Digital Commons Network^™

Student Activism At Eastern Michigan University 1961-1970, Philip J. Kotwick

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Ua1b3 Confederates In Our Attic - Discussion Guide, Wku Naming & Symbols Task Force

WKU Administration Documents

Guidelines created by the WKU Naming & Symbols Task Force for conversations regarding naming of buildings for Confederate sympathizers.

Ua1b3 Confederates In Our Attic - Discussion Guide 2, Wku Naming & Symbols Task Force

WKU Administration Documents

Short discussion guide created by the WKU Naming & Symbols Task Force for use in consideration of renaming buildings honoring Confederate sympathizers.

The Ojibwe In Marquette County, Michigan: 1850 To The Present, Russell Magnaghi

Upper Country: A Journal of the Lake Superior Region

No abstract provided.

Crawl Space: Driving Over The Anthropocene In A Jeep, Michael Pesses

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The automobile has long been directly and indirectly connected to human conceptions of nature, yet few studies linger with the act of driving as a practice that contributes to how nature is experienced. I argue that a more nuanced understanding of automobility is necessary for any scholars who study both social practices and environmental sustainability. Following the work of the human geographer Doreen Massey, I explore how relations between humans and non-humans, the social and the natural, ideology and practice work together to produce places specific to space and time. I also argue that American automobility is not simply transportation, …

Mobilizing The Past: Local History And Community Action In Modern Metropolitan Chicago, Hope Shannon

Dissertations

The vast majority of local historical societies in operation today opened in the decades following World War II. These organizations are common fixtures in cities, towns, and neighborhoods across the United States, and their members continue to support the mandate to protect and share the local past set by their society founders forty, fifty, and sixty years ago. Despite the ubiquity of the local historical society, however, few scholars have considered the ways historical society founders and members used these organizations to do anything beyond explore an interest in local history. €œMobilizing the Past€ investigates how and why residents formed …

Black Historical Erasure: A Critical Comparative Analysis In Rosewood And Ocoee, Christelle Ram

Honors Program Theses

This thesis provides a comparative analysis of Black Historical Erasure in both the cases of Ocoee and Rosewood. Ocoee and Rosewood were both cites of racially motivated programs that led to the exodus of entire African American communities- in both cases however, the events were erased. Utilizing various post-modern texts, this project ultimately analyzes erasure as a force that upholds ideologies of white supremacy. Utilizing the theories of Antonio Gramsci and Karl Marx, this thesis analysis the modus operandi of violence that resulted in erasure as well as the repercussions of erasure. This thesis ultimately indicates that in Rosewood and …

Phantoms Of Fantasy: Materiality, Enjoyment, And The Minstrel Legacy Of Sentimentalism, Zafirios Daglaris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This research utilized material culture concepts, Lacanian psychoanalytic theory, and literary analysis methodologies to investigate the rhetorical and experiential legacies of the antebellum 'complex of sentimental principles' within the twentieth century North American culture industry. Drawing on Eric Lott's concepts 'love and theft' and the 'black mirror,' the author analyzed culture industry products like songs and novels, and argued that the terms of sentimental identification among North American whites came to depend on associative processes precedented by blackface minstrelsy. Whereas minstrels had once constituted the stage-form by appealing to sentimentalism, eventually, in the years after American Civil War and the …

Proletarian Modernism : Aesthetic Intervention In Naturalist Epistemology In Steinbeck, Wright And Mccullers, Kenji Kihara

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation explores three proletarian novels published at the end of the Depression era—John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, Richard Wright’s Native Son, and Carson McCullers’s The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter—in light of how their aesthetics complicates the inherited epistemology of literary naturalism in response to the changing political climates in the age of the Popular Front. Calling these texts “proletarian modernism,” I investigate how their aesthetics mediate the relations among Marxist ideas, political solidarity and the American value of individualism in an age when it became gradually difficult to fundamentally criticize capitalism and liberalism.

Making Good : World War I, Disability, And The Senses In American Rehabilitation, Evan Patrick Sullivan

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study looks at how disabled American soldier-patients and the US Army used the senses as tools of rehabilitation after the Great War. Contemporaries argued that, when the hundreds of thousands of American soldiers came home wounded or sick after the Great War, the men needed to make good. The phrase “making good” meant that sacrifice in the war was not enough, and veterans had to become socially and economically independent, and return to heterosexual relationships. In an effort to return to normalcy, the US Army relied on rehabilitation, which aimed to medically and socially re-integrate the men into society.

"Greek Life": Greek-Letter Student Societies In The United States Higher Education System On The Local And National Scale, Martin Schefzik

Center Austria Research

This diploma thesis takes a look at what researchers sometimes label as a phenomenon that is exclusive to the United States of America, i.e. Greek life (DeSantis 6). The aim is to explain to the reader what Greek life or a Greek life organization is and what its features are besides being student groups that name themselves with Greek letters. There is much more to be elaborated about these groups. The two core elements of this paper are the explanation of the Greek life phenomenon on a US nationwide basis and the comparison of the information obtained about Greek life …

Abraham Lincoln, The United States, And Mexico: The Implications Of Memory In A Continental History, Emilie E. Ginn

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the malleability of memory through an analysis of both domestic and international memories of Abraham Lincoln. With a particular focus on the American Civil War Era in a North American continental context, key individuals are identified and their contributions are illuminated. While Abraham Lincoln is remembered for all that he accomplished during this time, others such as Matías Romero, Ulysses S. Grant, and Plácido Vega, also greatly contributed to the development of the relationship between the United States and Mexico.

Additionally, institutional and collective memories of Abraham Lincoln invoke present-day examples of intentional manipulation of these memories …

“Going Over The Top” – The Impact Of World War I On Three Leaders Of World War Ii, Nick Sage

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores the impact that service in the First World War had on three global leaders of the Second World War: Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, and Harry Truman. Through analysis of original documents from the Churchill Archive Center, the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, and the archives of the National World War I Museum, this project contends that the years 1914-1918 became a common point of reference and reflection for these three leaders—especially in their private musings and public rhetoric during World War II. Additionally, primary evidence reveals that the personal narratives of wartime service that these …

“We Will Never Forget:” Developing Collective Memory And Meaning After 9/11, Kylie Harrison

CMC Senior Theses

From the oval office to town halls, from the television screen to the archive, Americans sought to define 9/11 and its role in American national identity and history. This thesis will focus on the ways collective memory regarding 9/11 was established, the role of elites in memory initiatives that ingrained 9/11 in American national identity, and how collective memory can be used as a political or cultural tool to create national unity. Throughout this thesis, I will rely on the theoretical frameworks of collective trauma and collective memory to inform and guide my examination. The framework of collective memory lays …

Crisis: Journalism, Democracy, And The Downfall Of The White House Press Secretary, 1990 To The Present, Grayson Raffensperger

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.

In The Shadows Of Apollo: The Space Age Legacies Of Dispossession In Hancock County, Mississippi, Stuart Simms

Theses and Dissertations--History

In the Piney Woods of Mississippi, John C. Stennis used political connections to displace small communities in a 150,000-acre space in Hancock County, Mississippi for the creation of a rocket test facility for NASA. What became the John C. Stennis Space Center created a narrative that preached of the benefits of the facility in the region while local residents from the displaced communities remember the facility in different terms.

Envisioning Catholicism: Popular Practice Of A Traditional Faith In The Post-Wwii Us, Christy A. Bohl

Theses and Dissertations--History

Marian apparitions in the United States have occurred in ever-increasing numbers since World War Two, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s. These apparitions occupy a unique space in religious life, as they provide opportunities for Catholics to practice their faith outside of the Church hierarchy while still maintaining their status as faithful Catholics, often placing women in prominent positions. Although apparitions are an important part of faith for thousands of American Catholics, most Americans and Catholics are unaware of how widespread this movement is. This dissertation takes a comparative approach to examine a selection of apparition events, illuminating the pilgrimage …

Ursinus Magazine, Winter 2020, Brock Blomberg, Ed Moorhouse, Andy Edwards, Geoff Gehman, Jasmine L. Harris

Ursinus Magazine, 1995–Present

Award-winning author will speak at Commencement • IDC earns praise • Planting the next 150 years • The nexus initiative • Eight Bears join Athletics Hall of Fame • Paying it forward • Getting to know: Margaret White • Office space: Keeper of the flame • (Old) gold standard • Celebrating 150: The mentors and thought leaders • Tools of the trade • Burning question: Should college athletes be paid? • MLK Week • Class notes • Births • Deaths • Weddings • Let's get social!

Control, Consumption, And Connections: The Women Of Eighteenth-Century Colchester, Virginia, And Their Participation In The Atlantic World Of Goods, 1760-1761, Bryce Forgue

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This study examines the economic agency and participation of sixty-five women in Colchester, Fairfax County, Virginia throughout the years of 1760-1761 based on ledgers from a general store where they purchased goods on credit. To expand the view of women of different social standings in the colonial south, this study builds a more complicated picture of eighteenth-century women's scope of economic participation. "Control, Consumption, and Connections" explores how women could acquire credit, how they used that credit to make informed consumer purchases, and how they used the extensive social networks they lived in to earn and consume. By studying their …

The 1950s “War On Narcotics”: Harry Anslinger, The Federal Bureau Of Narcotics, And Senator Price Daniel’S Probe, William J. Horvath

Harvey M. Applebaum ’59 Award

No abstract provided.

Fixing America's Founding, Maeve Glass

Faculty Scholarship

The forty-fifth presidency of the United States has sent lawyers reaching once more for the Founders’ dictionaries and legal treatises. In courtrooms, law schools, and media outlets across the country, the original meanings of the words etched into the U.S. Constitution in 1787 have become the staging ground for debates ranging from the power of a president to trademark his name in China to the rights of a legal permanent resident facing deportation. And yet, in this age when big data promises to solve potential challenges of interpretation and judges have for the most part agreed that original meaning should …

Joseph T. Lawless Family Papers, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Finding Aids

This collection consists of the papers of Joseph T. Lawless. Materials span 1863-1963 and include personal and professional correspondence, newspaper clippings, newsletter bulletins, and a photograph. Materials mostly pertain to Irish nationalism and Irish Americans affiliated with the Friends of Irish Freedom organization. Correspondence to and from Joseph T. Lawless span 1918-1924 and discuss the push for an Independent Irish Republic and support from within the United States.

Find this Collection in the University Libraries' catalog.

Struggle For Sovereignty: An African-American Colonization Attempt And Delicate Independence In Mid-Nineteenth Century Central America, Matthew D. Harris

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis uses a series of United States foreign relations documents centered around an 1862 attempt by Abraham Lincoln to colonize parts of Central America with freed African Americans. Traditionally, these communications have been used by historians for U.S. foreign relations or Black resettlement history. Here, instead, this collection is used to display the major threats to Central American sovereignty in the mid-nineteenth century in their own words. The collection reveals that two of the threats were foreign imperialistic thought and racial instability. However, the third, and ultimately most destabilizing threat to the region, was the five nations' rivalry amongst …

A Legacy Of Community And Mourning: Aids & Hiv In Central Florida, 1983-1993, Andrew Weeks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Given the primacy of Florida, and in particular Orlando, as an urban center with an above average rate of AIDS and HIV, this study examines how the outbreak of a deadly disease can affect a community. Complicating the response to this scourge, those who were most at-risk were marginalized groups such as those in the LGBTQ community, drug users, and often people of color. As a result, those who occupied positions of political power felt little incentive to curb the epidemic and mocked it by deeming it "the gay disease." As a result of neglect and the lack of investment …

From Abdication To Action: Turning Points In Clinton's Foreign Policy, Eric J. Szandzik

Theses and Dissertations

This research analyzes important turning points in the foreign policy of President Bill Clinton (1993-2000). These turning points include Clinton's decision to not intervene in the Rwandan genocide (1994), and his decision to intervene in Bosnia (1995) and Kosovo (1999). The various reasons why Clinton did, or did not, intervene in those three events are examined. Clinton admitted that not intervening in the Rwandan genocide was the greatest regret of his presidency. The regret of not intervening in Rwanda had a substantial impact on his decision to launch military interventions into Bosnia and Kosovo. The impact of that regret is …

"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised": Looking At The 1964 Freedom Day Boycott As A Means Of Combating Educational Segregation In New York City Today, Carlos Mendez

CMC Senior Theses

Throughout the 20th century, New York City underwent a number of changes, most of which occurred due to waves of immigration. Amidst all of the changes, the lack of attention students of color in low-income areas received remained constant. The lack of attention resulted in deteriorating school conditions and a widening achievement gap between students of color and white students. In 1964, 10 years after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, civil rights activists across the City reached a boiling point and organized themselves to protest against the Board of Education. It was an effort that resulted in over …

Recovering Lost Voices: The Rappahannock Tribe And The Jamestown Festival Of 1957, Woodie L. Walker Ii

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis employs the interdisciplinary methodologies of ethnohistory and oral history to examine the legacy of the 1957 Jamestown Festival through the experiences and memories of Rappahannock people. “Recovering Lost Voices: The Rappahannock Tribe and the Jamestown Festival of 1957” adds to the historiography of Virginia Natives by revealing that Rappahannock participation in the Jamestown Festival was the culmination of centuries of cultural preservation, greatly influenced and made immediate by their experiences in “Jim Crow” Virginia during the twentieth century. This research establishes that the enduring legacy of the Festival for the Rappahannock Tribe was political influence, culminating in state …

“That New Africa Is Ready To Fight Its Own Battles": Kwame Nkrumah, The United States, And The Quest For A Modern Ghana, 1957-1966, Godwin Gyimah

Masters Theses

This project examines the United States-Ghana relationship and how the relationship transformed Ghana, 1957-1966. African leaders such as Dr. Kwame Nkrumah had declared: "That new Africa is ready to fight its own battles and show that after all, the black man is capable of managing his affairs." Despite the non-alignment philosophy, Ghana was not neutral regarding the West and East blocs rivalry. The thesis argues that it was through the United States' government and private firms' contributions that Ghana was able to achieve the mark of a modern nation through industrialization, universal education, and the expansion of international trade economy. …

Generative Leadership And The Life Of Aurelia Erskine Brazeal, A Trailblazing African American Female Foreign Service Officer, Atim Eneida George

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

There is a gap in the literature on generativity and the leadership philosophy and praxis of African American Female Foreign Service Officers (AAFFSOs). I addressed this deficit, in part, by engaging an individual of exceptional merit and distinction—Aurelia Erskine Brazeal—as an exemplar of AAFFSOs. Using qualitative research methods of portraiture and oral history, supplemented by collage, mind mapping and word clouds, this study examined Brazeal’s formative years in the segregated South and the extraordinary steps her parents took to protect her from the toxic effects of racism and legal segregation. In addition, I explored the development of Brazeal’s interest in …

Robert Cowley: Living Free During Slavery In Eighteenth-Century Richmond, Virginia, Ana F. Edwards

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the life of Robert Cowley, a formerly enslaved man living free during slavery in eighteenth-century Richmond, Virginia. The first chapter examines Cowley’s enslaved life through the records of others. The data collectors and historians of early America did not intend to capture the truth of Black people’s American experiences, except as defined their enslavement--people in service to the wealth-building capacity of the nation. Yet the lives of Black people who lived in proximity to prominent whites can be glimpsed in a variety of records and writings from account books to deeds, from private letters to newspaper advertisements. …