Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

"They Would Do As They Pleased, As They Had The Power": Gender Violence And The American Settler-Colonial Project, 1830-1890, Noelle Iati

Women's History Theses

This thesis investigates the role of gender violence and sexual terror in westward settler expansion of the United States in the nineteenth century. I posit that gender violence was not simply a symptom of war and colonization, but an integral piece of the American colonization strategy. Using studies of three locations during three different periods, I have found that the local, territorial, state, and federal governments all actively deployed sexual assault and other forms of gendered terror as methods of removing Indigenous peoples to reservations and rancherías, opening their lands to settlement and resource exploitation for the purpose of acquiring …

Addressing Maternal Mortality Rates Of Black Women In The Us: California's Example, Selah Laigo

Humanities and Cultural Studies | Senior Theses

This essay examines California’s legislation, activism, and the role of women’s clinics in serving Black communities in the fight against maternal mortality. Maternal mortality is a death related to pregnancy or childbirth. In the United States, maternal mortality rates have been increasing since the beginning of the 21st century and there is a significant racial disparity with Black women being at greater risk. Despite national rates increasing, California has managed to decrease maternal mortality rates (MMR) since the early 2000s by adopting legislation and policies that work to decrease preventable deaths, multidisciplinary maternity care for the protection of Black women, …

Bedrock And Boulder Mortars, Basins, Slicks, And Cupules In The Southern Southwest, Allen Dart, Chris Reed

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

This article describes mortars, basins, slicks, and cupules created in bedrock and boulders in the Southern Southwest, and discusses the distribution and possible functions of these features. It defines the Southern Southwest as the region of the U.S. south of 34 degrees north latitude that includes the Califor­nia portion of the Lower Colorado River valley and southern portions of Arizona and New Mexico, and the portion of western Texas that includes El Paso, Hudspeth, Culber­son, Loving, Winkler, Ward, Reeves, and Jeff Davis counties (roughly the part of Texas from El Paso eastward just past the south­eastern corner of New Mexico, …

Institutionalizing Environmental Justice: Race, Place, And The National Environmental Policy Act, Keith K. Miyake

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation, I examine ways that the US National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and its primary enforcement mechanism, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, have reshaped the state as a site for racial and environmental conflict by institutionalizing a particular form of environmental justice within governmental decision making processes. Combining archival methods and legal analysis, I develop three case studies involving community struggles over the social production of space that each engage the EIA process to different effect. The case studies were selected based on what they reveal about the ways that the environmental justice framework intersects …

‘Reclamation Road’: A Microhistory Of Massacre Memory In Clear Lake, California, Jeremiah J. Garsha

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This article is a microhistory of not only the massacre of the indigenous Pomo people in Clear Lake, California, but also the memorialization of this event. It is an examination of two plaques marking the site of the Bloody Island massacre, exploring how memorial representations produce and silence historical memory of genocide under emerging and shifting historical narratives. A 1942 plaque is contextualized to show the co-option of the Pomo and massacre memory by an Anglo-American organization dedicated to settler memory. A 2005 plaque is read as a decentering of this narrative, guiding the viewer through a new hierarchy of …

Creating The Black California Dream: Virna Canson And The Black Freedom Struggle In The Golden State’S Capital, 1940-1988, Kendra M. Gage

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation examines the black struggle for racial equality in the Golden State’s capital from 1940-1988 and an integral leader of the movement, Virna Canson. Canson fought for nearly fifty years to dismantle discriminatory practices in housing, education, employment and worked to protect consumers. Her lifetime of activism reveals a different set of key issues people focused on at the grassroots level and shows how the fight for freedom in California differed from the South because the state’s discriminatory practices were harder to pinpoint. Her work and the larger black community’s activism in Sacramento also reveals how the black freedom …

Mexican-Americans In Los Angeles: Strengthening Their Ethnic Identity Through Chivas Usa, Stephanie Goldberger

CMC Senior Theses

A large Mexican-American population already exists in Los Angeles and, with each generation, it continues to rise. This Mexican-American community has maintained its connection to its heritage by playing and watching soccer, Mexico’s top watched sport. In this thesis, I analyze how Major League Soccer's Chivas USA serves as an outlet through which many Mexicans in Los Angeles have developed their ethnic identities. Since the early twentieth century, Mexicans in Los Angeles have created separate residential communities and sports organizations to strengthen their connections with one another.

To appeal to Mexican-Americans, Chivas USA has branded itself closely to its sister …

Bullington, Mose (Fa 207), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 207. Paper: "Personal Narratives Related to Natural Disasters" written by Mose Bullington for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class.

Canepa Family: Thomas Canepa (Youth), Lucy Buck

Italian American Stories

As the alarm sounds, a teenager wakes up from his slumber and begins his daily routine. It is Friday morning, so after school, he’ll be able to hang out with his friends. Unfortunately, the teen, Thomas Canepa, won't be able to stay out late. The next day is Saturday, and he has to work. When he was younger, Thomas relished the freedom of playing with his friends without having any family obligations. But at age 16, Thomas has a part time job at the family business, a car wash where he pumps gas and prints receipts for customers…

Podesta Family: James (Ernie) Podesta (Elder), Brent Kaufman

Italian American Stories

James Ernest Podesta, or “Ernie” as most people call him, is today in his 80s, the proud patriarch of an Italian American family. He has traveled a long road from his adolescence when he was uncomfortable with his ethnicity, to success as an adult in business and in the broader community. His parents were immigrants from Northern Italy. They chose Northern California because its climate and terrain were similar to what they had known in Italy. They were part of the second wave of Italians to migrate to Calfornia, and like others who came with them, hailed from a rural …

Podesta Family: Pamela Salmon (Middle), Chris Bauer

Italian American Stories

Pamela Salmon wants her children and grandchildren to know that farming is a wonderful way to bring families together and to feel closer to the earth. To Pam, farming is much more than a business. Its special rewards cannot be measured in dollars and cents…

Podesta Family: Kathleen Salmon (Youth), Jessica D'Anza

Italian American Stories

Kathleen Salmon is that rare young American who thoroughly enjoys being rooted in family life. Now, 20 years old, she loves her Italian American family, its customs, teachings and celebrations. As an only child, Kathleen Salmon was the center of her parents attention. Raised on a farm in Linden, she was part of a loving, extended family. She came to value rural life—the natural surroundings and the integration of work and home. She has never rebelled against her background, but instead prided herself on the strengths and values that have framed her world…

Canepa Family: Remo Canepa (Elder), Regina Beltrama

Italian American Stories

During his first 18 years, Remo Canepa lived the conventional life of an only child. As the twinkle in mother’s eye, and the future of the family name, Remo was the source of pride and joy for his parents. They wanted only the best for him, as most parents do. But the day would soon come, when he would have to stand on his own…

Canepa Family: Steven J. Canepa (Middle), Christopher Anderson

Italian American Stories

Many early Italian immigrants to Stockton were entrepreneurs and quite industrious. Steven’s grandfather was a partner in a thriving grocery/delicatessen, and his father founded Canepa’s car wash, which has remained a family business. As others from Steven’s generation, Italians had the choice either to begin their own careers or to join an established family enterprise. At the age of 10, Steven began helping out in his father's car wash business. After he began working, he noticed his family began to treat him more like an adult…

Lo Family: Chue Lo (Elder), Nancy Snider

Hmong American Stories

At the age of 55, Chue Lo is the elder of his family. Chue was born in Laos the second of six children. While his parents might have known a time of stability in Laos, Chue and his siblings grew up with difficult and unstable conditions caused by a period of political unrest. Despite this, Chue’s parents insisted he continue to attend school. In his studies, he learned to speak several languages in addition to his native Hmong. According to Chue, there are no specific rituals to signify coming-of-age. His family recognized him as an adult when he had completed …

Lo Family: Shoua Lo (Middle), Amy E. Smith

Hmong American Stories

Coming-of-age can happen abruptly, through a single experience—or it can be a process. For Shoua Lo, a cheerful man who laughs easily, the process began at age 19, when he decided to marry and start a family of his own. For Americans of all ethnicities, starting a family is a rite of passage that can open the door of adulthood. When you have children of your own, it is harder to continue to think of yourself as a child. Shoua, born the second oldest in a family of seven sons and three daughters, knew very well what sort of responsibilities …

Lo Family: Teng Lo (Elder), Amy E. Smith

Hmong American Stories

“If you work like a slave first—eventually, you’ll get to eat and live like a leader. If you eat and live like a leader first—eventually, you’ll have to eat and live like a slave.”

These are words of wisdom, words that anyone can learn from. They’re words that Teng Lo has never forgotten. Now seventy years old, he has learned many things in life—but those words, spoken by his Hmong elders, are as meaningful today as when he first heard them, years ago and in a very different place, as a twelve-year-old boy.

Lo Family: William Yang (Youth), Christina Conrardy

Hmong American Stories

Seeing San Francisco for the first time, at the age of three, after immigrating from Loas will always be a special memory for William Yang now age 16. The sky scrapers of San Francisco were a great contrast to the jungles and life he had just left. In Laos, he lived with his family in a typical rural village where the houses were made of bamboo, thatched roofs and had dirt floors. The villagers would work in their fields to gather food, which they cooked on an open fire. Leaving his parents behind, accompanied only by his grandfather, the trip …

Lo Family: Toubee Yang (Middle), Andrew Gelber

Hmong American Stories

Toubee Yang is a Stockton citizen who traveled over the ocean from his birthplace to find a new home and culture that he now embraces. His life is memorable partly because of the experiences he has had traveling and learning about the culture of the United States. His story is about a family broken in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, of a child growing up in a nation that did not readily respect his heritage, and also as a refugee in a totally foreign environment…

Lo Family: John Lo (Youth), Jillian Altfest

Hmong American Stories

John Lo’s parents were often away from the home, so John took on the parental responsibilities when they were gone. By age 13, he cooked, cleaned and took care of his younger brothers and sisters. Older siblings were not available to help. Although often frustrated, he accepted these responsibilities. Looking back he feels he did a good job; in fact, this may have been his first step toward adulthood…

Juanitas Family: Eudosia Juanitas (Elder), Tucker Corriveau

Filipino American Stories

Eudosia Juanitas is a registered nurse among a family of physicians, pharmacists and scientists. Upon first glance, it might appear that Eudosia simply took advantage of the opportunities presented to a woman in a privileged family. However, deeper inspection reveals a woman who has fought against difficult odds to create a life of realized dreams…

Juanitas Family: P. Felomina Hufana (Middle), Gina Beltrama

Filipino American Stories

Football games, pep rallies, basketball games, and dances—these are the memories that Felomina cherishes most about her past. Coming from a large family of seven children, there was always something going on in the Juanitas’ household. Attending cultural events, along with high school activities, was a significant part of life for Felomina and it is something that she still treasures today…

Carido Family: Gloria Nomura (Middle), G. Lee

Filipino American Stories

Gloria Carido Nomura was the second to youngest child in a large, close-knit family. Until she was 11 years old, Gloria spent her days as did many youngsters: doing a few chores, but mostly going to school and playing with her friends. Sometimes, she would daydream about what she would do when she got older—places she might visit, where she might attend school, jobs she might attain. As a child, there was always an adult to supervise and guide her…

Juanitas Family: Catherine Hufana (Youth), Lori Iwamasa

Filipino American Stories

Catherine Hufana grew up in Stockton, California. Her Filipino culture runs deep in her family and she has always felt “Filipino.” However, after visiting the Phillipines in 1992, Catherine realized that she identified much more strongly with Americans than native Filipinos. As an American, Catherine’s upbringing was much different than her parents. She was raised in a household that spoke mostly English, although her parents are bilingual. As Catherine struggled to fit in with her American peers, her parents continued to introduce her to their own Filipino culture…

Carido Family: Kathleen Nomura (Youth), G. Lee

Filipino American Stories

Although she’s now well past the age of maturity, Kathleen Nomura thinks that her elders in her large extended family do not yet see her as an adult. In reply to the question, “When did your family start treating you like an adult?” with a good-natured laugh, she answers, “They still don’t.” Yet, there were milestones along the way that indicated to her she was becoming an adult—being able to drive, moving away from home, and having to be responsible for her own bills. It was a long process, which has not reached a culmination in their minds, although she …

Carido Family: Camila Carido (Elder), G. Lee

Filipino American Stories

Camila Carido’s early years prepared her well for the adult responsibilities that were thrust upon her. Born in 1910, in the village of Hinundayan, Leyte in the Phillipine Islands, she and three sisters were left behind with their mother, Macaria, when her father emigrated to the U.S. Without a father in the house, mother and children had to fend for themselves in the coastal plains in the island where they lived…

Wong Family: Nancy Wong (Elder), May Lin

Chinese American Stories

Nancy Wong was born in Ung Hong village, Toy San District, China, to a restaurant owner and housewife. Growing up, Nancy felt like a child who did not know much about the world. When Nancy was seven, her mother left Nancy and her younger brother to travel to the U.S. Nancy and her brother Donald, were left with their grandmother. At age nine, her grandmother sent her to school. When Nancy was 15, her mother returned to China with three sisters and four brothers for which Nancy was to care. This began her adulthood in her mind…

Wong Family: Kecia Won-Jones (Youth), Tucker Corriveau

Chinese American Stories

Growing up, Kecia Won-Jones experienced a plethora of cultures. She is Chinese, but was born and raised in a multi-cultural America. Though she is a third generation Chinese American, she feels a strong connection to her ethnic past. On the other hand, she confesses that her parents were assimilated into American culture, and that she has lived only in this country. Kecia likes to think she has the better of two worlds. Kecia is grateful for the opportunity to celebrate her cultural traditions as well as those of others. Navigating diversity has been one of her paths to maturity…

Wong Family: Debbie Nozuka (Youth), Riley Buck

Chinese American Stories

In October 1915, a brave man left his home country of China to come to America in search of something better in “Gum San,” the land of the “Golden Hills.” Because of this man, Debbie was given the opportunity to begin her life in the U.S. This man was her grandfather. “As a family, people share a unique bond, ” Debbie explains. “Even though I cannot communicate well with my…older relatives because of a language barrier, I cherish and value the time I spend with them…”

Wong Family: Sandra Won (Middle), Oksana Ivashchenko

Chinese American Stories

Growing up in a close-knit Chinese family, Sandra Won had a happy upbringing with parents who didn’t impose adult roles on her. They made sure that she had time to be a child, to play and to experience a wide variety of activities. Her entrance into adulthood was gradual and, in her mind, was marked by a variety of ordinary events in her life…