American Studies Commons^™

Reconciling The Past In Octavia Butler's Kindred, Haley V. Manis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses the observations of Nancy J. Peterson on historical wounds as a springboard to discuss Octavia Butler’s novel Kindred and its use of both white and black characters to reexamine the origins of the historical wounds and why they are so difficult to deal with even today. Other scholarly works will be used to further investigate the importance of each character in the story and what they mean to the wound itself. Specifically, Dana is analyzed alongside the other main characters: Rufus, Alice, and Kevin. Though Dana’s relationships with these characters, Kindred’s version of the past can be …

French Women In Art: Reclaiming The Body Through Creation/Les Femmes Artistes Françaises : La Réclamation Du Corps À Travers La Création, Liatris Hethcoat

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The research I have conducted for my French Major Senior Thesis is a culmination of my passion for and studies of both French language and culture and the history and practice of Visual Arts. I have examined, across the history of art, the representation of women, and concluded that until the 20^th century, these representations have been tools employed by the makers of history and those at the top of the patriarchal system, used to control women’s images and thus women themselves. I survey these representations, which are largely created by men—until the 20^th century. I discuss pre-historical …

Defying Convention: Atypical Perspectives Of Slavery In Antebellum New Orleans, Amanda N. Carr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

During the first half of the nineteenth century, slavery became a vital economic component upon which the success of the southern states in America rested. Cotton was king, and slavery was the peculiar institution that ensured its dominance in the domestic and international markets of America. Popular portrayals, however, often neglect the complicated dynamics of American slavery and instead depict the institution in simplistic terms. The traditional view has emphasized an image of white southerners as slaveholders and blacks as slaves. In New Orleans, the lives of three men—all of whom were tied to slavery in varying capacities—reveal a much …

Til Death Did Us Part, The Story Of The Health And Death Of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Mary E. Edgecomb

Graduate Theses

The awe of celebrity, including presidents, creates the impression of beings who are larger than life, without the problems of the common man. Franklin D. Roosevelt, unbeknownst to many Americans, had significant health issues. These health issues predate his paralytic illness and worsened during his presidency. Efforts to maintain his image as the unconquerable president of the United Sates led to concealment of these problems and, in turn, negatively impacted his medical care. While most previous studies focused on individual health issues, this research will show a continuum of medical problems that not only impacted his presidency but also were …

Dick, Harriet Hoadley "Hattie" (Cochran), 1890-1975 (Sc 3078), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3078. Black-and-white, 3 in. X 5 in. photograph of “The Little Colonel’s Cottage,” a house in Pewee Valley, Kentucky, autographed on the reverse by Hattie Cochran Dick, the model for the character of Lloyd Sherman in Annie Fellows Johnston’s Little Colonel series of books.

Joiner-Rogers Collection (Mss 590), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and full text scans of selected items (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Collection 590. Personal and professional papers of Christian County, Kentucky teacher and administrator Erleen (Joiner) Rogers, and novels, poems, skits, epigrams and witticisms written by her father, Robert Tinnon Joiner. Includes a collection of Joiner’s writings titled Nonsense and Wisdom From Flat Lick, Rogers’ family history titled Seven Generations in and From Flat Lick, other family data, and photographs.

Settler Social Order: The Violence Of Policing In New Mexico, Elisabeth Rose Ehlert Perkal

American Studies ETDs

This thesis argues that in order to understand how and why police violence happens in the U.S., it is necessary to situate these interactions within a framework of settler colonialism. The police exist to maintain social order and, in the case of the U.S., this social order is defined by hegemonic structures of power including settler colonialism. Thus, the police fabricate and enforce settler social order that requires subjugating and eliminating Native people in order to preserve settler sovereignty. This thesis intervenes into monolithic critiques of policing in the U.S. and argues that critiques of police violence are most productive …

Negotiating The Delta: Dr. T.R.M. Howard In Mound Bayou, Mississippi, William Jackson Southerland

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the racially segregationist practices and the integrationist, inclusionist formation of African American leader Dr. T.R.M. Howard during his tenure as a surgeon and entrepreneur in the all-black Mississippi Delta community of Mound Bayou, 1942-1956. The paper analytically investigates the careful racial negotiations that were required of Howard as he advanced a separatist but egalitarian economic and social plan for Delta blacks. This separatist plan, it is argued, is grounded in the racial pragmatism of the Seventh-day Adventist church which provided a bibliocentric, Tuskegee-inspired education to Howard from youth through medical school and beyond. Howard’s adherence to Adventist …

Tapley, Corinne Rachel, 1892-1945 (Sc 3060), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3060. The Little Colonel’s Good Times Book (Boston: L. C. Page, 1909) containing birthday records and diary entries of Corinne R. Tapley, Watertown, New York, from January 1910 to September 1912. She writes of social occasions, travel to New York City, graduating from high school, and participation in a wedding party.

Assembly And Association: Mapping The Development Of The Public Sphere In 19th Century Columbia County, Ny, Christopher L. Meatto

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This project seeks to investigate the development of the Habermasian public sphere in Columbia County, NY, during the rapid expansion of railway transportation from the middle- to the late-19^th century, by gathering and presenting information about the proliferation of railway stations and select public institutions between 1840 and 1900. In charting the spread of area libraries, newspapers, post offices, and churches during this period, this project utilizes and combines methodological approaches taken by a number of landmark recent studies in historical geography and digital history; in so doing, it prototypes the research and pedagogical value and promise of incorporating …

Engagement And Resistance: African Americans, Saudi Arabia And Islamic Transnationalisms, 1975 To 2000, Jeffrey Diamant

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Since the 1960s, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has financed missionary efforts to Muslims around the world, attempting to spread a Salafi form of Islam that professes strict adherence to Islamic sacred scripture. The effects of this transnational proselytization have depended on numerous factors in “host countries.” This project explores the various impacts of Saudi transnational religious influence in the United States among African-Americans. By relying on previously unused documentary sources and fresh oral histories, it shows how Saudi “soft power” attempted to effect change in religious practices of African-American Muslims from 1975 through 2000. It provides the most detailed …

Boone, Joy (Field) Bale, 1912-2002 (Mss 588), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 588. Papers of poet, editor and activist Joy Bale Boone, Elkton, Kentucky, relating primarily to her service as chair of the Committee for the Center for Robert Penn Warren Studies at Western Kentucky University. Includes correspondence, Committee records, collected data on Robert Penn Warren, and photographs. Also includes audio and video interviews of Boone and colleagues.

Case Study From Inside A Presidential Campaign In The 100th New Hampshire Primary: Analyzing The Hillary For New Hampshire Field Organization, Christopher Mckenna

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

On the 100^th anniversary of the New Hampshire primary, this case study analyzes a high profile political campaign in order to add to the discussion on the extent to which campaigns matter. The New Hampshire Primary is disproportionately important in the nomination process as the nation’s first primary; therefore, it is vital candidates perform well in the Granite State. I use my experience as a fellow on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign in the Democratic Primary to critically analyze the campaign organization in New Hampshire. This case study will attempt to answer how Secretary Clinton’s field organization …

"Black And White Together, We Shall Win": Southern White Activists In The Mississippi Civil Rights Movement, Olivia Bethany Moore

Master's Theses

During the Civil Rights Movement, Mississippi has often been characterized as a simple battle of white racists against black activists. Drawing heavily on oral histories, personal publications, and Mississippi Sovereignty Commission reports, this thesis examines the unconventional stories of white southerners who transcended the segregationist environments in which they were born. As southern white activism took many forms, this work offers biographical insights to three individuals who have received little scholarly attention: journalist P.D East, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) activist Buford Posey, and William Carey president Ralph Noonkester. While their contributions between 1950-1971 differed, being …

Northwest Coast Native American Art: The Relationship Between Museums, Native Americans And Artists, Karrie E. Myers

Museum Studies Theses

Museums today have many responsibilities, including protecting and understanding objects in their care. Many also have relationships with groups of people whose items or artworks are housed within their institutions. This paper explores the relationship between museums and Northwest Coast Native Americans and their artists. Participating museums include those in and out of the Northwest Coast region, such as the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, the Burke Museum, the Royal British Columbia Museum, the American Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Museum. Museum professionals who conducted research for some of these museums included Franz Boas, …

The First Great Awakening: Revival And The Birth Of A Nation, Kory Ray Thomas Quirion

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

The First Great Awakening left an indelible mark on the development of America. With roots stretching back to the Christian Reformation of the 1500’s, the Great Awakening swept the young colonies with the fires of evangelical fervor. The revival shook the very foundations of colonial society. Following in its wake was a rebirth of reformed philosophy and theology that planted the seeds of self-government and political autonomy in the fertile soil of the Americas. By 1776, that seed had blossomed into a vibrant revolutionary movement that questioned the very fabric of Old World society. This article explores the rich Christian …

A Tale Of Two Sisters: Family Histories From The Strait Salish Borderlands, Katrina Jagodinsky

Department of History: Faculty Publications

Based on legal and genealogical records, this microhistory chronicles the difficult choices between whiteness and Indianness made by two Salish sisters and their biracial children in order to maintain their kinship networks throughout the Salish Sea borderlands between 1865 and 1919. While some of these choices obscured individual family members from historical records, reading their lives in tandem with other family members’ histories reveals remarkable persistence in the midst of dramatic racial and political transformation. Focused primarily on San Juan Island residents, this article suggests that indigenous and interracial family histories of the Pacific Northwest and other borderland regions in …

The National Dorothea Dix Memorial Association, The National Dorothea Dix Memorial Association

Dorothea Lynde Dix Pamphlets

Brochure for the National Dorothea Dix Memorial Association, containing a short bio of Dix as well as an invitation to join the Association.

Teacher Of America's Legislatures, Raymond Schuessler

Dorothea Lynde Dix Pamphlets

Photocopy of article by Raymond Schuessler about Dorothea Dix and her work "humanizing the care of the insane." From the Nov-Dec 1978 issue of the NRTA Journal.

Fashioning Desire At B. Altman & Co.: Ethics And Consumer Culture In Early Department Stores, Tessa Maffucci

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

We live in an age of fast fashion. Clothing is produced in greater volumes than ever before and the lifecycle of each garment keeps getting shorter and shorter. Many items are manufactured to be worn only one time and then thrown away—as disposable as a cup of coffee. There is much to be learned about our current fashion ecosystem by looking into the past. Beyond the garments themselves we must understand the larger historical and sociological context in which these articles of clothing were produced. How does the shopping environment shape the buying habits and fashion trends of an era? …

Archiving The '80s: Feminism, Queer Theory, & Visual Culture, Margaret A. Galvan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Archiving the '80s: Feminism, Queer Theory, & Visual Culture locates a shared genealogy of feminism and queer theory in the visual culture of 1980s American feminism. Gathering primary sources from grant-funded research in a dozen archives, I analyze an array of image-text media of women, ranging from well known creators like Gloria Anzaldúa, Alison Bechdel, and Nan Goldin, to little known ones like Roberta Gregory and Lee Marrs. In each chapter, I examine how each woman develops movement politics in her visual production, and I study the reception of their works in their communities of influence. Through studying hybrid visual …

Jud Ms 07 Casco Bay Tummlers Finding Aid, Natalie Hill

Search the Manuscript Collection (Finding Aids)

Provenance: The Casco Bay Tummlers Archives represent materials related to the organization Casco Bay Tummlers from 1989-2008. The Archives was donated by Julie Goell of Peaks Island, ME in 2009.

Ownership and Literary Rights: The Casco Bay Tummlers Archives is the physical property of the University of Southern Maine Libraries. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the creator or her/his legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the Head of Special Collections [email protected].

Restrictions on access: Some materials are restricted until the year 2076.

National Register Of Historic Places (Nhrp) Eligibility Determinations For Previously Recorded Archaeological Sites At Wright Patman Lake, Bowie And Cass Counties, Texas, Bryan C. Harrell, Chris Sypniewski, Alex Decaro, Nick Linville

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Between 19 October and 11 November 2015, SEARCH conducted National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) eligibility determinations at previously recorded archaeological sites at Wright Patman Lake in Bowie and Cass Counties, Texas. This project was conducted under Contract W912HY‐11‐D‐0002, Task Order 0006 between the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Fort Worth District, and SEARCH.

Lg Ms 041 Jean Vermette Papers, Anthony Marvullo

Search the Manuscript Collection (Finding Aids)

Provenance: The Jean Vermette Papers were donated by Jean Vermette in 2009. Ownership & Literary Rights: The Jean Vermette Papers are the physical property of the University of Southern Maine Libraries. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the creator or her legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the Head of Special Collections. Cite as: Jean Vermette Papers, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries. Restriction on Access: Some materials are restricted until the year 2061 to protect privacy rights.

For further information, consult the Head of …

The Last Days Of Hermione Pelham And John Banister Of Newport, Rhode Island, Marian Desrosiers

Faculty and Staff - Articles & Papers

Hermione Pelham, descendant of Gov. Benedict Arnold, married well, raised two boys, and enjoyed the lifestyle of a wealthy woman with a grand house, orchards, and servants. It was a life made possible by her landed inheritance and the hard work of her colonial merchant husband. Wealth does not guarantee health, as both died at a relatively young age.

The One Exhibition The Roots Of The Lgbt Equality Movement One Magazine & The First Gay Supreme Court Case In U.S. History 1943-1958, Joshua R. Edmundson

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The ONE Exhibition explores an era in American history marked by intense government sponsored anti-gay persecution and the genesis of the LGBT equality movement. The study begins during World War II, continues through the McCarthy era and the founding of the nation’s first gay magazine, and ends in 1958 with the first gay Supreme Court case in U.S. history.

Central to the story is ONE The Homosexual Magazine, and its founders, as they embarked on a quest for LGBT equality by establishing the first ongoing nationwide forum for gay people in the U.S., and challenged the government’s right to engage …

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?: Food Inequlaity And Black Americans, Christina Foster

Capstone Collection

Food insecurity is an issue that plagues many people throughout the world. It only requires a brief search on the United Nation’s (U.N.) World Hunger Map to determine that this is indeed a worldwide crisis. Conversely, within the United States, the issue of hunger is often treated as “minimal” in comparison to other countries. A deeper inquiry into hunger within the U.S. reveals an even more disturbing connection: the role of white supremacy and systemic racism in regard to hunger. Academic research pertaining to food access is quite recent. Be that as it may, it is of no surprise that …

The Inuit Vs. The Steamboat: Human Exhibitionism And Popular Concerns About The Effects Of The Market Revolution In The Early Republic, Ryan Bachman

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

In the early nineteenth century, a new form of human exhibitionism spread through eastern American cities. While public displays featuring live human beings had existed since the colonial era, these new shows specifically focused on Native Americans. This paper examines one such show, the Inuit Exhibition of 1820-1821, as a case study of this phenomena. Primarily through the use of contemporary newspaper accounts, this project argues that shows like the Inuit Exhibition occurred within a cultural context that legitimized the practice of human exhibitionism as a genuine, post-Enlightenment method of educating citizens about the natural world. Furthermore, so-called “Indian Exhibitions” …

"Do Not Fashion The Other": Representing Contemporary Haudenosaunee Literature 2016, Michael Patrick Brewster

Master's Theses

Historically, the issue of representation in postcolonial studies is one of some contention. While scholarship might recognize the necessity for highlighting the plights and struggles attendant to postcolonial societies, the primary literature being studied is most often written by natives of those societies themselves. This gap is especially evident with Indigenous cultures, because there are relatively few Indigenous scholars working in the academy. We are at the point now when we have a multiplicity (but not a plurality) of Indigenous voices writing literature (poetry, memoir, fiction, film, etc.) and academic criticism. However, there is value in non-Natives reading and writing …

When Ink Turned Into Bullets: The Effect Of The Press In Buffalo, New York And The Nation Along With Its Role In Igniting A Civil War, Nicole C. Kondziela

History Theses

The American Civil War was a multi-faceted conflict: North versus South, states’ rights versus federal law, slavery versus abolition. Due to increasing and constant advancements in technology, this was the first war in American history that developed in full view of the public through newspapers. The Industrial Revolution and capitalism allowed the press to evolve into rich and powerful soap boxes for political bosses and editors alike to voice their opinions far beyond the village square. Unbeknownst to much of the public at the time, the Union had been at the mercy of newspaper editors and politicians in a grand …