United States History Commons^™

2 Comments On Gettysburg’S Stone Walls: Restoration Or Rehabilitation? “Wirz’S Jewelry”: Memories Of Captivity, Jessica Nicole Greenman

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

This post is part of a series featuring behind-the-scenes dispatches from our Pohanka Interns on the front lines of history this summer as interpreters, archivists, and preservationists. See here for the introduction to the series.

Captain Henry Wirz remains one of the most controversial figures in Andersonville’s history. One of just a handful of soldiers convicted of and executed for war crimes after the Civil War ended (not the only one, though perhaps the most notorious), he has taken on a dual identity in American memory as a remorseless criminal and an honorable martyr . Few physical reminders of Camp …

Chapin, Margaret (Terwillinger) (Sc 3239), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection SC 3239. Letter, 16 November 1862, of Margaret T. Chapin, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, to her husband, David S. Chapin, at Camp Despair in Kentucky. Margaret copies a section of a song from a hymnbook. David S. Chapin writes back to Margaret on the other side of the paper on 23 December 1862 from Camp Despair. He tells Margaret that she would receive his pension if he dies in the amount of $96 a year or $8 per month. He reminds her to send stamps in her …

Trouble's Clarion Call For Leaders: Jo Ann Robinson And The Montgomery Bus Boycott, Rita White Carver

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

Turbulent times are part of the human experience. They provide what Useem calls the "leadership moment" when one is given the opportunity to define who one is (1998). For Jo Ann Robinson, that leadership moment came personally in 1949, and publicly in 1955 when she transformed her trauma into a pro-social action of change (Williams and Allen, 2015). This article is a historical narrative inquiry into the life of Robinson who launched the Montgomery boycott and helped start the civil rights movement. The article tells the rest of the story beyond Parks and King, and explores the question: How did …

Iverson’S Assault: A Cautionary Tale, Abigail Cocco

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

In the fall, I had the incredible opportunity to work on developing a wayside for the 20th Maine at Little Round Top. Working on that wayside was really meaningful to me because it was an opportunity to tell the kind of story that has the potential to inspire in visitors a sense of national pride and appreciation for our past. Though my colleague and I tried to make clear that the fighting at Little Round Top was a bloody and savage fight, the story remains a heroic tale of brave men, exceptional leadership, and sacrifice for a higher purpose. This …

The Rise Of Political Factions In The United States: 1789–1795, William Wehrs

History Summer Fellows

Organized factions were something that did not arise with the creation of the United States. Rather, they slowly emerged during George Washington’s presidency. Initially, the Founding Fathers were highly resistant to the idea. There was resistance to political parties partly because of their association with the perceived dysfunctionality of England, and also because major influential thinkers like John Trenchard or David Hume were strongly against them. Soon, however, conflicts began to emerge. These stemmed from the conflicting views the Founding Fathers had on human nature. While Hamilton and Adams were both highly dubious about the trustworthiness of the common people, …

Moderate Resistance In "A Call For Unity": A Historical Perspective On Martin Luther King Jr.’S Prison Epistle, Noah D. Moore

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

In April of 1963, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a defense of non-violent direct action that students across the country read today. His "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" stands as the pinnacle of civil rights literature, but most people do not realize that it was more than a rhetorical device used to support his cause. Dr. King's letter was in fact a response to different letter, published in the Birmingham News by eight prominent, white clergymen on April 13, 1963. Their letter, "A Call for Unity," urged blacks to end the civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham. They …

100 Years Ago: The Death Of Quentin Roosevelt, Keith J. Muchowski

Publications and Research

This blog post focuses on the life and military career of Quentin Roosevelt. Lieutenant Roosevelt died in an aviation firefight in France on July 14, 2018, Bastille Day. He left behind his fiancee Flora Payne Whitney, an heir to the Whitney and Vanderbilt fortunes.

Morgan, William Montrose, 1842-1926 (Sc 3231), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3231. Letter, 2 February 1862, of William Montrose Morgan to his parents and sisters, of Wisconsin. From Camp Wood, Kentucky, he writes of the rainy and snowy weather; the number of soldiers sick in company regiments; he describes his regiment and his brigade commander as being the best in the division. He comments about the regiment being on guard duty and held in reserve to protect a bridge and ferry on Green River. He further reports that there are 20,000 men in his regiment under General Negley; …

Counter Institution: Activist Estates Of The Lower East Side [Bibliography], Nandini Bagchee

New York State City & Regional

In the midst of current debates about the accessibility of public spaces, resurfacing as a result of highly visible demonstrations and occupations, this book illuminates an overlooked domain of civic participation: the office, workshop, or building where activist groups meet to organize and plan acts of political dissent and collective participation. Author Nandini Bagchee examines three re-purposed buildings on the Lower East Side that have been used by activists to launch actions over the past forty years. The Peace Pentagon was the headquarters of the anti-war movement, El Bohio was a metaphoric “hut” that envisioned the Puerto Rican Community as …

Ratliff, Charles, 1854-1940 (Sc 3236), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3236. Letter, 30 July 1889, of Charles Ratliff, Princeton, Kentucky, on his letterhead as a dealer in building material, hardware, saddlery, roofing, etc., advising of the sale of his quarry property and assuring the recipient that the new owners will promptly supply stone.

Bridges, Robert Alton, 1911-1997 (Sc 3238), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3238. Letter, June 1952, of Robert Alton Bridges to his young son while the boy is away from home. He supplies family news, urges his son to keep a diary of his travel, and hopes that he will learn to swim.

Kibbee, Amos Watson, 1828-1915 (Sc 3230), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3230. Letter, 26 January 1862, of Amos Watson Kibbee to his cousin, Hattie Tuttle, of Painesville, Ohio. From Camp Barker in Cairo, Illinois, he writes about camp life and rumors of possible cavalry soldiers being discharged and his experiences of late-night scouting duties. He also describes being in an advance guard with other soldiers, taking the town of Blandville, Kentucky, and arresting suspicious civilians. He writes about guarding a prisoner of war, and his change of religious views. Includes an Illinois Union envelope.

Myers, Lloyd (Sc 3237), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3237. Letter, 16 January 1889, of Lloyd Myers, clerk of the Duncan Hotel, Henderson, Kentucky, on hotel letterhead. He asks for a quote on materials to construct columns, an ornamented pediment, and window hardware for a two-story building and includes a rough design sketch of a storefront.

A Mutual Charge: The Shared Mission Of Herbert Hoover And Harry S. Truman To Alleviate Global Hunger In A Postwar World, Brian Douglas Reese

Dissertations and Theses

Famine and destitution stemming from the Second World War had spread across the European continent and parts of Asia by mid-1945. Recognizing the need for recovery and survival in those regions, President Harry S. Truman at the recommendation of several Cabinet members, summoned ex-President Herbert Hoover for advice on how the United States should proceed in offering aid beyond the earlier efforts of the United Nations Rehabilitation and Relief Administration and other relief sources. After an absence from the White House and official government participation for many years, Hoover readily provided crucial advice on addressing famine relief in Europe and …

A Select List Of Books In Mexican-American History (2018 Update), John R. Chavez

History Faculty Publications

This list of secondary sources includes surveys and monographs, but few collections or biographies; while some works may overlap disciplines, their content is historical on the whole and focused significantly on ethnic Mexicans in the United States.

Witherspoon, Alexander Maclaren, 1894-1964 (Sc 3235), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3235. Letter, 14 August 1931, written by Alex Witherspoon to Carl D. Herdman, Bowling Green, Kentucky, regarding Witherspoon’s gift to Herdman of The Martyrdom of Man by Winwood Reade, found in an Edinburgh, Scotland bookshop, and recommendations for other reading. Includes photocopies of the book’s title page, Witherspoon’s inscription, and comments pasted into the book, presumably by Herdman. Also includes data about Witherspoon, a graduate of Bowling Green’s Ogden College and Yale University.

100 Years: The Death Of John Purroy Mitchel – New York City’S Boy Mayor, Keith J. Muchowski

Publications and Research

The blog post focuses on the life and times of John Purroy Mitchel, the mayor of New York City during the First World War. Mitchel was active in the Preparedness Movement and eventually killed in a military training exercise in July 1918, six months after leaving office.

Anarchism On The Willamette: The Firebrand Newspaper And The Origins Of A Culturally American Anarchist Movement, 1895-1898, Alecia Jay Giombolini

Dissertations and Theses

The Firebrand was an anarchist communist newspaper that was printed in Portland, Oregon from January 1895 to September 1897. The newspaper was a central catalyst behind the formation of the culturally American anarchist movement, a movement whose vital role in shaping radicalism in the United States during the Progressive Era has largely been ignored by historians. The central argument of this thesis is that the Firebrand publishers' experiences in Gilded Age Portland shaped the content and the format of the newspaper and led to the development of a new, uniquely American expression of anarchism.

Anarchism was developed in response to …

H-Diplo Article Review 780 On “Nuclear Weapons, Coercive Diplomacy And The Vietnam War.”, Luke A. Nichter

Presidential Studies Faculty Articles and Research

A review of The Journal of Cold War Studies's Forum on Nuclear Weapons, Coercive Diplomacy, and the Vietnam War: Perspectives on Nixon’s Nuclear Specter by Robert Jervis and Mark Lawrence.

Yates, Otis Webster, 1888-1981 (Sc 3234), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3234. Letter, 30 November 1922, to “Levy” from O. W. Yates, Dean of Bethel College, Russellville, Kentucky. He describes his work teaching the Bible and Greek to ministerial students, his pastorate, and his house and family, and asks about seeing Levy when he visits North Carolina at Christmas.