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Full-Text Articles in History

"Island Of Integration": Desegregation Of The Women's Army Corps At Fort Lee, Virginia, 1948-1954, Meika Downey Jan 2020

"Island Of Integration": Desegregation Of The Women's Army Corps At Fort Lee, Virginia, 1948-1954, Meika Downey

Theses and Dissertations

Countless studies exist examining President Harry S. Truman’s Executive Order 9981 mandating racial desegregation of the U.S. armed forces, though all singularly focus on the experiences of male soldiers in the twentieth century. This thesis examines how the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) training center at Fort Lee, Virginia implemented desegregation in 1950 in the midst of the Korean War with relative speed and tolerance. Determined through archival records including official WAC reports, photographs, newspapers, and nine newly conducted racially diverse oral history interviews with WAC veterans, I demonstrate how the Fort Lee training center became a physical and cultural “island …


Architect Of The New South: The Life And Legacy Of William Mahone, Heath M. Anderson Jan 2019

Architect Of The New South: The Life And Legacy Of William Mahone, Heath M. Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

In Virginia following the Civil War, white and black people formed complex and shifting alliances based on their own self-interests that cut across the lines of established political parties. In this turbulent atmosphere, William Mahone forged a new biracial political coalition called the Readjuster Party in order to transform Virginia’s economy so that it would be competitive in the years to come. Chapter One argues that Mahone’s experience as a soldier and railroad man gave him the political clout needed to enter politics and an industrial vision for Virginia’s future that was markedly different from many of his contemporaries. Chapter …


"Let The Castillo Be His Monument!": Imperialism, Nationalism, And Indian Commemoration At The Castillo De San Marcos National Monument In St. Augustine, Florida, Claire M. Barnewolt Jan 2018

"Let The Castillo Be His Monument!": Imperialism, Nationalism, And Indian Commemoration At The Castillo De San Marcos National Monument In St. Augustine, Florida, Claire M. Barnewolt

Theses and Dissertations

The Castillo de San Marcos is the oldest stone fortification on the North American mainland, a unique site that integrates Florida’s Spanish colonial past with American Indian narratives. A complete history of this fortification from its origins to its management under the National Park Service has not yet been written. During the Spanish colonial era, the Indian mission system complemented the defensive work of the fort until imperial skirmishes led to the demise of the Florida Indian. During the nineteenth century, Indian prisoners put a new American Empire on display while the fort transformed into a tourist destination. The Castillo …


"Our Captain Is A Gentleman”: Officer Elections Among Virginia Confederates, 1861-1862, Ryan C. O'Hallahan Jan 2017

"Our Captain Is A Gentleman”: Officer Elections Among Virginia Confederates, 1861-1862, Ryan C. O'Hallahan

Theses and Dissertations

Enlisted soldiers preferred to elect company- and regimental-level officers during the first year of the American Civil War. This thesis explores how early Confederate mobilization, class conflict between elites and non-elites, and Confederate military policies affected officer elections from spring 1861 to spring 1862 among Virginia Confederates. Chapter 1 explores how the chaotic nature of mobilization and common soldiers' initial expectations regarding their military service influenced elections from April 1861 until late July 1861. Chapter 2 details the changing nature of elections as elite officers faced challenges from non-elites and Confederate policies regarding furloughs and conscription forced officers to reconcile …


“Confederate Soldiers In The Siege Of Petersburg And Postwar: An Intensified War And Coping Mechanisms Utilized, 1864- Ca. 1895”, Matthew R. Lempke Jan 2017

“Confederate Soldiers In The Siege Of Petersburg And Postwar: An Intensified War And Coping Mechanisms Utilized, 1864- Ca. 1895”, Matthew R. Lempke

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis crafts a narrative about how Confederate soldiers during the siege of Petersburg experienced an intensified war that caused them to refine soldierly coping mechanisms in order to endure. They faced increasing deprivations, new forms of death, fewer restrictions on killing, dwindling fortunes, and increased racial acrimony by facing African American soldiers. In order to adjust, they relied on soldierly camaraderie, Southern notions of honor, letter writing, and an increasingly firm reliance on Protestant Christianity to cope with their situation. Postwar, these veterans repurposed soldierly coping mechanisms and eventually used institutional support from their states. Camaraderie, honor, literary endeavors, …


Confederate Richmond: A City's Call To Arms, Tucker L. Modesitt Jan 2015

Confederate Richmond: A City's Call To Arms, Tucker L. Modesitt

Theses and Dissertations

This work mainly focuses on putting the laborers of the Richmond Armory and the Tredegar Iron Works into the context of Civil War Richmond by focusing on their skills, backgrounds, and loyalties throughout the conflict. It highlights the similarities and differences between the two institutions and the legacies that they left behind in the years following the war. It also sheds light on some of the problems facing the Confederacy during the course of the war and its struggle to procure arms.