History Commons^™

From Social Improvement To Scientific Racism: The Effects Of World War I On The Definition Of Racial Hygiene In Germany, Robyn Lee Hendrick

Masters Theses

During the First World War, there was a decisive change in the focus of the racial hygiene movement in Germany. Prior to the war, the terms "racial hygiene" and "eugenics" were synonymous. In contrast, during and after World War I while eugenics continued to be recognized as a "science" in Germany, as well as in other Western European countries and the United States, the racial hygiene movement was becoming increasingly racist. Although, as the term implies, racial hygiene included racial components, the radically racist overtones did not become prevalent until the Nazis' rise to power. Racial hygienists separated themselves from …

"Far, Fast, And Fashionable": American Women Swimmers And Their Swimwear In 1920s And 1930s Sport And Consumer Culture, Elizabeth A. Zanoni

Masters Theses

This thesis examines American aquatic stars of public acclaim as displayers of clothing, and how their changing swimwear shaped the debate over physical culture, femininity, modesty, and gender roles in sport and consumer culture during the 1920s and 1930s. Performing in shortened, functional athletic attire, leading swimmers and divers conveyed cultural messages about athleticism and femininity through their athletic accomplishments and their multiple representations of the female body clothed in swimming attire. It also considers how these female aquatic luminaries, in a sphere traditionally defined as male, shaped American culture by providing a public platform from which the entire sporting …

Atomic Childhood: An Analysis Of The Impact Of The Manhattan Project On The Children Of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, John David Prince

Masters Theses

The city of Oak Ridge was one of three major project sites built by the US Army during the Manhattan Project – the top-secret mission started in June 1942 in order to develop an atomic bomb within a three year period. The Oak Ridge site, chosen in September 1942, was responsible for the production of the uranium that armed the world’s first atomic bomb. Prior to the dropping of the atomic bomb, however, the real mission of Oak Ridge was known to only a few select individuals. Indeed, most of the residents and workers at the production plants in Oak …

Defining Peaceful Picketing: The Michigan Supreme Court And The Labor Injunction, 1900-1940, Coreen Derifield

Masters Theses

In a ruling which would stand for nearly half a century, the Michigan Supreme Court decided in 1898 that pickets and boycotts were inherently violent activities, and declaring them illegal, the Court sanctioned the injunction to restrict their use during a strike. This thesis traces the Court's rulings across these forty years, analyzing how these cases functioned, assessing their impact on union activity, and charting the role of the Michigan Supreme Court in legal procedure. Examining the Court's rulings in three different geographic, social, and cultural environments from the early 1900s to the 1930s, the thesis argues that the Michigan …

Aspects Of Fatherhood In Thirteenth-Century Encyclopedias, Philip Grace

Masters Theses

The thesis examines the treatment of fatherhood in Thomas of Cantimpré's Liber de Natura Rerum, Bartholomaeus Anglicus' De Proprietatibus Rerum, and Vincent of Beauvais' Speculum Maius, all of whom were influential mendicant encyclopedists writing between 1240 and 1260. The study examines sections on anatomy, the ages of man, family relations, and the theology of marriage. The thesis argues that the anatomical concept of heat functioned as a metaphor for masculinity, strength and intelligence, and linked together such aspects of fatherhood as the father's formative role in conception and the responsibility to instill virtue in and provide for …

Appointing Stability In An Age Of Crisis: Lord Charles Cornwallis And The British Imperial Revival, 1780-1801, Bradley S. Benefield

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the ideological impetus to the founding of the second British Empire. The loss of the thirteen North American colonies left the British Empire in a state of crisis. Yet, by the early nineteenth century, the British Empire was once again in a position of global dominance. Many historians have theorized over how Britain united to face and overcome this period of crisis. One historian, C.A. Bayly, has argued that British elites rallied behind a progressive conservative ideology, which became the prerequisite to the founding of the second British Empire. To test this …

Southern Normal?: An Exploration Of Integration In A Deep South Town: Brewton, Alabama, 1954-1971, Anna Catherine Mcdonald

Masters Theses

This study was conducted in order to identify possible reasons for the successful integration of Brewton, Alabama’s school system. Unlike many other towns in South Alabama, Brewton chose not to create a private school as an alternative to attending an integrated public facility. Known as “white flight” schools, these private institutions are still a viable factor in the education of Southern children. Although Brewton had the money and the resources to create such a school, it did not. This thesis seeks to understand why.

Two factors are central to approaching Brewton as a topic of research. One is Brewton’s wealthy …

To Disturb The People As Little As Possible: The Desegregation Of Memphis City Schools, Kira Virginia Duke

Masters Theses

This study will look at how school desegregation in Memphis unfolded according to the phases of desegregation as argued by J. Harvie Wilkinson in From Brown to Bakke and in relation to the evolution of the Supreme Court’s interpretation of Brown’s meaning. This study will also examine how mob violence was avoided as desegregation took place in the city. Evidence for this study was gathered from the oral histories of Judge Robert McRae and Maxine Smith, executive secretary of the Memphis chapter of the NAACP, newspaper coverage, NAACP records, and John Egerton’s report to the Southern Regional Council as …

Willie, Waylon, And Me: Mythopoetic Narratives In Outlaw Country Music, Charles Robert Wurl

Masters Theses

The primary objective of this thesis is to analyze the role of masculinity in Outlaw country music as part of a constantly changing ideal of American manhood. The secondary objective is to understand the distinct southern affiliation inherent in Outlaw country music and how that related to the movement. Accordingly, this thesis represents an effort at continuing the larger historiographical development generated by the introduction of men’s studies into contemporary scholarship. The analysis of masculinity within a historical framework provides a chance to examine factors that shape cultural perceptions of society and the individual’s place within it. Scholars of men’s …

Ideology And Genocide On The Eastern Front, Elizabeth Grace Dunham

Masters Theses

This thesis considers one of the most widely debated topics in modern European history: why the men of the Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing squads following the Wehrmacht as they advanced into Russia) participated in massacres of supposedly “undesirable” people. Although this topic has been discussed for many years, to date there has been no definitive consensus formed. This thesis examines issues of the official SS publication Das Schwarze Korps and records from the Nuremburg Trials (contained in the Winfield B. Hale papers in the University of Tennessee’s Special Collections Library) in order to bring both new evidence and a new opinion …

A Preliminary Study Of The Kaogong Ji (The Book Of Artificers), Hanmo Zhang

Masters Theses

The focus of this paper is on the ancient Chinese text of the Kaogong ji, which is now included in the Zhouli as one of its chapters. Through a careful comparison between the Kaogong ji and the rest of the Zhouli and through a synthetic analysis of academic discussions of the completion date and authorship of the Kaogong ji, this paper attempts to show that the Kaogong ji had been an independent text before its inclusion. It goes on to disprove the argument that the Kaogong ji was forged by the Han scholar Liu Xin as political propaganda. …