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Full-Text Articles in History

“A Freedom Rider Before Freedom Rides:” Jackie Robinson Beyond Baseball, Amy Elizabeth Cantrell Jun 2023

“A Freedom Rider Before Freedom Rides:” Jackie Robinson Beyond Baseball, Amy Elizabeth Cantrell

Gettysburg College Headquarters

This paper seeks to evaluate the historical discourse surrounding the narrative of Jackie Robinson. Famed for being the first African American player to break the long withstanding color barrier in professional sports, a vast majority of discussion surrounding his story has centered solely on his athletic prowess and triumphs. However, as this paper will explore, Jackie Robinson’s contributions to the wider framework of racial equality and civil rights within America extend far beyond the baseball diamond. Evaluating both his laurels as an activist and socio-political figure as well as how these merits have been depicted, or neglected, in media representations …


The Perspectives Of Urban Renewal: Reevaluating The Image Of Late Twentieth Century Gentrification Of U.S. Chinatowns, Christian E. Manalac May 2022

The Perspectives Of Urban Renewal: Reevaluating The Image Of Late Twentieth Century Gentrification Of U.S. Chinatowns, Christian E. Manalac

Gettysburg College Headquarters

Urban renewal or gentrification has affected many low-income minority families in the United States with redevelopment projects that destroyed their neighborhoods for the affluent white middle class. Unlike, many minority groups who protested against the intrusive practice Chinatowns communities saw themselves divided over the issue. Chinatowns throughout the nation benefitted from redevelopment projects that brought new investments into their neighborhoods’ businesses, but like other minority neighborhood, they also suffered as their residents were displaced. This case study examines the debates over urban renewal of Philadelphia and Washington D.C’s Chinatowns through local newspaper coverage from the 1970s-1990s. Specifically, this study uncovers …


Rewriting History: A Study Of How The History Of The Civil War Has Changed In Textbooks From 1876 To 2014, Skyler A. Campbell May 2018

Rewriting History: A Study Of How The History Of The Civil War Has Changed In Textbooks From 1876 To 2014, Skyler A. Campbell

The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era

History textbooks provide an interesting perspective into the views and attitudes of their respective time period. The way textbooks portray certain events and groups of people has a profound impact on the way children learn to view those groups and events. That impact then has the potential to trickle down to future generations, fabricating a historical narrative that sometimes avoids telling the whole truth, or uses selective wording to sway opinions on certain topics. This paper analyzes the changes seen in how the Civil War is written about in twelve textbooks dated from 1876 to 2014. Notable topics of discussion …


A Divided Generation: How Anti-Vietnam War Student Activists Overcame Internal And External Divisions To End The War In Vietnam, Jeffrey L. Lauck May 2018

A Divided Generation: How Anti-Vietnam War Student Activists Overcame Internal And External Divisions To End The War In Vietnam, Jeffrey L. Lauck

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Far too often, student protest movements and organizations of the 1960s and 1970s are treated as monolithic in their ideologies, goals, and membership. This paper dives into the many divides within groups like Students for a Democratic Society and Young Americans for Freedom during their heyday in the Vietnam War Era. Based on original primary source research on the “Radical Pamphlets Collection” in Musselman Library Special Collections, Gettysburg College, this study shows how these various student activist groups both overcame these differences and were torn apart by them. The paper concludes with a discussion about what made the Vietnam War …


Through The Eyes Of Children: Social Oppression Under Nazi Rule From 1933 To 1938 Reflections Of Three Holocaust Survivors, Lauren Ashley Bradford May 2018

Through The Eyes Of Children: Social Oppression Under Nazi Rule From 1933 To 1938 Reflections Of Three Holocaust Survivors, Lauren Ashley Bradford

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

This paper discusses the experiences of three Berlin native child survivors of the Holocaust through analysis of their oral testimonies. Their unique voices help shed light on the various ways in which lives were forever changed for those who were legally identified as Jewish in Nazi Germany by way of social oppression. This paper highlights three key years that each survivor discussed at length in their testimonies: Hitler’s Chancellorship in 1933, the Nuremberg Laws in 1935, and Kristallnacht in 1938. Ultimately, this paper argues for the importance of these years and labels them as being a crucial part in the …


Gettysburg College Journal Of The Civil War Era 2018 Jan 2018

Gettysburg College Journal Of The Civil War Era 2018

The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era

No abstract provided.


Murder In Manassas: Mental Illness And Psychological Trauma After The Civil War, Savannah G. Rose Jan 2017

Murder In Manassas: Mental Illness And Psychological Trauma After The Civil War, Savannah G. Rose

The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era

Following the American Civil War, the small railroad junction of Manassas, Virginia grew into one of the most prominent towns in the region with the help of town founder William S. Fewell and his family. In 1872, the youngest daughter of the prominent Fewell family was seduced and abducted by Prince Williams County’s Commonwealth Attorney and most prominent orator, James F. Clark without warning. Having just come home from three years of military service in the Civil War, witnessing the death of his twin brother as well as suffering for a year in Elmira Prison as a prisoner of war, …


Gettysburg College Journal Of The Civil War Era 2017 Jan 2017

Gettysburg College Journal Of The Civil War Era 2017

The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era

No abstract provided.


From Crusaders To Flunkies: American Newspaper Coverage Of Black First World War Soldiers From 1915 And 1930., Matthew D. Laroche Jan 2017

From Crusaders To Flunkies: American Newspaper Coverage Of Black First World War Soldiers From 1915 And 1930., Matthew D. Laroche

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

This article concerns itself with the U.S. newspaper coverage given to black soldiers (primarily African-American) in the lead up to the U.S. entry into the First World War, through the war, and into the 1930's. In so doing, it chronicles the divisions that appeared within the black community in America as black Americans debated whether or not to serve a country that did not respect their liberties at home, the portrayal of black soldiers in U.S. newspapers, and the post-war betrayal that saw the rise of a popular silence on the rights of black veterans, and a forced return to …


A Different Way Of Touring Europe; One Aid Man's Journey Across Europe During World War Ii, Abigail M. Currier Jan 2017

A Different Way Of Touring Europe; One Aid Man's Journey Across Europe During World War Ii, Abigail M. Currier

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Robert Bell Bradley enlisted in the United States Army in October of 1942 as an aid man. He spent several months training to be a first responder on the front lines of combat and learning how to deal with a variety of issues. He was then attached to the 30th Infantry Division and sent to England in preparation for operation OVERLORD and the D-Day Invasion. Two months later, he was captured by the Germans and this event began a year long journey filled with death and near misses. [1] While Bradley’s experiences cannot speak for all prisoner of war …


A Divided Front: Military Dissent During The Vietnam War, Kaylyn L. Sawyer Jan 2017

A Divided Front: Military Dissent During The Vietnam War, Kaylyn L. Sawyer

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Emerging from a triumphant victory in World War Two, American patriotism surged in the 1950s. Positive images in theater and literature of America’s potential to bring peace and prosperity to a grateful Asia fueled the notion that the United States could be the “good Samaritan of the entire world.”[1] This idea prevailed through the mid-1960s as three-quarters of Americans indicated they trusted their government. That positive feeling would not last, and America’s belief in its own exceptionalism would begin to shatter with “the major military escalation in Vietnam and the shocking revelations it brought.”[2] The turmoil in social …


Gettysburg College Journal Of The Civil War Era 2016 Jan 2016

Gettysburg College Journal Of The Civil War Era 2016

The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era

No abstract provided.


"For Safety And For Liberty," The Devan Family Of Gettysburg, Andrew I. Dalton Jan 2016

"For Safety And For Liberty," The Devan Family Of Gettysburg, Andrew I. Dalton

The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era

This article explores Gettysburg’s 19th century black history through the exciting experiences of the Devan family. Originally from Frederick County, Maryland, they came to Gettysburg as free people of color. In town, one member of the family was suspected of assisting slave catchers by handing over escaped slaves for a profit. Four members of the family served during the Civil War in the United States Colored Troops, three of whom died in the service. This complex story proves the fact that black history is extremely complex and should not be painted by historians with a single brush stroke.


Cotton, Clemency, And Control: United States V. Klein And The Juridical Legacy Of Executive Pardon, Heather L. Clancy Jan 2016

Cotton, Clemency, And Control: United States V. Klein And The Juridical Legacy Of Executive Pardon, Heather L. Clancy

The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era

When the guns of war fell silent in 1865, Americans throughout the reunited states grappled with the logistics of peace. At virtually every turn lay nebulous but critical questions of race, class, allegiance, and identity. More pragmatic legal stumbling blocks could also be found strewn across the path to Reconstruction; some of them would ensnare the healing nation for decades to come. Among their number was notorious Supreme Court decision United States v. Klein (1872). Born on July 22, 1865 out of a small debate over the wartime seizure of Vicksburg cotton stores, Klein quickly evolved into a legal …


"The Honor Of Manhood:" Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain And Notions Of Martial Masculinity, Bryan G. Caswell Jan 2016

"The Honor Of Manhood:" Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain And Notions Of Martial Masculinity, Bryan G. Caswell

The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain is perhaps best known as the commander of the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry during the Battle of Gettysburg. While depictions of Chamberlain's martial glory abound, little attention has been paid to the complicated motives of the man himself. This paper seeks to examine the unique ways in which Chamberlain interacted with Victorian conceptions of martial masculinity: his understanding and expression of it, his efforts to channel it, and his use of it as a guiding principle throughout the trials of both the American Civil War and his post-war life.


Gettysburg Historical Journal 2016 Jan 2016

Gettysburg Historical Journal 2016

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

No abstract provided.


The Desperate Rebels Of Shimabara: The Economic And Political Persecutions And The Tradition Of Peasant Revolt, Jake A. Farias Jan 2016

The Desperate Rebels Of Shimabara: The Economic And Political Persecutions And The Tradition Of Peasant Revolt, Jake A. Farias

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

The Shimabara Rebellion has been studied throughout history by historians of East Asia. Originally conceived by both Japanese and Western scholars as a religious revolt against the anti-Christian Tokugawa government, later scholars contended that the Rebellion was a demonstration by the mistreated and impoverished and only tacitly related to Christian influences. This paper sets out to build on that narrative and to show the connection between the Christian resistance to the Tokugawa government and the movement of impoverished and desperate peasants, pushed to the brink of existence. Furthermore, this paper hopes to explore the goals of the Rebellion and establish …


Gettysburg College Journal Of The Civil War Era 2015 Apr 2015

Gettysburg College Journal Of The Civil War Era 2015

The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era

No abstract provided.


“Servants, Obey Your Masters”: Southern Representations Of The Religious Lives Of Slaves, Lindsey K.D. Wedow Apr 2015

“Servants, Obey Your Masters”: Southern Representations Of The Religious Lives Of Slaves, Lindsey K.D. Wedow

The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era

This paper focuses on how representations of the religious lives of slaves, specifically their abilities to comprehend the Bible and flourish spiritually, became an issue that not only propelled the North and South toward the Civil War, but also perpetuated the conflict. Using original documents from the collections housed at Chicago’s Newberry Library, predominantly sermons written by proslavery ministers as well as documents published by missionary organizations, this paper explores the fierce defense of the institution of slavery mounted by proslavery Christians. Specifically, this paper’s interest is in how the representation of slaves by proslavery evangelical Christians as incapable of …


The Memory Of Battle Surrounds You Once Again: Iowa Grand Army Of The Republic Reunions And The Formation Of A Pro-Union Nationalism, 1886-1949, Peter Bautz Apr 2015

The Memory Of Battle Surrounds You Once Again: Iowa Grand Army Of The Republic Reunions And The Formation Of A Pro-Union Nationalism, 1886-1949, Peter Bautz

The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era

Following the bloody years of the Civil War, veteran organizations became a breeding ground for nationalism making and memory shaping. Historians, like Caroline Janney and David Blight, have debated what these memories meant for northern veterans. Did members of the Grand Army of the Republic [G.A.R.], the Union veterans association, reconcile with the South over a shared whiteness, as Blight suggests? Or were the memories of Northerners less reconciliatory, as Janney argues? Using Iowa G.A.R. reunions as a case study, this article demonstrates that Union veterans were shaping a pro-Union nationalism distinct from the Lost Cause. From songs praising the …


Adams County History 2015 Jan 2015

Adams County History 2015

Adams County History

No abstract provided.


Annotated Bibliography Of Elsie Singmaster’S Gettysburg Writings, Susan Colestock Hill Jan 2015

Annotated Bibliography Of Elsie Singmaster’S Gettysburg Writings, Susan Colestock Hill

Adams County History

Our fellow Adams Countian, Elsie Singmaster Lewars (1879-1958), was a well -known author of regional fiction during the first half of the twentieth century. She wrote about the people and places she knew first hand. She spent most of her first twenty years in an ethnic Pennsylvania German community, Macungie, Pennsylvania. Having descended on her father’s side from Pennsylvania Germans who settled in the eastern part of the state beginning in the eighteenth century, she understood “her people” because she lived among them. When she began to write for publication in 1905, her first characters and plots drew upon her …


The Brutal Murder Of George J. Bushman, Conrad B. Richter, Dale J. Molina Jan 2015

The Brutal Murder Of George J. Bushman, Conrad B. Richter, Dale J. Molina

Adams County History

In the fall of 1918 there occurred in Adams County a singularly brutal murder that brought the County and the town of Gettysburg to a shocked standstill. The tentacles of this event would reach into four Pennsylvania counties: Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, and Philadelphia, and eventually the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The investigation of the crime and the trial of the perpetrators involved so many public officials and families, as well as the extended judicial system and geographical locations within and without the County, that we have included a Cast of Characters and Locations to assist the reader in following this convoluted …


The Bicycle Boom And Women's Rights, Jenna E. Fleming Jan 2015

The Bicycle Boom And Women's Rights, Jenna E. Fleming

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

The increasing popularity and widespread use of the bicycle in the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries directly contributed to the movement for women’s rights in the following decades. The sense of independence cycling afforded to women, as well as the opportunities for unification in defense of a cause that arose in light of controversies over the pursuit, were important in forming the foundation for later events.


Gettysburg Historical Journal 2015 Jan 2015

Gettysburg Historical Journal 2015

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

No abstract provided.


Learning The Fighting Game: Black Americans And The First World War, S. Marianne Johnson Jan 2015

Learning The Fighting Game: Black Americans And The First World War, S. Marianne Johnson

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

The experience of African American veterans of the First World War is most often cast through the bloody lens of the Red Summer of 1919, when racial violence and lynchings reached record highs across the nation as black veterans returned from the global conflict to find Jim Crow justice firmly entrenched in a white supremacist nation. This narrative casts black veterans in a deeply ironic light, a lost generation even more cruelly mistreated than the larger mythological Lost Generation of the Great War. This narrative, however, badly abuses hindsight and clouds larger issues of black activism and organization during and …


Water, Bison, And Horses: Natural Resources And Their Impacts On Native Raids And Relations In Late, Spanish Colonial New Mexico, Dori L. Gorczyca Jan 2015

Water, Bison, And Horses: Natural Resources And Their Impacts On Native Raids And Relations In Late, Spanish Colonial New Mexico, Dori L. Gorczyca

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

During the Spanish colonial period in New Mexico’s history, the area became a place where cultural, social, and economic mixing of various Native American groups and Spanish settlers frequently occurred. Certain peoples, such as the Pueblo, lived in an agrarian society and worked in close proximity to the Spanish. Other peoples, such as the Comanche, Apache, and Navajo, developed hostile relationships with these foreigners, and their raids on the Spanish, Pueblo, and each other changed the dynamic of their settlements. Sources from Spanish and Church officials, along with travel logs, discuss the effects of natural resources, such as water and …


Working Women And Motherhood: Failures Of The Weimar Republic’S Family Policies, Katelyn M. Quirin May 2014

Working Women And Motherhood: Failures Of The Weimar Republic’S Family Policies, Katelyn M. Quirin

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

This paper examines the Weimar Republic’s reaction to the population crisis after the First World War. The Reich government created welfare policies to boost the birth rate and decrease the infant mortality rate. These policies were often unrealistic or too exclusive for working-class women. As a result, they did not greatly impact the lives of working women or their procreation. The Weimar policies, therefore, failed in its efforts to increase the birth rate among working-class women.


The Fall Of The House Of Dixie: The Civil War And The Social Revolution That Transformed The South, Brexton L. O'Donnell Apr 2014

The Fall Of The House Of Dixie: The Civil War And The Social Revolution That Transformed The South, Brexton L. O'Donnell

The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era

This article reviews The Fall of the House of Dixie: The Civil War and the Social Revolution that Transformed the South (2013) by Bruce Levine.


Île À Vache And Colonization: The Tragic End Of Lincoln's “Suicidal Folly”, Graham D. Welch Apr 2014

Île À Vache And Colonization: The Tragic End Of Lincoln's “Suicidal Folly”, Graham D. Welch

The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era

Colonization, the state-sponsored emigration and resettlement of freed slaves outside the United States, was a prevalent narrative in the antebellum United States, and had a vocal adherent in Abraham Lincoln. Despite its ideological support, American colonization had few examples of emigration in action, leading to the attempted settlement on the Haitian island of Île à Vache. Led by speculators and Wall Street financiers under the aegis of the Lincoln administration, 453 black settlers departed Virginia in April 1863 for the hopes of a new, prosperous life in Haiti. The venture proved disastrous, however, as the colony was marred by disease, …