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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

“Mecca For The Colored People”: Reexamining The Demolition Of Pittsburgh’S Lower Hill District, Avishek Acharya Apr 2022

“Mecca For The Colored People”: Reexamining The Demolition Of Pittsburgh’S Lower Hill District, Avishek Acharya

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

The Hill District of Pittsburgh is a neighborhood of national importance, having hosted jazz legends, nationally renowned newspapers, and artists. However, the Hill of today is much smaller than it has ever been; the destruction of the Lower Hill effectively separated the neighborhood from not only another part of the previously collectively one singular neighborhood but separated the neighborhood and its residents from the economic hubs in both down and uptown. The wholesale destruction of the Lower Hill District can be attributed to both the national trend of “urban renewal,” a series of misguided, often explicitly racist attempts to undo …


“Madam” Elizabeth: Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley’S Sisyphean Attempt To Join The “Cult Of True Womanhood”, Bella Biancone Apr 2022

“Madam” Elizabeth: Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley’S Sisyphean Attempt To Join The “Cult Of True Womanhood”, Bella Biancone

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

Nineteenth century notions of femininity and etiquette were governed by strict societal standards. “True Womanhood” was defined by four fundamental virtues– piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. However, there was another pre-requisite for joining this revered cult¬: whiteness. No matter how pious or domestic a woman of color was, she could never hope to be considered a proper lady by Victorian standards. In discerning what it meant to be a member of that “cult of True Womanhood,” Black women were used to determine the boundaries of white womanhood; a “True Woman” was to be the antithesis of the stereotypical sexual and …


Interracial Relations: History And Cultural Identity In The Invention Of Wings, Taylor Hopkins Apr 2021

Interracial Relations: History And Cultural Identity In The Invention Of Wings, Taylor Hopkins

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

The historical fiction novel The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd displays a notable relationship between feminist and racial ideals during the nineteenth century. The story is based on the historical figure, Sarah Grimké, an American abolitionist and advocate for women’s rights. Over the course of thirty-five years, the narration alternates between the two main characters: Sarah Grimké and Hetty Handful Grimké, a young slave on the Grimké plantation. The interactions between the two begin when Hetty is presented to Sarah as a personal waiting maid for Sarah’s eleventh birthday. As the story continues, the dynamics between the two …


Mary Todd Lincoln: Duty And Depression, Bella Biancone Apr 2021

Mary Todd Lincoln: Duty And Depression, Bella Biancone

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln was perceived by Victorian America as materialistic and unbalanced. Behind the closed doors of the Executive Mansion, however, lie a grief-stricken mother struggling to manage an undiagnosed and untreated mental illness. Her fragile condition was exacerbated with each death of her beloved family. Yet, this First Lady played an integral role in the White House, acting as hostess, advisor to the President, and activist in her own right. She was not a passive bystander as her husband worked tirelessly to preserve the Union, but an active participant in the war effort. Following Abraham Lincoln’s premature …


Buying History: Trends In Ohio Historical Markers, Nicole Slaven Apr 2020

Buying History: Trends In Ohio Historical Markers, Nicole Slaven

Graduate Student Research Symposium

This is an extension of previous research from the NCPH 2019 Annual Conference Poster Session and GSRS 2019 Poster Session: “Are We Diluting History?: A Holistic Analysis of Ohio Historical Markers”. Research for this poster involved a random sample of approximately 20% of Ohio Historical Markers. The 327 markers that made up the sample were then analyzed and graded on a ten-point scale in four categories: historical significance, historical integrity, context, and mechanics. From there many conclusions were made after crunching the numbers and sorting the grades by decade, subject matter, and other parameters.
Trends from this study include: the …


Decolonizing National Parks: A Conversation About Repatriation And Shared Authority, Stephanie Walrath Mar 2019

Decolonizing National Parks: A Conversation About Repatriation And Shared Authority, Stephanie Walrath

Graduate Student Research Symposium

This project explores how shared authority in national parks can be reassessed through the lens of administrative repatriation. The majority of NPS interpretations focus on conservation and naturalist education, perpetuate a mythology of “gifted land,” and have neglected cultural imprints as an integral element of the land’s history. The rich histories of the peoples that have occupied these lands over time provide an opportunity for the NPS that few museums possess: to present an American history that is deeply interwoven with the natural landscape and recall events back farther than any constructed museums can possibly venture. National parks have an …


A Culture On A Loop: Baltimore, Josh Schmader Apr 2018

A Culture On A Loop: Baltimore, Josh Schmader

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

Police brutality has been at the fore front of American consciousness for almost a decade now. Numerous African Americans all over the country, both male and female, have lost their lives in situations where that end result was not justified. In response to each of these individual tragic events, peaceful protests rose up to demand for justice. After the death of Freddie Gray in April of 2015, however, Baltimore had a more aggressive response to the loss of one of their native sons. An initial peaceful protest turned into riot that raged through the streets of Baltimore for a series …


Women In The Late Nineteenth Century: Involvement In The 1893 Chicago World’S Fair, Maria Miller Apr 2017

Women In The Late Nineteenth Century: Involvement In The 1893 Chicago World’S Fair, Maria Miller

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

The Columbian Exposition of 1893, also known as the Chicago World’s Fair, was a clear example of the women’s rights movement in nineteenth century America. It exemplified the inclusion of women in male-dominated fields by establishing a Board of Lady Managers. This group of women held executive authorities over the establishment of a Woman’s Building. The Woman’s Building was a space dedicated to displaying the achievements of women throughout the world. This Building also gave female visitors hope for a future of expanded rights. Despite this, the Woman’s Building isolated women’s work into a distinct section within the Exposition. The …