United States History Commons^™

A Connecticut Yankee In Jeff Davis's Court, Jeffrey L. Lauck

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

For the past ten weeks or so, I have been interning at Richmond National Battlefield Park. The experience has been like no other. I began the summer with a few goals. First, I wanted to see if working for the National Park Service was everything that my fellow park geeks said it was. Second, I wanted to enrich my understanding of the Civil War by focusing my study on one particular community’s experience in the Civil War (Richmond). Third, as a born-and-raised New Englander, I wanted to see what it was like to spend a summer in Dixie. Finally, …

Case Study From Inside A Presidential Campaign In The 100th New Hampshire Primary: Analyzing The Hillary For New Hampshire Field Organization, Christopher Mckenna

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

On the 100^th anniversary of the New Hampshire primary, this case study analyzes a high profile political campaign in order to add to the discussion on the extent to which campaigns matter. The New Hampshire Primary is disproportionately important in the nomination process as the nation’s first primary; therefore, it is vital candidates perform well in the Granite State. I use my experience as a fellow on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign in the Democratic Primary to critically analyze the campaign organization in New Hampshire. This case study will attempt to answer how Secretary Clinton’s field organization …

Changemakers: Harpers Ferry History Prompts Social Awareness, Anika N. Jensen

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

The day after the mass shooting at the Orlando gay nightclub Pulse was a Monday, and I was thoroughly unable to process my emotions or ponder the repercussions of the massacre upon walking into work that morning. I oscillated between bewilderment, grief, hopelessness, anger. My heart was tender. I chose silence as a defense mechanism.

[excerpt]

Western's New Deal: The Shaping Of College Heights During The Great Depression, Sean Jacobson

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This thesis addresses the Great Depression's impact on public higher education by analyzing developments at Western Kentucky State Teachers College. It also seeks to understand factors leading to the enshrinement of Henry Hardin Cherry as a larger-than-life figure upon his death in 1937. An investigative study into primary materials found that the New Deal projects on campus provided a boost for Cherry's leadership and charisma in his community. The concurrence of his death with the construction of a classroom building funded by the Public Works Administration determined his memorialization for posterity. The building, Cherry Hall, emerged as an institutional symbol …

Forging The Mormon Myth, Maryanne Hafen

Oglethorpe Journal of Undergraduate Research

The work of the forger Mark Hofmann frames many key problems and changes in Mormon historiography. More specifically, it reveals a tension between versions of Mormon history that are propagated in the religion. On one hand, there is a documented and literal history. On the other, a sacred and engaging myth. However, these two cannot coexist harmoniously.

"On This, We Shall Build": The Struggle For Civil Rights In Portland, Oregon 1945-1953, Justin Legrand Vipperman

Dissertations and Theses

Generally, Oregon historians begin Portland Civil Rights history with the development of Vanport and move quickly through the passage of the state's public accommodations law before addressing the 1960s and 70s. Although these eras are ripe with sources and contentious experiences, 1945 to 1953 provide a complex struggle for civil rights in Portland, Oregon. This time period demonstrates the rise of local leaders, wartime racial tensions, and organizational efforts used to combat inequality. 1945 marked a watershed moment in Portland Civil Rights history exhibiting intergroup collaboration and interracial cooperation converging to eventually provide needed legislation. Although discrimination continued after 1953, …

Lester Lowe Grocery - Pondsville, Kentucky (Mss 589), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 589. Receipts, wholesale grocery ordering forms, correspondence and promotional material from the Lester Lowe Grocery, a small general store in Pondsville, Warren County, Kentucky.

Coastal Louisiana: Adaptive Capacity In The Face Of Climate Change, Tara Lambeth

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Extreme weather events can result in natural disasters, and climate change can cause these weather events to occur more often and with more intensity. Because of social and physical vulnerabilities, climate change and extreme weather often affect coastal communities. As climate change continues to be a factor for many coastal communities, and environmental hazards and vulnerability continue to increase, the need for adaptation may become a reality for many communities. However, very few studies have been done on the effect climate change and mitigation measures implemented in response to climate change have on a community’s adaptive capacity.

This single instrumental …

Ansel Brooks Smith-Mrs. Marie Smith, No Date Noted, France, Ansel Brooks Smith Sr.

Ansel Brooks Smith, Sr. Letters

No abstract provided.

Rasdall, Lillie F., 1885-1908 (Sc 3045), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3045. Letter, 16 January 1907, of Lillie Rasdall, Bowling Green, Kentucky, to S. E. Mantz, Webster, Iowa. In reply to his personal ad, she describes herself and offers to exchange photographs. She remarks that she moved to Bowling Green from the country three years ago, and praises the city’s churches, especially the Roman Catholic church.

Serving The Public First: Archives 2.0, Matthew D. Laroche

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

The hallmarks of contemporary archival philosophy, known casually as “Archives 2.0,” have everything to do with making archives open, attractive resources for researchers of all persuasions. These rotate around a few main assertions. First, that archivists should endeavor to make their repositories as attractive as possible to users—this means offering friendly, all-inclusive access, being responsive to user desires, being tech-savvy, and leaving some discovery and processing of collections to the researcher. Secondly, modern archiving stresses accessibility—having a standardized way of organizing collections that will be easily understood by visiting researchers, utilizing language familiar to average people for finding aides, and …

From Tele- To Online Courses: Transforming Hist 132, Torie Wynn

SIDLIT Conference

Wichita State University’s History Department and Instructional Technology and Design (IDT) office teamed up to eliminate the HIST 132 telecourse and replace it with an online course. This presentation will discuss stages of the transformation, including: Inception and Barriers, Design & Development (using theories from Green Light Design and the LEARN Model and adopting an OpenStax OER textbook), Delivery, and Challenges and Changes. IDT will provide a brief tour of the course shell and suggest ways in which a model like this may work at your university.

Ware, Josiah William, 1802-1883 (Sc 3043), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and full text (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3043. Letter, 9 July 1837, of Josiah Willam Ware to his cousin George W. Williams of Paris, Kentucky. Writing from Springfield, Virginia, Ware describes steamboat mishaps on his trip home from Maysville, Kentucky, and chides Williams good-naturedly on his religion and on his Whig sympathies, which he believes may gain Williams a seat in Congress but will prevent him from becoming president. He also refers to their family’s raising of livestock.

Hawkins, Mildred Smith (Curd), 1908-2014 (Sc 3044), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3045. Written comments by Mildred Hawkins regarding houses found in An Album of Early Warren County Landmarks by Irene Moss Sumpter and published in 1976. She includes the corresponding page number with her comments about properties associated with family and Warren County history.

Stephens, Silas Emmett, 1874-1926 (Sc 3041), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3041. Two 1924 letters (1 partial) of Baptist missionary Silas Emmet Stephens to Pearl Holman, Bowling Green, Kentucky. Writing from China, he thanks her for a monetary gift, comments on her care of her aging mother, and briefly describes his work and some of his colleagues. Includes Stephens’ obituary.

Mitchell, William H., 1857-1951 (Sc 3042), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3042. Remarks of William H. Mitchell given at First Baptist Church, Bowling Green, Kentucky, 11 October 1916, on presentation of a drinking fountain in memory of church member Ella C. Ragland.

Mary Sue Meuth, 1927-2014 (Sc 3040), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3040. Letter of missionary Sue Meuth in Indonesia to friends, particularly First Baptist Church, Bowling Green, Kentucky. She describes the work there, expresses concern that the visas of local personnel will not be renewed, and includes a list of prayer requests for the mission. A personal note on the reverse reports news of her family.

Yonder Stands Jackson Beyond Reproach, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Yonder, he stands, a lone sentinel of stone amidst the fallow fields of Henry Hill. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, his nom de guerre earned here on the fields of First Manassas, rides tall in the saddle of his steed. The statue’s commanding presence on Henry Hill anchors a memory of that battle that emphasizes the triumph of Jackson, his brigade, and the Confederate army in the defense of Southern soil. It is an embodiment of idealized notions of Southern courage, honor, and martial spirit. At the same time, the monument serves to depoliticize Jackson and the Confederate war effort—yet in doing …

"A Part Of, Rather Than Apart From" : Louisville's Black Arts Scene In The Mid-Twentieth Century., Wesley Sawyer Cunningham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the role that three predominantly black art organizations – Gallery Enterprises, the Louisville Arts Workshop, and the West Side Players – played in Louisville, Kentucky’s black community during the mid-twentieth century. Working from the integrated and cooperative nature of the long Black Freedom Struggle in Louisville, Kentucky, local black artists formed integrated organizations around the arts and promoted black identity, inclusivity and creativity through community-building and consciousness-raising. Furthermore, by defining the varying uses of the term “political” in reference to black art, this work shows that the politicization of artwork can best be understood using a spectrum …

How The City Of Indianapolis Came To Have African American Policemen And Firemen 80 Years Before The Modern Civil Rights Movement., Leon E. Bates

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores a series of events that occurred in the spring of 1876. The relationship between the Indianapolis city government, the Marion County Courts, the Indianapolis Police Department, and the African American community came together to usher in changes never before envisioned. The Indianapolis Police Department (IPD) was formed in 1855, then disbanded 12 months later in a political dispute. From 1857-to-1876, the IPD was all white. These changes took place as the Reconstruction era was coming to a close. The first Ku Klux Klan was at its apex, terrorizing black communities, and Jim Crow was coming into its …