History Commons^™

Be A Man: Childhood, Masculinity, Mental Hygiene, And The Asylum In The 1950'S, Emily Lonna Miller

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This project studies the use of mental hygiene films in the 1950s to understand the American ideal of gender, sex roles, and mental health. Focusing specifically on masculinity, this project shows that psychologists and psychiatrists of the mid-twentieth century helped to define what it meant to be a real man in America. Sources for this research included mental hygiene films, psychological studies and articles from the 1950s, and news broadcasts. Upon examination of these sources, it becomes clear that mental health specialists were concerned with the development of correct masculinity in male children and becoming the modern doctors that could …

Marriage Vows And Economic Discrimination: The Married Teacher Problem, Sabrina Thomas

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study analyzes the rapid increase of economic discrimination against married women teachers in the early twentieth century, particularly during the Depression. It challenges the notion that economic discrimination against married women teachers was simple, easy, and largely was unchallenged. I argue that the creation and proliferation of marriage bars in the early twentieth century involved a compounded and multifaceted set of economic and social concerns. Support for this argument is accomplished by examination of the national debate on marriage bars as well as careful investigation of the local debate illustrated in Huntington, West Virginia.

Knights In White Satin: Women Of The Ku Klux Klan, Kelli R. Kerbawy

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The Ku Klux Klan is often thought of as a male-dominated organization; however there is evidence that women contributed to Klan efforts and participated in their own group, Women of the KKK. This study analyzes women’s involvement within the KKK during the 1920s. Women’s participation in early progressive movements, including temperance and suffrage, served as a catalyst for women’s involvement with the KKK. This paper explores women’s roles in the Ku Klux Klan as leaders within the WKKK. From earlier social movements, women gained knowledge needed to promote and expand the WKKK and other white supremacist women’s organizations. This paper …

A Heart Of Glass: Women, Work Culture, And Resistance In Huntington, West Virginia’S Glass Industry, Ginny Young

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study analyzes women in Huntington, West Virginia’s glass industry through an examination of interviews with retired selectors of the Owens-Illinois plant that operated on Huntington’s west end for nearly eighty years. It explores the particular ways in which those selectors formed their own work culture and a collective identity of themselves as a group in the years prior to their being organized into the Glass Bottle Blowers Association Local 256. This project argues that the work culture of selecting acted as an “informal organization” through which selectors at Owens-Illinois could act together and separately to resist gender discrimination in …

Discourses Of Disappointment: The Betrayal Of Women's Emancipation Following The French And Russian Revolutions, Crystal Denise Helton

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Questions relating to gender are worth pursuing in order to more accurately discern the impact of the French and Russian Revolutions on society more broadly as opposed to just political leaders, well-known historical figures, or those predominately male citizens that comprised the upper echelons of their respective movements. A careful analysis of secondary sources, or the historiography on women’s place within the French and Russian Revolutions, reveals that, in spite of their use of egalitarian rhetoric, the revolutionary governments in France and Russia continued to view women based upon conventional standards. Discourses written by and about women before, during, and …

Emily Greene Balch: Crusader For Peace And Justice, Tara S. Lambert

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Emily Greene Balch was the second American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize and worked throughout her lifetime to better the world for her fellow humans. As one who was shaped by the Progressive Movement in both character and action, she has nonetheless never received the historical spotlight given to other workers of her time such as Jane Addams. A survivor of protest against war, she has been virtually ignored despite her many activities and writings on behalf of peace, suffrage, and social reform. Even Mercedes M. Randall, who wrote the only biography of Balch, fails to fully examine …

Spanish Women And The SeccióN Femenina: Rhetoric, Imagery, And Ideology, Julia Hudson-Richards

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Women never discover anything; they lack, of course, the creative talent; reserved by God for male intelligence. We can do nothing more but perform for better or worse, the tasks which men give us.

Pilar Primo de Rivera, 1942.

Though at the time of its founding in 1934 the women’s section of the Spanish fascist party may have been insignificant to many, the Sección Femenina in a few short years was installed as the premier government agency with regard to the political status of Spain’s women. With the consolidation of the Franco regime, the Sección Femenina was placed in charge …

Thy Will Be Done, My Will Be Done: A Comparative Analysis Of The Diary Of Susanna Gordon Waddell, 1863-1867 And Selected Letters Of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, 1862-1864, Leann Elizabeth Ginther

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

“Renew my will from day to day.

Blend it with thine, and take away

all that new makes it hard to say

Thy will be done.”

December 17, 1863

Susanna Gordon Waddell transcribed the above passage in her diary to reflect her pervading belief and conviction: a resignation to God’s will. She does not indicate the author of the verse, and it so aptly describes the beliefs expressed in her diary she may have written it herself. Interestingly, this particular passage contains an inherent contradiction. The prayer asks God to renew my will while simultaneously asking that it be taken …

Women In The West Virginia State Legislature 1923-1997, Jo Boggess Phillips

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

A total of 125 women legislators have served in the West Virginia State Legislature (see Appendix A). Although every state legislator, both male and female, has played a role in molding the destinies of the citizens of this state, the past 70 years have been an uphill climb for the women who have served in the West Virginia Legislature.

This thesis examines the careers of some of the pioneering women who broke the gender barrier and entered into the male dominated world of state politics and those who have followed their lead. This paper is by no means meant to …

0535: Southern Women And Their Families In The 19th Century [Microfilm], 1694-1991, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

The Southern Women and Their Families in the 19th Century: Papers and Diaries Collection consists of microfilm copies of selected collections at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill’s Southern Historical Collection and the Virginia Historical Society related to southern women and their families during the nineteenth century. Topics relate to women in the South and include descriptions of plantation and family life, domestic relations, and travel, and formats include diaries, correspondence, and other papers. Given the unique and diverse nature of the materials on microfilm, the collections are unable to be completely described in the finding aid alone. The …

0331: The Woman’S Club Of Kenova Scrapbook, 1908-1971, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection consists of one scrapbook containing pasted in yearbooks containing the yearly theme, member directories, and events for the Woman’s Club of Kenova, West Virginia from its start in 1908 until 1971.

Oral History Interview: Irene D. Broh, Irene D. Broh

0064: Marshall University Oral History Collection

Irene D. Broh was born on November 20, 1880, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Through the influence of her mother, a suffragist who worked with Susan B. Anthony, Mrs. Broh joined the suffrage movement and helped women earn the right to vote. After marrying Ephraim Broh in 1909, she moved to Huntington, WV, where she organized a suffrage club in 1915. Mrs. Broh became the first woman to vote in Cabell County, WV, in 1920. In her interview, Mrs. Broh focuses on her work for women’s suffrage. She describes how she organized her club, the voting facilities in Huntington, and her experience …

0023: Theeta Searcy Lyon Papers, 1923-1941, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Marshall College home economics professor. Papers consist of prints and original drawings of costumes and dress from Grecian times to 1941. Includes student drawings executed for classes in applied arts at Marshall and a typescript copy of 'History of American Dress as Affected by Politcial, Social, and Economic Conditions,' by Anna C. Wilson.

0064: Marshall University Oral History Collection, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Tape recordings and transcripts of oral interviews with residents in the West Virginia-Ohio-Kentucky Tri-State region regarding such topics as farming, schools, health care, folk customs, and many others related to life in this Appalachian region.

To view materials from this collection that are digitized and available online, search the Marshall University Oral History Collection here.