History Commons^™

Providing For The Common Defense: Internal Security And The Cold War, 1945-1975, Marc A. Patenaude

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

While the historiography of the Red Scare has often discussed the major internal security legislation passed during the period, the legislation in question is often given short shrift and characterized as a misguided response by Congress. It is important to examine this legislation not only for what it did for the internal security of the nation, but also for what it meant symbolically. Implementation of governmental policy, including internal security policy, through legislation often also serves as a window to the beliefs and values of those crafting the legislation. By examining the internal security legislation passed during the Red Scare, …

The Northern Clergy And The Pilgrimage Of Grace, Keith Altazin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the Pilgrimage of Grace and the Lincolnshire rebellion. Both rebellions occurred in England in 1536 during the reign of Henry VIII. The rebellions were primarily risings of the commons and occurred as the result of several causes. Much of the recent historiography has focused primarily on the causes of the rebellions and the motives of those involved. Most contemporary interpretations of the Pilgrimage of Grace have cast it primarily as either an economic rebellion or a result of social conflict between the commons and gentry. Practically no analysis of the role of the clergy exists, although it …

The Long Road Home: Alfred Andersch, Hans Werner Richter, And The German Search For Meaning In Catastrophe, Aaron Dennis Horton

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The primary subjects of this dissertation are the post-World War II German authors Alfred Andersch and Hans Werner Richter. Drawing from a mixture of the authors’ writings and previously-researched as well as new archival sources, this study will examine their roles as editors of the U.S. Army-sponsored POW newspaper Der Ruf, as founders of the postwar West German journal, also titled Der Ruf, and, most famously, as founding members of the influential postwar West German literary circle Group 47. Each of these developments led directly to the next, and this study will explore the various processes that linked them together. …

[Introduction To] America's War: Talking About The Civil War And Emancipation On Their 150th Anniversaries, Edward L. Ayers

Bookshelf

Edited by Edward L. Ayers, America’s War is an anthology of Civil War writing originally published between 1852 and 2008. Co-published by the American Library Association and the National Endowment for the Humanities, America’s War was created in support of a national reading and discussion program for libraries called “Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War.”

The selections in America’s War include works of historical fiction and interpretation, speeches, diaries, memoirs, biographies, and short stories. Together, these readings provide a glimpse of the vast sweep and profound breadth of Americans’ war among and against themselves, adding …

Reading, Writing, And Religion: Institutions And Human Capital Formation, Latika Chaudhary, Jared Rubin

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

In this paper, we empirically test the role that religious and political institutions play in the accumulation of human capital. Using a new data set on literacy in colonial India, we find that Muslim literacy is negatively correlated with the proportion of Muslims in the district, although we find no similar result for Hindu literacy. We employ a theoretical model which suggests that districts which experienced a more recent collapse of Muslim political authority had more powerful and better funded religious authorities, who established religious schools which were less effective at promoting literacy on the margin than state schools. We …

Institutions, The Rise Of Commerce And The Persistence Of Laws: Interest Restrictions In Islam And Christianity, Jared Rubin

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

Why was economic development retarded in the Middle East relative to Western Europe, despite the Middle East being far ahead for centuries? A theoretical model inspired and substantiated by the history of interest restrictions suggests that this outcome emanates in part from the greater degree to which early Islamic political authorities derived legitimacy from religious authorities. This entailed a feedback mechanism in Europe in which the rise of commerce led to the relaxation of interest restrictions while also diminishing the Church's ability to legitimise political authorities. These interactions did not occur in the Islamic world despite equally amenable economic conditions.

'In So Many Ways Do The Planets Bear Witness': The Impact Of Copernicanism On Judicial Astrology At The English Court, 1543-1660, Justin Dohoney

All Theses

The traditional historiography of science from the late-nineteenth through the mid-twentieth centuries has broadly claimed that the Copernican revolution in astronomy irrevocably damaged the practice of judicial astrology. However, evidence to the contrary suggests that judicial astrology not only continued but actually expanded during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. During this time period, judicial astrologers accomplished this by appropriating contemporary science and mathematics. Copernicus's De revolutionibus, in particular, provided better mathematics for determining the positions of the planets than the prevailing Ptolemaic system and reformist astrologers interested in making astrology a precise, mathematical science embraced this new astronomy.
This …

The Wilsonian Challenge To International Law, Leonard V. Smith

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

After the Great War, Woodrow Wilson challenged the foundations of international law based on fully sovereign states. 'Wilsonianism' as elaborated in the Fourteen Points, and in other speeches, rested on a logic that made a universalized liberal individual the locus of sovereignty in the new world order. The truly radical implications of Wilsonianism had no sterner critic than Robert Lansing, Wilson's secretary of state and one of the founders of the American Journal of International Law. Lansing held tenaciously to a positivist paradigm of international law as it had evolved by the early twentieth century. This article reconsiders the conflict …

Chitto Harjo (Wilson Jones, Crazy Snake) 1846-1912 Creek Leader, Janet Butler Munch

Publications and Research

Chitto Harjo (1846-1912) was a leader of the Crazy Snakes, a traditionalist faction of the Creek Indians. He opposed federal incursions on reservation land, Indian lifestyles and governance structures; and fought against Allotment (individual distribution) of communal tribal lands and the loss of Creek sovereignty.

Shockingly Absurd!: How Ec Comics And Mad Magazine Contributed To The Counterculture, 1952-1960, Matthew D. Cossolotto

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In 1944 Max Gaines, a pioneering figure in the development of comic books, decided to start his own publishing company, Educational Comics (EC), that focused on wholesome story lines and historical events in Biblical and American History. After his death in 1947, his son William took over the business, changed the company's name to Entertaining Comics (EC), and focused on crime and horror stories. William began publishing comics books such as Shock SuspenStories, and Weird Fantasy that alarmed parents, and political leaders due to depictions of violence and criticisms of America's lack of social justice. By the early 1950s, public …

A Content Analysis Of American Civil War Historical Fiction For Upper Elementary Grades, Gwen L. Van Dee

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to analyze the treatment of complex issues of the American Civil War in a fifth grade social studies textbook and historical fiction novels, written for upper elementary readers. The study focused on slavery and racial issues, the stresses of war on families, and the aftermath of war.

A content analysis was conducted, using the fifth grade textbook information as a baseline for concepts to be learned. A sample of American Civil War historical fiction books was gathered using the following method: the H W Wilson's Middle School & Junior High Core Collection database was …

Review Of The American Military Frontiers: The United States Army In The West, 1783-1900 By Robert Wooster, Mark R. Scherer

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Given the vast breadth and depth of American military historiography, well-organized and well-written narrative overviews of the field are always welcome. Robert Wooster's recently released The American Military Frontiers certainly fits that description. Wooster, a professor of history at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, and the author of four other books on western military history, synthesizes several generations of previous scholarship to support his most fundamental theme: that the Army served not only as the executor of nineteenth century national policy, but also as an important catalytic "shaper" of that policy. In its attention to the multiple roles played by …

Review Of Skylark Meets Meadowlark: Reimagining The Bird In British Romantic And Contemporary Native American Literature By Thomas C. Gannon, Frederick White

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Thomas Gannon's verve animates his investigation and contrast of avian images from British Romantic poets and Native American authors. In the introductory chapter, he provides a steadfast theoretical basis grounded in a syncretic psychological-ecotheory. In the next two chapters he meticulously constructs his view that the British Romantic poets' attempt to connect with nature, specifically birds, at the surface level seems accomplished but, with deeper pondering, falls far short of being convincing. Gannon exposes how western expression of nature cannot capture any essence of subject-subject, that is "I-Thou." The second and third chapters explore examples to show avian representation is …

Review Of Our Boys: A Perfect Season On The Plains With The Smith Center Redmen By Joe Drape, John R. Wunder

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

The best book on Great Plains sports is H. G. Bissinger's Friday Night Lights (1990). That classic has spawned a critically acclaimed television series and numerous awards. FNL not only told the story of a football season at Odessa Permian High School in urban West Texas; it also asked and answered some very big questions that concerned high school athletic corruption, coaching pressures, cheerleader/ football player interaction, school integration, local community politics, treatment of players of color, Texas's new rules prohibiting playing with failing grades, pressures on teachers, drugs, player abuse, and on and on. It remains a beautifully written …

Review Of Taking Back Our Spirits: Indigenous Literature, Public Policy, And Healing By Jo-Ann Episkenew, Keavy Martin

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Metis scholar and activist Jo-Ann Episkenew examines the potential of literature to assist Canadian Indigenous communities in healing from the impacts of colonial government policy in this, her first scholarly monograph. While the discourse of "healing" has been a central feature of both bureaucratic and academic discussions of Indigenous issues since the 1990s, Episkenew's study appears at a time when the detrimental effects of policies like the residential school system are again gaining public attention as Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission gets underway. The book contains a useful overview of the government interventions that have impinged upon Indigenous peoples in …

Review Of Bleeding Borders: Race, Gender, And Violence In Pre-Civil War Kansas By Kristen Tegtmeier Oertel, Michael D. Pierson

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Bleeding Kansas has long been an important topic for political historians exploring how it influenced Congress, presidential campaigns, and the coming of the Civil War. Kristen Tegtmeier Oertel's book uses the insights of recent social historians to add depth to this political narrative, thereby strengthening our understanding of how antebellum Kansas changed America.

Bleeding Borders begins with a chapter that positions Kansas as a frontier territory. Oertel's antebellum Kansans are divided by race, but not just between white and black. Starting her history in the 1820s, Oertel finds that "white settlers' perceptions of and interactions with Kansas Indians played a …

Review Of Gateway To The Northern Plains: Railroads And The Birth Of Fargo And Moorhead By Carroll Engelhardt, Kimberly K. Porter

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

One worries about the editorial staff at the University of Minnesota Press in determining to accept the manuscript for Gateway to the Northern Plains. You can almost see them scratching their heads, frustrated with the job of marketing a volume that could belong in every section of every bookstore and could find an appropriate home on the shelf of any scholar of the American experience. Indeed, that is the delightful challenge of Carroll Engelhardt's labor of love. Engelhardt, an emeritus professor of history at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota, clearly devoted years of research and writing to the preparation of …

Review Of The Indian Commissioners: Agents Of The State And Indian Policy In Canada's Prairie West, 1873-1932 By E. Brian Titley, George Colpitts

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

E. Brian Titley's The Indian Commissioners makes a fine contribution to Great Plains history and, in Canadian studies, the shaping of western Indian policy. The case of Canada's Indian Commissioners, appointed from 1873 to 1909 and again between 1920 and 1932, is worthy of a single study. Titley's thesis is solidly argued: though responsible for putting into practice Ottawa's policies, the five Indian commissioners in the history of the service retained some latitude in carrying them out. Beneficiaries of party patronage, and often enjoying the confidence of either the Prime Minister or various Ministers of Interior, they had backing enough …

Review Of The Masterworks Of Charles M. Russell: A Retrospective Of Paintings And Sculpture Edited By Joan Carpenter Troccoli, Sarah L. Burt

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Charles M. Russell (1864-1926) has long been celebrated as America's "Cowboy Artist," beloved as much for his charismatic personality as for his authentic portrayal of the Old West. The magnitude of Russell's celebrity may have, at times, overshadowed his artistic achievement, and thus the complexity of cultural themes reflected in his work, the iconographic richness of his art, and the evolving sophistication of his technique may come as revelations to some. These qualities emerge, perhaps more comprehensibly than ever, in The Masterworks of Charles M. Russell, a superb catalogue of the excellent retrospective exhibition organized jointly by the Denver …

Great Plains Quarterly Volume 31 / Number 1 / Winter 2011

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Contents

Book Reviews

Notes and News

"We Were Beet Workers, And That Was All" Beet Field Laborers In The North Platte Valley, 1902-1930, Dustin Kipp

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

John and Alex Loos, two brothers who spent their childhood summers working in the beet fields of western Nebraska in the 1910s, suggested that a migrant beet field laborer could become, by the end of one season, "a trusted member of the community."¹ It took years of hard work and saving, but field workers could become farmers. Families could own land and work for their own benefit rather than for the subsistence wages of the migratory laborer. Although locals often viewed them with suspicion as outsiders, German Russian migrants were increasingly encouraged to stay to help build the burgeoning …

Dorothy Brannen Papers, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Finding Aids

This collection consists of materials related to Dorothy Brannen and her family from 1773 to 1993, including photocopies and original documents. Materials include personal and professional correspondence, administrative documents, genealogical materials, photographs, news clippings, and unpublished writings on Bulloch County.

Find this collection in the University Libraries' catalog.

Leconte-Woodmanston Foundation Records, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Finding Aids

This collection consists of the materials created by the LeConte-Woodmanston Foundation in the planning of the LeConte-Woodmanston Plantation historic plantation experience. Materials span 1991 to 2009 and include brochures, writings about the history of the plantation and its extensive restoration, site proposals regarding the plantation and gardens, area maps, and audiovisual materials created about the grounds. Also included within the collection are photographs, both historical and modern, of the plantation and its surrounding grounds.

Find this collection in the University Libraries' catalog.

Michael Mcdougald Papers, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Finding Aids

The collection consists of a broad overview of the life of Michael McDougald, ranging from collegiate accolades, genealogical research, and business endeavors spanning 1886-2011. The collection includes personal correspondence, photographs, radio shows (WVOV, WAAX, WQTU), audio transcripts, speeches, addresses, and family genealogy.

Find this collection in the University Libraries' catalog.

[Introduction To] Propaganda State In Crisis: Soviet Ideology, Indoctrination, And Terror Under Stalin, 1927-1941, David Brandenberger

Bookshelf

The USSR is often regarded as the world's first propaganda state. Particularly under Stalin, politically charged rhetoric and imagery dominated the press, schools, and cultural forums from literature and cinema to the fine arts. Yet party propagandists were repeatedly frustrated in their efforts to promote a coherent sense of "Soviet" identity during the interwar years. This book investigates this failure to mobilize society along communist lines by probing the secrets of the party's ideological establishment and indoctrinational system. An exposé of systemic failure within Stalin's ideological establishment, Propaganda State in Crisis ultimately rewrites the history of Soviet indoctrination and mass …

Review: Postcolonial Travel Writing: Critical Explorations, Michael H. Fisher

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

“All Must Combine In The Struggle Against The Microbes” Global Biopolitics And Twentieth-Century Health Organizations, Patrick Kothe

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

The following paper explores the rise of global biopolitics by focusing on the League of Nations Health Organization (LNHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) as pivot points around which an international system transitioned into a global system. The central thesis of the paper is that the LNHO served as the first true site of deployment for global discourses on health and hygiene, not as recent scholarship has suggested, the WHO. The purpose of the paper, however, is to provide an overview of the larger transformation of public health in the twentieth century, beginning with the proliferation of nineteenth-­‐century international …

“Obtuse Women”: Venereal Disease Control Policies And Maintaining A “Fit” Nation, 1920-1945, Evelyn Ashley Sorrell

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Public health officials and social reformers grew concerned over the prevalence of gonorrhea and syphilis following World War I. The initiatives put in place by authorities to control the spread of venereal disease lacked any concern for women’s health and sought to control their newly found independence and mobility. This thesis examines public health policies related to venereal disease control from 1920-1945 and how these regulations affected women in the United States. Laws and social reform measures such as pre-marital blood tests, the Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Act, and the use of quarantining prostitutes during World War I and World …

Assessing The Impact Of Mandated Standards For Teaching On United States History Achievement Scores In Public Schools, Erick W. Nason

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate how a well developed and validated national standard for United States history can affect public school achievement levels. Currently, there is no mandated national standard for United States history; rather it has been left to the respective states to create their own. This study focused on the state of Virginia, which has been able to meet both the nationally mandated adequate yearly progress (AYP) level, and achieve high proficiency levels in United States history achievement. This comparative case study examined two neighboring states of similar demographics: Virginia which made both the AYP …

The Relative Influence Of Military Rank Versus Personality On Perceived Autonomy For United States Air Force Pararescuemen, Kevin A. Deibler

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Hierarchies within organizations like the military have often contributed to feelings of subordination and have contributed to lower employee autonomy and a decrease in job satisfaction, motivation, and performance. Other constructs, such as those relating to personality, have been eluded to explain the variance in the poor outcomes. However, despite the research on dominance, autonomy, and personality constructs, there has been little investigation to bridge together the structure and dynamics of personality and autonomy. By applying interpersonal, boundary, control, and contingency theories, this quantitative study bridged the gap between hierarchical levels of military rank, the personality construct of relative dominance, …