History Commons^™

Victory Gardens: Feeding Allies And Families At Home, Lauren Zaborowski

The Exposition

A look at the Victory Garden project that started during WWI and continued on through peacetime and allowed the United States of America to supply food to the local populations, troops abroad and allied countries facing food shortages.

"To Serve, Educate, Unify, And Organize": The Black Panthers' Free Breakfast Program And Cointelpro In The United States, 1968-1971, Joshua Sinclair

The Exposition

The creation of the Black Panther Party’s Free Breakfast for Schoolchildren marked a shift away from the community defense origins of the Party, focusing more on community outreach and unification. The social and political implications of the Program – expanded interest by black and white moderates, and growing popularity of the party in general – made the breakfasts and the Party targets for the FBI’s Counter-Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO.) With the end goal of neutralizing the Panthers in mind, the FBI had a prime target to focus this work in the Breakfast Program.

How Chinese-American Cuisine Was Advertised In The U.S. During The 1900s, Tyler J. Buchanan

The Exposition

This poster details the public opinion/view of Chinese-American cuisine changed from its founding in the early 1900s. This topic was closely related to the Chinese as they exclusively made the food up until recent years.

Roman Food In The Imperial Age Viewed Through The Lens Of Class, John B. Nienhaus

The Exposition

A look into Roman food history in the imperial age with a focus on class and the differences of the classes eating habits, access to ingredients, and diets.

The Renaissance Plutocracy Of Cosimo De’ Medici: How He Used Patronage To His Advantage In 15th Century Florence, Victoria L. Schultz

The Exposition

This paper provides a detailed account of Cosimo de' Medici's patronage practices and the impact they had on the political and cultural landscape of Renaissance Florence. Cosimo consolidated power and influence in Florence, positioning himself as the city's preeminent political and cultural figure. This paper will examine the ways Cosimo leveraged his wealth and connections to establish a Renaissance plutocracy in Florence with a focus on his use of patronage to gain and maintain power.

Social Sanguinity: Communal Ties And The Pursuit Of Political Power In Saga Age Iceland, Sam Fearnside

History Theses

Prior to the Norwegian annexation, Icelandic society lacked a government with an executive branch. As a result their legal system evolved in a highly privatized fashion in which individuals and their families were expected to self-advocate in order to assert and defend their rights and interests. Icelandic law also privatized the prosecution of criminals and enforcement of legal verdicts. Such a legal system required individual Icelanders to forge and maintain an array of social connections in order to protect themselves from both legal actions brought against them and the violent feuds that resulted due to the system’s short comings.

This …

Leeland Jones And Claude Clapp: Case Studies Of Civil Rights In Western New York, Kaelynn Beckman

History Theses

The Civil Rights Movement, which occurred primarily in the 1950s and 1960s, aimed to acquire justice, equality, and an end to racism and discrimination against Black Americans. In an attempt to do so, Black activists staged protests, walkouts, and boycotts and turned to institutions of education and politics to usher in change. However, the historiography on the Civil Rights Movement focuses on the more prominent events and individuals of the time, for example, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The missing components of the historiography include the …

The Moral Hygiene Movement In The United States, 1840s—1920s, Marissa Seib

History Theses

During the 19th and 20th centuries, the mental health care system in the United States underwent a series of reforms in an effort to better care for some of the country’s frailest citizens. This period, called the moral hygiene era of mental health care, emerged from a further understanding of psychiatry and psychology which led to structural changes in the mental health care system.

This thesis examines the beginnings of the Kirkbride system, which sought to reform the whole of American mental health care through landscaping and architecture as well as the specific treatment plan for each individual. Using case …

Taking Science Museums To The Edge: How Science Museums Can Advocate For Social Justice, Education And Inclusivity Through Their Exhibits, Sasha C. Naples

Museum Studies Theses

Science museums have often associated affluent populations and quality education with access to scientific material and content. While these institutions have become more accessible in many ways, they can and should increase their efforts to include BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities and individuals. As the need grows for diversity in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields so does the demand for science museums to include these communities’ needs and wants. This thesis discusses the need for and importance of BIPOC representation in science museums and what museums have already done to include them in their programming and …

The Red Jacket Peace Medal And Ethics Of Repatriation, Nicholas J. Oconnor

Museum Studies Theses

The Red Jacket Peace Medal and Ethics of Repatriation

Native Americans have had a long and arduous past. Many generations of tribal nations within the geographical and political context of the United States have experienced genocide, forced relocation, had their land seized, and cultural artifacts and remains stolen since the fifteenth century. Museums have become the primary institutions now owning the majority of variously acquired artifacts of Native American cultural heritage and displaying them in pursuit of scientific study. For the long overdue injustices done to Native Americans, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was established in …

Visual Representation Of Black Individuals At The Forefront Of Underground Railroad Interpretation, Alison Spongr

Museum Studies Theses

This thesis is grounded in a reflection and analysis of the building of an institution whose foundation and visuals position the narratives of Black individuals at the forefront of Underground Railroad interpretation. In 2018, the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center opened to the public after decades in the making. Its permanent exhibition, One More River to Cross, set in motion a shift in power – of whose stories are represented and shared – generated by visual activism.

“Between the American Revolution in 1776 and the end of the Civil War in 1865, thousands of freedom seekers escaped slavery …

History Of Sesame Street, Erica Weisgram Ph.D.

Sample module-themed coursework with Sesame Street examples

In this module, students will learn the history of Sesame Street in order to provide important context for other modules. Students will learn about the goals of the program as it was developed and some of the key players that conceptualized Sesame Street and brought it to production. Students will also begin to investigate the role of developmental psychology and research in the development of the program.