History Commons^™

Lunatics And Idiots: Treatment Of The Mentally Ill And Mentally Disabled Population In The Rio Grande Valley, 1860-1962, Emily Gray

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the conditions the mentally ill and mentally disabled population in the Rio Grande Valley faced during the era of the asylum in the United States, from 1860 until 1962. The treatment options for the citizens of the Rio Grande Valley are compared with the treatment of the mentally ill in the nation as a whole, as well as in the state of Texas. The Rio Grande Valley has been geographically distant from large population centers, and the state of Texas neglected to place any state-funded health care centers in the region until the 1960's. The Rio Grande …

Samuel Adams And John Hancock: The Relationship That Determined The Formation Of America, Bruce D. Griffiths

Theses and Dissertations

This paper argues that the relationship between Samuel Adams and John Hancock and their cooperation played critical/pivotal roles, especially in garnering New England support for the beginning of the American Revolution as well as the ratification of the Constitution.

Hablando De Negocios: Three Rio Grande Valley Businesses During The Great Depression, 1929-1939, Karla A. Lira

Theses and Dissertations

The Rio Grande Valley is in the South most tip of Texas and borders Northern Mexico, it includes Willacy, Cameron, Hidalgo, and Starr Counties. Scholars have focused on gender, agriculture, and labor of the area. However, historians have failed to research the region through a business perspective during the Great Depression. This thesis then seeks to analyze ways in which the Great Depression affected the Rio Grande Valley through the research of two stores and one business in the area: The Manuel Guerra Store, Edelstein’s furniture store, and John Shary’s land selling business. Its objective will fill an existing gap …

The Origins And Development Of John F. Kennedy And Lyndon B. Johnson's Perceptions Of American Foreign Policy Toward East Asia, Juan C. Razo Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

The administrations of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson focused extensively on foreign affairs in East Asia related to China, Laos, and Vietnam. Examining the development of their respective perceptions proved instrumental in comprehending their approaches to the geopolitics of the region. The overall structure of this thesis includes an analysis of their tenure in Congress, a breakdown of the first-half of Kennedy’s presidency, an emphasis on the transition period between Kennedy and Johnson, an examination of Johnson’s presidency, and concluding with a detailed comparison of their foreign policy toward East Asia. Their differing perceptions to the regional geopolitics …

Building A History: A Case Study Of Manufactured History In Texas, Gregg L. Carter

Theses and Dissertations

Building a History is a case study that seeks to examine Texas mytho-history, and the subsequent historical memory it engenders, from the perspective of Nationalism. Specifically, this paper addresses two periods in Texas’ historical past—beginning with the period of Anglo colonialization of Texas and the subsequent rebellion against Mexican authority, (1820–1836), and transitioning to the progressive era, (1890–1936).

This thesis demonstrates that during progressive era, Anglo-Texans began manufacturing an alternative historical narrative that blended Judeo-Christian and Puritan mytho-symbolism with Euro-centric notions of socio-political and ethnic superiority. This process of manufacturing and legitimizing historical myth in Texas reveals a characteristic similarity …

Through Northern Eyes: Robert E. Lee And The Northern Press, Steven D. Sheller

Theses and Dissertations

Most historians would agree that it is an anomaly in history how Robert E. Lee became an American icon. General Lee was the commander of a rebel army that was trying to split the country he had once loyally served into two. Even after being defeated at the Battle of Appomattox, instead of Lee suffering the normal fate of all failed revolutionaries, he was pardoned and allowed to continue to live in his native Virginia. Over a short amount of time after General Lee’s death he was elevated from rebel to hero. The origins of this can be traced back …

The Subjugation Of The Texas Indians From The 17th–19th Centuries, Erhard M. Vandeventer

Theses and Dissertations

The Americas have long been a center of conflict as European powers competed for control of the resources of these untapped lands. Spain, France, and England contributed to the turbulent era of colonization. Each left their mark on the Western Hemisphere. Spain couldn’t know that an Independent Mexico would emerge from the actions of the first Spanish conquistadors. The Republic of Texas was actually a stepchild of Spain created through its Mexican land grants and missions. The lands they colonized were not empty. Spain, Mexico and the Texas Republic, found their new holdings populated by Native Americans who were not …

Archaeological Potential Of The Rio Grande Valley: A Look At Brazos Island With A Historical Focus On The Civil War, Robin L. Galloso

Theses and Dissertations

The history of the Rio Grande Valley and the role it played in the Civil War is a developing field for both history and archaeology. This work helps to fill the existing gap that is present in academia and shows the archaeological and historical potential of this unique coastal area. The Brazos Island was heavily used during the Civil War by both the Confederacy and the Union. This thesis shows the rich history of Brazos Island and its archaeological potential through a multi-interdisciplinary lens, although rooted in the field of history. It covers a brief overview of the road to …

Liberty, Equality, Indebtedness: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams And The Problem Of Debt In A Revolutionary Age, Martha Salazar Cantu

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis I examine how the issue of debt contributed to the political tensions between the New England region and the Chesapeake region during the Revolutionary Age. The merging of the two regions’ economies into one federal union caused political divisions, which remained beyond the period of the Early Republic. Examining the cultural attitudes of each region towards debt provides a better understanding of the political problems between these two regions. The integration of the consignment culture of the Southern states with the Puritan ethic of the New England states caused economic difficulties for the young Republic. The research …

Tabacaleros Al Grito De Guerra: The Mexican Tobacco Industry And The U.S.-Mexico War, Jorge A. Hernandez

Theses and Dissertations

This study analyzes the role of the Mexican tobacco industry during the chaotic years from 1845 to 1847. In nineteenth-century Mexico the tobacco industry was an important financial contributor to Mexican government’s efforts to sustain the war against the United States. Without any significant success, the Mexican government tried to confront and solve the problems limiting the amount of revenues that was expected from the tobacco industry. Regional interests, political factionalism, administrative negligence, and tobacco contraband limited the amount of money the tobacco industry contributed. In spite of all the problems the tobacco industry experienced between 1845 and 1847, the …

Racial Intolerance During The California Gold Rush, Raul David Lopez

Theses and Dissertations

The California Gold Rush started in 1848 and lasted to the mid-1850s. Though short in duration, the impact the Gold Rush had in the United States, along with populations from many areas in the rest of the world, proved detrimental to many different ethnic groups that arrived to the mines and came into contact with various cultures, principally the white Anglo-American culture. This thesis focuses on themes such as race, gender roles, free labor versus unfree labor, extra-legal violence, and informal laws passed in the mines to exclude foreigners. It addresses why certain nationalities were taxed and targeted as foes, …

Landslide: The 1984 Presidential Election, Colin J. Newton

Theses and Dissertations

Newton, Colin J., Landslide: The 1984 Presidential Campaign. Master of Arts, (MA), December, 2015, 127 pp., 8 figures, references, 57 titles. The thesis provides an in depth historical observation of the events that transpired during the 1984 presidential campaign, which is significant because of its outcome, the largest electoral victory by any presidential candidate. The scope of the research is January 1984 to November 1984. The thesis provides insight into the Democratic primaries and the general election, focusing on the strategies of both campaigns. It identifies the many factors that led to Reagan’s landslide victory.

The overall purpose of the …

Women, War, And Planes: Women Airforce Service Pilots' Experience Working Alongside The Army Air Force During World War Ii, Stephanie Michelle Cavin

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Women, War, and Planes discusses the Women Airforce Service Pilots’ (WASP) experience during World War II as a non-militarized program working alongside the Army Air Forces in the continental United States. The mostly white, twenty to thirty aged pilots recruited from a national pool of women flew many different types of planes from basic, lighter aircraft to heavy, four engine models. The Army Air Forces and WASP leaders promised pilots full militarized status. However, the WASPs never received military status or rank while in the program, and in turn, did not receive the same protections afforded to men of who …

Eavesdropping On The Past: An Oral History Exploration Of English And Spanish In Contact In Texas' Rio Grande Valley, 1904-1945, Aaron B. Cummings

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This thesis investigates the interaction of English and Spanish L1 communities in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas from 1904 to 1945 (an era of mass English L1 migration from the Northern United States and Canada to this historically Spanish-speaking region) via analysis of oral interviews that record both language communities’ memories of the era’s social structures. Collectively, the interviews tell the story of the region’s sociocultural and sociolinguistic environment with a view to exploring how members of each community reacted to the presence of the other language during the first years of significant English/Spanish language contact in previously …

A Historical Analysis Of The Reasoning And Rationale Behind The Federal Prohibition Of Marijuana, Carlos Caro

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This thesis argues that the federal government first created and then maintained the prohibition of marijuana as a reflection of and reaction to, social, political and economic events happening at large in the U.S. and abroad. This thesis primarily compares and contrasts the treatment of marijuana by the federal government and society at large during the 1930s through the early 1980s by building upon scholars’ previous links to race, ethnicity, class and morality to display a pattern of change that was convenient to the federal government’s continued efforts to prohibit marijuana. This thesis demonstrates that changes in attitude and perception …

Tejanos And The Texas Revolution: Their Reaction To The Centralist Threat, Michael Marino

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this study is to ascertain Tejanos’ reasons for rebelling against the Mexican government. Texas was first colonized by the Spanish in the sixteenth century. After the Mexican independence in 1821, Texas became a Mexican territory. Tejanos (Texas Mexicans) lived under Spanish rule and Mexican rule. México enacted a colonization program allowing Anglo immigrants to settle in Texas. Tejanos and Anglo colonists developed a mutual working relationship. This thesis will compare the Spanish and Mexican administrations and how they failed to support and protect Tejanos. This failure is one of the causes for their rebellion. Another cause is …

From Laredo To Matamoros: The Constitutionalist Battles Along The Rio Grande 1913-1914, Jesus Ramos

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This thesis illustrates the deployment of the Constitutionalist Army after the Plan de Guadalupe. The battles fought to neutralize Huerta’s army from Laredo to Matamoros. The thesis includes American and Mexican sources, oral accounts, and archived documents.

The overall purpose of this thesis is to recount the Constitutionalist events based on journals, books, theses, dissertations, and newspapers in order to argue the effects of the Mexican Revolution. The concept of counter memory is exercised throughout historical fragments.

The study covers the years 1913 and 1914, the onset of the Constitutionalist movement up to Huerta’s exile. The thesis includes an introduction, …

Manuel Guerra And The Politics Of Starr County, Texas 1880-1920, Jesus Perez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study demonstrates the success of the Mexican American leadership of Starr County in maintaining their hold on power in defiance of Anglo American migrants in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. What aided Mexican American leadership in Starr County was that the major figure Manuel Guerra was highly educated, and his ancestors had settled the region as early 1767, which led many Mexican Americans both upper class and lower class to be loyal to him and those closely allied with him. The tactics used by Manuel Guerra and his allies were equal to the tactics used by political …

"Yes, We Are Latino Women But Very Proud To Have Serve[D] Our Country": Ethnic Mexican Women's Contributions To World War Ii, Laura L. Oviedo

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This theses highlights ethnic Mexican women from Texas who contributed to World War II through the military, wartime employment industries, and home front unconventional efforts. By utilizing twenty-eight oral histories, collected from the VOCES Oral History Project Archive at the Benson Latin American Collection, ten Texas newspapers, and military documents, this research presents the wartime efforts of ethnic Mexican women. Each chapter traces the women’s economic, racial, and gendered struggles in their private and social spaces before the war to better appreciate their participation during the war. An examination of the experiences of ethnic Mexican women during World War II …

The Llano Grande Grant: The Transformation Of Land Ownership In The Rio Grande Valley, 1749-1910, Maria G. Vallejo

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The history of the Llano Grande is an important part of Rio Grande Valley life. The thesis presented will analyze the legal ownership of a single land grant from 1749-1910. The modern land tenure in the Rio Grande Valley has its roots in the Spanish land grants. By studying a micro-history of a single land grant we can understand how the land ownership of the Llano Grande and the Rio Grande Valley changed throughout an entire century. The land ownership of the Llano Grande addresses how land was transferred Spanish to Mexican and to Anglo land owners. Also, the rise …

La Gente De Migración Y Acción: African Americans In Revolutionary Mexico 1880–1929, Alfredo Aguilar

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This thesis argues that Mexico historically presented African Americans with options to pursue freedom through outlets of migration (civil) and counter-violence (violent resistance). In addition, the thesis exhibits Mexico’s historical anti-slavery stance which reflects why Mexico was a viable place of relocation and resistance. Furthermore, it argues Mexico and the United States had roles in African Americans’ relation to Mexico and these endeavors of resistance. By using primary sources such as newspapers and government reports, the extent of propaganda methods and use becomes discernible. The objective is to highlight the international assistance Mexico provided towards African Americans, the U.S. role …

San Juan And Its Role In The Transformation Of The Rio Grande Valley, Roseann Bacha-Garza

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This thesis demonstrates that the City of San Juan serves as a microcosm of Rio Grande Valley history and became one of the most substantial municipalities in the region as a crossroad location for commercial agriculture, tourism and economic development. Outlined is the succession of Spanish land grantees, displaced Civil War families, Anglo entrepreneurs and Mexican Revolution refugees and their migration to San Juan at various stages of municipal development. Statistical data portrays how city officials, economic development personnel and community leaders positioned the city to benefit from federal funding and city planning opportunities. The progression of how San Juan …

U.S. Jazz In The 1950s, Amanda Canales

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

I have examined jazz music in the United States during the 1950s and argue that its popularity in various demographics illustrates that despite social and racial tensions jazz unified them. By explaining this we learn that Jazz’s popularity with different groups reflects not only jazz’s ever present flexibility but how societal values and issues are shown respectively. A brief background of the U.S during the 1950s, three key definitions for the nonconformist, conformist and purist as well as a brief history of jazz during the 1950s can be found in the introduction. Chapter II through IV deals with the specific …

Shifting Policies Of Educational Desegregation And Its Effects On The Resegregation Of The Aldine Independent School District, Tonya Elisette Juarez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study examines the desegregation process for the Aldine Independent School District located in Houston, Texas. Beginning with an analysis of the development of public education in Texas, this study observes the educational conditions for blacks and Mexican Americans prior to the end of de jure segregation. Thereafter, it assesses the impact of the Brown v. Board of Education (1954) decision that required desegregation of American public schools. I argue that the shifting policies that occurred after Brown requiring mandatory integration resulted in white flight in the school district. With the end of mandatory integration, Aldine I.S.D. reverted back to …

"Aliens Say What Humans Can't": Popular Culture And Totalitarianism In "The Twilight Zone", Lisa M. Howell

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study analyzes the political and social context of key episodes from 1959 to 1964 of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone. His science fiction television series, nestled against the backdrop of the Cold War, showcased his viewpoints on controversial issues from the Holocaust, postwar gender issues, McCarthyism, nuclear war and totalitarianism. As he was often fond of saying, “Aliens Can Say What Humans Can’t.” Also integrated in this study is showing how The Twilight Zone served as both an agent of change as well as a reflection of the times. This in turn, encouraged the masses to question and modify …

African Slavery In Colonial Veracruz: The Factors That Aided Its Creation And Expansion, Veronica Nohemi Duran

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The focal point of this study is to prove that it was the simultaneous presence of five factors during the 16th and 17th centuries that allowed African enslavement in Veracruz to expand. I built upon previous works and authors to support my claim that it was the decline in native population, economic profits, religious apathy on the subject, social acceptance and government support that pushed for the systems creation and expansion. By discussing each of these factors in a chapter of their own, I concluded that in an almost cause and effect manner these factors are responsible for the expansion …

Walking Out: The Success Of The Edcouch-Elsa Student Walkout Of 1968 Through The Media, David Robles

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study demonstrates how the success of the Edcouch-Elsa walkout of 1968 was brought upon not only by its organization, non-violent tactics, land mark victory in federal court, and support from several of Mexican American organizations. What also aided the student movement in Edcouch-Elsa was the media attention and how it influence the Rio Grande Valley community not only to question the tactics being used towards Mexican American students in the local educational institutions, but also created public discourse over the issues of race, equality, and students’ rights. Using various academic books of the subject, newspaper clippings of the time …

A History Of Labor Degradation On The Border, Hidalgo County, Texas, 1920-1970s, Edward David Avila

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Between 1920 and 1970 laborers in Hidalgo County were degraded and ranked among the lowest paid workers in the nation. Colonizers including land developers seeking to exploit the commercial agriculture potential of the Rio Grande Valley divided the working poor along race, gender, and class lines. Such labor strategy allowed Anglo Americans and in some cases elite Mexicans to subjugate working class Mexicans and Mexican Americans to substandard wages and miserable working conditions. This thesis argues the origin of the degradation of the working poor by analyzing wages, work conditions, race relations, and gendered dimensions of labor in the region. …

The Image Of The American Revolutionary Soldier And The Problem Of Historical Memory, Stephanie N. Powelson

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Pubic memories of the American Revolution have played a central role in the creation of an American national identity. As a result of the importance of these military memories in creating a sense of social cohesion, images of the men who fought in the Revolution have often been systematically created and propagated, thus leading to myths and stereotypes in popular culture. Master of Arts (MA), August 2012, 111 pp., 2 tables, 4 figures, 76 references, 8 titles. This thesis analyzes the images of the soldiers of the American Revolution in public memory and in professional historiography. There is a perplexing …

First Mover: Otto Struve And The Use Of Scientific Capital In Astrophysics, 1921–1950, Erik Paul Norquest

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Otto Struve (1897-1963) came to the United States in 1921 and became one of the dominant personalities in the field of astrophysics. Struve’s career made him, in the words of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, a “first mover” in a scientific field that was firmly engaged in the process of what Thomas Kuhn called “normal science.” Struve pulled astrophysics further away from its empirical roots in categorization and made it more like physics in its unification of theory and observation. The primary way that he accomplished this was through his administration of Yerkes and McDonald observatories, where he brought in theorists to …