History Commons^™

Capitalism, Colonial Expansion, And Forced Child Indenture In The British Atlantic, 1618-1776, Angela Austin

History Dissertations

This dissertation examines colonial child servants from the British Isles between the years 1618-1776, illustrating how economic demands, colonial ambitions, and capitalistic drives combined with ethnic and class prejudices to perpetuate the indenture of children irrespective of individual or parental consent. An examination of legislative actions, legal enforcement, and governmental complicity reveals both direct and indirect government involvement in perpetuating involuntary child labor across the British Isles. In fact, the volume of this human trafficking required some level of awareness and support from legislators and officials at both the local and national levels. In some cases, officials removed children from …

Cadwallader, Megan, Gretchen Thiele

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Meghan Cadwallader was born in 1976 in a small, rural town in Upstate New York. She grew up with a stable family and surrounded by the Catholic religion. Cadwallader realized she was lesbian around her junior year of high school. However, her sexuality was never a huge deal, more just another part of her. She went to college at Holland’s University, and all-girls school, in which she initially came out to people resulting in mixed responses. Meghan then went to Bucknell University In Pennsylvania. She received a degree in French and English with a concentration in creative writing. She talks …

Liberty And Justice For Some - Experiences Of Marginalized Children On The World War Ii United States Home Front, Courtney Polak

Graduate Review

Many scholars have discussed the experiences of the home front and its significant contributions to the war effort. However, the study of children in World War II home front has not been widely examined. Even more so, the experiences of minority children are rarely discussed. Youth of African Americans, those of German and Japanese descent, and the poor classes experienced a drastically different home front than the mainstream culture. The experiences of children, especially, are not addressed widely as they are further ignored as a group without political or economic power. Yet, numerous primary source accounts explain how these marginalized …

The Perseverance Of Play: An Archaeological Analysis Of Residential Blocks With Preschools At The Amache National Historic Site, Megan Brown

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project is to expand on the understanding of experiences of Japanese American children, specifically preschool-aged children, within the Amache National Historic Site, a WWII Japanese American internment facility located in Granada, Colorado. Through archaeological methods, GIS analysis, oral histories, and archival research, I analyzed the landscape and material culture of the five residential blocks within Amache that had designated preschools. I then compared these blocks with preschools to residential blocks without preschools to determine if there are any patterns and discernable differences between the two study areas. The findings of this research provide insight into how …

Childhood: The Hidden Side, Arcelia Gómez

MA Projects

Childhood has been typically perceived as the sweet, candid, innocent, harmless, naïve phase of the human existence. However, is it possible that behind this kind façade there are hidden the cruelest, most frightening and most devastating monsters of humankind? The current state of humanity, as a species, is constructed on constant movement, continually changing, perpetually evolving. This is a natural behavior, dating back to the very origins of civilization, in its earliest days. This characteristic detail is stored in the ability of the human brain to collect information and learn from situations experienced by the individual. In other words, the …

Orphans, White Unity, And The Charleston Orphan House, 1860-1870, Ruth Poe White

Theses and Dissertations--History

This dissertation explores the ways the Charleston Orphan House, a nineteenth-century whites-only benevolent institution, promoted white unity in South Carolina between 1860 and 1870. Just as it had during the antebellum era, the Orphan Home knit together white society by providing poor white families a source of social security, middling white families a source for cheap labor in the form of indentured service, and elite whites an opportunity to display social prominence. Yet, maintaining this delicate balance throughout the siege of Charleston and the Home’s eventual evacuation to Orangeburg, South Carolina was no easy feat. The Chairman of the Board …

"Maudie" - Letter To (Sc 3662), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3662. Letter, 26 March 1892, to Maudie at school, from her father “Geo W B” in Moark, Arkansas. He hopes she is learning and behaving, promises to “catch a big fish” for her homecoming, and tells her that her “Red bird” sings every morning.

Ballard, Marshall Brugler, 1913-1914 (Sc 3658), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3658. Notice of death and invitation to the funeral of Marshall Brugler Ballard on 17 September 1914. Buried in Major County, Oklahoma, Marshall was the son of William H. Ballard and Stella Brugler.

Navigating Culture In The Home, Church, School, And Community: Norwegian American Youth In Norman County, Minnesota, 1870-1925, Brianna Rose Devalk

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Since the centennial celebration of Norwegian migration to America in 1925, historians have frequently reflected upon the creation of the Norwegian American identity throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Yet, while investigations on culture and identity continue to expand our understanding of Norwegian America, youth are still frequently left on the margins of focus. The voices of children and adolescents are frequently difficult to hear as they leave few written historical records for historians to analyze. Additionally, few scholars have explored the sources they have left as adults remembering their childhood due to the skepticism of memory. As a …

Childhood Interview With Sierra Trabosci, Dominic J. Garcia

Making History Oral Histories

A brief interview with Sierra Trabosci-Couger about her experiences in childhood and her memories of growing up.

Analyzing Marriage Statistics As Recorded In The Journal Of The American Statistical Association From 1889 To 2012, Annalee Soohoo

CMC Senior Theses

The United States has been tracking American marriage statistics since its founding. According to the United States Census Bureau, “marital status and marital history data help federal agencies understand marriage trends, forecast future needs of programs that have spousal benefits, and measure the effects of policies and programs that focus on the well-being of families, including tax policies and financial assistance programs.”[1] With such a wide scope of applications, it is understandable why marriage statistics are so highly studied and well-documented.

This thesis will analyze American marriage patterns over the past 100 years as documented in the Journal of …

Twomey, Danielle, Elizabeth Cantey

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Danielle Twomey is a trans woman who was born and raised in Maine. She was born into a working class home and has four other siblings. Her mother died when she was seven and her father’s second wife helped to put the family into a better class. Her father was abusive, as were her peers, and her younger years were “brutal” as she was “physically small”, “effeminate”, and “clueless” when it came to fighting. She watched the world around her to learn how to fit in. She knew she was expected to be like the little boys her age but …

Cawein, Madison, 1865-1914 (Sc 3621), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3620. Poem, “The Little Boy’s Thanksgiving,” by Madison Cawein. The typescript of the poem is inscribed by Cawein. Includes a letter from Cawein to Reverend Charles E. Craik, Louisville, Kentucky, expressing pleasure in composing it for children.

Mom-In-Chief: The Financial And Emotional Demands Of Motherhood On Housewives Of Servicemen During World War Ii, Abigail Caldwell

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

This essay analyzes letters by white, American stay-at-home mothers with husbands in the service during World War II. It uses articles published during the war to compare the expectations for moms to their lived experiences and explores how motherhood shaped their wartime lives. Many scholars have studied women during WWII, but most focus on those who entered the work force. This essay takes a closer look at the women who stayed home with their children and what that looked like compared to the media’s portrayals. The mothers’ letters capture the financial and emotional hardships caused by war, separation, motherhood, and …

Review: War Stories By Gabrielle Atwood Halko, R.C. Miessler

All Musselman Library Staff Works

War Stories, a digital project created by Gabrielle Atwood Halko of West Chester University, seeks to frame the narrative of World War II (WWII) through the stories of children, particularly children in internment or under occupation. Halko starts with the assumption that visitors to the website are unaware of these stories, and the site largely frames itself as an educational tool that aggregates primary and secondary sources related to children during WWII. [excerpt]

The Work Of Freedom: African American Child Exploitation In Reconstruction Kentucky, Ashlea Hope Fishburn-Moore

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

On May 23, 1866, two African American children in Christian County, Kentucky, were taken from their parents and apprenticed to a white planter, Elijah Simmons. The two children, Fannie, age eight, and Robert, age four, were expected to serve Simmons for the next thirteen and fourteen years respectively. Fannie was disabled. Denoted in her apprenticeship paper as “deaf and dumb,” the Simmonses did not have to provide for her the way they would a non-disabled child, meaning that they did not have to pay her or provide her with anything upon her release from servitude. Although her story seems in …

Motley, Waif (Hogan), 1900-1987 (Sc 3548), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3548. “Memories of Motley Kentucky From Oxen to Greenhouses,” a reminiscence by Waif (Hogan) Motley. She writes of her childhood, family and community in Motley (Warren County), Kentucky.

Judith Leyster: A Study Of Extraordinary Expression, Nicole J. Cardinale

Theses and Dissertations

Judith Leyster’s innovative application of expression in her Self Portrait serves as the focus, whereby she is shown to blend conventional painting categories, preserve a sense of innocence, and confidently flaunt her skills. In turn, Leyster challenged the male-centric art market and stood apart from her artistic predecessors and contemporaries.

Recollections Of A Danish Auctioneer, Erling Christensen

The Bridge

I was born in Brush, Colorado, the 12th of August in

1906. I was the first child of Otto and Mariane Christensen

and ten more were to follow. I was called an "instrument

baby" according to my older cousin Bertha Pedersen, whose

mother was my Dad's sister. She said it was "sure touch and

go" as the ordeal left me black and blue in the face.

2020 Children's Story Cards, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Arif: "I like being in school again."

Norina: "We laugh a lot but I also worry."

Nooda: "I came on a boat. It was a big boat!"

Madina: "I just want to live in a safe place..."

Shurangez: "Sometimes we didn't feel safe at school."

Alex: "I'm from Nigeria. Coming to Italy was very difficult-very, very difficult, a real struggle."

Danial: "I want to be a useful person and follow my dreams."

Firoz: "I am 13 years old and I am worried about my family."

Ali: "Ali lived in Afghanistan. One day while walking to school a bomb exploded near …

Teachers And Teaching (Sc 3477), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3477. Letter, postmarked 31 October 1933, from "S. I." to her friend "Annie Laurie." Both women have connections to Bowling Green, Kentucky, but "S.I." is currently teaching in a one-room schoolhouse at a location she references as Sassafras Bushes." She laments her routine existence, the trials of teaching 28 students with dispositions "from bland to ferocious" and "intelligence from imbecility to genius," and their "brilliant answers" on a recent test. She refers to some of her and Annie's mutual friends and expresses her intention to attend "Western" …

Media Literacy Education For All Ages, Päivi Rasi, Hanna Vuojärvi, Heli Ruokamo

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This special issue of the Journal of Media Literacy Education explores the role of media literacy across the lifespan. Media literacy education interventions must be designed to meet the needs of individuals of different ages by understanding the life roles and goals that they have across the lifespan. Different pedagogical strategies are required to effectively address the media literacy competencies of young children, teens, adults, parents, and older adults. In old age, media literacy education may support cognitive functioning and social relationships and help people critically assess health-related information and services. Adopting a life course perspective enables the examination of …

Miller, Melissa, B. 1984 (Sc 3411), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3411. “The Autobiography of Melissa Miller,” written by Melissa Miller as a Mother’s Day gift and illustrated with drawings and photographs. The seven-year-old author writes of her birth in Mexico, infancy, school, family, and favorite things.

Shobika, Shobika, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Shobika escaped Myanmar amid widespread chaos. After being separated from her husband and experiencing the kidnap of her two children, she was raped by soldiers and became pregnant. Her husband now rejects this child.

Smith, Ruth R., 1907-1992 - Letters To (Sc 3320), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3320. Invitation to a children’s party on 19 October 1912 sent to Ruth Smith, postmarked Johnston City, Illinois; also letter, 18 August 1922, to Ruth in Sebree, Kentucky, regarding graduation ceremonies for Webster County schools. The letter includes the program for the ceremony on 30 August 1922 and recommends attire for graduates.

Interview No. 1700, Joshua Rubin

Combined Interviews

Joshua Rubin describes his observations of the Tornillo Detention Centers while he was there for three months. Thousands of children from Florida, Houston, and Central American were transported to Tornillo on charter buses. Rubin was first introduced to the situation when the immigration stories were broadcasted on television. Rubin decided to drive down to Tornillo and began holding up a sign, outside the center, that stated “Free them”. Rubin was arrested by authorities but continued raising the sign to oncoming traffic for hours at a time.

Afterward, while attending an activist discussion, Rubin was inspired to take direct action and …

Evangelizing Indigents: A Move Towards Professionalization Of The Cleveland Protestant Orphan Asylum, 1875-1900, Rhianna M. Gordon

The Great Lakes Journal of Undergraduate History

Within this research, I sought to uncover the correlation between the cholera epidemic of 1848 and the establishment of the Cleveland Orphan Asylum in 1852. However, I ascertained that not only was this a practical venture to save waifs that had been orphaned due to epidemic, but it was a religious obligation rooted in antiquated Puritan beliefs of salvation. The founding couple, the Rouse family, came from Massachusetts during the Second Great Awakening and instituted sundry Sunday schools in their wake. Beginning in New York and slowly making their way to Cleveland, Ohio, they spread the gospel and created tracts …

Jackson, Carlton Luther, 1933-2014 (Mss 581), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 581. Research and manuscripts for books written by Western Kentucky University history professor Carlton Jackson. Includes some personal and professional correspondence, unpublished writing, and a partial memoir. Click on "Additional Files" below to see a listing of correspondents who provided information about the influenza pandemic of 1918. This correspondence is found in Boxes 13 and 14.

Travelsted, Louise, 1897-1985 (Sc 3256), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3256. “The Travelsted Saga,” by Louise Travelsted, Bowling Green, Kentucky, a narrative of her family’s life in Warren County, Kentucky covering the years from her parents’ marriage in 1895 to 1968.

Crewe, Dan, Wendy Chapkis

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Description: Dan Crewe is an 84 year old gay man originally from New Jersey. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1957. Crewe was a member of the United States Air Force for four years, after which he moved to New York City and began a lucrative career in the music industry in production and publishing. He then moved to Los Angeles, California where he met his then wife, the musician Cindy (now Cyd) Bullens, and they had two daughters. The family eventually moved to Maine, where Crewe opened Gateway Mastering Studios and continued working in music. During …