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Full-Text Articles in History

Alexander Hamilton: Underdog Or Overrated?, Caity Hatchett Apr 2021

Alexander Hamilton: Underdog Or Overrated?, Caity Hatchett

Honors Theses

This thesis uses the conflicting information about Alexander Hamilton as seen in Ron Chernow's biography "Alexander Hamilton" and Jessie Serfilippi's essay "As Odious and Immoral a Thing" as a case study showing why the analysis and evaluation of historical claims is important for building the most complete historical picture.


The Myth Of The Green Berets: How One Group Of Soldiers Helped Sell A Nation On The Virtue Of War, Rebekah Moore Aug 2020

The Myth Of The Green Berets: How One Group Of Soldiers Helped Sell A Nation On The Virtue Of War, Rebekah Moore

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

While various types of American military units fought in the Vietnam War, a disproportionate amount of media attention concentrated on one group: the Special Forces. More commonly known as the Green Berets, these “elite” soldiers were lauded in the Vietnam era for their foreign language skills, martial prowess, and mastery of unconventional warfare. Their ability to live and work with local populations made them the favored–and famed–warrior diplomats of President John F. Kennedy’s New Frontier. During the 1960s, the Green Berets were featured in best-selling novels, a chart-topping song, comic book titles, action figures, bubblegum cards, and a successful film. …


Blood On The Floor: Public Memory, Myth, And Material Culture In American Historic House Museums, Alyssa B. Caltabiano Jun 2020

Blood On The Floor: Public Memory, Myth, And Material Culture In American Historic House Museums, Alyssa B. Caltabiano

Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the historic narratives of the Hancock House Historic Site, The Jennie Wade House Museum, and the Shriver House Museum, analyzing the historical accuracy of each. Each site has used historic human bloodstains and other elements of material culture, authentic and fabricated, to facilitate and support their historic narratives. The traditional Hancock House narrative, as well as the current Jennie Wade House narrative, are each sensationalized and riddled with myth and legend. The Shriver House represents a well-researched and interpreted narrative, that tastefully uses historic human bloodstains as an element of their interpretation. The evolution of each site …


Annie Proulx's Wyoming: Subversive Storytelling From The Bunchgrass Edge Of The World, Elizabeth P. Tyson Jan 2014

Annie Proulx's Wyoming: Subversive Storytelling From The Bunchgrass Edge Of The World, Elizabeth P. Tyson

Scripps Senior Theses

Annie Proulx’s three Wyoming short story collections, Close Range, Bad Dirt, and Fine Just the Way It Is, tell regional stories that push against the myths surrounding the American West. Elements of Naturalism in her work reverse the paradigm of man’s dominance over the frontier. The cyclical nature of time in her stories shows the unfulfilling nature of nostalgia. She uses folk storytelling techniques to take an insider’s perspective and to utilize the subversive nature of dark humor.


Cowboy Mythology In National Politics: The Pre-Presidential Political Career Of Lyndon Johnson, Alyson Bujnoski Jan 2012

Cowboy Mythology In National Politics: The Pre-Presidential Political Career Of Lyndon Johnson, Alyson Bujnoski

Senior Independent Study Theses

Lyndon Johnson represents an important shift in politics towards a strategy involving the conscious manipulation of imagery to achieve both local, statewide, and national electoral appeal. Most historians argue that Johnson's conscious and overt manipulation of cowboy and western mythology began after his election to the Senate in November of 1948. Using a close analysis of Johnson's pre-Presidential speeches, this work explores the ways in which Johnson began to manipulate frontier myth as early as in his election to the House of Representatives in 1937.


Solace In St. Louis: A Case Study In Heroic Cultural Nostalgia, Amanda J. Pinney May 2010

Solace In St. Louis: A Case Study In Heroic Cultural Nostalgia, Amanda J. Pinney

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis examines the response of American popular culture to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. By utilizing the September 17, 2001 pre-game ceremony, held at Busch Stadium as a case study example, larger generalizations are made about the role popular culture played in the days following the tragedy. In order to analyze this example, I have developed heroic cultural nostalgia, a framework that combines elements of myth, nostalgia and national identity. Heroic cultural nostalgia provides an explanation of how popular culture plays a role in crisis response. The framework highlights the role of individuals with heroic characteristics in …