History Commons^™

Shadows Of Kabul: Qiam Amiry Now Ponders Afghanistan's Troubles From Afar, John Campbell

Colby Magazine

A few years ago, Qiam Amiry ’09 was walking the streets of Kabul working as an interpreter for the British military. Now, on Mayflower Hill, Amiry has found sanctuary but has not escaped the issues facing his country.

History With A Twist: Earl Smith Brings A New Perspective To The Life Of The College, Gerry Boyle

Colby Magazine

The new book, Mayflower Hill: A History of Colby College, has been released. Author and College Historian Earl Smith combines an insider’s view of Colby with a broad cultural perspective for a lively, informative, and sometimes irreverent read.

Breaking The Ice: A Century After Amundsen's Historic Arctic Voyage, Alvo Martin And The U.S. Coast Guard Retrace The Explorer's Frozen Route, Robert Gillespie

Colby Magazine

A century after Roald Amundsen's successful voyage in the search for a Northwest Passage, Alvo Martin '51 followed the same route.

The Forgotten War: How The First "Cold War War" Affected Colby, Gerry Boyle

Colby Magazine

A half-century after a truce ended war on the Korean Peninsula, Colby veterans and students of that era recall their college experience.

In Their Footsteps, In Their Words: Special Section, 1813-1863

Colby Magazine

In Their Footsteps and In Their Words: Colby explores the first 50 years, from Jeremiah Chaplin to the Civil War.

The American Rifled Musket: Technical Revolution Or Tactical Redundancy?, Alexandre F. Caillot

Honors Theses

The German soldier and military writer Freiherr von Bülow (1755-1816) once said that tactics were “the science of movements which are made in the presence of the enemy, that is, within his view, and within reach of his artillery.” This viewpoint, which he espoused in his seminal text Spirit of the System of Modern War (published in German in 1799), was representative of principles that would hold dominion over much of 19th-century-military thought. However, the 1850s was hardly a time of intellectual stagnation in which innovation lacked amongst the military theorists of Europe. Indeed, it was a period of discovery …

Green Light Over The Drop Zone: American Army And Marine Paratroopers In World War Ii, Audrey Lomax

Honors Theses

One of the greatest military inventions to come from World War II, a war unprecedented in casualties, geographic scale, and technology, was the addition of Special Forces to the military. As a pioneer of Special Forces in the United States, the airborne proved to be one of the most unique, dangerous, and expensive Special Forces in the war. By the end of 1940, many belligerent countries had airborne units, including Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Japan, France, and the United Sates. American Chief of Air Service William Mitchell came up with the idea at the end of …

"Kill The Indian, Save The Man," Americanization Through Education: Richard Henry Pratt's Legacy, Lindsay Peterson

Honors Theses

"Even wild turkeys only need the environment and kind treatment of domestic civilized life to become a very part of it.” Richard Henry Pratt made this observation while preparing for Thanksgiving with his family in 1867 in response to his interactions with Native Americans on the frontier. He served out West as second lieutenant in the 10th United States Cavalry, an African American regiment. The basic idea behind Pratt’s mentality was that the Indians’ inferiority was cultural, not racial, and that even Native Americans could become educated and “civilized” if only given the same opportunities provided to white Americans, African …

When The Confederates Terrorized Maine: The Battle Of Portland Harbor, Carter Stevens

Honors Theses

Saturday, June 27, 1863, dawned brightly over Portland, Maine. As the city’s residents began to go about their weekend business, they suddenly realized that the Caleb Cushing, the United States Revenue Cutter (U.S.R.C.) which had been stationed in Portland Harbor on and off again since 1853, was missing. Rumors flew about a traitorous Southerner on board, the work of pirates on the coast, and more. Before the day was over, the revenue cutter would be destroyed and the Casco Bay area would be transformed forever, a victim of one of the northernmost events of the Civil War on the periphery. …

The Kennebec River: A Historic Maine Resource, Elise Begin

Historical Ecology Atlas of New England

The Kennebec River has been considered one of Maine’s most important resources for at least the past 6-8 thousand years; its basin is located in west central Maine and drains 5,893 square miles, an area that is approximately one-fifth the area of the state. The river originates at Moosehead lake and runs 170 miles to the Atlantic Ocean. The river can be divided into two basins: the upper basin, which spans from Moosehead Lake to Waterville; and the lower basin, which spans from Waterville to the ocean.

Before the arrival of Europeans in 1606, the Abenaki Indians controlled the entirety …

Maine Learns To Love Dairying, Erin Love

Historical Ecology Atlas of New England

The transition from subsistence to commercial farming is a defining trend in Maine dairying that continues today. Technological advances that often caused large landscape scale changes were catalysts in the division between small and large farmers. The industry developed in a relatively short time period—the last thirty years of the 19th century—but the characteristic divide between large and small farmers has continued to be exacerbated.

Bath, Maine: A City Of Ships, Taylor Witkin

Historical Ecology Atlas of New England

Known as Maine’s city of ships, Bath sits on the shores of the Kennebec River, about 15 miles from the Gulf of Maine and 40 miles up the coast from Portland. Though small in population, Bath’s impact on Maine, the rest of United States, and even on the world has been anything but small. Today Bath is known mostly for the Bath Iron Works, which supplies the US Navy with a large portion of its fleets, however, in Bath’s early days it built large, wooden yachts and schooners mostly for trade, not war. The next few pages will explore Bath’s …

The Happy Valley, Cassie Raker

Historical Ecology Atlas of New England

On the Connecticut River in Western Massachusetts, there exists the Happy Valley. Surrounded by the humble Holyoke Range, today you will find a bustling New England settlement dominated by local colleges and universities. But it was not always so. The picturesque Mount Holyoke and its accompanying hotel, known as the Summit House, have overlooked the area for hundreds of years, watching it change from forest to farmland to industry to the modern landscape it is today.

Forecasting The Future: The Early United States Weather Bureau, Robert T. Canning

Honors Theses

The national weather service of the United States came into being in 1870 for the practical utility of the American people. The interaction between weather, agriculture, and commerce provided the impetus for the inception of the service. Many historians put forward the notion of an obdurate weather bureau, a scientific backwater with no interest in modernization until after World War II. I disagree with this popular historiography and instead offer a history of the weather bureau’s attempts to institute the latest meteorological practices that takes into consideration the burdens and obligations of the bureau, as well as the historical context. …

Symposium Participants' Bios, Bern Porter

Bern Porter Occasional Symposium Series

Biographical information about presenters and participants of the Bern Porter Occasional Symposium Series: The Bomb, the National Security State and the Advanced Thinking of Bern Porter.

Symposium Program, Bern Porter

Bern Porter Occasional Symposium Series

Printed program of the Bern Porter Occasional Symposium Series: The Bomb, the National Security State and the Advanced Thinking of Bern Porter.

Symposium Flyer, Bern Porter

Bern Porter Occasional Symposium Series

Flyer advertising the Bern Porter Occasional Symposium Series: The Bomb, the National Security State and the Advanced Thinking of Bern Porter.

From Victims And Villains To Protagonists: Immigration And Citizenship In Modern Italy, Rachel Gleicher

Honors Theses

The Italian media, political parties, and immigrant-related social service organizations on all sides of the spectrum have contributed to the creation of various one-dimensional perceptions of Italy’s immigrant communities which have functioned to deny immigrants’ formal citizenship status and consequently, attempted to impede their access to the basic rights and privileges national membership guarantees. While left-leaning media outlets, organizations, and individuals tend to portray immigrants as victims draining Italy of its social, economic, and material resources, the Italian right often characterizes Italy’s immigrant population as villainous intruders incapable of integration due to cultural difference and in some cases, a natural …

The End Of The Miḥna, John P. Turner

Faculty Scholarship

Why did al-Mutawakkil end the Miḥna? The usual answer to this question assumes that he was acknowledging the inevitable victory of the ulamā. He is seen to be `cutting his losses' by restoring and enforcing orthodoxy as the traditionalist ulamā saw it. In this article I offer a different answer. Al-Mutawakkil ended the Miḥna as one part of his broader effort to establish his position as sovereign and independent of the individuals and structures that had carried over from al-Wāthiq's reign. Eliminating the Miḥna was one strategy deployed in undermining and eliminating the “kingmakers” who had placed him on the …

Soviet Education: Communism In The Classroom, Alison W. Berryman

Honors Theses

My thesis examines the Soviet Union’s educational system during Stalin’s rule. It proves that the goal of the Soviet educational system in the 1920s and 1930s was to instill strong Communist loyalty from a very early age and to expedite the process of industrialization by educating future workers in “socially useful” labor.

A Disappearing Boundary?: The Changing Distinction Between Combatants And Civilians From The First World War To The Present Day, Aimee Kidder

Honors Theses

The issue of terrorism has stimulated intellectual debate regarding the rights and protections that should be afforded to civilians. However, the practice of targeting noncombatants in warfare extends far beyond terrorism and has roots deep in the historical past. This study looks at violence against civilians over a series of case studies from the First and Second World Wars as well as the French-Algerian War of the 1950s and 1960s. By looking at the changing legal distinctions between combatants and noncombatants, the study first establishes a trend in international law toward increasing protection of civilians. Yet, these legal advances are …

Moments Of Strength: Iranian Women's Rights And The 1979 Revolution, Caroline M. Brooks

Honors Theses

An Iranian women’s movement failed to materialize in the twentieth century. While women in Iran played important and essential roles in political and social movements, they never united with a single voice calling for women’s rights. Thus the activities of activist women were scattered through the decades of Iranian history, while their roles shifted and their goals evolved but they were involved. Women’s rights occupied moments. One of the most important moments for women in Iranian history came with their participation in the 1979 Revolution against the Shah. Mohammad Reza Shah was a complex ruler, embracing modernity and Westernization while …

"System Of Silence": Philadelphia Orphanages And The Limits Of Benevolence, 1780s-1830s, Brian Sweeney

Honors Theses

In 1831, Mathew Carey, a well-known Philadelphia economist, wrote a city official describing the situation of black children in the city. He called for the creation of an orphanage to aid these children and described the motives for this action as not only the “humanity and benevolence” of Philadelphians, but also “personal interest”, as this class could otherwise turn “lawless”. Unknown to Carey, the Association for the Care of Coloured Orphans had been established in 1822 by a group of benevolent Quaker women dedicated to aiding this destitute class in an effort to promote compensatory justice for generations of oppression …

Motorized Obsessions: Life, Liberty, And The Small-Bore Engine, Paul R. Josephson

Faculty Books

From dirt bikes and jet skis to weed wackers and snowblowers, machines powered by small gas engines have become a permanent—and loud—fixture in American culture. But fifty years of high-speed fun and pristine lawns have not come without cost.

In the first comprehensive history of the small-bore engine and the technology it powers, Paul R. Josephson explores the political, environmental, and public health issues surrounding one of America's most dangerous pastimes. Each chapter tells the story of an ecosystem within the United States and the devices that wreak havoc on it—personal watercraft (PWCs) on inland lakes and rivers; all-terrain vehicles …

Demon Rum, Devious Politics: The Lessons Of Neal Dow’S Crusade For The Maine Prohibition Law, Andrew J. Herrmann

Honors Theses

One of the fundamental conflicts in American political history is the one that pits the need to guarantee personal liberty against the desire for the government to pass legislation that will benefit the overall good. Dating back to the very founding of our nation and the deliberations over the ratification of the Constitution, this debate has played itself out over and over again through the course of American history as politicians decide how to balance each of these important considerations. One such manifestation of this debate was the campaign for alcohol prohibition1 in the mid-nineteenth century, a battle which raged …

Obstacles And Stepping Stones To The Hero’S Pedestal: Reunified Germany’S Selective Commemoration Of Resisters To National Socialism, Suzanne J. Swartz

Honors Theses

Bombs, propaganda, graffiti, espionage, murder. Normally these words carry a negative connotation, unless used with regard to German resistance to Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. The resistance, which included groups and individuals from all areas of German society but failed to produce a single mass anti-Hitler movement, has gained little recognition outside of Germany but much within, particularly during the past thirty years. Germany has taken the one positive light from that dark time period and used it as a tool of legitimization for the government and other institutions, and as a source for heroic figures of whom Germans can …

Short History Of Waterville, Maine, Stephen Plocher

Honors Theses

If we were to simplify the story of Waterville to the lightest exploration possible, a good strategy might be to look at the city’s names. True, a good number of important events might be overlooked, but examining the names and name changes in the city’s history offers a unique view into the essence of its identity. Waterville has a rich history when it comes to names. The city itself went through a number of them in its early days, and these changes reflect the city’s continual reinvention of itself. The first people we know about who lived here, the Canibas …

Mayflower Hill: A History Of Colby College, Earl H. Smith

Colby Books

A lively history of Colby College from its founding in 1813 to the present day.

Founded by Baptists in Waterville, Maine (and originally named The Maine Literary and Theological Institution), Colby College began as a tiny place- half college, half seminary. It faced doom at the end of the Civil War but was rescued by Gardner Colby, a wealthy manufacturer whose $50,000 donation saved the college. Three years later, it changed its name to honor its benefactor. Sixty years after that, the tiny college had become choked by the city's success. Squeezed between the Kennebec River and the railroad tracks, …

Man-Made Menopause, Madeline Horwitz

Undergraduate Research Symposium (UGRS)

In this study I suggest that there are three distinct time periods mark new developments in society’s understanding of menopause, Victorian America in the mid and late nineteenth century, mid-twentieth century America, and contemporary America. This is the case not only in terms of advances in biological science, but also the ways in which the medical establishment has viewed menopause has also changed, and in terms of changes in prevalent gender assumptions. In this paper I hope to expose the ways science, history, and society has medicalized menopause, and the ways in which menopause has been viewed by individual women, …

Carl Maria Von Weber’S Overture To Oberon: A History Of Recorded Performance, Stephen Planas

Undergraduate Research Symposium (UGRS)

My research examines the recorded performance history of the Overture to Weber’s Oberon in light of these aesthetic goals. I have charted changes in performance practice trends, including in timing, tempo fluctuation, rhythmic accuracy and ensemble, and the use of portamento. The twenty recordings studied that I surveyed span nearly seventy-five years, and include many of the 20th century’s most prominent conductors and orchestras, including groups from Communist Russia, both pre-World War II and post-World War II continental Europe, the British Isles, and the United States.8 Though by no means comprehensive, my selections encompass a diverse sampling of surviving recordings, …