History Commons^™

Questions Of Citizenship: Oregonian Reactions To Japanese Immigrants' Quest For Naturalization Rights In The United States, 1894-1952, Alison Leigh Jessie

Dissertations and Theses

This study examines the discrimination against Japanese immigrants in U.S. naturalization law up to 1952 and how it was covered in the Oregonian newspaper, one of the oldest and most widely read newspapers on the West Coast. The anti-Japanese movement was much larger in California, but this paper focuses on the attitudes in Oregon, which at times echoed sentiments in California but at other times conveyed support for Japanese naturalization. Naturalization laws at the turn of the century were vague, leaving the task of defining who was white, and thus eligible for naturalization, to the courts. Japanese applicants were often …

Post-Revolutionary Mexican Education In Durango And Jalisco: Regional Differences, Cultures Of Violence, Teaching, And Folk Catholicism, Lindsey Ellison Collins

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis explored a regional comparison of education in post-revolutionary Mexico. It involved a micro-look into the relationship between violence, education, religion, and politics in the states of Durango and Jalisco. Research methods included primary sources and microfilms from the National Archives State Department records related to education from the internal affairs of Mexico from 1930-1939 from collection file M1370. It also utilized G-2 United States Military Intelligence reports as well as records from the British National Archives dealing with church and state relations in Mexico from 1920-1939.

Anti - clericalism in the 1920’s led to violent backlash in rural …

Centralia, Collective Memory, And The Tragedy Of 1919, Shawn T. Daley

Dissertations and Theses

The Centralia Tragedy of 1919 has been represented in numerous works over the course of the past 100 years. The vast majority of them concern the events of the day of the Tragedy, November 11, 1919, and whether a small group of Wobblies – members of a union group known as the International Workers of the World (I.W.W.) – opened fire on a group of parading American Legionnaires. This particular element, whether or not the Wobblies opened fire on the Legionnaires or the Legionnaires actually charged the hall where the Wobblies were staying, has generated significant concern in academic and …

A Town On Fire: The Copperfield Affair Of 1914, Daniel Joseph Shepard

Dissertations and Theses

In 1914, Copperfield, Oregon was militarily occupied by order of the governor, Oswald West. Its town government was deposed, the city officials were arrested, and the town's saloons were closed and all liquor and gambling devices were seized. The town, previous to Governor West's interdiction, had seen a breakdown into violence and arson between two competing saloon cliques. The resulting martial law of Copperfield and subsequent court battles between the governor and Copperfield's saloonkeepers would become known as the Copperfield Affair.

The purpose of this study is to explain how and why the Copperfield Affair happened. The event which precipitated …

Book Review Of, The Shiites Of Lebanon Under Ottoman Rule, 1516-1788, James Grehan

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

Reviews the book by Stefan Winter. The Shiites of Lebanon under Ottoman Rule, 1516-1788. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Knowledge Is Power: The Political Influence Of The Chanter Social Circle At The University Of Paris (1200-1215), Andrew X. Fleming

Anthós

The faculty of theology within the medieval University of Paris formed a major node within the social network of thirteenth-century Europe. Through an analysis of papal and university statutes concerning the development of a defined understanding of heresy, an overview of the historiographic methodologies traditionally used in studying such a topic, and a prosopographically-based analysis of the actions taken by Pope Innocent III and a small circle of theologians at Paris, we hope to come to a more clarified understanding of the political motivations which drove academic and papal reform within the thirteenth century. More specifically, this study aims to …

The Forgotten Front: Gender, Labor, And Politics In Camas, Washington, And The Northwest Paper Industry, 1913-1918, Bradley Dale Richardson

Dissertations and Theses

Southwest Washington labor history has received little examination by scholars. Focusing mainly on Seattle, Everett, Centralia, and Spokane, historians view Southwest Washington, a traditionally conservative community, to be of little importance in the state's overall historical narrative. This thesis corrects that assumption and the omission of Southwest Washington. The failure of the unionization effort in Camas impacted organization in Pacific Northwest paper mills for nearly a decade. Although workers failed to sustain their union, the events in Camas between 1913 and 1918 present an excellent new laboratory and case study to explore the intersection of gender, labor, and politics. Despite …

Expressionist Art And Drama Before, During, And After The Weimar Republic, Shane Michael Kennedy

Dissertations and Theses

Expressionism was the major literary and art form in Germany beginning in the early 20th century. It flourished before and during World War I and continued to be the dominant art for of the Early Weimar Republic. By 1924, Neue Sachlichkeit replaced Expressionism as the dominant art form in Germany. Many Expressionists claimed they were never truly apart of Expressionism. However, in the periodization and canonization many of these young artists are labeled as Expressionist.

This thesis examines the periodization and canonization of Expression in art, drama, and film and proves that Expressionism began much earlier than scholars believe and …

Book Review Of, Black Woman Reformer: Ida B. Wells, Lynching, And Transatlantic Activism, Patricia A. Schechter

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

Reviews the book by Sarah L. Silkey. "Black Woman Reformer: Ida B. Wells, Lynching, and Transatlantic Activism". Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2015.

Jews, Sports, Gender, And The Rose City : An Analysis Of Jewish Involvement With Athletics In Portland, Oregon, 1900-1940, Kelli Ann Tusow

Dissertations and Theses

The subject of Jews in sports is often times perceived as an oxymoronic research topic given the ethnic stereotypes that Jews are physically weak, unfit, and more focused on intellectual pursuits. However, Jews have had a long history and in-depth interaction with sports that is important to understand, not only to expand our perception of the Jewish people, but also to realize the important role sports play in social historiography. While the Jewish population of East Coast America and their involvement in athletics has been studied to some extent, the West Coast population, in particular, the Northwest, has been sorely …

The British-American Imperial Agenda In Iraq: The Oil And Railway Line From Kirkuk To Haifa, 1920-1932, Melinda Cohoon

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

By using data from the Records of Department of State Relating to the Internal Affairs of Asia, 1910-1929 and the Iraqi Administration Reports, in regards to the railway and pipeline infrastructure, along with integral secondary source material like Peter Sluglett’s Britain in Iraq: Contriving King and Country (2007, 2^nd ed.), this study addresses the concept of identity among the Sunni Arab elite as well as Kurds within Iraq, who were embedded within this new imperial reality of oil and railways between 1920 and 1929. This study has found that the U.S. had a covert interest in the shaping of …

The Floating Men: Portland And The Hobo Menace, 1890-1915, Marin Elizabeth Aurand

Dissertations and Theses

At the beginning of the twentieth century, transient laborers in Portland, Oregon faced marginalization and exploitation at the hands of the classes that relied on them for their own prosperity. Portland at this time was poised to flourish as a major population and industrial center of the American West. The industries that fueled the city's growth were dependent on cheap and mobile manual labor made available by the expansion of the nation's railroads. As the city prospered and grew, the elite of the city created and promoted an image of Portland as an Eden of material abundance where industriousness and …

Turkish Think Tanks, The Akp’S Policy Network From Neo-Gramscian And Neo-Ottoman Angles, Kubilay Arin

Center for Turkish Studies Occasional Paper Series

This paper will show how the AKP’s utilization of political Islam together with framing of neo-Ottomanism as a prerequisite for its opening to the Muslim world as the former Ottoman lands in the Balkans, the Caucasus and the Arab Peninsula exacerbate tensions with it western partners. At the domestic politics level, the Islamic-conservative Justice and Development Party is generally accepted more libertarian than its predecessor the Islamist Welfare party with a platform based on strong national security, free markets and social and fiscal conservatism. The Islamists and the libertarians are often competing for influence in the AKP. The study counters …

Ordinary Women/Extraordinary Lives: Oregon Women And Their Stories Of Persistence, Grit And Grace, Shannon Moon Leonetti

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis tells the stories of five Oregon women who transcended the customary roles of their era. Active during the waning years of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, each woman made a difference in the world around them. Their stories have either not been told or just given a passing glance. These tales are important because they inform us about our society on the cusp of the twentieth century.

Hattie Crawford Redmond was the daughter of a freed slave who devoted herself to the fight for women's suffrage. Minnie Mossman Hill was the first woman …

A Howl Of Free Expression: The 1957 Howl Obscenity Trial And Sexual Liberation, Jamie L. Rehlaender

Young Historians Conference

The 1957 “Howl” obscenity trial, which covered the constitutionality of utilizing obscene words in literature, was largely influential in the development of literary free expression in America. This case centered on Allen Ginsberg’s Howl and Other Poems, a work which represented the ideals and culture of the literarily experimental and sexually promiscuous Beat Generation. The expansion of free expression can be discerned through the tolerance of these sexual implications in literature, which is documented throughout the history of sexual suppression in past censorship cases. The victory of the “Howl” obscenity trial was essential for liberating the use of sexual …

The Roman Army: Strategy, Tactics, And Innovation, Weiyi Zhou

Young Historians Conference

The Roman Empire at its peak covered millions of square miles of ground, encompassing a vast variety of cultures of people. In order to ensure continued peace and stability in such a mammoth multiethnic empire, the Roman Army was forced to engage and repel a variety of foreign opponents utilizing different tactics across a wide spectrum of terrain, from Macedonian phalanxes on flat plains to Gallic barbarian hordes on forested ground. Simultaneously, the Roman Army also had to avoid compromising internal stability and maintain a force capable of putting down a large range of insurrectionist forces. Even today, with the …

Inevitable Rebellion: Jacobite Risings And The Union Of 1707, Lindsay E. Swanson

Young Historians Conference

In the beginning of the 18th century, the landscape of Europe was changed with the proposal of legislation to unite Scotland and England. While the Union of 1707 served as an important starting point in the English quest for unification, it was not powerful enough to truly prevent insurgency among Scottish natives. This paper explores the problems associated with and Scottish opposition to the Union of 1707, and the measures it took to truly join the two nations under the name Great Britain. It also highlights the endurance of a Scottish identity, examining resistance to empires and questioning the longevity …

The Limits Of Tolerance: The Equal Treatment Act And Discrimination In The Netherlands, Dylan E. Wells

Young Historians Conference

The Netherlands has a reputation for being one of the most liberal and accepting nations in the world. However, when analyzing the traditions, politics, education, and other aspects of everyday life in the country, a long-lasting history of racism and prejudice is revealed. This paper explores the possible reasons for inequality in the Netherlands, and the Equal Treatment Act of 1994, the first explicit Dutch anti-discrimination legislation. This paper will discuss the potential reasons why the Equal Treatment Act ultimately failed to curb bias based on race, ethnicity, and religion—challenges still faced by many in the Netherlands today, twenty years …

Celtic Romanization: Cultural Assimilation Or Cultural Exchange?, Shawn Lee

Young Historians Conference

The rise of the Roman Empire created not only a military but also a cultural hegemony over colonized populations. While this interaction is often portrayed as a primarily unidirectional process of cultural assimilation, this may not be the case for Celtic peoples following their colonization in the mid first century BC. An examination of Roman perception of Celtic culture, perceived compatibility of Celtic culture, and mixed Romano-Celtic culture indicates that the cultural exchange between Romans and Celts was bi-directional.

Rationalism And The Understanding Of Irrationality, Sophie Hamilton

Young Historians Conference

The Scientific Revolution is an era heavily scrutinized by historians and history teachers alike; the works of Francis Bacon, Andreas Vesalius, and Isaac Newton are included in nearly every textbook and course covering the Enlightenment era. But many people don’t realize that the scientific discoveries of the Enlightenment were not limited to mathematics, astronomy, and anatomy; a revolution in psychiatry was also occurring.

"Rationalism and the Understanding of Irrationality" explores how the rationalist movement in the Enlightenment, which emphasized the use of reason and individualism, enabled leaders in the mental health industry to raise living standards and redefine treatment for …

The Dichotomy Of Pudicitia, Amber L. Harvey

Young Historians Conference

The lives of women in the Roman Republic were incredibly restricted and controlled by their male counterparts, yet key counters to this restriction are often overlooked, mainly that of a woman’s pudicitia. Pudicitia was a defining moral quality that encompassed state, familial, sexual, and other duties, a woman held in society. These qualities, are shown in the mythical Rape of the Sabines, and allow female participation in the Conflict of the Orders and the defiance of the Vestal Virgins. These allowances are countered by aspects of pudicitia that restricted rights and participation, ultimately yielding a system that paradoxically encouraged …

The Irish Hunger And Its Alignments With The 1948 Genocide Convention, Larissa M. Banitt

Young Historians Conference

The Irish Hunger of the mid nineteenth century began when a potato blight ruined most of Ireland's crop. While this was indeed a natural crisis, Britain's ineffective response exacerbated the sugaring the Irish endured. Widespread discrimination of the Irish, economic and moral ideologies all contributed to the British government's reaction to the famine. This paper evaluates how British adherence to these ideologies increased Irish suffering and aligns with the definition of genocide as defined by the 1948 Genocide Convention

U.S. Supported Corporations And Modern Imperialism: America's Takeover Of Hawaii, Lance D. Crafton

Young Historians Conference

In 1893, the constitutional monarchy of Hawaii was overthrown and replaced with a government backed by the United States, opening the door for America to claim Hawaii as a territory and later annex it as the 50^th state. The story of Hawaii illuminates the extent of U.S. influence abroad and reveals the true nature of how America began its 20th century imperialism. This paper explores the takeover of the islands as well as various American reactions to it, uncovering the social, political, and economic factors that shaped Hawaii’s future.

Christianity's Influence On Attitudes Toward Homosexuality In The Roman Empire, Jennie Jiang

Young Historians Conference

Attitudes towards sexuality are deeply influenced by the intricate interplay between religion and social values. How do polytheistic and monotheistic societies differ in how they view sexuality? In the pre-Christian days of the early Roman Empire, polytheism fostered a remarkable tolerance toward both same-sex relations and various expressions of sexuality, as evident in social expectations, literature, and written law. In contrast, a closer examination of the Roman Empire’s transition from a polytheistic to Christian society in the 4^th and 5^th centuries reveals that the rise of Christianity corresponded with, and likely contributed to, increasingly strict attitudes towards homosexuality.

Livia's Power In Ancient Rome, Tori L. Allen

Young Historians Conference

When one thinks of the ancient Roman heroes, Caesar and Augustus come to mind. We picture Roman men on the front lines in culture and society, while the women are kept back and oppressed. And while women definitely faced obstacles in ancient Rome, it didn't stop them from making an impact. This paper argues that Livia, wife of Roman emperor Augustus, was able to secretly manipulate politics in Rome as a mother and a wife, as seen in honorific statues, Ovid's poetry, and honorific titles.

The Enigma Of The Spartan Woman, Jalena M. Post

Young Historians Conference

Active in both social and economic spheres, Spartan women possessed much more mobility than their counterparts in Athens. In the areas of education, the arts, land ownership, marriage, and family life, the women of Sparta enjoyed a large amount of sovereignty when compared to other ancient societies. The absence of Spartan men during almost constant times of war necessitated women taking on more responsibility than they would have otherwise, but to what extent? This paper strives to characterize the unique role of the women of Sparta during the classical period of Greek history, especially as in contrast to their Athenian …

Power Structure, Nathaniel Klein

Young Historians Conference

By today's standards morally reprehensible subjects are difficult to examine, however, from a historical perspective topics such as infanticide offer insight into individual behavior, therefore reflecting societal norms. This paper explores the practice of infanticide used during the course of the 7th century BCE to reinforce the power structures of the period. Infanticide was far more than a simple way to dispose of unwanted offspring; it was a tool that was used by ancient Greek societies to maintain systems of control and promote social values upon which society depended.

25th Annual Young Historians Conference, Portland State University History Department, Portland State University Challenge Program

Young Historians Conference

This is the 2015 Young Historians Conference schedule and abstracts.

"Children Need Protection Not Perversion": The Rise Of The New Right And The Politicization Of Morality In Sex Education In Great Britain, 1968-1989, Miriam Corinne Morehart

Dissertations and Theses

Two competing forms of sex education and the groups supporting them came to head in the 1970s and 1980s. Traditional sex education retained an emphasis on maintaining Christian-based morality through marriage and parenthood preparation that sex education originally held since the beginning of the twentieth century. Liberal sex education developed to openly discuss issues that reflected recent legal and social changes. This form reviewed controversial subjects including abortion, contraception and homosexuality. Though liberal sex education found support from national family planning organizations and Labour politicians, traditional sex education found a more vocal and powerful ally in the New Right.

This …

A View To Women’S Networks In The Arts In Portland: Building And Engaging An Audience For The Artist Rosemarie Beck, Jenna Barganski

Lyric Truth: Rosemarie Beck

Essay on building an audience for the Rosemarie Beck art exhibit and multidisciplinary symposium.