History Commons^™

“Living Under Different Skies”: Misrepresenting Egyptian Education During The British Occupation In The North American Press, Shaymaa Zantout

Major Papers

During the British occupation from 1882 to 1922, Egypt saw the rise of colonial educational reforms, American missionary projects, and foreign-subsidized schools. Consequently, newspapers in North America reported extensively on these colonial educational excursions. In the view of correspondents, the so-called “enlightenment” of Egyptians was dependent on their adoption of Western moral ideals and instructional models. The main criticisms levelled at Egyptian education centred on what was viewed as the “incompetence” of native instructors and schools, namely Muslim ones, as well as the need for the modern education of young women. Moreover, Christian or Western schooling was posited as the …

Skating The Line: Transnational Hockey In The Interwar Windsor-Detroit Borderlands, Nicole Pillon

Major Papers

Scholarship on the role of ice hockey in the development of the Canadian identity has neglected the unique experience of border communities in their discussions of the relationship between the formation of hockey fandom and Canadian nationalism. Usually focused on large hockey communities in Canada such as Toronto and Montreal, these studies examine the “Canadian” experience of hockey without considering the multi-faceted nature of border cities that were exposed to both Canadian and American ice hockey clubs.

This paper argues that professional hockey fandom in the Windsor-Detroit borderlands demonstrated that Windsorites’ shared socio-cultural conditions with Detroit, Michigan made them identify …

"So Long As We Still Live: Polish Efforts In Establishing A Military Recruitment Center In North America During The Second World War.", Peter Sawicki

Major Papers

Following their retreat to Great Britain in 1940, the Polish government and its military sought out fresh reserves to reinforce their depleted armed forces. With mainland Europe being overrun by the enemy, the Poles turned to the prospect of recruiting from the Polish émigré community on the American continent (Polonia). A generation earlier, over 20,000 Polish-Americans had enlisted to fight for the liberation of their homeland in the Blue Army. Seeking to recreate this success, the Poles established a recruitment center in Windsor, Ontario and a training camp in Owen Sound, Ontario. Despite their efforts, by 1942, the Poles only …

“What Sort Of Man Reads Playboy?”: Gender, Heterosexuality, And Reader Letters In Playboy Magazine, 1953-1963, Kess Carpenter

Major Papers

Existing Playboy scholarship overlooks the significance of magazine’s audience outside of the bachelor subculture it fathered in the 1950s. In fact, consumers fitting Playboy’s desired readership of white, financially affluent, single men formed only a small percentage of its actual subscribers. This study makes evident that students, soldiers, sailors, military servicemen, middle- and working- class men, both single and married, as well as women, made up most of its readership. To date, no historical study has been conducted of reader letters to Playboy, which reveal the magazine’s significance to this audience.

This paper argues that postwar men used Playboy as …

Desertion And Discipline: How British Soldiers Influenced The Military Justice System During The Seven Years’ War, Ronnie Haidar

Major Papers

The academic examination of military justice is relatively new. Military history has focused on such topics as commanding officers, tactics, logistics, combat, and outcomes. However, exploring the theme of military discipline, by concentrating on relations between commissioned and enlisted ranks, engages the army as a social institution with its own internal power dynamic. Two historiographical interpretations on the subject have developed over the last few decades. One builds upon the orthodox view of discipline in the Early Modern Era as severe and punitive, portraying militaries as whipping men to war. Recently, revisionist historians have argued that over the 18^{th …}

Interracial Marriage In North America: A Case Study Of Interracial Relationships In Chatham-Ontario 1901-1921, Marsaydees Ferrell

Major Papers

This study investigates the practice and frequency of marriages amongst bi-racial couples in Chatham, Ontario between the years of 1901-1921. With the use of census, birth, marriage records, and oral interviews this study both highlights and analyzes the population density and settlement patterns of bi-racial couples settling in the Chatham area. This study emphasizes how external factors affected the population size and settlement patterns of these families. It also finds a gradual shift away from the use of terms indicating mixed-race heritage such as “mulatto” suggesting a hardening of racial lines. This gradual shift reflects power relations in regard to …

The Windsor Slasher: Homosexuality As A Changing Discourse In Media, Police, And Legal Records In Windsor, Ontario, 1945-1946, Melanie E. Namespetra

Major Papers

This paper directly focuses on homosexuality and its changing discourses in Windsor, Ontario in 1945 and 1946. Through a critical analysis of three primary sources including the Windsor Daily Star, the Windsor Police Departmental records, and the trial transcript Rex versus Ronald George Sears [1946], this paper attempts to show how the press, police, and legal authorities treated male homosexuality in this immediate postwar period.