Cultural History Commons^™

Armstrong, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

How does it end for Lance Armstrong? “Not with a bang but a whimper.” Although T.S. Eliot did not know Lance Armstrong, it is an interesting coincidence that Eliot’s 1925 poem, from which this line is taken, is titled “The Hollow Men.” If you were someone who idolized Armstrong and believe now that he is guilty and there is a blot on his entire career, then he will indeed seem as one of those Hollow Men.

The King Of Rock, Roll N' Interpretation, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

Last week was "Elvis Week" in Memphis. I don't know that because I follow Elvis. In fact, I really can't stand Elvis Presley's music. About as far as I can go down that road is listening to "Suspicious Minds," every so often. Nothing else really speaks to me. [excerpt]

"...Our Hearts Tell Us There Is Something Else Out There.": Prowling The Halls Of The Mib, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

In the basement corridor of the Main Interior Building in Washington, D.C. is the most beautiful painting I've even seen. I've gotten the chance on a couple of occasions, while visiting the Department of the Interior Headquarters for meetings and whatnot for work to wander down outside of the cafeteria to see the mural. It is pure beauty, mostly forgotten and ignored by the folks who work in that building everyday. I get these weird looks while I stand in awe of the massive canvas, like I shouldn't stop and stare. I don't care. I take pictures. I gawk. My …

Olympics, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

So it has ended. A bit over two weeks, a fortnight of intense athletic competition with spectacular performances, highs and lows, and way too much national naval gazing by the host nation and by NBC on behalf of the USA. That said, it was at the sporting level a wonderful two weeks of competition.

Transcript Of The Kiwanda Fish Company, Kristina Hogevoll, Martin Knopf

All Story Transcripts

This story is an excerpt from a longer interview that was collected as part of the Launching through the Surf: The Dory Fleet of Pacific City project. In this story, Kristina Hogevoll briefly describes her family’s first fishing company in Pacific City and then describes, in great detail, the work involved in their second, larger company, the Kiwanda. Marty Knopf describes how the Kiwanda Fish Company looked out for all the fishermen and how that contributed to the special Pacific City dory community.

Thinking Fourth Dimensionally: How Battlefields Become Deloreans, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

I have written before of my intense love for Back to the Future III. Part of the reason that film resonates with my movie-going soul is my abiding love of the 19th century. Part of me wishes I could hop into a Stainless-Steel Delorian and visit the past for a short stint. I'm pretty sure I'm too much of a pansy to last very long in the world of latrines and muddy water, but I'd love to see the past for even just one fleeting moment. [excerpt]

"Round Eye" At The Wall: The Power Of What We Call Things, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

I went on a battlefield tour this weekend with Garry Adelman. It was an amazing experience, as any tour with Garry is, because he delves into how we conceptualize landscapes just as much as what happened on those landscapes 150 years ago. My mind was churning the entire time. Of anyone, both those who work for those places and those who just generally love those places, Garry (and his partner in crime Tim Smith) is tops on the list of most effective living time machines. Like always, Garry got me thinking on 15 different levels, and I'd wager that the …

Hal Lindsey's The Late, Great Planet Earth And The Rise Of Popular Premillennialism In The 1970s, Cortney S. Basham

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

How people think about the end of the world greatly affects how they live in the present. This thesis examines how popular American thought about “the end of the world” has been greatly affected by Hal Lindsey’s 1970 popular prophecy book The Late, Great Planet Earth. LGPE sold more copies than any other non-fiction book in the 1970s and greatly aided the mainstreaming of “end-times” ideas like the Antichrist, nuclear holocaust, the Rapture, and various other concepts connected with popular end-times thought. These ideas stem from a specific strain of late-nineteenth century Biblical interpretation known as dispensational premillennialism, which …

Lincoln Speeches, Allen C. Guelzo, Richard Beeman

Gettysburg College Faculty Books

As president, Abraham Lincoln endowed the American language with a vigor and moral energy that have all but disappeared from today’s public rhetoric. His words are testaments of our history, windows into his enigmatic personality, and resonant examples of the writer’s art. Renowned Lincoln and Civil War scholar Allen C. Guelzo brings together this volume of Lincoln Speeches that span the classic and obscure, the lyrical and historical, the inspirational and intellectual. The book contains everything from classic speeches that any citizen would recognize—the first debate with Stephen Douglas, the “House Divided” Speech, the Gettysburg Address, the Second Inaugural Address—to …

Captivity, Adoption, Marriage And Identity: Native American Children In Mormon Homes, 1847-1900., Michael Kay Bennion

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Indigenes of North America's Great Basin developed a way of life based on the available resources the Basin provided. Their culture and customs provided a stable means of understanding and interacting with nature and men. Their myths elaborated on expectations, hopes, and fears, in real and metaphorical ways, as evidenced by stories of the trickster Coyote. As Great Basin bands contacted Europeans, they adjusted their resource gathering based on new technologies, such as horses and guns, as well as their myths to cope with change. This process entailed some adjustment in their perceptions of the world around them and …

Fifty Shades Of Blue And Grey: Civil War Torture Porn?, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

Over the past few days I've been thinking about violence. We are a culture of violence. We idolize blind rage and violence, we normalize it and worship it....

We, as a collective American culture, promote violence, normalize it as the proper reaction to any given problem and outright encourage it. [excerpt]

Punishment, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

After the Freeh Report was issued there was an outcry demanding that the NCAA do something to punish Penn State University. Many called for the death penalty. Others complained about the failure of the NCAA to act immediately. Then on Monday morning when the NCAA President, Mark Emmert, announced the judgment and punishment of Penn State the outcry was that the NCAA acted too quickly. It was a rush to judgment by Emmert and his colleagues. What happened to due process?

Transcript Of Creating The Dory Days Posters, Carol M. Johnson

All Story Transcripts

This story is an excerpt from an interview collected as part of the Launching through the Surf: The Dory Fleet of Pacific City project. The on-the-spot interview was conducted on the beach at Cape Kiwanda during Dory Days 2012. In this story, Carol Miles Johnson, Pacific City artist and dorywoman, describes the inspiration and process involved in the design of her series of Dory Days posters, which she began creating in 2004.

An 1858 Patent Office Report: The Joy Of Being Wrong, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

I love being wrong. I think every historian should love that feeling. Finding that one small piece of evidence that puts a crack in your perception of the past and makes you restructure your view of the flow of history is a joy.

I had one of those moments a few weeks ago at Adams County Historical Society, digging through the vertical files for random things. I go digging every week or so, simply immersing myself in the raw material of the past and seeing what floats to the surface. [excerpt]

Psu Report, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

After reading the summaries and commentaries on the Freeh Report detailing the elements of scandal at Penn State University, I am surprised that I am surprised by what has been revealed. My cynicism after nearly a half century of involvement with administrators at institutions of higher education and bloated athletic programs should have left me immune to both the surprise and disgust that this affair had evoked in me. What has not surprised me is the deviousness of the principal players in this scandal, the cynicism with which they approached the issues, and the continuing reaction to it all.

M'Er F'Ing History: Speaking In Our Audience's Language, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

I was talking to Jake the other night about Cookie Monster. Really, we were talking about the theory behind Cookie Monster's latest strategic move and how we could all learn a thing or two from him. Which move was that? The short, furry blue monster's brilliant foray into pop culture with "Share It Maybe," the music video parody of Carly Rae Jepsen's song "Call Me Maybe." In one day, Cookie has racked up 2.3 million hits on the less-than-four-minute video. [excerpt]

Nelson, James S. (Fa 161), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 161. This collection contains a master’s thesis entitled “Hillbilly Music and Early Live Radio Programming In Bowling Green and Glasgow, Kentucky: Country Music as a Local Phenomenon,” written by James Nelson in January 1994 for the department of Modern Languages and Intercultural Studies at Western Kentucky University. Also included is a cassette tape of old-time music from south central Kentucky entitled “Railroad Through the Smoky Mountains,” by Jim Bowles, as well as an obituary for Jonell F. Simunick.

Guest Post: John Rambo Fights The Civil War, Aaron Urbanski

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

Today we offer another of our “Guest Post Wednesday” extras, with some meditations on Rambo from Aaron Urbanski. Yeah, we’re not kidding... Rambo. Aaron is a graduate of the GMU American History Masters program and alumnus Ranger of the NPS. [excerpt]

Wimbledon, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

The term “historic” is often used in describing any number of sporting events. It is sometimes used to exaggerate the significance of an event, often in order to promote it. There are times, though, when the term is not only appropriate, but indeed, required. The Gentleman’s Final at Wimbledon today was historic in a number of ways.

Ring The Bells: "Happy 149th Birthday, America!", John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

Friend of the blog and stalwart DC area historian Aaron Urbanski posted a pithy update to his Facebook wall on Monday, a status update which has infected my brain over the past couple days. The idea is so infectious, so amazingly simple yet profound that I'm shamelessly stealing it and blowing it up to epic proportions. [excerpt]