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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
“Mecca For The Colored People”: Reexamining The Demolition Of Pittsburgh’S Lower Hill District, Avishek Acharya
“Mecca For The Colored People”: Reexamining The Demolition Of Pittsburgh’S Lower Hill District, Avishek Acharya
Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium
The Hill District of Pittsburgh is a neighborhood of national importance, having hosted jazz legends, nationally renowned newspapers, and artists. However, the Hill of today is much smaller than it has ever been; the destruction of the Lower Hill effectively separated the neighborhood from not only another part of the previously collectively one singular neighborhood but separated the neighborhood and its residents from the economic hubs in both down and uptown. The wholesale destruction of the Lower Hill District can be attributed to both the national trend of “urban renewal,” a series of misguided, often explicitly racist attempts to undo …
“Madam” Elizabeth: Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley’S Sisyphean Attempt To Join The “Cult Of True Womanhood”, Bella Biancone
“Madam” Elizabeth: Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley’S Sisyphean Attempt To Join The “Cult Of True Womanhood”, Bella Biancone
Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium
Nineteenth century notions of femininity and etiquette were governed by strict societal standards. “True Womanhood” was defined by four fundamental virtues– piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. However, there was another pre-requisite for joining this revered cult¬: whiteness. No matter how pious or domestic a woman of color was, she could never hope to be considered a proper lady by Victorian standards. In discerning what it meant to be a member of that “cult of True Womanhood,” Black women were used to determine the boundaries of white womanhood; a “True Woman” was to be the antithesis of the stereotypical sexual and …
Interracial Relations: History And Cultural Identity In The Invention Of Wings, Taylor Hopkins
Interracial Relations: History And Cultural Identity In The Invention Of Wings, Taylor Hopkins
Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium
The historical fiction novel The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd displays a notable relationship between feminist and racial ideals during the nineteenth century. The story is based on the historical figure, Sarah Grimké, an American abolitionist and advocate for women’s rights. Over the course of thirty-five years, the narration alternates between the two main characters: Sarah Grimké and Hetty Handful Grimké, a young slave on the Grimké plantation. The interactions between the two begin when Hetty is presented to Sarah as a personal waiting maid for Sarah’s eleventh birthday. As the story continues, the dynamics between the two …
Mary Todd Lincoln: Duty And Depression, Bella Biancone
Mary Todd Lincoln: Duty And Depression, Bella Biancone
Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium
First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln was perceived by Victorian America as materialistic and unbalanced. Behind the closed doors of the Executive Mansion, however, lie a grief-stricken mother struggling to manage an undiagnosed and untreated mental illness. Her fragile condition was exacerbated with each death of her beloved family. Yet, this First Lady played an integral role in the White House, acting as hostess, advisor to the President, and activist in her own right. She was not a passive bystander as her husband worked tirelessly to preserve the Union, but an active participant in the war effort. Following Abraham Lincoln’s premature …
A Culture On A Loop: Baltimore, Josh Schmader
A Culture On A Loop: Baltimore, Josh Schmader
Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium
Police brutality has been at the fore front of American consciousness for almost a decade now. Numerous African Americans all over the country, both male and female, have lost their lives in situations where that end result was not justified. In response to each of these individual tragic events, peaceful protests rose up to demand for justice. After the death of Freddie Gray in April of 2015, however, Baltimore had a more aggressive response to the loss of one of their native sons. An initial peaceful protest turned into riot that raged through the streets of Baltimore for a series …
Women In The Late Nineteenth Century: Involvement In The 1893 Chicago World’S Fair, Maria Miller
Women In The Late Nineteenth Century: Involvement In The 1893 Chicago World’S Fair, Maria Miller
Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium
The Columbian Exposition of 1893, also known as the Chicago World’s Fair, was a clear example of the women’s rights movement in nineteenth century America. It exemplified the inclusion of women in male-dominated fields by establishing a Board of Lady Managers. This group of women held executive authorities over the establishment of a Woman’s Building. The Woman’s Building was a space dedicated to displaying the achievements of women throughout the world. This Building also gave female visitors hope for a future of expanded rights. Despite this, the Woman’s Building isolated women’s work into a distinct section within the Exposition. The …