Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Our Gendered Food Chain, Jasmine T. Colahan

SURGE

Over the past four decades, the number of women-operated farms has nearly doubled. Including both primary and secondary operators, one million women make up thirty percent of all U.S. farmers.

Headlines such as “Females Take the Reins,” “Meet the New face of Agriculture,” “Old McDonald Might Be a Lady” demonstrate this gender shift. And, it is true in my life too. As I worked on the Painted Turtle Farm this summer, the majority of my role models, co-workers, and mentors working in agriculture, whether rural or urban, were primarily women. [excerpt]

Dotson, Allene Dooley (Sc 2780), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2780. Paper titled "History of the Bowling Green Female Academy" written by Allene Dooley Dotson for a history class at Western Kentucky University.

Women’S Political Leadership In Boston, Center For Women In Politics And Public Policy, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

The center tracks the status of women at all levels of government in the New England states. It also provides dynamic web resources to inform and support public leadership of women of color.

This fact sheet presents information and statistics following the 2013 municipal elections in the City of Boston.

Olson, Celia (Ross), 1854-1937 (Sc 1168), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1168.

Shepherd, Katherine A. (Sc 1156), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1156. Desert Storm letters (14) written by different servicemen to Katherine Shepherd, Campbellsville, Kentucky, who was preparing a presentation for the Campbellsville Junior High School about the service in the Persian Gulf War. Letters answer specific questions asked by Shepherd.

Weimar Jewish Chic: Jewish Women And Fashion In 1920s Germany, Kerry Wallach

German Studies Faculty Publications

This volume presents papers delivered at the 24th Annual Klutznick-Harris Symposium, held at Creighton University in October 2011. The contributors look at all aspects of the intimate relationship between Jews and clothing, through case studies from ancient, medieval, recent, and contemporary history. Papers explore topics ranging from Jewish leadership in the textile industry, through the art of fashion in nineteenth century Vienna, to the use of clothing as a badge of ethnic identity, in both secular and religious contexts. Dr. Kerry Wallach's chapter examines the uniquely Jewish engagement with fashion and attire in Weimar, Germany.

''I Want My Agency Moved Back ... , My Dear White Sisters": Discourses On Yakama Reservation Reform, 1920s-1930s, Talea Anderson

Library Scholarship

This article discusses the multiple, competing discourses surrounding the relocation of the Yakima Indian Agency during the 1920s-1930s. Specifically, it considers whether Yakama Indians were able to exercise agency in their fight against government officials and businessmen during the relocation debate, and how they did so by appropriating the discourse of the women's clubs in the Pacific Northwest. As an entry point to these discourses, the article uses the work of a particular women, Margaret Splawn, who stood at the nexus between business, women's club, and indigenous interests in her West.

Documenting Women’S Civil War Experiences In The Ohio Valley At The Filson, Eric Willey

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

This collections essay describes archival collections of the Filson Historical Society of Louisville, Kentucky. These collections document women and their experiences in the American Civil War.

High School Textbooks And The Changing Narratives Of Woman Suffrage, Kellian Clink

Library Services Publications

History textbooks are criticized for their dry prose, lack of description of causation, and ability to turn students away from the discipline of history. The authors surveyed 16 textbooks from 1933 through 2005 studying their coverage of woman suffrage. The textbooks treat the issue summarily and miss a great opportunity to describe the injustices perpetuated against women, the valor and courage of the activists who persisted and won during a sustained battle by hundreds of thousands of determined women. Furthermore, the textbooks surveyed end with the amendment and do not immediately put it into historical context, with the right to …

Harmon, Arlis Odell, 1905-1992 (Mss 153), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 153. Poems, 1934-1991, obituaries, 1964-1990, written by Arlis Odell Harmon, a gospel song writer and enthusiast, of Allen County, Kentucky. Includes correspondence about gospel music, genealogical data, photos, etc.

Coombs Family Collection (Mss 349), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid for Manuscripts Collection 349. Correspondence, photographs, business records and miscellaneous papers of the Coombs, Robertson and related families of Warren and Simpson counties in Kentucky and of Alabama, Texas and Tennessee. Includes correspondence, personal papers and research of Elizabeth Robertson Coombs, librarian at the Kentucky Library, Western Kentucky University. Several documents from this collection have been scanned are available for viewing by clicking on the "Additional Files" below.

Plain & Simple: The Will To Live Sustainably In An Unsustainable World, Brandi Nichole Button

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Sustainability is a buzzword covering a variety of fields and subjects. For the purposes of my research sustainability is “the ability to keep going over the long haul. As a value, it refers to giving equal weight in your decisions to the future as well as the present” (Gilman 1). The sustainability movement refers to activists, educators and researchers who are dedicated to finding high quality ways of living in the world that are environmentally benign for all who are now living as well future generations to come (Gilman 1). This research focuses on three women who engage in voluntary …

Review Of Cultures Of Charity: Women, Politics, And The Reform Of Poor Relief In Renaissance Italy, Brian Maxson

ETSU Faculty Works

The author uses a thematic approach to argue that Bologna was a trensetter in approaches and institutions aimed at helping the poor between roughly 1450-1700.

'She Had Suffered So Many Humiliations For Want Of Money’: The Quest For Financial Independence In Sarah Grand’S The Beth Book, Melissa Purdue

English Department Publications

Melissa Purdue analyzes Sarah Grand’s semi-autobiographical The Beth Book (1897), “a New Woman novel deeply concerned with money—particularly women’s lack of it,” which finds its central metaphor in the book’s “discourse about hungry bodies, food, and consumption.” Grand celebrates her protagonist Beth’s proactive attitude toward money, indicating a larger shift in New Woman literature towards an endorsement of women earning their own money while also caring for others. As The Beth Book demonstrates, Purdue writes, “financial independence and what one does with money, rather than one’s distance from money, become important signals of feminine virtue in New Woman literature.”

Alcohol In The Life Narratives Of Women: Commonalities And Differences By Sexual Orientation, Laurie A. Drabble, K. Trocki

Faculty Publications

Aim: The aim of this study was to explore social representations of alcohol use among women, with a focus on possible differences between sexual minority and heterosexual women. Methods: This qualitative study was part of a larger study examining mediators of heavier drinking among sexual minority women (lesbian identified, bisexual identified, and heterosexual identified with same sex partners) compared to heterosexual women based on the National Alcohol Survey. Qualitative in-depth life history interviews were conducted over the telephone with 48 women who had participated in the 2009–2010 National Alcohol Survey, including respondents representing different sexual orientation groups. Questions explored the …

Documenting 'Herstories' In The Ohio Valley At The Filson, Eric Willey

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

This collection essay describes archival collections held by the Filson Historical Society of Louisville, Kentucky. The collections described document women’s contributions to the region’s history, their struggles and triumphs, and the contours of their daily lives, including interactions with family, peers, neighbors, and business associates.

Women-Led Community Development Organizations (Cdos) In Miami-Dade County: A Model Of Community Development Efforts Impacting The Economic Security Of Women, Jan Lindsay Solomon

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent studies on the economic status of women in Miami-Dade County (MDC) reveal an alarming rate of economic insecurity and significant obstacles for women to achieve economic security. Consistent barriers to women’s economic security affect not only the health and wellbeing of women and their families, but also economic prospects for the community. A key study reveals in Miami-Dade County, “Thirty-nine percent of single female-headed families with at least one child are living at or below the federal poverty level” and “over half of working women do not earn adequate income to cover their basic necessities” (Brion 2009, 1). Moreover, …

Franklin Female College - Franklin, Kentucky (Sc 2720), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2720. Bound typescript of the Board of Trustees minutes from the Franklin Female College, Franklin, Kentucky. (155 p.)

Mary Reed Cooke Music Club - Smiths Grove, Kentucky (Sc 2712), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2712. Yearbooks, programs and news clippings related to the activities of the Mary Reed Cooke Music Club of Smiths Grove, Kentucky.

A Widow’S Will: Examining The Challenges Of Widowhood In Early Modern England And America, Alyson D. Alvarez

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

While English women in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had different social and economic circumstances, many were able to gain autonomy and power in their widowhood. Widows who were able to gain autonomy faced a number of challenges as they attempted to live and function in a patriarchal society. One of the factors that affected the challenges of a widow was her social standing. In this thesis I argue that widows of all means encountered a challenges from the patriarchal society in which they resided. The number and severity of difficulties that a widow confronted depended on several factors. I …

“In Counterfeit Passion”: Cross-Dressing, Transgression, And Fraud In Shakespeare And Middleton, Anastasia S. Bierman

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis examines the way women cross-dressing as men functions as a crime in Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker’s The Roaring Girl and William Shakespeare’s As You Like It and Twelfth Night. While many modern scholars have discussed cross-dressing in these plays, many look to the end of the plays as the foundation for their analysis rather than the play as a whole. Because of this oversight, scholars deem the characters in the plays not transgressive, when, in fact, cross-dressing is transgressive. They ignore the way cross-dressing is often presented in writing in the Renaissance, i.e. as a type …

Women As Victims In Tennessee Williams' First Three Major Plays, Ruth Foley

Masters Theses

Although Tennessee Williams does not openly champion the rights of women in his plays, he presents strong cases against their social alienation in a harsh and brutal world governed by men. Williams' emotional leanings, sensitivity, and intuition enable him to see life through women's eyes. In The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Summer and Smoke, Williams astutely sounds the battle cry for women to fight against male oppression. He shows how Amanda Wingfield, Laura Wingfield, Blanche Dubois, Stella Kowalski, and Alma Winemiller are held hostage to the rules governing patriarchal society and become unhappy marginalized victims. The self-contained …

Knox County, Kentucky - Motels (Sc 1012), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1012. Letter, 1948, written by Maurice G. Howard, Corbin, Kentucky, to George Gosieki, Racine, Wisconsin, concerning Virgil Whyte’s “All Girl Band” staying at Howard’s motel while performing in the region. Also photocopy of recognition certificate, 1995, pertaining to the support Whyte’s band gave to World War II’s 50th anniversary remembrance program.

Death Became Them: The Defeminization Of The American Death Culture, 1609-1899, Briony D. Zlomke

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Focusing specifically on the years 1609 to 1899 in the United States, this thesis examines how middle-class women initially controlled the economy of preparing the dead in pre-industrialized America and lost their positions as death transitioned from a community-based event to an occurrence from which one could profit. In this new economy, men dominated the capitalist-driven funeral parlors and undertaker services. The changing ideology about white middle-class women’s proper places in society and the displacement of women in the “death trade” with the advent of the funeral director exacerbated this decline of a once female-defined practice. These changes dramatically altered …

Cherokee Acculturation & The Fall Of Women's Status, Danielle Rogner

2013 Awards for Excellence in Student Research & Creative Activity - Documents

As the eyes of the late 18th century Americans fell upon the territories occupied by the Cherokee Nation, the cultural disparities between the two nations became a source of apprehension. Most challenging to many Americans was the differences between the traditional roles of women. Instead of possessing the domestic, submissive role of the American homemaker, Cherokee women held positions of authority within society.

Mothers Club - Bowling Green, Kentucky (Mss 113), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 113. Organizational records including minutes, financial and attendance reports, yearbooks, and newspaper clippings related to the Mothers Club, a group of concerned mothers who formed the Bowling Green club in 1925 for educational purposes. The group formally dissolved in 1998.

Telling Our Own Stories: A Study On Hmong-American Women, Identity, And Education, Mysee Chang

Antonian Scholars Honors Program

“Assimilation” is used to describe how immigrants adapt and integrate into the culture and society of the new country (Gordon 1964). The literature on assimilation often focuses on how higher education functions as a way to assimilate immigrants into the dominant culture. The literature is primarily about social mobility and not enough attention has been given to the subjective aspect of assimilation. The purpose of my study is to better understand and explore the lived-realities of second-generation Hmong-American women. How do Hmong-American women come to understand their identities? How does higher education influence this process of identity development? Five second-generation …

The F-Word, Stephanie K. Adamczak, Taylor C. Amato

SURGE

I’m thinking of a word. Can you guess it? This word is considered negative and harsh. It’s generally avoided in everyday conversations. You wouldn’t normally hear this word spoken by professors or sophisticated celebrities. It starts with an F… Do you know it?

That’s right folks! It’s “feminist”. [excerpt]

Ovid's Insight Into The Minds Of Abandoned Women, Rachel A. Bier

Honors Bachelor of Arts

Mythical heroines, such as Penelope of the Odyssey, often took minor roles in literature, ones in which their characters' complexities were not addressed. Ovid revived the heroines of tradition and gave them voices which expressed realistic feelings and thoughts in his Heriodes. In these fictional letters to absent lovers, Ovid creates realistic characters, each of whom reacts to her abandonment with an insightful feminine voice. By examining the heriones' voice and the ways in which the Heriodes differs from the literary tradition, and by considering the effects of the epistolary genre on the characters' voices, I argue that Ovid …

Boaz, Peggy Bradley, B. 1951 (Sc 979), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 979. Thesis titled, “The Oral Folk History Surrounding the Life of William Bernard ‘Big Six’ Henderson,” written by Peggy Bradley Boaz for Western Kentucky University’s Folk Studies Program, 1976. Also associated newspaper clippings, 1978, 1987 (2).