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No New Lessons: The Impact Of World War 2 On The American Fire Service, Brady L. Hutchison Oct 2026

No New Lessons: The Impact Of World War 2 On The American Fire Service, Brady L. Hutchison

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Large loss of life fires occurred with terrifying regularity in 1940s America. While overseas, the nation’s military waged a war on tyranny and oppression abroad, at home, the country faced an enemy every bit as deadly. Tradition in the fire service has held the notion that the 1940s saw so many deadly fires due to the nation being at war. The war, it is believed, drained fire departments of manpower, dramatically increased the call volume for departments, and led departments to cut or suspend fire inspections owing to lack of manpower. With that, the consensus is that fire codes in …


Wildwood Park Area Correspondence To Mary Alyson Prude, 8.7.1993, William L. Mcdonald Oct 2026

Wildwood Park Area Correspondence To Mary Alyson Prude, 8.7.1993, William L. Mcdonald

Correspondence

Correspondence from William L. McDonald to Mary Alyson Prude concerning the history of Wildwood Park and the surround vicinity in Florence, Alabama.

The pdf is faded and difficult to read, so it has been transcribed below.

August 7, 1993

Miss Mary Alyson Prude

426 Robinhood Drive

Florence, Alabama 35630

Dear Mary Alyson:

Please forgive an old man who finds it more and more difficult to hear. And I feel terrible for not recognizing you until after we had talked over the telephone. It then hit me: You are Joel and Jayne's beautiful young daughter. I am so sorry. Your entire …


Muscle Shoals Canal Nomination To The Alabama Engineering Hall Of Fame Correspondence, 7.15.1992, William L. Mcdonald Oct 2026

Muscle Shoals Canal Nomination To The Alabama Engineering Hall Of Fame Correspondence, 7.15.1992, William L. Mcdonald

Correspondence

Correspondence from William L. McDonald to Mrs. Bette D. Jefcoat, Assistant Secretary and Treasurer of the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame, concerning the nomination of the Muscle Shoals Canal.


Ideas Into Policy: An Intellectual History Of The United States Navy’S Equal Opportunity Program, Claire J. Dabrowski Oct 2026

Ideas Into Policy: An Intellectual History Of The United States Navy’S Equal Opportunity Program, Claire J. Dabrowski

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation examines the intellectual history of the United States Navy’s Equal Opportunity Program, arguing that its origins extended far beyond the racial unrest of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Rather than viewing the program solely as an administrative response to crisis, this study demonstrates that it represented the culmination of more than a century of evolving ideas concerning citizenship, military service, constitutional equality, democratic governance, and military professionalism. Employing the methods of intellectual and institutional history, the dissertation traces these ideas from the Civil War through the reforms of Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr., …


Building A Defense Economy: World War Ii, Federal Investment, And Georgia’S Economic Transformation, 1940-1965, William Heath Taylor Oct 2026

Building A Defense Economy: World War Ii, Federal Investment, And Georgia’S Economic Transformation, 1940-1965, William Heath Taylor

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation examines how World War II transformed Georgia’s economy from a predominately rural, agricultural economy into a more diversified economy increasingly tied to federal investment, military activity, industrial production, transportation, and commerce. It argues that wartime mobilization accelerated this transformation by directing federal funds into military installations, defense industries, infrastructure, and public services while drawing workers into expanding centers of employment. Using federal records, census data, military publications, corporate reports, newspapers, and oral histories, the study examines Fort Benning, Robins Field, Camp Toccoa, Bell Aircraft, the Brunswick Shipyards, Delta Air Lines, and The Coca-Cola Company. These cases show how …


The Army Spreads Its Wings: Army Aviation And Its Influence On War, Christopher J. Braund Oct 2026

The Army Spreads Its Wings: Army Aviation And Its Influence On War, Christopher J. Braund

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Today’s United States Army operates some of the world's most advanced helicopters, conducting some of the most dangerous aerial insertions and close air support missions. Every Army infantry division has a helicopter brigade, with capabilities ranging from command-and-control to attack, scout, and lift assets. Yet, that is a relatively new concept. Developed in the 1960s, the air mobility doctrine emerged from the Eisenhower Administration’s New Look defense policy, giving the Army direction on how to use helicopters within its overall land warfare capability. This dissertation looks at how that occurred. It fills a major gap in the historiography of Army …


Pilgrimage To Oslo’S Holmenkollen Ski Hill And Museum: T Orbjorn Yggeseth Stars For Norway And The University Of Washington, John Lundin Oct 2026

Pilgrimage To Oslo’S Holmenkollen Ski Hill And Museum: T Orbjorn Yggeseth Stars For Norway And The University Of Washington, John Lundin

Works by Local Authors

Author describes his visit to the Holmenkollen Ski Hill and Museum and describes Torbjorn Yggeseth's competition in the northwest.


Muscle Shoals: A Plan For The Use Of The United States Properties On The Tennessee Power By Private Industry For Of "The Manufacture Of Fertilizers And Other Useful Products", Muscle Shoals Commission, United States Government Printing Office Washington: 1931 Oct 2026

Muscle Shoals: A Plan For The Use Of The United States Properties On The Tennessee Power By Private Industry For Of "The Manufacture Of Fertilizers And Other Useful Products", Muscle Shoals Commission, United States Government Printing Office Washington: 1931

Documents

A plan created by the Muscle Shoals commission for instituting a series of fertilizer production operations in the Tennessee Valley area. In addition to written analysis, the document contains multiple images, illustrations, charts, graphs, and maps of the area to illustrate the reasoning of the plan.

Although the plan was never fully brought to fruition, it represents a crucial piece of agricultural and infrastructural history in the Shoals, Alabama alongside existent history on the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the development of the nitrate plants.


“Learning To Ask The Deeper Questions Behind The Image That Most People Don’T See:” Teaching Critical Visual Literacy To History Teacher Candidates Through Interdisciplinary Collaboration, Heather Koopmans, Richard Hughes Oct 2026

“Learning To Ask The Deeper Questions Behind The Image That Most People Don’T See:” Teaching Critical Visual Literacy To History Teacher Candidates Through Interdisciplinary Collaboration, Heather Koopmans, Richard Hughes

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Despite the ubiquitous role of images in teaching history, few teachers have formal training in how to help students critically read photographs, paintings, and other images. The essay centers on research on how Critical Visual Literacy, which focuses on how images reflect complex issues of power in society, can assist emerging teachers in helping students think historically and better engage visual evidence associated with curriculum mandates to broaden historical narratives


The Colorado River Upper Initial Units Take Center Stage, Eric Kuhn, Anne Castle, Jack Schmidt, Kathryn Sorensen, Katherine Tara Oct 2026

The Colorado River Upper Initial Units Take Center Stage, Eric Kuhn, Anne Castle, Jack Schmidt, Kathryn Sorensen, Katherine Tara

The Traveling Wilburys of the Colorado River

In 1956, Congress authorized the Upper Initial Units—Flaming Gorge Reservoir,

Navajo Reservoir, and the Aspinall Unit (UIUs)—for a variety of water use

purposes in the Upper Colorado River Basin, including compliance with the

1922 Colorado River Compact (1922 Compact). The historical record is clear

that the primary reason these reservoirs exist is to satisfy the math of the 1922

Compact and the obligations it imposed on the Upper Division States

regarding flows at Lee Ferry.


Mora Valley Of The Mills 2026: A Documentary Report History Of The Milling Industry And Cultural Heritage Preservation, Jose A. Rivera Oct 2026

Mora Valley Of The Mills 2026: A Documentary Report History Of The Milling Industry And Cultural Heritage Preservation, Jose A. Rivera

Faculty Publications

The flour mills along the upper Mora River constitute the largest number of still standing commercial mills in the State of New Mexico, namely the Cleveland Roller Mill, the St. Vrain Mill, the Gordon-Sánchez Mill, and the La Cueva Mill at the Houser Raspberry Ranch. Notably, all four mills are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. During their heyday, 1964-1920, Mora County was seen as the “breadbasket of New Mexico” due to its bountiful supply of cereal and cool climate vegetables. Local acequia farmers supplied the mills with the input of wheat, corn and other grains that led …


Scientific Innovation, Institutionalization, And Moral Dilemmas: From Chemical Warfare In World War I To Ai In Modern Conflict, Kylie Kiefer Oct 2026

Scientific Innovation, Institutionalization, And Moral Dilemmas: From Chemical Warfare In World War I To Ai In Modern Conflict, Kylie Kiefer

Holster Scholar Projects

This research examines the different American perspectives surrounding the morality and future of chemical warfare during and after World War I. Using primary sources collected at the National Archives at College Park, it argues that the Chemical Warfare Service survived not because Americans agreed that poison gas was morally acceptable, but because wartime mobilization created scientific expertise, military facilities, and relationships that made dismantling the service after the war difficult. While opponents emphasized moral and humanitarian concerns, advocates defended chemical warfare through arguments about preparedness, military necessity, and claims that gas was more humane than conventional weapons. The paper also …


"Nitrate Plant Number Two", William Lindsey Mcdonald Sep 2026

"Nitrate Plant Number Two", William Lindsey Mcdonald

Research Articles

Tennessee Valley Authority Nitrate Plant Two was constructed in Muscle Shoals, Alabama after President Woodrow Wilson authorized the project in 1916. The plant was one of two nitrate plants in the area. The first TVA nitrate plant is in Sheffield Alabama. Photographs of the employee housing and support facilities associated with the nitrate plants are available in the Nitrate Plant Image Gallery.


The Sword And The Pen: How America’S Way Of War Escaped Constitutional Restraint, Daryl Lee Posey Sep 2026

The Sword And The Pen: How America’S Way Of War Escaped Constitutional Restraint, Daryl Lee Posey

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation examines how changes in military technology and institutional design shifted practical control over war initiation from Congress to the presidency between the founding era and the end of the Cold War. The Constitution vests the power to declare war in Congress, and the framers rejected proposals to give that authority to the president alone. This study argues that advances in communication, transportation, weapons lethality, and government secrecy compressed the time available for congressional deliberation, concentrated war-relevant information inside executive institutions, and made presidential initiative the default rather than the exception. The study traces this pattern across six chapters, …


"The Builder Of Wilson Dam", William Lindsey Mcdonald Sep 2026

"The Builder Of Wilson Dam", William Lindsey Mcdonald

Research Articles

The article presents a brief overview of the people responsible for the construction of Tennessee Valley Authority Dam Number Two, later known as the Wilson Dam. The dam was designed by C. M. Hackett, while a team of engineers directed by General Lansing H. Beach oversaw the project's construction. McDonald places particular emphasis on district engineer Col. Hugh L. Cooper, "a self-educated engineer in hydroelectric energy" whom he recognizes as the "builder" of the Wilson Dam.


"Celts In The Valley", William Lindsey Mcdonald Sep 2026

"Celts In The Valley", William Lindsey Mcdonald

Research Articles

The Tennessee Valley of North Alabama retains linguistic and cultural influences from the languages of its inhabitants. Scot Irish inhabitants of Celtic origin produced a dialect that McDonald claims as a "Celtic character" through tracing common regional expressions back to their roots in the original Gaelic.


"Early Times Around Muscle Shoals City", William Lindsey Mcdonald Sep 2026

"Early Times Around Muscle Shoals City", William Lindsey Mcdonald

Research Articles

A paper presented to the Muscle Shoals City Kiwanis Club on March 14, 1963, about the establishment of the city of Muscle Shoals. The article includes mention of the indigenous tribes that dwelt in the area as well as the Marion Land Company and associated figures which advertised lots in 1819.


"Florence Wesleyan University: 1855-1872", William Lindsey Mcdonald Sep 2026

"Florence Wesleyan University: 1855-1872", William Lindsey Mcdonald

Research Articles

A paper presented by William Lindsey McDonald, Conference Historian, at the North Alabama Conference for the United Methodist Church about Florence Wesleyan University, one of the earliest predecessors of the University of North Alabama. Prior to discussing Florence Wesleyan University, the paper also discusses the history of the earliest iteration of the university LaGrange College.


"The Canal Building Genius", William Lindsey Mcdonald Sep 2026

"The Canal Building Genius", William Lindsey Mcdonald

Research Articles

George Washington Goethals, the engineer who constructed the Panama Canal, was also employed to construct the Muscle Shoals Canal in North Alabama. During the construction of the canal, Goethals lived on Wood Avenue near the University of North Alabama. Multiple historical markers commemorating Goethals' time in North Alabama exist, including the one designating his home, the Florence Walk of Honor, and his mention on the Muscle Shoals Canal Marker.


Newsclipping, Voting Set Today On School Issues Sep 2026

Newsclipping, Voting Set Today On School Issues

Eartha M. M. White Textual Material

News clipping: Article regarding the polling place open for voting on a referendum that could revise the school system. Undated.


From Source And Summit To Parish Practice: A Qualitative Analysis Of Eucharist And Social Outreach, Erik Sorensen S.J. Sep 2026

From Source And Summit To Parish Practice: A Qualitative Analysis Of Eucharist And Social Outreach, Erik Sorensen S.J.

Journal of Global Catholicism

A small-scale qualitative study in a Catholic parish situated in Ottawa, Canada, offers insights into the complex relationship between that community's worship and its commitment to social justice. This article brings the lived theology of this community into dialogue with the academic and magisterial perspectives on the Eucharist as the source and summit of Christian life. The dialogue is framed by the Theological Action Research Network's four voices of theology: operant, espoused, formal, and normative. This framework helps to center the marginalized theology of the faithful in the pews. In this case, the parish offered a dynamic theology of welcome …


Reimagining U.S. Industrial Mobilization, Alexis R. Johnson Sep 2026

Reimagining U.S. Industrial Mobilization, Alexis R. Johnson

Joint Force Quarterly

This paper identifies a critical vulnerability in U.S. defense sustainment strategy and proposes a solution: the Civil Reserve Sustainment Readiness Program (CRSRP). The CRSRP focuses on bolstering Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) capabilities. Given the intensifying great power competition and the increasing likelihood of a contested conflict in the Indo-Pacific, the current Organic Industrial Base (OIB) lacks the surge capacity and agility necessary for rapid, distributed sustainment. Drawing on historical lessons from World War II and contemporary analysis of OIB limitations, this study details how the CRSRP would leverage public-private partnerships, incentivize commercial sector participation, and utilize digital tools like …


Mission Over Bureaucracy: Special Operations Command’S Warrior-Driven Model For Defense Innovation, Robert D. Seader Sep 2026

Mission Over Bureaucracy: Special Operations Command’S Warrior-Driven Model For Defense Innovation, Robert D. Seader

Joint Force Quarterly

In an era of accelerating technological change, military organizations must rapidly develop and field new capabilities to maintain battlefield superiority. Traditional defense acquisition processes, optimized for peacetime oversight and risk avoidance, now take four times longer than in the 1950s, threatening to undermine military effectiveness against rapidly modernizing adversaries. This paper examines how the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has pioneered a fundamentally different acquisition approach that delivers new capabilities in months rather than the decades typical of conventional programs.

Through extensive interviews with senior acquisition leaders, this analysis identifies three core elements of USSOCOM’s success: a mission-centric culture …


Determining Operational Objectives, Milan Vego Sep 2026

Determining Operational Objectives, Milan Vego

Joint Force Quarterly

Full knowledge and understanding of the true meaning of operational objectives are the main prerequisites for sound planning and execution of major operations A major operations (on land, at sea, in the air) is aimed at accomplishing a single operational objective. They can be conducted predominantly by a single service or two or more services. A campaign in a high-intensity conventional war consists of a series of related major/joint operations (on land, in the air, at sea) plus numerous tactical actions aimed to achieve a single military- or theater-strategic objective. Yet despite their importance, relatively little attention is …


From Data To Victory: The Race For Analytic Superiority In Warfare, Robert Grossman, Emily Goldman Sep 2026

From Data To Victory: The Race For Analytic Superiority In Warfare, Robert Grossman, Emily Goldman

Joint Force Quarterly

Artificial intelligence technologies have reached a tipping point after decades of development. They are diffusing widely across defense and national security applications. Twenty-first century warfighters rely on analytic models in all systems, at all echelons, and in all domains. As more powerful models built on ever larger data sets become ubiquitous, militaries are in a new competition to deploy artificial intelligence. Operational art must embrace “analytic superiority.” This is the operational advantage from collecting and ingesting data, building robust models and computing infrastructure, deploying the models into operational systems, and denying adversaries' ability to do the same

This article explains …


2026-09-10 Message From The President, Morehead State University. Office Of The President. Sep 2026

2026-09-10 Message From The President, Morehead State University. Office Of The President.

Staff Congress Records

Message sent on September 10, 2026 by the President to the campus community regarding upcoming dates and events for the Fall Semester, personeele and academic, construction news, campus personnel recognitions and other updates, summary of the Board of Regents meeting, and honoring University Legacies.


Pageantry In The Skies: Changes To The Hendon Raf Aerial Pageant Throughout The Interwar Years In The United Kingdom, Amy Zhou Sep 2026

Pageantry In The Skies: Changes To The Hendon Raf Aerial Pageant Throughout The Interwar Years In The United Kingdom, Amy Zhou

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

The Hendon RAF Aerial Pageants were held in Britain in the Hendon Aerodrome from 1920 to 1937. Initially established to promote airmindedness in the British public and legitimize the Royal Air Force so that it could remain an independent service, aerial theatre was utilized extensively to transform flight into a spectacle. As the interwar years progressed, the pageant developed complex “set pieces” that showcased elaborate simulations of military maneuvers such as strategic bombing against industrial and imperial targets, eliciting a mixture of awe and fear in the face of aviation’s destructive potential. By the mid-1930s, the focus had shifted to …


'A Hundred Times A Man': Chastity, Martial Culture And Manhood In Franco's Spain, Ava M. Golde Sep 2026

'A Hundred Times A Man': Chastity, Martial Culture And Manhood In Franco's Spain, Ava M. Golde

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

Using the military as a case study, this essay seeks to understand how chastity became a symbol of complete regeneration for Spanish society, both in terms of a physical revival of a soldier’s health but also a moral and spiritual reawakening of the Catholic soul. In analyzing military magazines, instructional pamphlets, and the memoirs of soldiers, this paper unpacks the relationship between enforced male chastity and Francoist military masculinity, demonstrating how ideas of manhood were deliberately altered to fit a nationalist project of regeneration. Finally, I place this conception of the “New Spanish Man” within the broader context of militarized …


"The Yankee Connection", William Lindsey Mcdonald Sep 2026

"The Yankee Connection", William Lindsey Mcdonald

Research Articles

The article summarizes the impact of the Negley family in North Alabama, including the construction of the Negley Hotel.

Union Brigadier General, James Scott Negley entered North Alabama on May 13, 1862, and through a series of skirmishes began to occupy Florence. Later, his relative, Major Albert Gallatin Negley arrived in East Florence, Alabama in response to the industrial boom.


"Wesleyan Hall, An Alabama Landmark", William Lindsey Mcdonald Sep 2026

"Wesleyan Hall, An Alabama Landmark", William Lindsey Mcdonald

Research Articles

A history of Wesleyan Hall, on the Campus on the University of North Alabama.

Digitized images of Wesleyan Hall are accessible in the University Architecture Collection and William Lindsey McDonald Image Collection. To find the images, simply click on a collection link, and use the search bar, located on the left side, to search for the images.