Digital Commons Network^™

Wordflight, Joey Gonnella

Theses and Dissertations

Exploring subjects revolving around the nature of images, language and their subsequent disseminationn through time, this paper weaves together seemingly unrelated topics from the hot air balloons of the Franco-Prussian war to the envelope poems of Emily Dickinson.

Spring Commencement Program, May 2, 2024, Coastal Carolina University

Commencement Programs

Program of Commencement Exercises at Coastal Carolina University.

The Slidell Museum: Rebuilding Overlooked And Disregarded Narratives In Small-Town America, Gregory D. Scott

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The community of Slidell, Louisiana, sits across the lake from New Orleans on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Slidell quietly shrouds a multitude of fascinating historic narratives with roots that extend back to before the 1718 founding of New Orleans. The first documented European presence in the area near Slidell occurred in 1699 when Iberville camped at Goose Point a few miles west of present-day Slidell. This area would play a vital role in the survival, growth, and development of the early New Orleans settlement.

Slidell has a rich history of people, places, and events. In 2005, the devastation …

Lawrence As An Orientalist Figure Of Empire In David Lean's Lawrence Of Arabia, Leen Khashashina

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

In this thesis, I examine the character of Lawrence in David Lean’s 1962 film, Lawrence of Arabia. I seek to break apart the legend, examining his individual characteristics and interest in Arabia as well as his imperialist motivations, whether unconscious or not. Lawrence struggles to find his identity and this film is an exploration of that multitude. Many of the characters in the film have conflicting ideas about who Lawrence was because he did not even understand himself. The combination of Lawrence’s defiance of British orders and society as well as his obsession with becoming an Arab marks him as …

Wretched Refuse: Garbage And The Making Of New York City, Tina Peabody

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Wretched Refuse: The Making of New York City. is a social and economic history of waste management in New York City from the late nineteenth century through the 1990s. This dissertation uses waste management as a lens to examine the city’s social and economic life over the long twentieth century, and especially its class and racial hierarchies. Wretched Refuse argues that waste management was a critical part of New York City’s physical and economic growth over the course of the twentieth century. Sanitation was a public health problem that needed to be solved in order for New York to grow …

A Reimagined Periphery: Environment And The Construction Of The French Colonial Empire In North Africa, Tyson A. Luneau

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation examines the relationship between environmental knowledge and empire building in French North Africa during nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Since its 1830 invasion of Algiers, France engaged in a century-long conquest of the Maghreb, extending sphere of influence to the neighboring regions of Tunisia, Morocco, and the Soudan. Under the guise of the mission civilisatrice, colonialists stressed their conquest’s goal of spreading enlightened French civilization for the benefit of both the indigenous populations and the world at large. France’s conquest of North Africa was not, however, solely focused on the peoples and cultures of the region. Simultaneously, France engaged …

The Lost Cause Of Unionism: How Greenville Became A Failed Stronghold Of Unionism In Antebellum South Carolina, Candace Rae Boatwright

All Theses

Greenville County, South Carolina was created in the aftermath of the Revolutionary War. The boundaries that define Greenville follow the natural topography of its mountains and rivers, but also permanently mark its relationship with the historic location of the Cherokee Nation as well as distinguishing it from North Carolina. Through the Regulation Movement and the Revolutionary War, the politics of the backcountry of South Carolina were molded by the men who occupied and laid claim to the land. The primary driver of political decisions was the protection and expansion of personal and community economics.

In this paper I argue that …

A Quartet Of Consequence: Randolph, Rustin, Baker & Levison & The Movement They Made, Jonathan Klein

Graduate Masters Theses

The historiography of the civil rights movement has been dominated by a debate over the proper placement of the historian’s lens. Should it provide a top/down view concentrating on high profile leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., or should it have a bottom/up focus that zeroes in on courageous grassroots leaders? Some historians have argued for a both/and approach with perspective on both the leaders at the top and at the bottom and how they interacted. What has been missing from this debate is the decisive impact made by networks of leaders who set aside their own narrow interests to …

Curriculum Response To An Evolving Society: An Analysis Of Family And Consumer Sciences Education At Murray State University From 1928 To 2023, Lauren Ervin

Honors College Theses

This research aims to identify and explore the changes in the family and consumer sciences (FCS) education program at Murray State University from 1928, when the major was first offered, until 2023. The following questions were answered:

• What are the notable changes in Murray State University's FCS education program, involving curriculum, from 1928 to 2023?

• What are the notable themes, topics, and changes to the overarching FCS field from 1928 to 2023?

• How have the events in society and the FCS field influenced the FCS Education program at Murray State University?

The researcher noted the changes in the Murray State …

Reconstructing The Narrative Of Slavery In The United States: Acknowledging The Complex Exploitation Of Forced, Free, And Semi-Free Labor Beyond Race And Ethnicity And The Several Communities Who Endured Systemic Labor Exploitation And Injustice In The United States, Amma Terrece Sims

Theses (2016-Present)

This thesis explores the deconstruction and modernization of the narrative surrounding slavery in the United States by recognizing the multifaceted exploitation of labor beyond racial limitations. Through an assessment of representations and historical instances of forced, free, and semi-free labor in the United States, this study explores various forms of systemic subjugation and discrimination endured by diverse communities of immigrants. Specific consideration is given to examples such as indentured servitude of the colonial era and the experiences of “new immigrants” of the industrial period in challenging the established racial paradigm correlated with slavery. The experiences of specific European ethnic sub- …

Review-Charleston Horse Power: Equine Culture In The Palmetto City, Blake Denton

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Lake Mead: A Living Museum, Marley Salveter

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Lake Mead, the largest man-made water project in the nation and a prolific source of electricity, irrigation, and recreation for much of the western population, is currently experiencing a drastic transformation. Amid the ongoing water crisis parching the west, the once overflowing reservoir is consistently shrinking, descending into depths historically uncharted.

While serving as a bleak demonstration of climate change’s effects, the body of water is simultaneously assuming an alternative role that may be less apparent to the public. As water levels decline, Lake Mead is actively metamorphosing into a “Living Museum”, by gradually unveiling previously submerged artifacts. As a …

Houses Built For Gods: Articulations Of Urban Hokora In Kyoto, Steele Engelmann

Anthropology Undergraduate Honors Theses

Amidst the urban landscape of Kyoto, Japan, there are thousands of hokora, small neighborhood shrines. This study uses social theories of pilgrimage and space to examine the articulation of hokora, community, and personal desire. As sites of local pilgrimage, hokora form networks of communal, but also individual, aspirations across the urban spiritual landscape of the city. This thesis argues that communities are connected to the larger social structures of Kyoto through hokora. As such, neighborhoods are reproduced and displayed through their hokora’s entanglements with the urban, social, and religious landscapes of Kyoto. Therefore, this study deploys an ethnographic approach to …

Mapping Stratcom: The Architecture Of Offutt, The U.S. Military, And Strategic Command, Anna Miles

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Architecture and the military have always been intertwined. The built environment both on and off U.S. military installations responds to the events, history, and influences of the military. This project explores one example of this by investigating the history of the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, through the lens of architecture.

When exploring USSTRATCOM, this project aims to understand not only its history, but also its impact: on Offutt, on the world, and most importantly, on architecture. Firstly, the project explores the history of the military in the state of Nebraska and …

Tense Indifference: An Examination Of Integration In Two Cities In Marengo County, Alabama, Benjamin Ogden

Honors Theses

For decades, the city of Demopolis, Alabama, in Marengo County has been viewed by West Alabama administrators as a “beacon of hope” in terms of race relations because it successfully integrated its public schools and managed to keep private segregation academies at bay. In the neighboring city of Linden, however, integration was far less successful, with a a segregated private school siphoning off the white students and eroding white support for public education. dominating and destroying the educational structure of the city. In this paper, I delve into how the dichotomy between these two nearby cities was created by the …

Imperfect Mobility: Analyzing The Waffen Ss As A Means Of Social Mobility In Nazi Germany, Jacob O'Bannon

History Undergraduate Honors Theses

The military arm of the Nazi party, the Waffen SS, is an intense point of study by military historians. The Waffen SS are a well-documented force and are unique in their dual role as both a military and political elite. That dual role deserves analysis to better understand the dynamics of Nazi Germany and the evolution of its war machine. In this evolution the Waffen SS greatly expanded and as a result recruitment and volunteer numbers rose. The goal of this thesis is to examine how the Waffen SS who were known for their brutality could attract so many people …

“They Can’T Just Stamp Out This Faith”: Cold War Anti-Communism And International Evangelism At The Appalachian Preaching Mission, Braden Lay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Appalachian Preaching Missions (1955-1981) occurred annually in Northeast Tennessee, with their predecessor, the Bristol Preaching Mission, dating back to at least 1949. Local churches, primarily Protestant, organized and convened these annual ecumenical gatherings. Nationally known clergy and laypeople from various denominations spoke, with up to several thousand congregants attending each mission. These individuals provided sermons and speeches on spiritual, domestic, and international issues. Among the most consistently repeated sermon themes was Christianity’s spiritual conflict with atheistic communism. This work addresses the missions’ origins and how the speakers spoke on international Christian missions in decolonized or developing nations as threatened …

War In The Borderlands: St. Tammany Parish In The American Civil War 1861-1865, Nicholas Gagliano

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Moment Of Failure: The Debate Surrounding The Strategic Arms Limitations Talks, Grayson R. Jones

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

Following the Cuban Missile Crisis, many in the United States and the Soviet Union believed their leaders had narrowly avoided nuclear annihilation. In response to this crisis, however, American and Soviet citizens asked more questions about nuclear weapons and their spread than ever before, well into the 1970s, and toward the decade of détente, or “de-escalation” between the superpowers. The term détente first appeared in writings from 1912, as France and Germany tried unsuccessfully to ease the tension before World War I.1 However, it is more famous in its use in Cold War foreign policy. The term détente was popularized …

U.S Presidents In Africa After The Cold War: In Search Of A Reason, Socrates Mbamalu

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

Africa has often ranked low in priority when it comes to U.S. foreign relations. Often, the presence of a threat to U.S. interests in Africa sparks a redirection of U.S. leaders to Africa. The Cold War was one of such periods. This work looks at U.S. leaders after the Cold War, focusing on George W. Bush, whose policies in Africa are considered the most impactful and resource consuming. Scholars have, however, failed to put Bush’s approach to Africa in a broader historical perspective. Existing literature has analyzed Bush’s policies in Africa using programs such as the Millenium Challenge Account (MCA), …

Tarnished Glory: The Exclusion Of Buffalo Soldiers In World War I, David Michael Barron

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the exclusion of the Buffalo Soldier regiments during World War I. Due to the rise of racial discrimination in the early twentieth century, the Buffalo Soldier regiments experienced violence with civilians while stationed in the United States. The violence experienced by African American soldiers would shape decisions that would ultimately impact their involvement in World War I. By examining evidence from their war record in previous conflicts and evidence from the racial violence that occurred while stationed in the US, this thesis will show that their exclusion in World War I was due to poor conduct perpetrated …

Geraldo The Fearless: The Unsung Hero Of Portugal, Jacob Badal

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

It is well known that Western Europe has enjoyed a longstanding fascination among scholars and students. So much so that calls to move beyond the region towards a global focus in academia are increasing daily. Yet, much of Western Europe's history beyond England, France, and Germany remains unexplored. Spain, as of late, has enjoyed a resurgence of interest, but Portugal has largely been ignored. Indeed, many do not even consider the two Iberian nations and their entangled histories with Islam and North Africa as part of Europe proper, despite the many advancements contributed by both nations to science, cartography, navigation, …

Forgotten Fallout: The Missing Impact Of The Sl-1 Disaster, Darren Bradley

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Nuclear Energy has long been a volatile subject in American history and public discourse. Reactor accidents, domestic and foreign, such as the meltdown at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania and the disaster at the Chernobyl plane in Pripyac, Ukraine have been major milestones in shaping public opinion of nuclear energy in the United Scares. While these events have remained atomic milestones of sores, due to the fact chat nearly everyone has heard of chem, the 1961 explosion of the SL-I reactor at the Nuclear Reactor Test Site in Idaho, the first in the world to inflict casualties, has never held …

Where To Test A Nuclear Bomb, Tyler Kliegl

The Purdue Historian

The United States detonated three underground nuclear bombs on a far-off Alaskan island called Amchitka in the 1960s and 70s. The goal is to understand what the motive of the United States in selecting Amchitka over the endless potential sites to test at were. What makes a place worthy in being tested on, or unworthy in being left alone. How does the United States deal with resistance from locals and other organizations, fighting to prevent their tests.

Georgia Ghosts: History, Folklore, And The Roots Of The Southern Gothic, Katherine M. Mcdowell

Master's Projects

There is something quintessentially human about ghost stories, yet particular regions tend to be more powerfully associated with haunted folktales than others. One of the regions is the southeastern United States. In fact, these oral traditions appear to have influenced the area's best-known literary subgenre: the Southern Gothic.

Why is the South considered haunted? Are there particular qualities in historical events that make them more likely to engender ghost stories? What makes the South's folkloric spirits so powerful that they appear even in modern literature? Most of all, what connects the region's history and folklore with the Southern Gothic? By …

Rev. Harry Conyers

African American Funeral Programs

Rev_Harry_Conyers.pdf - Funeral program for Rev. Harry Conyers

The Family History Of Jeremy E. Peters, Jeremy E. Peters

Your Family in History: HIST 550/700

Jeremy E. Peters authored this family history as part of the course requirements for HIST 550/700 Family History offered online in Spring 2024 and was submitted to the Pittsburg State University Digital Commons. Please contact the author directly with any questions or comments: [email protected]

"More Nobility Of Soul": Honor At The United States Naval Academy, 1845-1875, Samuel J. Limneos

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

An import from the old European world, the new United States and its incipient national navy inherited a fierce honor culture that valued aggressiveness, impetuousness, defiance, boldness, and courage. In 1845, the Navy brought the education of midshipmen, the service’s youngest corps of junior officers to Annapolis, where it established the United States Naval School. There, the institution’s strict discipline, organization and order inculcated the midshipmen in the expectations of an officer and gentleman and subjected them to unprecedented restraint as a matter of duty. The midshipmen reacted to this restraint and all impugnation to their vulnerable sense of honor …

Reading Disasters: Science, Literary Devices, And The Culture Of Reassurance In Children's Nonfiction Literature On Natural Disasters, Emily Willis

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

September 21, 1938, dawned chilly but calm on the Northeast coast of the United States. Weather forecasts indicated the possibility for rain and high tides from a storm brewing somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, but nothing prepared Northeasterners for the nightmare that would be upon them that afternoon. By three o'clock p.m., the "Long Island Express," a category three hurricane, barreled across New York and other parts of the New England coast, causing nea rly $400 million in damages. "While forecasters attempted to stay one step ahead of the storm, they were caught off-guard," states Sean Potter in a vignette …

A Canadian Civil Affairs Officer In Italy: Lieutenant-Colonel H. S. Robinson, Provincial Commissioner For Brescia In 1945, Janet Sanders, Rolando Anni, Maria Paola Pasini

Canadian Military History

This article provides an overview of one Canadian Civil Affairs Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Homer Smiley Robinson, and his contribution to the rebuilding of the province of Brescia in north Italy and its eponymous capital after liberation from Nazi occupation. Robinson, as Provincial Commissioner, led the Civil Affairs team from April to October 1945 as the first Canadian to be appointed to the position. Traditionally, Civil Affairs has been studied predominantly as a bureaucratic structure. The human element in terms of staff and stakeholders has been almost entirely neglected. It is hoped that this account of a soldier-turned-governor will prove to be …