Arts and Humanities Commons^™

G. William Bouldin, More Than A Businessman, Mario M. Gutierrez

Methods of Historical Research: Spring 2020 (Archived)

When the average person thinks about African American history, the two major historical subjects that possibly comes to their mind are slavery and the civil rights movement. I believe this is the case because African American history is a subject with a limited curriculum in the history classes of our public schools. Possible causes for this problem could be budget restrictions, limited amounts of time in classes, or even to ‘soften’ the reality of American history. Despite these reasons, the undeniable fact is that African American History has many unresearched areas within the subject. For instance, the historical study of …

"In-Betweening" Disney: An Animated History Of Hollywood Labor And Ideological Imagineering, 1935-1947, Bradley Edward Moore

History Theses & Dissertations

The Walt Disney Company’s meticulously-crafted corporate mythos, as it developed in the mid-twentieth century, hid a conflicted history of anti-New Deal, nationalist ideology that was popularized during the clashes of the Hollywood labor movement in the 1930s and 1940s. In 1935, the National Labor Relations Act was passed as Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) entered full-scale production, and each were central to the labor-management conflict that lurked behind the scenes of the motion picture industry. By the mid-1940s, following the conclusion of the Second World War, Congress passed the Labor Management Relations (Taft-Hartley) Act and imposed a …

Pueblo Sovereignty And Voting Rights: Miguel Trujillo And A New Tactic For Self-Determination, Alexander Douglas Bright

History Theses & Dissertations

This thesis examines the 1948 Trujillo v. Garley case and contextualizes it with the long history of Pueblo sovereignty in New Mexico. Recent literature on Indigenous electorates in the U.S. southwest has led to new understandings about Pueblo participation in elections. Given this new context, this thesis argues that the Trujillo v. Garley decision has been a misunderstood moment of Indian activism. Rather than marking the end of a long campaign for voting rights, the 1948 court decision was pushed by non-Pueblo advocates and only supported by a handful of Pueblo Indians. When Pueblo Indians, like Miguel Trujillo, began to …

Research On The Demographic Changes Around San Antonio's St. Paul Square From 1880 To 1920, Christopher D. Oliver

Methods of Historical Research: Spring 2020 (Archived)

We often hear of the massive boom in population experienced by various Northern cities during the Great Migration (1916-1960), where over 6 million African Americans would migrate across the country in search for better opportunities. What we do not often hear is how such migration affected the larger Southern cities. Such a seemingly important and relevant question deserves to be covered extensively. San Antonio, while a large city (and once the largest in Texas), has been left unexplored on this question, while other Texas cities like Houston are receiving some coverage on this topic. I want to begin answering this …

The Unheard Stories Of Former San Antonio Slaves, David R. Harris

Methods of Historical Research: Spring 2020 (Archived)

While the end of slavery in America was a huge step to provide equality to all, the livelihood of former slaves after the Civil War took many different paths, some of those paths ended up in San Antonio, Texas.

Founding Of Naacp In San Antonio 1918: A Call To Activism, Eric D. Nolden

Methods of Historical Research: Spring 2020 (Archived)

Enter the Progressive era a time of social activism and political reform, an era aimed at finding a cure for industrialization and urbanization nationally. There were also societal issues that needed to be resolved, issues of governmental corruption, government machines and their overseers, women’s suffrage, child labor laws, the practice of Eugenics, and safer food and medicine for all citizens. Although the reformers of the era were trying to create a “Great America,” the Progressive era encouraged discriminatory rules; rules which aided in the re-emergence of the KKK and lay the foundation for the Immigration Act of 1917. Policies that …

Progressive Era Activism For Black Orphanage, Isaac L. Godoy

Methods of Historical Research: Spring 2020 (Archived)

A group of American citizens that are historically overlooked and underserved are impoverished and homeless children. According to the United States Census Bureau as of 2017, when this group is divided by race, the number of African-American children that live in poverty is higher than others. This kind of data has only been available since 1959. Previously, the federal government did not have any involvement in assisting with any services to impoverished children came in the form of community activism. The most prominent institutions to provide care to homeless children were in the form of orphanages.

The Life Of A Former Slave In Bexar County, Karina De Hoyos

Methods of Historical Research: Spring 2020 (Archived)

The Slave Narrative Collection from the WPA Federal Writers’ Project, housed at the Library of Congress, has over 2,300 first-person accounts and 500 black and white photographs of people who were born into slavery.Numerous historians have relied on these narratives to help them in their work to have a better understanding of slavery. Many people did not know how, or even where, to start their new lives, but they knew they needed to find a way to make a living, or ultimately seek work from their former masters. Despite numerous obstacles in their lives before and after the Civil War, …

The History Of The Cameo Theater, Patricia M. Gutierrez

Methods of Historical Research: Spring 2020 (Archived)

On March 20, 2015, Pastor Doug Robins held a church service in the Cameo Theater. He remembered one of the parishioners stating, “Hey, Pastor Doug, I went to a rave and I did Ecstasy right there, and now I’m coming to church here.” From its founding in 1940, up to the present day, the Cameo Theater has been a host to a number of diverse events, everything from religious services to raves. On June 11, 1940, the Cameo Theater opened and was owned by Carl Milentz.

Protest For Douglass School, Robert M. Gutierrez

Methods of Historical Research: Spring 2020 (Archived)

In 1865, two months before the surrender of Robert E. Lee, the United States Congress passed an act that created The Freedmen’s Bureau. The Freedmen’s Bureau was set to establish programs designed to help the newly freed slaves. The programs aided in land, homes, and education programs opportunities.In the late 1860’s Rincon Street Public Colored School was established, and it was located on Rincon Street (today known as St. Mary’s Street) in San Antonio Texas. Between 1870 to 1915, the school underwent many changes, including multiple name changes and stages of expansion. Eventually, the school and its additional buildings were …

The Afro-Latino Presence In Late Colonial Spanish San Antonio, Diana González Villarreal

Methods of Historical Research: Spring 2020 (Archived)

San Antonio is one of the oldest cities in what is currently the state of Texas. For tens of millennia, Natives have inhabited the entirety of the Americas, and also more specifically the area that is now San Antonio because of its fertile soil and rivers; it is this geographic feature that facilitates the thriving of civilizations. As such, the European Spanish settlers and missionaries established their presence in this very area as early as 1718. Since then, the inevitable miscegenation that resulted has molded the identity of what is now San Antonio, Texas, with over 300 years of documented …

John “Mule” Miles, Joe G. Gonzales

Methods of Historical Research: Spring 2020 (Archived)

Imagine being a 14-year-old kid doing a project for history about a topic you enjoy. My group and I decided to research the history of baseball, but more specifically, the history of the Negro League. A league that solely for Black baseball players because of segregation. We decided to reach out to San Antonio native John “Mule” Miles who played in the Negro League from 1946-1949, about a possible phone interview. One day, while in math class, my history teacher pulled my group and me out of class because Miles dropped by our school and wanted to do the interview …

San Antonio's Redlining And Segregation, Arnulfo Tovar

Methods of Historical Research: Spring 2020 (Archived)

Segregation were evidently shown during the years of 1903-1925 within San Antonio and has a long and complex history of segregation and redlining. What my research will be consisting of is how the work of B.G. Irish and H.E. Dickinson from 1903-1925, as well as the work of Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) in the 1930’s contributed to the rise and expansion of redlining and segregation in San Antonio. Irish and Dickinson were two successful real estate developers, and they included racial covenants in their deeds, covenants that states that no African Americans or Mexicans could own, lease, rent property …

Albert Harold Banks, Jarred John Cantu

Methods of Historical Research: Spring 2020 (Archived)

One thing is certain for the history of San Antonio; the African American community has had a little spotlight shined on them throughout. Today San Antonio has many different cultures throughout where ideas are all mixed together in 460 plus square miles of land according to the 2010 census. For obvious reasons, San Antonio didn’t become this way overnight. Throughout its history we have seen its fair share of many races coming over and setting up new homes here; more so in the African American community. Until recently we have only begun to understand what this community has brought in …

San Antonio Black Aces, Edwin Ocasio-Lopez

Methods of Historical Research: Spring 2020 (Archived)

Baseball has been in San Antonio since the 19th century, with the San Antonio Bronchos being the first team in any sport to bring the city a title in 1897. African Americans have been playing baseball for as long as there has been a sport of baseball. In 1908, the city’s first black baseball team, the Black Bronchos, won another championship for the city. After the foundation was laid for African American baseball leagues by the Black Bronchos, the Black Aces made their first and only appearance in San Antonio in 1919. Through immense struggles and pressures due to Jim …

Homer L. Rodgers: The Commerce Street Tailor, Robert Grey Miller

Methods of Historical Research: Spring 2020 (Archived)

The common heroes of our time are often overlooked. Doctors and nurses get recognition for helping the sick in times of need. Farmers working in the fields grow our food. Cowboys round up the cattle to bring to market. Teachers help students learn and prosper in society. However, the bus drivers, janitors, food service industry workers, and retail shop owners are usually passed by as insignificant. Not much has been said or recorded about the ordinary workers of our society, let alone African Americans in Texas. San Antonio provides a wealth of untapped knowledge to examine the average worker and …

An Unguaranteed Victory: Military Challenges In The Union Army And Lincoln’S Call For A Militia, Madelaine Setiawan

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

Many have assumed that the Union victory in the Civil War was guaranteed. This research paper looks at the challenges the Union army endured that interfered with the likelihood of a victory. Men who had previously fought for the Union retreated to fight for the Confederates, which necessitated President Lincoln to expand the Union army, by calling forth volunteers of 75,000 men. The Union’s advantage of having a larger federal army and national funding did not guarantee a Union victory as the challenges President Lincoln and the Union army faced proved an equal likelihood of a Confederate victory.

Many have …

What Happened To Robert E. Lee After April 12, 1865, Katherine Hugo

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

Confederate general Robert E. Lee is remembered primarily for his military leadership during the Civil War. However, the period of his post-war life is not as well studied as his military career. This paper seeks to examine his life after the war, as well as the effects of the decision to join the Confederacy.

The German-American Community During World War Ii, Monica Forsthoefel

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

This work examines the German-American community in the United States and its experiences during the turbulent years of World War II. It explores and analyzes the opinions German-Americans had of Hitler and his regime, as well as the effect that was wrought by the anti-German sentiment prevalent in the United States at the time. Furthermore, this work touches on the Nazi presence in the United States during the pre-war years and the most prominent American Nazi organization at the time, the German-American Bund. Finally, it addresses the sudden and protracted internment of thousands of German-Americans perpetrated by a fearful and …

“Un-American” Hollywood: Politics And Film In The Blacklist Era, Natalie Jarosz

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

This is a review of “Un-American” Hollywood: Politics and Film in the Blacklist Era, a 2007 volume edited by Frank Krutnik, Steve Neale, Brian Neve, and Peter Stanfield. It argues that the American Left was involved with creating films of true significance in the Hollywood system, in the context of post-war House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) blacklisting. There is also an examination of the Popular Front between liberals and communists before post-war tensions drew them further apart. There is a chapter about the “new” and “old” waves of the left in the context of 1960s and 1970s American cinema. …

Sentiment Analysis Of William Cranch’S Petitions For Freedom Court Reports Using Python And Vader, Anna Krause

UCARE: Research Products

Text analysis from William Cranch's court reports on the 19th Century African American Petitions for Freedom. Cranch provided selected court reports and their full title, date, and document text was imported to a csv file. This data was then analyzed using Python and its multiple software libraries to clean and prepare the text. The VADER(Valence Aware Dictionary and sEntiment Reasoner) package was utilized to give a sentiment score to each body of text, then was compared and visualized with the entire corpus. Results showed that most court reports carried a high rate of positive sentiment.

“She’S Been Her Own Mistress...”: The Long History Of Charlotte Dupee V. Henry Clay, 1790–1830, William Kelly

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In February 1829, Charlotte Dupee, an enslaved woman, sued for her freedom in the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia. The defendant was her enslaver, United States Secretary of State Henry Clay. Situating her as the main historical actor, this research illustrates how Dupee’s life experiences as an enslaved woman directly informed the decisive timing of her freedom suit. By expanding Dupee’s story beyond 1829 to reconstruct her life from girlhood to manumission, we also gain a greater understanding of the nuanced and precarious nature of alternative pathways to freedom.

American Business Women's Association - Kentucky Colonel Chapter (Mss 693), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 693. Minutes, financial papers, scrapbooks, programs, newsletters and various other organizational papers from Bowling Green, Kentucky’s Kentucky Colonel chapter of the American Business Women’s Association.

Croghan, George, 1852-1911 (Sc 3523), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3523. “The Mammoth Cave Controversy,” a notice by George Croghan of Michigan Bar, Sacramento County, California and a beneficiary of the Mammoth Cave Estate, a trust administered for the heirs of Dr. John Croghan, the Cave’s last private owner. He details numerous grievances against the Estate’s board of trustees: unfilled vacancies, negligent administration, lack of accounting, self-dealing, and falsification of records. He seeks public support for his current pursuit of legal and other remedies.

Hebron, John L., 1842-1914 (Sc 3522), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript for Manuscripts Small Collection 3522. Letter, 28 September 1861, to his mother from John L. Hebron, serving with the 2nd Ohio Infantry at Camp King near Covington, Kentucky. He describes his travel from Camp Dennison in Ohio, camping and drilling, and the shooting of an African American by a guard. He acknowledges receipt of a needle book and expresses a desire to procure oilcloth for a blanket. He reports on efforts to raise another company in Ohio, the treatment of the men by officers, and the absence of “secesh women” in that part of the state.

Hemphill, William Ramsey, 1806-1876 (Sc 3521), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3521. Letter, 23 February 1872, of Reverend William Ramsey Hemphill, Lowell, Kentucky, to Robert Rennick, discussing the incorporation of the Associate Reformed Presbytery of Kentucky. He suggests Rennick investigate the power of the county or circuit courts to incorporate, and in the alternative prepare a bill for passage by the Kentucky General Assembly. He also suggests content for the bill, including incorporators’ names and corporate powers and restrictions.

The Grizzly, March 26, 2020, Kevin Leon, Daniel Walker, Shelsea Deravil, Jake Mccain, Ellie Lafountain

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Seniors Sound Off on Ursinus' Switch to Online Classes • The Arts: A Casualty to Come? • "Spoken Word" Course Speaks Loudly • Ursinus Seniors' Careers End Abruptly • Lacrosse Dominates, Briefly

Base & Summit: American Women's Right On Either Side Of The Passing Of The 19th Amendment, Abigail Fer

Research in the Capitol

The ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 --allowing women to vote in the United States--was a watershed moment in the history of women's rights, but what were the rights of women before this important amendment? My project compares the legal rights of women across the United States from 1900 to 1920 in three key areas: wages/industry, family law & divorce rights, and property law. Because I conducted this research project for the Carrie Lane Chapman Catt Girlhood Home and Museum, this analysis gives special consideration to Midwestern states--particularly Iowa women and property rights. My project sheds light on the …

Williams, Michael Ann - Collector (Mss 691), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 691. Research material, including news clippings, promotional material, interviews, reports and miscellaneous printed items related to John Lair and the operations and performers at Renfro Valley, Kentucky. Collected by Michael Ann Williams for a book she wrote about Lair and Sarah Gertrude Knott.

From Brooklyn To “Brooklyn” The Cultural Transformations Of Leisure, Pleasure, And Taste, Emily Holloway

Publications and Research

To tell the story of Brooklyn’s complex history in hospitality and cuisine is to tell a story about the tensions of high and low culture, of the mobility of capital and residents, and of the tremendous influence yielded by macroeconomic change. A sleepy bedroom community for the eighteenth and much of the early nineteenth centuries, Brooklyn’s waterfront (both historically and today) is deeply tied to its nineteenth and twentieth-century industrial heritage. The ad hoc economies that supported factory and dock workers, included boardinghouses, saloons, brothels, food carts, and amusement parks and drew a stark contrast to those of factory and …