Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Dooming America: Conspiracy And Apocalypticism In The Populist Evangelical And White Nationalist Imaginations, Zachary W. Gipson

Master's Theses

Scholarship on American evangelicalism and its historical intersection with the ideology and activities of White Nationalism has typically focused on identifying shared cultural affinities in areas related broadly to the values and objectives of historic conservatism. These include issues of traditional patriarchy and gender roles, racial and/or religious prejudice, anti-immigrant views, and hostile responses to progressive socio-cultural change. Sociological, psychological, political and other frames of analysis applied to the study of American evangelicalism’s historical and cultural crossover with White Nationalism also identifies shared tendencies towards operating with conspiratorial and apocalyptic beliefs and frames of mind. To date, no comprehensive historical …

The Hands Of God And The Glittering Sword: A Theological History Of John Brown, Christian Chiakulas

Master's Theses

The political praxis of American abolitionist John Brown (1800-1859) furnishes an example of practical liberation theology. This work advances an experimental historiographic model, termed theological history, which combines the central insights of Christian liberation theology and Marxist historical materialism to draw both historical and theological conclusions about its subject, John Brown.

The foundational work of Gustavo Gutierrez and James Cone suggests that history and praxis are central to liberation theology, and that Marxist epistemology and ontology are necessary for historical conclusions drawn from liberation theology to be valid. This work extends this contention, arguing for an even greater fusion …

The Demiurge And The Primeval Serpent Motif Within Classical Thought And Its Culmination Within Gnosticism And Early Christianity, Jim Mcpeters

Master's Theses

Dragons or great serpents associated with creation stories have been well documented within ancient Near Eastern myths, Classical religion, and Judaism. The motif involved monstrous and hostile supernatural figures emblematic of disorder that were subdued by a benevolent deity. The sect known as the Gnostics that emerged in the first and second centuries AD drew upon these ancient creation narratives and creatively mixed them with the idea put forward by Plato of a Demiurge, or craftsman who ordered the material universe. Because they held that the material cosmos was inherently evil, the Gnostics endowed their Demiurge with the characteristics of …

Novus Ordo: The Rise Of Progressive Catholicism And The Fall Of Traditional Catholic Worship, Daniel P. Sute

Master's Theses

The promulgation of the 1969 reformed Roman Missal represents one of the most important events in modern religious history. The transition to the “Novus Ordo” Mass symbolized the end of an era of traditionalism and the beginning of an era of modern Catholicism. At first glance, this transition seemed to take the Church by storm. After over a hundred years of papal condemnations of progressive schools of thought, in the 1960s, progressive scholars were invited by Rome to oversee a general reform of the Mass, the religion’s central act of worship. The ultimate fruit of this labor, the Novus Ordo …

Most White People Just Don't Trust A Black Business Very Much: How The Walker Family Overcame Economic And Racial Discrimination To Become Successful Professional Business Owners In Memphis In The Twentieth Century, Leslie Pleasants

Master's Theses

ABSTRACT

Joseph Edison (J.E.) Walker was an African-American man born to an impoverished, sharecropping family in the heart of the Mississippi Delta after the Civil War in 1879. Even from an early age, he was determined to break out of the station his family had been relegated. There were few educational and occupational opportunities for Walker in Tillman, Mississippi, but against all odds, he received his undergraduate degree from Alcorn State College and a medical doctorate from Meharry Medical College. After graduating, Walker opened a medical office to help the people of the town; however, his local community mistreated him. …

"You Wanna Play Rough?": The Unlikely Partnership Of The Italian Mafia And Butch Lesbians In Greenwich Village, 1945-1968, Alison Jean Helget

Master's Theses

During economic and political upheaval in Europe beginning in the late-1910s and dramatically progressing throughout the 1920s, young Italian men emigrated to the United States to earn decent salaries to bring back to their families across the ocean. However, some single men embraced the opportunities of New York City and its diversified neighborhoods. Since xenophobic sanctions forced disenfranchised minorities into confined spaces and immigrants tended to find comfort settling in neighborhoods with well-established ethnic enclaves, this pushed Italian immigrants into the same space as butch lesbians in a counterculture place referred to as Greenwich Village on the west side of …

Epiphanies, Metaphors, And Liminality: Religion And Mountains In The Seventeenth Century English Mind, Ethan Smith

Master's Theses

This thesis studies the relationship between religion and mountains as represented in seventeenth century English thought. In particular, it seeks to discover trends of continuity in connections between divinity and mountains. It demonstrates that at least two distinct trends of continuity exist. First, between mountains and divinity as represented by metaphor and allegory, both represented in a variety of mediums, from poetry to letters and books. And secondly, it demonstrates continuity with regards to mountain experiences, which often evoke religion, either as a religious experience, experiences that use religious language, or experiences to religious places. In charting these continuities, it …

Remembering The Experience Of War: A Sensory Study Of The Vietnam War And Collective Memory, Jacob Randolph

Master's Theses

The Vietnam War is remembered in a variety of ways. It is remembered as a war against communism, yet one that was also against American ideals of freedom. It is remembered as a war of patriotism, yet one that was also against the numerous military members who fought in it. It is remembered as a war for integration and unity among black and white, yet many African-Americans remember the time period as a war being fought abroad and at home. Memory of the war is obviously contradicting, but then again the 1960s and 1970s oftentimes were.

This thesis examines how …

What Pandemic?: Physical Memorilization Of The 1918 Pandemic, Carly M. Kauffman

Master's Theses

Throughout history there have been many significant events the people find worth remembering. Some of these events are significant enough that people build structures to honor, commemorate, or memorialize them. However, there are some events that are also significant, yet they seem to warrant little or no memorialization. In the United States' historical narrative, it seems that the Influenza Pandemic of 1918 is forgotten among the chaotic period of World War I and the interwar years. The lack of traditional memorials dedicated to the 1918 Pandemic can be attributed to the lack of acknowledgement of the pandemic in terms of …

No Ordinary Times: Reason For And Reactions During The First Red Scare., Timothy Setter

Master's Theses

With American involvement in World War I a drastic change in United States domestic policy occurred. Through the use of wartime Espionage and Sedition Acts came the tool to begin a campaign of suppression of political radicals. This came as the compounding of earlier events like the Los Angeles Times bombing in 1910 occurred with a campaign of anarchist bombings, a growing number of strikes, and wartime propaganda created a setting allowing for government officials to carry out raids, arrests, and both a censoring and punishment of speech. Between the actions of groups and government officials this caused an escalation …

“Life Is Still Stronger Than Death”: The Life-Saving Women Doctors Of Auschwitz, Jacqueline Nicole Honings

Master's Theses

Before World War II, Jewish individuals held prominent employment roles within society. It was not until Adolf Hitler and the German National Socialist Party (Nazi) party came to power in 1933 in Germany that this idea changed. Men and women quickly lost their jobs and status, even the doctors and lawyers. Three Jewish doctors, Lucie Adelsberger, Gisella Perl, and Olga Lengyel found ways to continue their professions once they went to Auschwitz. They became prison doctors, allowing them to help all of those women and children who needed medical treatment because of experiments and diseases in the camp.

Adelsberger, an …

The Kennedy Effect: John F. Kennedy's 1959 Trip To Kansas And Its Relationship To His National Campaign, Randy Gonzales

Master's Theses

ABSTRACT

Massachusetts senator and presidential hopeful John F. Kennedy visited Kansas in November 1959 as part of his strategy to win the Democratic Party nomination. Kennedy made stops in five cities in two days, meeting party officials and wooing potential delegates. The candidate first spoke in Kansas City and Wichita on November 19 before flying to Dodge City November 20 after another appearance in Wichita that morning. After a noon luncheon in Dodge City Kennedy made a speech in Salina before his stop in Hays. In Hays, Kennedy gave a television interview, met the press at a news conference, rode …

The Resurgence Of American Nativism In The Early-Twentieth Century And Its Effects On Industrial Hemp Production In The United States, Roman King

Master's Theses

Congress passed the Marihuana Tax Act on August 2, 1937, which officially made it illegal to handle any form of Cannabis sativa L. without adhering to mandatory taxes and registration forms. The American cultivation of industrial hemp (fibrous, non-psychoactive C. sativa L.), became non-existent by 1958 due to the strict penalties associated with the 1937 Tax Act. Industrial hemp served as a staple of American life from the arrival of the first English colonists in North America up until the textile conquest of King Cotton in the early-nineteenth century. Despite the rise of cotton and the importation of cheap foreign …

Cavalry To Campfires: The Politics Of Preservation In Frontier Historical Park, Jeremy Michael Gill

Master's Theses

Located on the bank of Big Creek in the Smoky Hills Region of the Great Plains is a small wooded park that contains a unique history. Today, the park is split into two sections, one being Frontier Park and the other being the Fort Hays State Historic Site that administers four original buildings from the active years of Fort Hays. Visitors from all states in the Union and many countries pass through Hays to visit the park. Whether to step back in time and experience life of the nineteenth century frontier or to absorb the quiet serenity of the state …

Banned, Black, And Barnstorming: How Traveling Black Teams In The Great Depression Changed Kansas, Maxwell Kutilek

Master's Theses

In the 1870s and early 1880s, almost seventy African American men played for white owned ball clubs. By 1890, White owners reached an unwritten agreement to prevent African Americans from playing with white baseball players. Not until April 15, 1947, when Jackie Robinson took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers did a black baseball player play professionally with white players. It took the general manager of the Dodgers, Branch Ricky, almost a decade to get Robinson in a big league uniform. This meant for nearly sixty years, African Americans had to play separately. Before the creation of the Negro National …

"As Long As Grass Grows And Water Flows": Lyda Conley And The Huron Indian Cemetery, Samantha Rae Dean

Master's Theses

Amongst a sea of concrete in a restless city stands a cemetery that predates the Civil War. The final resting place of at least four hundred Wyandots, Huron Indian Cemetery reflects the tribe’s long history. Today a sense of calm surrounds the sacred grounds, canceling out the noise of Minnesota Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas, but this grassy space was once the target of controversy and legal dispute. Beneath the century-old trees, surrounded by her immediate family members and Wyandot ancestors, lies Eliza “Lyda” Burton Conley, attorney and historic preservationist. Without her dedication, strength, and love for her people, the …

The Southern Flank: Successes And Failures Of Eisenhower Administration Anti-Communist Policy In Iraq And Iran, Timothy L. Northrup

Master's Theses

This is an examination of the Eisenhower Administration’s diplomatic and broader foreign policy in Iran and Iraq. The geopolitical circumstances of the early Cold War period framed the decisions of the Eisenhower Administration in every geographical region. In the Middle East the Eisenhower Administration attempted to check Soviet influence and potential expansionism as well as moderate or sideline Gamal Abdul Nasser’s Arab Socialist and Arab Nationalist movements. In furtherance of these goals, the Eisenhower Administration took two very different approaches to the regimes in Iraq and Iran. After a reasonably fair election in Iran returned an anti-Monarchist government that had …

Wash Your Cows To Remove Radioactive Fallout: Government Efforts To Prepare The Rural Population Of The United States For A Nuclear Attack, Monti J. Adams

Master's Theses

This thesis evaluates the history of the Civil Defense programs from World War II through the Kennedy Administration. There were various government agencies tasked with Civil Defense, preparing the civilian department for war activities. The urban, suburban, and rural populations received different messages from these various agencies. There were specific marketing campaigns aimed at the rural and agricultural groups to convince them to prepare to survive a nuclear attack. The government needed this key demographic to survive and continue to provide food to the survivors of any nuclear attack. Rural populations and agricultural producers were important due to their ability …

Lessons In Montanism: Charismatics, Feminists, And The Twentieth Century Roman Catholic Church, Carol Dawn Jean Davis

Master's Theses

Christianity arose in the midst of a pagan world filled with many different cultic beliefs that worshipped a variety of gods and goddesses. Homogeneity did not become a characteristic of Christianity itself until after the first five centuries of debate hammering out the theological doctrines and modes of praxis that determined what was and was not heresy. Debates continue to take place among scholars concerning pagan influences on the early emerging Christian world. One of the many sects that developed, Montanism, a reform movement within the orthodox Christian Church, came into being as a result of the persecution of Christians …

From Fields Of Golden Grain To Black Liquid Gold: The Economic Contribution Of The Oil Industry To Ellis County, Kansas, Katherine Cobo

Master's Theses

This thesis will demonstrate how the financial wealth that resulted from the discovery of oil in 1928 and the continued oil production until the decline in 1970 became a major contributing factor to the economic prosperity of Ellis County, Kansas for over four decades. The introductory chapter provides a clear picture of the agricultural background of the Ellis County economy. Confronted by economic depression from the 1929 Stock Market Crash, extreme drought, and dust storms across the Kansas prairies, Ellis County farmers and residents faced financial devastation. But when oil production began to provide an influx of financial wealth, the …

Drunk And Disorderly: The Origins And Consequences Of Alcoholism At Old Fort Hays, Ryan M. Kennedy

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to discover the causes and consequences of alcoholism at old Fort Hays. Unlikely to encounter Indians, soldiers longed for entertainment to fill the void of boredom in their lives. Serving as a regional supply center and railroad subsidy, Fort Hays deployed the majority of its soldiers as laborers, serving nearby Hays City, the railroad, and the fort itself. The tedious, routine-driven lifestyle enforced by Fort Hays commanders, in combination with feelings of frontier isolation, often led to resistance in the form of alcohol usage. Utilizing court-martial records, Post Orders, and soldier journals, this thesis …

Sitting Bull And Geronimo: A Comparison Of Their Military And Religious Leadership, Gary Joseph Younger

Master's Theses

In the history of the American West, hundreds of books have been written about Indian Leaders. Two of the most famous leaders are Sitting Bull and Geronimo. However, every history looks at them as individuals and never compares the military and religious aspects of the two men. Both Sitting Bull and Geronimo fought against the westward expansion of the United States to protect their people’s way of life. Each leaders’ religious views influenced their decisions. While Sitting Bull felt that Wakan Tanka chose him to lead his people, Geronimo believed that his Power wanted him to continue his quest for …

Heber Doust Curtis And The Island Universe Theory, Hyrum Austin Somers

Master's Theses

The beginning of the twentieth century was a time a great change and development within American astronomy. The period is rife with astronomers, both men and women, who advanced the discipline. However, few historians have looked at the lives of these astronomers. When an astronomer is chosen for closer study, they tend to be one who contributed to the astronomical discipline with a significant discovery. Unfortunately, those astronomers whose careers did not climax with discovery have a tendency to be forgotten by historians, even though their lives and research have affected our modern understanding. This thesis looks at one such …

Moon Rocks And Mediations: Cooperation And Competition In Space Race Diplomacy, Christopher S. Dinkel

Master's Theses

While the Space Race is often discussed in terms of international competition and Cold War tension, the fact that both Soviet and American forays into space remained peaceful and scientifically driven throughout the 1950s and 1960s points to a more complicated reality that indicates a significant amount of international cooperation during the Space Race. The International Geophysical Year (IGY), which was a collaborative effort among scientists from around the world, served as a catalyst for beginning the Space Race in the late 1950s, and the importance of scientific cooperation emphasized by the IGY remained central to space exploration throughout the …

The United States And The Overthrow Of Kwame Nkrumah, Eric Quaidoo

Master's Theses

February 24, 1966 is regarded by many Ghanaians as the Waterloo in the history of Ghana, and Ghanaians would not like it to be mentioned so as to rekindle old wounds considering the hardships the country went through from that period until accepting democratic rule in the early 1990s. On that fateful day the first Republic of Ghana was overthrown in a military coup d’état when the first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, was on a peacemaking mission in Vietnam. Most Ghanaians and Africans continue to point accusing fingers at the United States for this unfortunate incident that brought not only …

Weighted Scales: American Newspaper Coverage Of The Trial Of The Major War Criminals At Nuremberg, Brian Gribben

Master's Theses

The Trial of the Major War Criminals at Nuremberg, the personalities associated with the trial, the verdicts rendered, and criticisms directed toward both those verdicts and the tribunal itself have generated a multitude of historical works. However, few historians have explored the American print media's coverage of the trial and even fewer have studied how a newspaper's disposition towards the trial reflected that publication's political ideology and influenced the newspaper's coverage of the trial itself. For this reason, it is the objective of this thesis to examine this neglected area, thus contributing to the scholarship of the first Nuremberg Trial. …

Progressive Municipal Reform As Reflected In Dodge City Newspapers: The Progressive Agendas Of Robert Wright, George Hoover, And Adolph Gluck, Brian Weber

Master's Theses

Dodge City was founded in a prairie in the Southwest corner of Kansas in 1872 and was incorporated three years later. The region benefited from large buffalo herds, a nearby U. S. Army Fort, the expansion of the railroad into the area, and the lucrative cattle trade. The Westward movement of the quarantine line ended the cattle trade in Dodge City in the mid 1880s but the little city with a wicked reputation prevailed. The emphasis on agriculture increased, businesses adapted, and three of the city’s proficient leaders stepped forward once again. Robert Wright, George Hoover, and Adolph Gluck were …

Dust Bowl Dichotomy: Voting Trends In Morton And Osborne County During The Great Depression, Jodanna Bitner

Master's Theses

Morton County and Osborne County consistently held strong political affiliations with the Republican Party prior to the 1930s. This changed in the 1932 and 1936 presidential elections when Morton County changed political affiliation by voting for the Democratic candidate. Osborne County, however, did not switch political parties and instead voted once again for the Republican nominee. This thesis will examine why Morton County changed political affiliation during this time, whereas Osborne County stayed the same. In the 1932 presidential campaign, President Herbert Hoover was re-nominated on the Republican ticket and Franklin Roosevelt ran on the democratic ticket. When the Great …

"She Is A Riddle To Them": Angela Tilton Heywood's Sex Radicalism In A Framework Of Traditional Womanhood, Hollie Marquess

Master's Theses

Angela Heywood, a nineteenth century Free Lover, radical, labor reformer, anarchist, and ardent supporter of sexual freedom, has been relegated to the shadow of her husband by most historians. Heywood publicly discussed issues such as birth control, abortion, sexuality, freedom of speech, and Free Love in an open and frank manner, yet she remains virtually absent from texts and other scholarly works. Though she was quite well known in the nineteenth century for her boldness of speech and for her active stance against the Victorian prudery, historians have largely treated her dismissively, giving her only passing mention in favor of …

Best Of All Possible Care : An Examination Of Scientifically Progressive Medicine In Hays From 1867 To 1918, Ben Peeler

Master's Theses

From the mid-nineteenth century until the early decades of the twentieth century, medicine underwent a tremendous transformation. No longer was medicine to be based on archaic theories that were grounded on unquantifiable guesswork. Instead, medicine became scientifically progressive, pushing the reliability and credibility of medical professionals to new heights. Scientific progressivism was the concept of standardizing medicine around a common set of ideals, such as basing treatment upon scientifically sound methods and procedures. A scientifically progressive community can be identified through the application of one or more of the following criteria: education adaptability, and technology. These three criteria could be …