was minor; the correspondence between them mitigated the physical and cognitive distance.

Historians of the First World War have explored soldiers’ contact with their families while in training camps and the US military’s intentional cultivation of a balance between …

“Why Invest In Racism?”: Anti-Apartheid Activism At The University Of Illinois, 1977-1987, Shane Smith

Student Honors Theses

On February 11, 1990, Nelson Mandela walked out of prison a free man after being held captive for over 27 years. Crowds roared with joyfulness as their beacon of hope pumped his right fist in the air triumphantly. The international community watched the occasion with hope and a feeling of success after the assistance in the struggle to bring down the brutal regime of apartheid. This inspiring movement took decades of unified activism from both South Africans and local, grassroots organizations to bring the system down. Amidst the ongoing Cold War politics and other international issues, dismantling apartheid proved to …

War On Drugs Legislation In The 1980s: Failed Policies That Created Racial Injustice, Shane Smith

2022 Awards for Excellence in Student Research and Creative Activity - Documents

For 40 years now, the War on Drugs has continued to damage millions of African American lives around the United States. As a result of failed drug control policies, not only have prisons become extremely overcrowded, but millions of people are still facing consequences such as massive poverty, broken family dynamics, violence, and tensions with law enforcement in their communities. Although this has become a contemporary issue, it is even more important to understand the origins of how this came to be. Digging to the source of the mess is the first step to understanding how we, as a society, …

Reflections On Being A Historian And Teaching History In The Midst Of Historic Times, Bonnie Laughlin-Schultz

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

As a historian and coordinator of a secondary social studies licensure program, I have spent the last few months working with teachers and others to gather documentary evidence about the experience of COVID-19 in my state. I felt compelled to gather documents as a historian. Collecting written and digital materials made me think (and talk with teachers and their students) about the nature of historical documentary evidence, past and present. The sources that document a community’s experience of this global pandemic are diverse: video of a birthday parade, a photo of a yard sign recognizing that a high school graduate, …

Scientific Development Vs. Political Strategy: Nasa’S Commitment To Science Following The First Moon Landing, Sean Van Buskirk

Masters Theses

This work looks at the scientific program of NASA during the Space Race. (1961- 1975) During this period of the Cold War, NASA shifted it role from a political asset of the United States strategy to an agency of scientific discovery. This was not a smooth transition due to political opinions on the wastefulness and role of NASA. Many politicians, citizens and even scientists had doubts about the scientific potential of NASA’s manned missions to the Moon. Despite the power politics, the administrators at NASA were able to break out of the political arena and create a balanced program where …

Korean War Coverage In High School History Textbooks, Zarek Nolen

Masters Theses

This content analysis investigated coverage of the Korean War in recent high school U.S. history textbooks. Open coding techniques applied to six textbooks yielded data for the following categories: background of the war, the outbreak of the war, the sequence of the war, the conclusion of the war, the devastation of war, the effects of the war, U.N. and U.S. politics, the Chinese intervention, General Douglas MacArthur, and African Americans in the military. Data from these categories were compared and scrutinized against historians’ knowledge using axial coding techniques. This study's findings support past research on Korean War coverage in high …

Heroism And Indeterminacy In Oliver Stone's Jfk And Don Delillo's Libra, Tim Engles

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

“That New Africa Is Ready To Fight Its Own Battles": Kwame Nkrumah, The United States, And The Quest For A Modern Ghana, 1957-1966, Godwin Gyimah

Masters Theses

This project examines the United States-Ghana relationship and how the relationship transformed Ghana, 1957-1966. African leaders such as Dr. Kwame Nkrumah had declared: "That new Africa is ready to fight its own battles and show that after all, the black man is capable of managing his affairs." Despite the non-alignment philosophy, Ghana was not neutral regarding the West and East blocs rivalry. The thesis argues that it was through the United States' government and private firms' contributions that Ghana was able to achieve the mark of a modern nation through industrialization, universal education, and the expansion of international trade economy. …

The Forbidden Water: Politics, Media, And Public Opinion In The Hetch Hetchy Controversy, Gabriel Mansfield

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Nightmares Born Of Dreams: Eugenics In Illinois, John Burke

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Southern Sympathies In Illinois As Expressed Through "Nelson Versus The People", Katherine Gosnell

2019 Awards for Excellence in Student Research and Creative Activity – Documents

During the antebellum period, Illinois proved to be problematic for the North. Geographically, it is a Northern State. Population wise, it was split between Northern and Southern tradition. Around the Chicago area, abolitionism had a strong pull as expressed by the various colored conventions held there, as well as the variety of Whig/Republican newspapers. From the state capital of Springfield and further south, many people held Democratic view points and could sympathize with their Southern neighbors. As Illinois had slave states on two sides, it is easy to understand how these neighbors had an impact on Illinoisan culture and politics. …

The History Books Tell It? Collective Bargaining In Higher Education In The 1940s, William A. Herbert

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

This article presents a history of unionization and collective bargaining in higher education during and just after World War II, decades before the establishment of statutory frameworks for labor representation. It examines the collective bargaining program adopted by the University of Illinois in 1945, along with contracts negotiated at other institutions, which demonstrated support for employee self-organization. It will also presents counter-examples of institutions using the courts and congressional investigators to defeat unionization efforts. . Lastly, the article will examine the role of United Public Workers of America (UPWA) and its predecessor unions in organizing and negotiating on behalf of …

Blank Pages: The Representation Of Women In High School American History Classes, Brittany Borowski

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this project I analyze the representation of women in high school American history curriculum. with a specials focus on Illinois in particular where this research was completed. While the study of history has evolved greatly, especially in an educational climate that has recently been questioning the best practices to have students successfully engage with the practice and study of history, a gaping whole remains: the representation of women. Women have become a more fundamental part of history at collegiate levels with gender and social history increasing in importance but our high school students are missing out on a history …

The American Civil War: A Diplomatic Perspective Of Confederate Diplomacy, Jack Cunningham

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Representation, Radicalism, And Reform: Chicago's Public Education Reformers, 1890-1914, Laura Seiler

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Blurring The Spectrum: Exploring Queer Conservatism, Austin P. Mejdrich

Masters Theses

Running parallel to the groundbreaking and historic advancement of LGBTQ rights over the past decade has been the rise in the prominence and public discourse of queer conservative thinking. From the Log Cabin Republicans to far-right nationalistic politics, queer conservatives underscore both diverging ideologies within the modern American conservative tradition and the increase of far-right politics in Western societies. This study argues that queer conservatism, while traditionally less explored in the broader context of sexuality politics, is consequential to an understanding of the LGBTQ community and queer politics. Thus, an exploration of queer conservatism as a political ideology is explored, …

Incarcerated Transported And Bound: Deference, Resistance, And Assimilation, Constructing Community Among Transported Convicts From Britain To The Chesapeake 1739-1776, Michael Bradley

2017 Awards for Excellence in Student Research and Creative Activity – Documents

From June 8, 1744, through July 9, 1745, Ordinary’s Accounts of London’s condemned reported on a series of individuals who met a swift demise at the end of a rope at Tyburn Square, London’s execution site. Out of the countless that were hanged, the lives of ten criminals who formed an interconnected community are illuminated. They were a subset of a larger network of at least thirty criminals who engaged in thefts, robberies, prostitution, fencing of goods, and overindulgence of intoxicating spirits across London.

"A Babe In The Woods?": Billy Graham, Anticommunism, And Vietnam, Daniel Alexander Hays

Masters Theses

This thesis focuses on famous evangelist Billy Graham's role in the Vietnam War, both as a public supporter and private advisor. It argues that, contrary to his self-depiction, he was no "babe in the woods," no mere neophyte or bystander. Rather, America's most famous preacher was an active participant in promoting and even planning the war. Graham's evangelical theology, with his premillennialist beliefs, led to his intensely anticommunist worldview, where communism was the Antichrist. His public support buttressed the presidents prior to and during the Vietnam War and, sometimes, Graham even delved into policy recommendations for the war.

Graham's role …

Incarcerated, Transported And Bound: Constructing Community Among Transported Convicts From Britain To The Chesapeake, 1739-1776, Michael I. Bradley

Masters Theses

"Incarcerated, Transported, and Bound: Constructing Community among Convicts Transported from London to the Chesapeake, 1739-1776" explores the movement, migration, the malleability of identities, and development of communal ties among transported convicts. This thesis utilizes information on more than 3000 convicts brought to the colonial Chesapeake region. Precise details are currently available for more than two hundred transported convicts. In many cases the convicts can be followed from their birthplace to London to their trial and imprisonment, continuing to their transportation to the Americas, their new lives in the Chesapeake, and, in some cases, their flight and return to Great Britain. …

For All The World To See: Visual Culture And The Struggle For Civil Rights Program Booklet, Booth Library

For All the World to See: Program Booklet

No abstract provided.

For All The World To See: Visual Culture And The Struggle For Civil Rights, Booth Library

Booth Library Programs

Photo galleries and supporting exhibits can be found on the FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE: VISUAL CULTURE AND THE STRUGGLE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS exhibit page.

Exhibit Dates

This exhibit was displayed at Booth Library September 1 - October 20, 2016

Interview With Paul Kilgus, Ben Halpern

Oral History Interviews & Transcripts

No abstract provided.

Interview With Pat Feeney, Part 1, Ben Halpern

Oral History Interviews & Transcripts

No abstract provided.

Interview With Pat Feeney, Part 2, Ben Halpern

Oral History Interviews & Transcripts

No abstract provided.

Candidate Kennedy And Quemoy, Quentin Spannagel

2016 Awards for Excellence in Student Research and Creative Activity - Documents

Running for president in 1960, John F. Kennedy vowed to explore a “New Frontier” — a hybrid of challenges and opportunities that promised progress both domestically and abroad.1 In essence, Kennedy envisioned a New America not chained down by the traditions of the Republican administration before him. In many regards, Kennedy achieved what he desired: a fresh, open-minded way of approaching international issues. Though Kennedy struggled to develop a new diplomatic approach to China, he did show a willingness to compromise with the Chinese in regards to the islands of Quemoy and Matsu. Kennedy remained a “cold war warrior” throughout …

'We Live In The Midst Of Death': Medical Theory, Public Health, And The 1793 Yellow Fever Epidemic, Alyssa A. Peterson

Masters Theses

Much has been written on the history of disease in early America, especially surrounding the 1793 yellow fever epidemic that ravaged Philadelphia. The stories of the men and women who lived through and were affected by it, including the physicians who treated the victims, have been thoroughly covered by historians. What has yet to be discussed is the medical context in which this epidemic existed. Medical education, scientific thought, and particularly past experiences came together during this outbreak to influence both the medical establishment and governments’ decisions regarding their appropriate response. Doctors’ medical education predisposed them to beliefs and preferred …

Lincoln: The Constitution And The Civil War, Booth Library

Booth Library Programs

Photo galleries and supporting exhibits can be found on the LINCOLN: THE CONSTITUTION AND THE CIVIL WAR exhibit page.

Exhibit Dates

This exhibit was displayed at Booth Library September 4 - October 16, 2015

Quanah And Cynthia Ann Parker: The History And The Legend, Booth Library

Booth Library Programs

Photo galleries and supporting exhibits can be found on the QUANAH AND CYNTHIA ANN PARKER exhibit page.

Exhibit Dates

This exhibit was displayed at Booth Library February 7 - April 9, 2015

Quanah And Cynthia Ann Parker: The History And The Legend, Booth Library

Quanah & Cynthia Parker: Exhibit Booklet

No abstract provided.