American Studies Commons^™

Review Of Seeking Life Whole: Willa Cather And The Brewsters By Lucy Marks And David Porter, Kari A. Ronning

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Seeking Life Whole, eighth in Fairleigh Dickinson's series on Willa Cather, is a volume in two parts, with nine subdivisions, and excellent notes. Part 1 contains Lucy Marks's biographical account of the lives of expatriate painters Achsah Barlow Brewster and her husband Earl H. Brewster, and David Porter's biographical and critical account of the previously unknown relationship between the Brewsters and Willa Cather. The Brewsters went to Europe after their marriage in 1910 to dedicate themselves to painting, nature, study, and a simple, beautiful way of life; they attracted a remarkable range of friends. Their type has been satirized, …

Review Of Bleeding Borders: Race, Gender, And Violence In Pre-Civil War Kansas By Kristen Tegtmeier Oertel, Michael D. Pierson

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Bleeding Kansas has long been an important topic for political historians exploring how it influenced Congress, presidential campaigns, and the coming of the Civil War. Kristen Tegtmeier Oertel's book uses the insights of recent social historians to add depth to this political narrative, thereby strengthening our understanding of how antebellum Kansas changed America.

Bleeding Borders begins with a chapter that positions Kansas as a frontier territory. Oertel's antebellum Kansans are divided by race, but not just between white and black. Starting her history in the 1820s, Oertel finds that "white settlers' perceptions of and interactions with Kansas Indians played a …

Review Of No Place Like Home: Notes From A Western Life By Linda M. Hasselstrom, Gretchen Legler

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

What's happening to Linda Hasselstrom's Great Plains is happening everywhere, even in western Maine, where New Yorkers migrate north, buying second houses in communities once home to lobstermen, farmers, and lumberjacks, changing the face of the social, political, and natural landscape. It's enough to make a person, well, want to let off some steam, and perhaps try to come to some conclusions about what is happening to land and community in America in general and in the Great Plains in particular, which is what Hasselstrom does in her newest work of nonfiction. In this collection of linked essays, she returns …

Review Of Lee Lawrie's Prairie Deco: History In Stone At The Nebraska State Capitol By Gregory Paul Harm, Robert S. Haller

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

This book is a tribute to the power of art, specifically, of the sculpture outside and inside the Nebraska State Capitol. It so impressed Gregory Harm in his youth that he has undertaken in maturity an enthusiastic exploration of the aesthetic and historical background of that sculpture and its creator Lee Lawrie (1877-1963). He found his way to the Lawrie archives at the Library of Congress, the University of Nebraska, and the Capitol itself, and stood in awe before Lawrie's monumental works for Rockefeller Center and other public buildings around the country. His book makes the case that Lawrie should …

Review Of And Grace Will Lead Me Home: African American Freedmen Communities Of Austin, Texas, 1865-1928 By Michelle M. Mears, Maria Franklin

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Michelle Mears's book on the rural and urban freedmen settlements of Austin is a welcome contribution to the social history of African Americans in Texas. By considering postemancipation black lifeways at such a small scale, as few existing works do, it offers readers a more comprehensive view of the experiences, struggles, and accomplishments of African Americans within a specific historical context. Mears also achieves a good balance between discussing Austin's historic black communities and situating them within the social, economic, and political processes occurring more broadly within the state and the greater South.

Her research is meticulous, and scholars will …

Review Of Modernism And Mildred Walker By Carmen Pearson, Ken Egan

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Can a regionalist be a major writer? That's the question at the heart of Modernism and Mildred Walker. It's a question that hovers over contemporary responses to Willa Cather and Wallace Stegner. Since their best work inhabits definable places (though far more varied than readers often realize), it's tempting to localize them, limit their power, impact, and appeal.

Not surprisingly, these two writers figure prominently in this sophisticated study of another writer often treated as limited in range (in every sense). Full disclosure: I have written on Walker as a Montana writer, one best known for her brilliant World War …

Review Of The Indian Commissioners: Agents Of The State And Indian Policy In Canada's Prairie West, 1873-1932 By E. Brian Titley, George Colpitts

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

E. Brian Titley's The Indian Commissioners makes a fine contribution to Great Plains history and, in Canadian studies, the shaping of western Indian policy. The case of Canada's Indian Commissioners, appointed from 1873 to 1909 and again between 1920 and 1932, is worthy of a single study. Titley's thesis is solidly argued: though responsible for putting into practice Ottawa's policies, the five Indian commissioners in the history of the service retained some latitude in carrying them out. Beneficiaries of party patronage, and often enjoying the confidence of either the Prime Minister or various Ministers of Interior, they had backing enough …

Review Of The Masterworks Of Charles M. Russell: A Retrospective Of Paintings And Sculpture Edited By Joan Carpenter Troccoli, Sarah L. Burt

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Charles M. Russell (1864-1926) has long been celebrated as America's "Cowboy Artist," beloved as much for his charismatic personality as for his authentic portrayal of the Old West. The magnitude of Russell's celebrity may have, at times, overshadowed his artistic achievement, and thus the complexity of cultural themes reflected in his work, the iconographic richness of his art, and the evolving sophistication of his technique may come as revelations to some. These qualities emerge, perhaps more comprehensibly than ever, in The Masterworks of Charles M. Russell, a superb catalogue of the excellent retrospective exhibition organized jointly by the Denver …

Review Of "I Do Not Apologize For The Length Of This Letter": The Mari Sandoz Letters On Native American Rights, 1940-1965 Introduced And Edited By Kimberli A. Lee, Alan Boye

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Novelist, historian, and biographer Mari Sandoz holds a unique position as an authority on the American West. She was born in 1896 in one of the last areas of the West to be settled by whites, the sparse and empty Nebraska Sandhills. Her father befriended many of the Sioux and Cheyennes from the nearby Pine Ridge Reservation. Sandoz grew up hearing the stories of people like He Dog, a close friend of Crazy Horse and brother-in-law of Red Cloud, Wild Hog, the Cheyenne warrior who played a crucial role in the Cheyenne Exodus, Short Bull, Old Cheyenne Woman, and others …

Review Of Historical Atlas Of The American West: With Original Maps By Derek Hayes, J. Clark Archer

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

The Historical Atlas of the American West is a visually appealing and well-organized representation of cartographic works thoughtfully selected from several centuries of map making. As demarcated for the Atlas, the American West extends from the eastern borders of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas to the Pacific coasts of California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. While some of the included maps show the entire American West, most depict smaller subregions of interest such as one or a few states or even individual cities or towns. The cartographic scales, map themes, and graphical styles of the maps reproduced vary greatly, …

"We Were Beet Workers, And That Was All" Beet Field Laborers In The North Platte Valley, 1902-1930, Dustin Kipp

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

John and Alex Loos, two brothers who spent their childhood summers working in the beet fields of western Nebraska in the 1910s, suggested that a migrant beet field laborer could become, by the end of one season, "a trusted member of the community."¹ It took years of hard work and saving, but field workers could become farmers. Families could own land and work for their own benefit rather than for the subsistence wages of the migratory laborer. Although locals often viewed them with suspicion as outsiders, German Russian migrants were increasingly encouraged to stay to help build the burgeoning …

Great Plains Quarterly Volume 31 / Number 1 / Winter 2011

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Contents

Book Reviews

Notes and News

Chitto Harjo (Wilson Jones, Crazy Snake) 1846-1912 Creek Leader, Janet Butler Munch

Publications and Research

Chitto Harjo (1846-1912) was a leader of the Crazy Snakes, a traditionalist faction of the Creek Indians. He opposed federal incursions on reservation land, Indian lifestyles and governance structures; and fought against Allotment (individual distribution) of communal tribal lands and the loss of Creek sovereignty.

Comparative Literature: Theory, Method, Application, Steven Tötösy De Zepetnek

CLCWeb Library

Tötösy de Zepetnek, Steven. Comparative Literature: Theory, Method, Application. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1998. ISBN 90-420-0534-3 299 pages, bibliography, index. Steven Tötösy de Zepetnek presents a framework of comparative literature based on a contextual (systemic and empirical) approach for the study of culture and literature and applies the framework in audience studies, film and literature, women's literature, translation studies, new media and scholarship in the humanities and in the analyses of English, French, German, Austrian, Hungarian, Romanian, and English-Canadian modern, contemporary, and ethnic minority texts. Copyright release to the author in 2006.

Identity, Reality, And Truth In Memoirs From The Iraq And Afghanistan Wars, Travis L. Martin

Online Theses and Dissertations

This research uses trauma theory, memoir theory, narratology, and recent scientific research into the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) to explore developments in the memoir coming from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Specifically, the author examines the works of Shoshana Johnson, Colby Buzzell, and Anthony Shaffer to uncover the ways in which identity, reality and truth present themselves in the destabilized narratives of traumatized subjects.

Travis Martin is himself a veteran of the Iraq War, using his first-hand knowledge as a compass to guide him through intricate memoirs written by his contemporaries. Beginning …

A Tale Of Two Kings: The Use Of King David In The Chronicle Of Pere Iii Of Catalonia, Marrissa Lynne Cook

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Pere III of Catalonia (1319-1387) began his reign in 1336. As count-king, he reigned over Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia. The Chronicle of Pere III of Catalonia covers the years 1319-1369, fifty years of a nearly seventy year life. Pere wrote this chronicle in collaboration with his chancery office. Bernat Descoll was the main contributor from the chancery, and he consulted with the king as he wrote it. The chronicle reflects spiritual justifications for actions that occurred during Pere's reign, such as his conflict with the Uniòns of Aragon and Valencia, as well as his conflict with Pedro I of Castile. …

Philosophical Precursors To The Radical Enlightenment: Vignettes On The Struggle Between Philosophy And Theology From The Greeks To Leibniz With Special Emphasis On Spinoza, Anthony John Desantis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation lays out some of the chief philosophical precursors to Jonathan Israel's Radical Enlightenment. It investigates the principal question of Will Durant's The Age of Voltaire: "How did it come about that a major part of the educated classes in Europe and America has lost faith in the theology that for fifteen centuries gave supernatural sanctions and supports to the precarious and uncongenial moral code upon which Western civilization has been based?" The aim of this project is both broad and specific: the first is to provide a general history of the philosophical precursors to the Radical Enlightenment up …

Fantasy, Leisure, And Labor: A Story Of Temple Terrace's Historic Architecture, Rachelle Hostetler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project is to explore how the community planning and style of housing of Temple Terrace Estates embodies the socio-economic conflicts inherent to the United States in the 1920s. To account for missing narratives, I will approach this research from a critical cultural perspective. I chose this approach as a way to investigate the power dynamics in the city during the time it was known as Temple Terrace Estates Inc. The Estates attracted investors by encouraging northerners to purchase a Mediterranean Revival or Spanish Colonial style villa in conjunction with a parcel of a large orange grove, …

The Jewish Trail Of Tears The Evian Conference Of July 1938, Dennis Ross Laffer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis was to explore the origins, formulation, course and outcome of the Intergovernmental Committee for Political Refugees meeting (better known as the Evian Conference) of July 1938. Special emphasis was placed on contemporary and later historical assessments of this assembly which represented the first international cooperative attempt to solve an acute refugee crisis. A general review followed by a more detailed evaluation was made of existing official and un-official accounts of the meeting utilizing both public records, private diaries, books, newspapers, journals and other periodicals for the period of January 1, 1938 through December 31, 1939. …

A House But Not A Home? Measuring "Householdness" In The Daily Lives Of Monticello's "Nail Boys", Shannon Lee Mcvey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Monticello, the plantation home of Thomas Jefferson, was also home to more than 100 African American slaves between 1771 and 1826. As many as 40 members of this community lived and worked on Mulberry Row, once a bustling avenue of residential and industrial activity adjacent to the Palladian mansion. Archaeological excavations in 1957 and 1982–-1983 uncovered the remains of Mulberry Row's nailery, where preteen and teenaged enslaved "“nail boys”" manufactured nails for internal use and sale. These excavations revealed surprisingly high amounts of domestic artifacts, particularly ceramics and glass, indicating the young nailers also may have lived inside the nailery. …

[Introduction To] America's War: Talking About The Civil War And Emancipation On Their 150th Anniversaries, Edward L. Ayers

Bookshelf

Edited by Edward L. Ayers, America’s War is an anthology of Civil War writing originally published between 1852 and 2008. Co-published by the American Library Association and the National Endowment for the Humanities, America’s War was created in support of a national reading and discussion program for libraries called “Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War.”

The selections in America’s War include works of historical fiction and interpretation, speeches, diaries, memoirs, biographies, and short stories. Together, these readings provide a glimpse of the vast sweep and profound breadth of Americans’ war among and against themselves, adding …

Robertson, J. Lee, B. 1922 (Fa 535), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 535. Interview with J. Lee Robertson conducted by Kenneth Hines and Gil Calhoun in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Robertson reminisces about the U.S. Army during World war II and his long association with Western Kentucky University.

The John Muir Newsletter, Winter 2010/2011, The John Muir Center

Muir Center Newsletters (1981-2015)

Page 1 transcription missing

PAGE 2 John Muir Back and Newsletter Going Digital After a year, we are back! Last year we announced that we would become an "occasional" newsletter, projecting two issues per year. We only released one issue this past year. In an age of high cost of reproduction and mailing we have decided to follow the trail of other newsletters by going digital. Those with e mail can continue to receive at no charge the newsletter as part of a web serve list. Simply e mail us at [email protected] and we will include you in our future …

Women As Subject And Audience In World War Ii Venereal Disease Posters, Kyra Whitton

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

Internationally, venereal disease first became a major health concern during World War I. Venereal diseases were some of the most common infections and led to more hospitalizations among soldiers than wounds or battle-related illness. The Selective Service discovered that almost fifteen percent of those who were eligible for the draft were already infected with a venereal disease, sparking an intense anti-venereal disease campaign across America. Red-light districts were shut down, and American cities sought new laws that would criminalize prostitution to protect young men from contracting a venereal infection.

Though venereal disease rates were still high during World War II, …

Must Pay Now, David C. Perkins

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

These poems attempt to stand amidst the towering shadows of Enlightenment. One of these pillars involves the newfound land from a collective western European vantage and these lands are called the Americas. This space is where these poems are located. They suckle at the monolithic breasts of Enlightened Romance as did Romulus and Remus to the She-Wolf. The poems in their own originality engage with writers such as Jonathan Edwards, Alice Notley, Susan Howe, Frank O’Hara, William Carlos Williams, Walt Whitman, Christina Rossetti, William Blake, and John Cage. If there ever was such a thread in tradition, these people might …

Klimowicz, Teresa D. (Fa 13), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 13. Interviews conducted by Teresa D. Klimowicz with Esther (Magers) Isbell, a native of Barren Coutny, Kentucky. Special attention is focused on her biblical themed quilts. Isbell also discusses her various occupations and participation in community affairs while living in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Glynn, Luanne Carol (Aylesworth), B. 1951 (Fa 11), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 11. Interviews conducted by Luanne Carol (Aylesworth) Glynn with Marvel (Welborn) Mohon, Lewisburg, Kentucky concerning Thanksgiving customs, with much attention paid to Marvel’s life, especially her family.

Beeler, Andrew J., Jr. (Sc 2362), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Mansucripts Small Collection 2362. "Elizabeth Madox Roberts: Her Interpretation of LIfe" by Andrew J. Beeler, Jr., a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree, University of Louisiville, Louisville, Kentucky, 1940.

Bere, Jenny Rose, D. 1987 (Sc 2371), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2371. "Cale Young Rice[:] A Study of His Life and Work" by Jenny Rose Bere, "a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts," University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, 1939.

Reaves, Gary R. (Sc 2389), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2389. "The Significance of Time in the Novels of Robert Penn Warren," a thesis presented "in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree," Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas, 1963.