History Commons^™

Let's All Go To The Lobby: Examining The American Cold War Experience Through Film, Renaldo Gonzales Jr.

GLI MA in American History Student Works

The films of the American film industry produced and released during the Cold War are as varied as the complex events that occurred throughout the entirety of the conflict. These films can provide an understanding of how the feelings and attitudes of the American people shifted and evolved as the Cold War progressed. This work will examine a small sample of these films, focusing on one film from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. By providing critiques and reviews of the film from the time of its original release, information about the motives of the director of the films being …

The Mississippi Monument Project, Syeda Haider Shah

CAFE Symposium 2026

The Mississippi State Monument at Gettysburg National Military Park, inaugurated in 1973, demonstrates how Civil War memory was transformed throughout the post–Civil Rights era. Although commemorating Mississippi soldiers who engaged in the 1863 battle, the monument was erected amid ongoing controversies over race, history, and historical interpretation. Its imagery and inscription are significantly influenced by Lost Cause ideology, emphasizing valor, sacrifice, and a "righteous cause" while omitting the central role of slavery in Confederate secession. This project investigates the ways in which Mississippi utilized public memory to assert Southern identity, resist changing national narratives, and project a selective version of …

An Expedition To Public Lands: Exploring The Black Hills Region, John Mcdermott

CAFE Symposium 2026

This project explores 4 public land sites in southwestern South Dakota: Badlands National Park, Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Black Hills National Forest, and Lacreek National Wildlife Refuge. I researched each site's most popular recreation activities and contributions to American history, as well as economic data that shows the difference in management strategies between the National Park Service and the US Forest Service.

Hercules In Myth And Animation: Masculinity And Heroism, Noah Bautista

CAFE Symposium 2026

Disney's Hercules is a model man in today's society who combines the best aspects of both masculinity and femininity. In the myths, however, Hercules was much different and did not act as such a bridge between femininity and masculinity at the time. Through other scholarly works, the way that masculinity, heroism, and instrumentalization are presented and used is examined. Mythological Herakles is found to be a much more aggressive archetype of a man rather than Hercules, who is based upon strength in moderation and a more social society. Each fit into the ideals of the society they come from, perpetuating …

Longest Marriage In The World: Is Chocolate The Secret To Love?, Simon Brown

CAFE Symposium 2026

Although chocolate has always represented love in some facets, its expression has manifested into something poetic since its founding over 50 centuries ago. This poeticizing of chocolate's relationship with love was formed through the transportation of chocolate from Mesoamerica to Europe, and Europe to America. Whether it’s through Valentines Day, forgiveness gifts, or just a sweet treat added to a nice card, chocolate has become a token of appreciation usable for almost every occasion. Examining the timeline of affection created through both cacao and chocolate, this paper will explore chocolates’ transition from a food of lust to a gift of …

The Virginia Monument: Dedication, Duty, And Dispute In Gettysburg, Thomas Geuther

CAFE Symposium 2026

This project provides an overview of the Virginia Monument located on West Confederate Avenue in Gettysburg. This includes the history of the monument, the creation process, challenges, and controversies found in both the past and present. The establishment of the Virginia Monument provides context for an American nation that found itself recovering from civil war while simultaneously preparing for a new test of determination and highlights the dispute surrounding Confederate monuments in the country.

South Carolina Monument At Gettysburg, Brayden Danbury

CAFE Symposium 2026

This poster details the context, inscription, and dedication surrounding the South Carolina monument at Gettysburg, and its ties to the memory of the Civil War.

Gettysburg Historical Journal 2026

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Complete issue of the Gettysburg Historical Journal 2026

Front Matter

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Front matter of the Gettysburg Historical Journal 2026

Letter From The Editors, Madeleine G. Ulman, Marcella Zimmer

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

We are proud to present the twenty-fifth edition of The Gettysburg Historical Journal. The journal embodies the History Department’s dedication to diverse learning and excellence in academics. Each year, the journal publishes the top student work in a range of topics across the spectrum of academic disciplines with different methodological approaches to the study of history. This year, The Gettysburg Historical Journal received a plethora of submissions from both Gettysburg College students and other students around the country. The works accepted this semester focus on the diverse relationships between individuals and the state throughout history, spanning from the western frontier …

Little Better Than One Of The Savages, Michael J. Aaron

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Western Pennsylvania was one of the earliest frontiers in US history, but is often overlooked and oversimplified. The frontier just west of the Appalachian Mountains was a complicated place of settler and Native American interaction, varied permanent settlement, and wilderness. The journal and letters of Major Ebenezer Denny show a complicated frontier of danger, wilderness, and chaos that is often not seen within historical views of the region. Through Denny and other Western Pennsylvania settlers, this paper complicates the common view of the Western Pennsylvania as a simply and quickly colonized region by showing the area as an unsettled frontier …

Soviet Sympathies On-Screen: Cinema As A Cultural Apparatus In The Stalinist Era, Anne E. Bolenbaugh

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

The Stalinist era of the Soviet Union (1924-1956) is marked by its incredible pace of forced industrialization, extreme cultural repression, and an atmosphere of immense fear and paranoia, resulting in the Great Terror. Among the various mechanisms to enforce the state program, cinema offers a unique insight into specific state ideologies at key points in Stalin’s regime. By examining the three key phases of the Stalinist era consisting of his initial years, the Second World War, and the years of High Stalinism, it is possible to trace notable shifts in the Soviet authority’s approach to cinema as a propagandistically advantageous …

Certifying Widowhood: Lizzie Booth And The Making Of Black Widow Pension Entitlement During The Civil War, Michael B. Cox Ii

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

This article argues that Mary Elizabeth Wayt Lanning Booth, most commonly known as Lizzie Booth, played a decisive and underrecognized role in securing pension rights for Black widows during the Civil War. In the wake of her husband’s death at the Fort Pillow Massacre in 1864, Booth personally lobbied President Abraham Lincoln and Senator Charles Sumner for pension reform, catalyzing the passage of the Supplemental Pension Act. This reform permitted formerly enslaved women—whose marriages had been deemed extralegal—to prove their unions through eyewitness testimony and access federal benefits. Drawing primarily on pension files, the article demonstrates that while the Act …

William T. Sherman And The Union's 'Hard War' Approach In 1864-1865, Lori L. Infanzon

GLI MA in American History Student Works

This research is a historiography of the extent to which Sherman's actions in 1864-1865 represented a significant shift to a 'hard war' approach utilized by the Union army. Upon review of contemporary accounts, scholarship from the World Wars period, and scholarship from the 1960s to the present, this paper concludes that the scope and scale of Sherman's actions in 1864-1865 represented a significant escalation in the usage of hard war tactics designed to secure Lincoln's election 1864, accelerate the ending of the war, and dramatically revolutionize Southern society.

From The League Of Nations To Pearl Harbor: Measuring Isolationism In The Interwar Period 1918-1939, David K. Bendlin

GLI MA in American History Student Works

The complicated and contradictory task of balancing the isolationist foreign policy backed by public-opinion and political pressures, while remaining influential and involvement in international affairs, is best exemplified in the early years of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency. In his first few months in office, Roosevelt positioned himself as an internationalist and moved to expand American influence overseas. In 1933, Roosevelt recognized the Soviet Union and pushed for arms embargos on aggressor nations. In 1934, Roosevelt passed the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act to boost international trade. In 1935, Roosevelt pushed for the US to join the World Court to extend American …

Our National Reckoning: A Historiographical Approach To Emancipation And Lincoln, Jaie R. Pizzetti

GLI MA in American History Student Works

This historiographical paper examines scholarship on Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation in our national reckoning with the legacies of slavery and race in American History since 1865. This leads scholars to inevitably confront the question of Lincoln’s true motivation for pursuing emancipation as a war goal: to save the Union or to provide a “new birth of freedom?” Following the tumultuous period of Reconstruction, which gave rise to segregation in the South, many white historians focused little attention on slavery and emancipation in studies of the Civil War. Attention returned in the twentieth century, especially with the centennial of …

Lincoln, Slavery, And Race: Tracking Change Over Time, Charles C. Clow-Levesque

GLI MA in American History Student Works

Abraham Lincoln's views on African slavery and race changed over time.

Defying Conscription: The Social, Political, And Military Consequences Of Draft Evasion In The Union And Confederacy, Orlando R. Pagan

GLI MA in American History Student Works

This research paper examines draft evasion during the American Civil War as a reflection of deep social, economic, and political divides within the Union and Confederacy. It argues that draft resistance stemmed not from individual cowardice but structural inequalities and resentment among the poor and working class. Wealthy citizens could evade service through legal mechanisms like commutation fees, fueling the perception of the war as a “rich man’s war but a poor man’s fight.”

Drawing on primary and secondary sources from scholars like David Williams and Stephanie McCurry, the paper analyzes events such as the New York City Draft Riots …

Connecticut And The Civil War, Donald Patrick Scanlon

GLI MA in American History Student Works

Despite being one of the smallest states in the Union, Connecticut played a vital political, economic and military role in the outcome of The Civil War. When the Civil War is studied and the contributions of states are considered, the focus tends to be on the number of soldiers each state procured for the Union. While the number of combatants is critical to the outcome of war, there are additional issues to factor in, as war is not simply won by the side with the biggest army. Connecticut’s political, economic and military support were equal to that of other Union …

We Are The War: The Evolution Of Black Military Service In The Department Of The South, Richard P. Condon

GLI MA in American History Student Works

During the waning months of 1861 a joint operation between the United States Army and Navy forced wealthy white planters and Confederate troops from the Sea Islands of South Carolina. The Battle of Port Royal Sound, better known as the day of the “Big Gun Shoot” by the local enslaved population, marked the beginning of a new era; the transition from a slave society to a free one. Within months the liberating army expanded their footprint in the Deep South, moving inland toward the port cities of Charleston and Savannah. Limited access to additional troops, however, necessitated the recruitment of …

The Death Of General John Reynolds And The Crisis Of Union Command, July 1, 1863, Reid E. Kirby

GLI MA in American History Student Works

This paper evaluates the extent to which the death of Union Major General John Reynolds on the morning of the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg influenced subsequent events throughout that day. It explores several key questions, including how Reynolds' death affected the chain of command within the Army of the Potomac, how it impacted the course of the battle on that first day, and how the Union I and XI Corps were reorganized due to the sudden loss of such a high-ranking officer. Additionally, this paper highlights the experiences of the soldiers formerly under Reynolds' command during this …

Bargains From Baltimore: Presidential Politics And The National Union Convention, Harold S. Post

GLI MA in American History Student Works

This paper examines the complex political dynamics leading to the National Union Convention of 1864 and the pivotal decisions surrounding Abraham Lincoln's renomination for president and Andrew Johnson's unexpected vice-presidential nomination. It explores how the internal fractures within the Republican Party, including tensions with Radical Republicans and War Democrats, shaped the convention's outcomes. By analyzing the interplay of political pragmatism, regional allegiances, and the wartime context, this study reevaluates the historiographical debate on Lincoln's role in Johnson's nomination. Drawing from primary and secondary sources, it challenges the notion of Johnson's selection as merely a "nomination of circumstance," instead framing it …

Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 1860-1862 The Effects Of Military Occupation On Unionist And Secessionist Convictions, Riley P. Bogema

GLI MA in American History Student Works

Local histories of Civil War occupation provide a human face to the larger history of the American Civil War. The interactions between citizens and outside occupiers furnishes greater clarity and revelations on the human cost of conflict. It also presents greater evidence, either supportive or not, on broader arguments expressed in scholarly works on the Civil War. This work examines how prior attitudes towards the Unionism and secessionism were provoked during the process of military occupation. It argues that in the town of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the citizens’ allegiances and relationships were challenged by the occupation of both Union and Confederate …

The Overlooked Civil Rights Movement In South Carolina, Brooks R. Hammett

GLI MA in American History Student Works

This paper examines the overlooked but critical role of South Carolina in the Civil Rights Movement, highlighting the contributions of student-led activism, landmark legal cases, and influential grassroots leaders. Focusing on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) like Claflin University, Allen University, Benedict College, South Carolina State University, and the Avery Institute, the study explores how students catalyzed local movements through sit-ins, marches, and organized protests. It also investigates the legal and social ramifications of desegregation efforts following Brown v. Board of Education, including the resistance from public institutions and the emergence of segregation academies. Key civil rights events—such as …

El Penacho De Moctezuma Or Kopilli Ketzalli?: A Study Of Colonialism & Featherwork, Natalie Heiland

Student Publications

This paper focuses on an object with many titles: Moctezuma’s Headdress, El Penacho or Kopilli Ketzalli. These names, in English, Spanish and Nahuatl, perfectly highlight the way colonialism has affected the discourse around it. The piece was initially taken during the Spanish conquest of Mexico in the early 16th century and shipped to Vienna, where it has remained ever since. Through analysis of historical sources and modern discussions, I will address how this object has been treated poorly throughout history, from the initial seizure, to its time in storage where it was improperly researched and labeled, the many conservations it …

Reporting On The Dark Continent: The Albert Chance Collection As An American Representation Of Africa, Devon Szczepkowicz

Student Publications

For Americans in the throes of World War II, the international world was a complex and uncertain place. The news media, which offered reports from the war fronts, helped to ground Americans in this world. Another source which supplemented these reports, and which has been overlooked in the historiography, was the letters of soldiers stationed abroad. In writing on their surroundings, soldiers acted as journalists, supplying their audiences with intimate insights into foreign locations. Albert Chance (1903-1990), stationed in North Africa and in Italy, was one such soldier. His letters from North Africa provide a glimpse into the ways in …

40 Years Of Withholding Syphilis Treatment In Tuskegee, Emily Hill

CAFE Symposium 2025

This poster analyzes Bill Clinton's late given apology for the unethical nonconsensual syphilis study done on a group of African American men in secret for years. It looks at what makes an apology successful and whether or not the apology given by former President Bill Clinton was enough. The poster also briefly talks about the aftermath of this experiment, which has lasting effects even today.

Dog Whistles And Division: Evolution Of Covert Language In The 2024 Election Cycle, Julia Lavine

CAFE Symposium 2025

This project examines the existing roles of political dog whistles and compares them to how each candidate used them in the 2024 election cycle. It then examines how the candidates' different backgrounds influenced their rhetoric and use of dog whistles, especially through socioeconomic, racial, and gendered lenses.

How Global Conflict Affected The Portrayal Of Candidates In The 2024 Election, Bryce Graver

CAFE Symposium 2025

Conflict is an inevitable outcome stemming from disagreements and differing desires among the human species. As philosophers such as Locke, Hobbes, and Rousseau recognize, the state exists to prevent man from committing violence against each other and to keep public order. As states evolved into the territorially large organizations they are today, conflict has increased in scale. During the USA 2024 Presidential election the two candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris sought to control how the ongoing global conflicts affected their portrayal to the American voters. My research was how the ongoing global conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza affected the …

"Virginia To Her Sons At Gettysburg:" An Analysis Of The Virginia Monument At Gettysburg, Ava Prickman

CAFE Symposium 2025

On June 8th, 1917, United States flags fell from the Virginia Monument at Gettysburg, revealing to the public eye for the first time the famous equestrian statue of Lee. But while battlefield monuments may appear stately and precise, behind every monument is a messy story where the message of the monument outweighs its historical accuracy. The story of the Virginia Monument, unveiled just months after U.S. involvement in WWI, is no exception as two monument commissions fought to control the narrative of the Civil War on the field of its bloodiest battle.