History Commons^™

The Committee On Public Information And The Four Minute Men: How The United States Sold A European War To American People, Madison Mcternan

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

Shortly after America’s entry into World War I, President Woodrow Wilson created the Committee on Public Information to garner public support for the War. This committee was created not only to drum up support for the war, but to ease a public frustrated by an isolationist president’s entry into such a conflict. Notable reporter and writer George Creel served as its chairman, and together with countless others created a massive propaganda campaign. The Committee was incredibly successful in its mission of “selling the war.” This was largely due to the fact that Creel and his men revolutionized the way propaganda …

A Safavid Royal Bathhouse Uncovered: Re-Evaluation Of The Sa‘Ādatābād Garden Of Qazvin With New Archaeological Evidence, Sean Silvia

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

In 2019, archaeologists broke ground at the site of Shah Ṭahmāsp I’s Sa’ādatābād in Qazvin, a royal garden and palace complex finished in 1557. There they discovered remains of a Safavid bathhouse. There have been many recent efforts to reconstruct Sa’ādatābād as it originally was, but none of them include the recently unearthed baths in their models. The archaeological team’s dig reports also do not perform this sort of analysis. This paper will consider historical and archaeological evidence to incorporate the bathhouse discovery into the reconstruction of Sa’ādatābād. It will situate the baths within the context of a garden city, …

8:46, Riell Swann

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

The multimedia poetic work, 8:46, attempts to shed light on the lengthy history of systemic racism in America. Through curated images meant to visually represent the spoken word, this creative piece guides the viewer through this reality via the eyes of the most enigmatic and stereotyped figures of modern times, a young black man. This poetic work seeks to enlighten others, as to potentially cultivate a bridge of understanding and empathy. Despite background, creed, or color, discussion of the issues is the most direct method towards progress. Through the use of text and imagery, the hope of this poetic work …

African American Women In The Domestic Service Industry During Reconstruction. An Intersectional Analysis, Kathryn Small

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

African American Women in the Domestic Service Industry during Reconstruction. An Intersectional Analysis.

My paper focuses on the experiences of African American women, within the workplace, during Reconstruction. Whilst the Civil War resulted in the emancipation of the African American population, the day-to-day attainment of freedom posed a very different reality, most notably in respect of limited opportunities for economic advancement. All working women of this time were subjected to discrimination. However, black women were especially discriminated against due to their race. Most markedly, this can be seen in the fact that work opportunities available to black women were restricted …

Burr: An American Conspiracy, Kathleen J. Brett

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

Former vice president and political figure Aaron Burr was one of the most ambitious and controversial Americans of the early 18^th century. After killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel, plotted against the United States in order to create his own country. This plot became known as the Burr Conspiracy. Within this conspiracy, Burr consulted not only the Spanish for support, but America’s rival, England. Burr’s detailed scheming against his own country served as enough to arrest him under the charge of “high treason.” The trial proved to be crucial in American history, as the definition of “high treason” was …

Move: Philadelphia's Forgotten Bombing, Charles Abraham

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

On May 13^th, 1985, the city of Philadelphia erupted into flames. Under the orders of Mayor Wilson Goode, the Philadelphia Police Department dropped a bomb onto the rowhouse containing MOVE, a cult-like organization, on Osage Avenue in West Philadelphia causing a fire which killed eleven people, including five children, and burning down sixty-one other houses. But instead of the bombing ending his political career, Mayor Goode was reelected, and the bombing slipped into obscurity outside of Philadelphia. This major event in the history of Philadelphia was forgotten because of the lack of connection between the city and the …

Love, Sex, And Marriage In Ibn Battuta's Travels, Rachel Singer

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

Abu ‘Abdallah ibn Battuta was a Muslim legal scholar who traveled nearly 73,000 miles in the mid-fourteenth century and wrote a popular rihla, or travel diary, of his experiences. The rihla was a public and impersonal genre that traditionally contained little, if any, biographical material about its author. However, Ibn Battuta’s rihla includes detailed narratives about its author’s marriages, concubines, and sexual exploits. Although discussion of these themes is virtually unseen in other contemporary rihlas, few historians have discussed why Ibn Battuta breaks tradition to include this material.

This paper argues that Ibn Battuta describes his marital and …

From Complaisance To Collaboration: Analyzing Citizens’ Motives Near Concentration And Extermination Camps During The Holocaust, Jordan Green

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

The role of local peoples near concentration camps, extermination camps, and mass shooting sites in Europe during World War II is a widely unexplored area of the Holocaust. Although locals both knew of these sites and their purposes, many chose to be complaisant while others collaborated with the Nazi regime. Therefore, non-persecuted Germans and occupied peoples near the camps played a substantial role in the atrocities committed during the Holocaust. These civilians’ actions, or lack thereof, in response to the crimes against humanity before their eyes were driven by three main factors: economic gain, antisemitism, and fear. Regardless of motive, …

How Dumbledore Saved Europe: A Comparison Of Fascist Rhetoric In European History And In The Harry Potter Franchises, Emma Pederson, Natalie Rice

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

In recent years, the popularity of the Harry Potter franchise has seen a resurgence with the release of the first two Fantastic Beasts films and accompanying screenplays. As parallels have been drawn between Voldemort’s Death Eaters and Nazis, it is time to examine the relationship between Gellert Grindelwald and real-life fascists. Through such a comparison, we can see common rhetoric in both real and fictional fascism.

Gellert Grindelwald and Albus Dumbledore have not only a Nazi-like goal of racial purity, but employ Nazi-like language to defend themselves. Related fascist rhetoric is woven throughout other European history, particularly in the dialogues …

Blood, Meth, And Tears: The Super Soldiers Of World War Ii, Nicholas Racine

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

Day and night, soldiers in World War II were physically and mentally strained by fatigue and psychiatric distress. Consequently, many soldiers were left exhausted and demoralized. War efforts hinged on soldiers succeeding in missions, thus a fast-acting solution was needed. Development of the psychostimulant drugs Benzedrine and Pervitin in the 1920s and 30s spurred enthusiasm among scientists, the media, the public, and various governments. Potent and powerful, these drugs exert effects that promote wakefulness, elevated mood, and improved field performance. Governments quickly began researching use of stimulants to improve their war efforts. By the early 40s, both drugs had millions …

Bomb-Dropping Bombshells: An Analysis Of The Motivations And Accomplishments Of The All-Female 46th Taman Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment, Yasmine L. Vaughan

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

The 46^th Taman Guard Bombers Aviation Regiment was an all-female regiment of bomber pilots enlisted by the Soviet military during World War II. Nicknamed the Night Witches by Germans soldiers, they flew over 24,000 combat missions in three years and produced twenty-four Heroes of the Soviet Union. Although gender equality in Soviet Russia made this regiment possible, equality was not what made them successful. To understand their achievements, their motivations must be examined. When the Germans invaded, these women were driven by patriotism to join the fight. Enduring the harsh frontlines, this regiment owed their success to their …

Dorothea Lange: Capturing The Reality Of The Great Depression And New Deal Era, Laura H. Vandemark

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

Dorothea Lange’s training in traditional pictoralist photography combined with her growing passion for documentary photography allowed her work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) during the Great Depression and New Deal era to tell the stories of suffering Americans. While most well-known for her image entitled Migrant Mother, Lange’s work focused on representing her subject(s) with dignity and pride no matter the conditions surrounding them. Lange’s attention to creating authentic images and detailed field notes recorded conditions of migrant famers in the west and sharecroppers in the southwest. Her unique approach to the open ended FSA assignments allowed the FSA …

Hitler's Inconsistent Jazz Policy And How It Weakened His Control, Emmy Freedman

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

In my paper, I discuss Hitler’s ironclad regime and how jazz music played a role in weakening it. Jazz music, with its democratic style and history, served as the antithesis to Hitler’s favored classical compositions. Although he tried to control the music and its supporters, Hitler never fully understood the genre and therefore was never able to stop its spread across Germany. In the paper, I also discuss how jazz music played into race relations and its distinctions among the social strata. Jazz music and Hitler’s opposition to it also had an impact on technology, the 1936 Olympics and propaganda.

Useful By Nature, Defensive On Demand: Topography And Sieges Of Rome In The Gothic War, Peter Francis Sian Guevara

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

This project shows how the use of topographical elements impacted the development of siege warfare during the Gothic Wars in the 6^th century A.D. Scholars studied topography and archaeology within the context of warfare in Late Antique Italy but they omit non-natural topographical features such as tombs, bridges, and aqueducts. Analyses undertaken include comparison and contrast of the sieges that the city of Rome endured during the Gothic Wars of a contemporary eye-witness, the Greek historian Procopius of Caesarea. The analysis includes other sieges such as Ravenna and Rimini. Christopher Lillington-Martin’s essay Procopius on the Struggle for Dara in …

The Land Of Steady Habits: Anti-Abolition And The Preservation Of Slavery In Connecticut, Griffin R. Watson

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

This paper explores the history of slavery in Connecticut from its inception during the Pequot War in the 1630s to its abolishment in 1848. The research pays particular attention to the reasons for the persistence of slavery as a formal institution in Connecticut while so many other northern states had abolished it. What was uncovered is that slavery was not supported as much in Connecticut as abolition was opposed. The people of Connecticut saw immediate abolition as a threat to the preexisting social order, despite their view of slavery as immoral. Slavery persisted as a means of preventing social upheaval.

The Death Knell For Jim Crow: How African-American Soldiers’ Experiences Abroad Impacted The Modern Civil Rights Movement, Richard J. Sipe

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

This paper examines African-American soldiers’ experiences abroad in Europe during the Second World War and the occupation of Germany, and how these experiences affected their fight for Civil Rights on their return to the United States. The paper argues that the experiences of African-American soldiers in Europe, where they were free from Jim Crow Laws and treated with respect and equality by Europeans, created a new consciousness of equality that led to the demand for equal rights at home. The paper challenges traditional historical interpretations of the Civil Rights Movement by emphasizing the Movement’s international aspect. It accomplishes this by …

The Effect Of Religious Opposition On The Mexican-American War (1846-1848), April L. Pickens

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

The Effect of Religious Opposition on the Mexican-American War, 1846-1848

By April Pickens, History Major

James Madison University

The Mexican-American War began in dubious circumstances, and some Americans disagreed with “Polk’s War” from the beginning. But it was the united efforts of three Protestant denominations—the Congregationalists, the Unitarians, and the Quakers—that finally turned a large segment of the populace against the war. They were able to do this with their multiplying publications, which wielded significant influence in the religiously aware society that existed in America after the Second Great Awakening. When sufficient numbers of ordinary citizens and politicians began voicing …

A Movement On The Verge: The Spark Of Stonewall, Tiffany Renee Nelson

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

The presentation is concentrated on the Stonewall Riots and the movement that was furthered by the riots. A narrative of the riots is given as well as a description of the formation of the modern gay and lesbian liberation movement in the United States. Focused in the 1960’s-1980’s time period, an overview of the formation of organizations devoted to the LGBT community and gay rights is presented, in addition to marches that took place to raise awareness. Briefly mentioned are the outbreak of HIV/AIDS in the gay community and how the outbreak contributed to growing gay pride. The essay attempts …

The American Allies: The Impact Of The Oneida Involvement In The American Revolution, Ashlen M. Clark

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

The American Revolution extended its grasp far past the white men who started it, forcing Natives across the colonies to become involved. Soon after the beginning of the Revolution the Iroquois Six Nations of New York were drawn into the conflict and forced to choose between the Americans, the British, or attempts at neutrality. After the war the Iroquois Six Nations emerged divided, broken, and severely less powerful than when they entered the strife. This paper examines the impact of the American Revolution on this Iroquoian division, specifically focusing on the Oneida Indian Tribe and the effects of their alliance …

The Islamic State Of Iraq And The Levant (Isil): Combatting The Challenge Of Post-Modern Islamic Terrorism, Colin M. Bowie

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

Author: Colin Bowie

Academic Major(s): International Affairs and Justice Studies

Institution: James Madison University

Presentation Title: The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL): Combatting the Challenge of Postmodern Islamic Terrorism

Abstract: This 38-page white paper examines the causes behind the terrorist group ISIL and ultimately recommends a comprehensive policy to destroy the group and eliminate chances of its revival. The author reviews the history of Al Qaeda in Iraq and the unraveling of Syria during its civil conflict. ISIL’s rise, tactics and its manifestation as a group that actively holds territory is discussed. A literature review then analyzes …