American Popular Culture Commons^™

Harper & Brothers’ Family And School District Libraries, 1830-1846., Robert S. Freeman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

In the 1830s, at the dawn of mass-market publishing, J. & J. Harper of New York began publishing several libraries, including Harper’s Family Library and Harper’s School District Library. A “library” in this sense is a series or set of uniformly bound and uniformly priced books issued by the same publisher. A leading publisher and a major force in the broad religious and social reform movements of the period, the Harper brothers helped to shape education in American homes and schools. As Methodists they were advocates of reading for moral improvement. As innovative publishers, they made full use of the …

Mr. Richard Terrence On Leisure, Rachel Talbot-Ross

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Rachel Talbot-Ross

Interviewee: Mr. Richard Terrence (age 57; born 1945 in Cleveland, Ohio; moved to Maine in October 1975)

“And, you know, raising my children is interesting in that as they grew older and as they noticed the very differences, they were starting to mix in very well. They were making friends, and, you know, they were involved in sporting activities and community.”

Mrs. Emma Jackson On Leisure, Maureen Elgersman-Lee

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Maureen Elgersman Lee

Interviewee: Mrs. Emma Jackson (age 62; born 1941 in Atlanta Georgia; lived in Maine for 46 years; has three children)

“Because it wasn't ever in the - the -- the, ah, club scenes, or any scenes like that. Actually, we live, ah, a really sheltered life. We went to church. We were involved. But the church was our main focus and our main goal. And I -- and -- and our lives were wrapped -- revolved around that. So that might be -- which would be a reason why we didn't--”

Chronological Bibliography Of The Works Of Catharine Maria Sedgwick, Lucinda Damon-Bach, Allison Roepsch, Melissa J. Homestead

Department of English: Faculty Publications

This two-part bibliography has been built by consulting the Bibliography of American Literature (BAL) and the bibliographies compiled by Sister Mary Michael Welsh ("Catharine Maria Sedgwick: Her Position in the Literature and Thought of Her Time up to 1860," Ph.D. diss., Catholic University of America, 1937) and Richard Ranus Gidez ("A Study of the Works of Catharine Maria Sedgwick," Ph.D. diss., Ohio State University, 1958); library cataloging records; and the personal records of Lucinda Damon-Bach and Melissa J. Homestead. In most cases, entries have been confirmed through books, periodicals, photocopies, or microfilm received through interlibrary loan. We were not able …

Robertson, Clara Louise, 1908-2004 (Mss 87), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid for Manuscripts Collection 87. Diary kept by Clara Louise Robertson of Louisville, Kentucky, detailing schools, church and club activities and amusements. Vivid description of a 1921 Washington, D.C. family vacation. Associated letter, 1991. A copy of Robertson "Little Colonel’s Good Times Book" diary is included as an "Additional File" below. Click on it to see the diary in its entirety.

Mr. Edgar Anderson On Leisure, Amber Panzella

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Amber Panzella

Interviewee: Mr. Edgar Anderson (Male; age 51; born 1950 in Chicago suburb called Harvey; Moved to Portland Maine in 1985)

“I just spent last weekend down in Massachusetts with-as I said before-with my daughter who played in basketball tournaments Saturday and Sunday, so we spent the weekend in Massachusetts playing basketball. This weekend her mom will spend time with her in Hudson, New Hampshire, playing softball. She's also a softball player…Yeah, and two weeks from now we're gonna be in Connecticut, and the week after that we'll be playing basketball in D.C. So we're very involved with …

Mrs. Odessa Barret On Leisure, Usm African American Collection

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: -

Interviewee: Odessa Barret (born in Port Arthur, Texas, 1948)

“Life for me as a child was bitter sweet. I was between the youngest boy and girl so I was never alone. Church was the focal point of our lives. It was a time of "White Only" restrooms and drinking fountains, but we were spared a lot of that because we owned our own car so public transportation was not a worry for us. Traveling food for us was a basket of fried sausage and biscuits if it was morning and fried chicken and bread if it was lunch …

Mrs. Rose Jackson On Leisure, Hamida Suja

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Hamida Suja

Interviewee: Mrs. Rose Jackson (age 66; born in Louisville, Mississippi; lives in South Portland for 39 years; married 34 years; has six children; had five children with her first husband; he died and she remarried and had a child with the current husband)

“And we would get together, like, have a fish fry on the weekend with our white friends, our white neighbors. And when we would get out and fish, my daddy and them would go down and get in the water and just muddy the water up with hoes-what you chop cotton with-and the fish …

Ms. Lucille Young On Leisure, Anab Osman

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Anab Osman

Interviewee: Ms. Lucille Young (age 73; born 1928 in Jackson, Mississippi; moved to Maine in 1967) “[Barbeque] Yeah. We have four picnic tables in the backyard, and chairs, and we have a grill. And I have a swimming pool, so they’re always there. They’re always at my house. Which I’m trying to get rid of half of them, but I know it’ll never happen.”

Mrs. June Mckenzie On Leisure, Aretha Williams

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Aretha Williams

Interviewee: Mrs. June McKenzie (age 72; born 1929 in Portland Maine; fifth-generation Mainer; lived in Maine all her life)

“Oh, yes we do, and they're really big. My sister in Connecticut has, what, seven children, and my sister in the islands has three, and my other sister has one. And all our families and our grandchildren and everything, we all get together on Fourth of July and have a picnic at Sebago Lake, which started out as a big church thing. Our church did it every year, and we've just kept up the tradition.”

“Well, my neighborhood …

Mr. James Mathews On Leisure, Maureen Elgersman Lee

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Maureen Elgersman Lee

Interviewee: Mr. James Mathews (age 59; born 1941 in Portland Maine; married with five children; lived in Maine all his life – lived in South Portland for over 26 years)

“Well, when we talk about the Mathews family reunions and also the Fisher family reunions, because they're a part of our family. We all evolved from the Mathews really, and, of course, my name is Mathews. We had a family reunion in Nova Scotia that I went to in 1998. It was July; I think it was the 14th thru the 16th, or something like that, …

Ms. Beverly Bowens On Leisure, Vanessa Saric

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Vanesa Saric

Interviewee: Ms. Beverly Bowens (born in Maine; age 67; left at 21 years old for about 35 to 40 years and then returned to Maine)

“Actually, I'm a product of my environment. So when I went to New York, I had difficulty getting used to, for instance, going to a party, 8 o'clock. And even though in New York a party starts at eight, no one comes until ten. I go to bed early, and I get up very early. And this is something that I found a little bit different when I was in New York. …

Cummings Guest House Register Pages 097 And 098, Usm African American Collection

We Exist Series 4: Cummings Guest House Register Excerpts

This is a detail from the Cummings Guest House Register. You can see a digital version of the full text HERE.

Cummings Guest House Register Pages 099 And 100, Usm African American Collection

We Exist Series 4: Cummings Guest House Register Excerpts

This is a detail from the Cummings Guest House Register. You can see a digital version of the full text HERE.

An Activist's Guide To Lesbian History: A Companion To The Video Not Just Passing Through, Polly Thistlethwaite

Publications and Research

This guide, designed to accompany the video Not Just Passing Through, contains guidelines for conducting oral history, forms for donating material to mainstream and community based archives, and lessons for engaging lesbian history with activism.

Journal Of Pedagogy, Pluralism And Practice, Volume 1, Issue 1, Spring 1997 (Full Issue), Journal Staff

Journal of Pedagogy, Pluralism, and Practice

No abstract provided.

"Permit Me Then Good Friends To Sing": Reflections, Reactions, And Manipulations In Civil War Songs, Joanne Thomas

Masters Theses

Musicologists, folklorists and historians agree that the music of the Civil War was a significant means of communication for Americans in all regions and classes. The popularity of music soared during the war, with songs about the war holding center stage. This study moves beyond the acknowledgment that these songs were an important means of communication to seeing what messages were being communicated by both professional and amateur songwriters. These lyricists criticized and praised behaviors, often pointing out the social acceptance or exclusion that could result from individual behaviors, made assumptions about and passed moral judgements on female, male, and …

Interview With Yvonne Dodge Regarding Sarah Gertrude Knott (Fa 459), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Yvonne Dodge, Princeton, Kentucky, conducted by Michael Ann Williams regarding the life of Sarah Gertrude Knott and her sister Gladys Knott. Dodge discusses the Knott family, but the majority of the interview focuses on Sarah's personal and professional life, including her work with the National Folk Festival.

Cowboy Wonderland, History, And Myth: 'It Ain't All That Different Than Real Life, William G. Simon, Louise Spence

Communication, Media & The Arts Faculty Publications

Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson was Robert Altman's bicentennial film. Released for the Fourth of July weekend in 1976, the film examines the western both as a national myth and as a commercial entertainment form; indeed, one might see the film's project as an expos? of the ideological functioning of the western, its white male hero, and the Native American in nearly 100 years of American popular culture.

An Historical Look At The Negro Baseball Leagues: The Legend Of The Black Knights, Terry Pierce

McCabe Thesis Collection

This study hopes to fill in some of the gaps in the history of the Negro Leagues. More importantly though, this research is successful only if the readers can come away with a true sense of what the ballplayers of the era felt and why they played while enduring racism and humiliation.

This study was conducted to pull together the previously written facts and history of the Negro Leagues with obscure oral history and data found through interviews, videotapes, articles, and books from and about those who played and lived during the era.

The Development Of A Youth Consumer Culture In The United States In The 1950s, Phillip D. Mccaskey

History Theses & Dissertations

The 1950s witnessed the development of an important cultural phenomenon in the United States, the result of the demographic increase known as the baby boom. To an unprecedented degree in American history, various facets of the American economy focused towards infants and adolescents due to their swelling numbers and subsequent economic influence. Youths themselves sought to exert their economic power resulting in the formation of a dynamic youth culture manifesting itself most prominently in the entertainment media.

This study examines the origins and scope of the American baby boom. Cultural trends directly related to the baby boom are also analyzed. …

Interview With Nellie Ruth Sublett (Fa 154), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Nellie Ruth Sublett conducted by Karen Owen for an oral history project titled "A Generation Remembers, 1900-1949." Sublett discusses his life and times, including information about courtship, rural electrification, bobbed hair, social life, floods, the Great Depression, the hanging of Rainey Bethea and other matters in Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky.

Interview With Irene Taylor Regarding Her Life (Fa 154), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Irene Taylor conducted by Christopher Carey for an oral history project titled "A Generation Remembers, 1900-1949." In this brief interview Taylor discusses a general store in Hancock County, Kentucky called the Duncan store as well as one-room schools and the consolidation of schools. She also mentions the Chestnut Grove school in Hancock County.

Interview With Oda Shouse, Sr. And Clara Shouse Regarding Their Lives (Fa 154), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Oda Shouse, Sr. and Clara Shouse conducted by Keith Smith for an oral history project titled "A Generation Remembers, 1900-1949." Mr. Shouse does most of the speaking. He discusses his life and times including information about floods, the Great Depression, tobacco farming, rural medicine, rural electrification, automobiles and telephones.

Interview With Mary Bryant (Benton) Fitts Regarding Her Life (Fa 154), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Mary Brant (Benton) Fitts conducted by Karen Owen for an oral history project titled "A Generation Remembers, 1900-1949." Fitts discusses her life and times, including information about growing up in Utica and Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky, her children, social life and customs, race relations, World War II, and sundry other topics. Mrs. Fitts was a housewife and mother of two.

Interview With Dora Landrum Regarding Her Life (Fa 154), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Dora Landrum conducted by Kevin Eans for an oral history project titled "A Generation Remembers, 1900-1949." Landrum discusses her life and times, including information about the Great Depression, how the New Deal programs affected Ohio County, Kentucky, motion pictures, radio, World War II, Pearl Harbor, the atomic bomb, rationing, her running for State Senate in 1949, and Democratic politics.

Interview With Zella Truman Regarding Her Life (Fa 154), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Zella Truman conducted by Karen Owen for an oral history project titled "A Generation Remembers, 1900-1949." Truman discusses her life and times, including information about growing up in Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky, education, games children played, influenza, floods, World War II, and courtship.

Interview With Gwendolyn Johnston Regarding Her Life (Fa 154), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Gwendolyn Johnston conducted by Keith Smith for an oral history project titled "A Generation Remembers, 1900-1949."   Johnston discusses her life and times, including information about growing up in West Louisville, Kentucky, education, games, a tornado that struck Louisville in the 1890s, automobiles, the Ku Klux Klan, Ronald Wilson Reagan, and parochial schools.

Interview With Allyene Gregory Regarding Her Life (Fa 154), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Allyene Gregory conducted by Steve Vied for an oral history project titled "A Generation Remembers, 1900-1949." Gregory discusses her life and times, including information about growing up in Sorgho, Daviess County, Kentucky, education, childhood games, her father's farm, African Americans, social customs and historic events in the community, as well as her teaching career.

Interview With Lattie Edds And Essie Thomason Regarding Their Lives (Fa 154), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Lattie Edds and Essie Thomason conducted by Judi Hetrick for an oral history project titled "A Generation Remembers, 1900-1949." They discuss their life and times, including information about growing up in McLean County and Hancock County, Kentucky, social life and customs, weaving, childhood chores and games, teachers and teaching, one-room schools, farms and farming, courtship, televisions, radios, the Great Depression, floods, and influenza.