History Commons^™

Alex Hidalgo, Paul Garza

Latinx Civil Rights

Dr. Alex Hidalgo discusses his unique educational trajectory and his arrival to his current faculty position at Texas Christian University. Dr. Hidalgo provides some background information and how his Latino identity has informed his experience in higher education. Reflecting on his time as both a student and faculty, Dr. Hidalgo shares some of his struggles and triumphs.

Meghann Peace, Calie Brame

Latinx Civil Rights

Dr. Peace discusses the process of becoming a volunteer at RAICES and the training she received through the organization. She recounts personal stories about the poor conditions immigrants endured in detention centers. Dr. Peace also explains how RAICES helps people through the legal process of immigration

Amir Samandi, Megan Angelo, Elizabeth Perez

Latinx Civil Rights

Amir Samandi describes his high school experiences including attending a predominately white school as a person of color. He mentions the efforts of teachers who supported him in pursuing higher education. Amir also discusses his undergraduate education at St. Mary’s University and the environment of the community. He then explains how his career led him to create a nonprofit that focuses on young students and how his personal experience connects with the organization's mission.

Arturo Vega, Paul Garza

Latinx Civil Rights

Dr. Arturo Vega, a tenured professor at St. Mary’s University shares about his educational experience as a Latino student. He discusses coming from El Paso, Texas and how it informed his journey as a student and a faculty member. Dr. Vega explores what it is like to teach at a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and challenges he has faced doing so.

Christine Cabrera, Grace Ibarra

Latinx Civil Rights

The interview touches on her background, both educational and personal and outlines how she got to the point she is today. She speaks on how she became passionate about teaching Mexican American history and teaching to students like the ones at Memorial High School. We also talk about her classroom dynamic and her plans to expand the course

Jimmy Segura, Grace Ibarra

Latinx Civil Rights

Jimmy recalls attending public schools in the Westside of San Antonio and discusses the perception of the area. He reviews his years in college and his experience of marginalization in higher education. Jimmy also explains how his teaching style is impacted by his own former teachers.

Aaron Arguello, Madeline Emke

Latinx Civil Rights

Aaron Arguello speaks about his work as a campaign organizer for MOVE Texas. He talks about the issues of apathy and education among voters. He shares examples of the successes and challenges that come from the often draining work of campaigning.

Oscar Lazaro, Ashton Jeffers

Latinx Civil Rights

Oscar Lazaro shares his experience working as a fellow for the Student Voting Network as well as his observations about voting and democracy. He describes how he started his podcast as well as lessons he has learned from producing it. He also details how he addresses difficult topics with others who may disagree with him.

Alex Birnel, Carly Bagley

Latinx Civil Rights

Alex Birnel shares his experience organizing young voters and helping create the organization MOVE Texas. Birnel also discusses providing voter education to other young voters in the San Antonio area during his time as a college student as well as inviting the local community to participate in civic engagement outside the university campus.

The Dances Of Diplomacy: French Social Dance Culture In The United States, 1780-1800, Kaylar Gina Moser

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis explores how social dancing in the United States formed a noteworthy aspect of political, diplomatic, social, and class exchange for U.S. elites both domestically and overseas; and how the cultural dominance over dance that France enjoyed during this period created an informal cultural diplomatic relationship between the United States and France in the 1780s and the 1790s. I argue that U.S. elites utilized this dance culture as a form of upper-class status legitimation that could serve diplomatic purposes. This project increases the purview of U.S. cultural diplomatic studies by centering on the eighteenth century and by utilizing an …

U.S.-Ukraine Relations And The Concept Of Strategic Partnership, Khrystyna Pelchar

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A strategic partnership has become particularly relevant in the wake of the Russian war in Ukraine. Most studies focus on the historical perspective of particular special relations leaning toward the long-standing nature and stability of those relations. Others describe interstate partnerships as dynamic developments rather than static phenomena. Conventionally, strategic partnerships are multifaceted, including the spheres of economic cooperation, military assistance and partnership, and democracy promotion. Scholars also single out cultural proximity as an important factor facilitating mutual trust and feasibility of strategic partnership.

This thesis will discuss the historical background of the U.S.-Ukraine economic, socio-political, and military cooperation and …

Historias De Una Pandemia: Documenting Latina/O/X Stories During Covid-19 Through Performed Storytelling, Elena Foulis

Spanish Faculty Publications (Archived)

Using oral histories and narratives collected during the Covid-19 pandemic, a student-led performance invites consideration about the role of language, cultural, and social pluralities in creating a socially just world.

Genealogy Behind Bars: An Update, Kathrine C. Aydelott

Faculty Publications

This brief essay is an update to “Genealogy Behind Bars: Professional Development Through Prisoner Requests: A Case Study,” in Genealogy and the Librarian: Perspectives on Research, Instruction, Outreach and Management, Carol Smallwood and Vera Gubnitskaia, eds. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2018, which see for context.

Gender Performance And Political Identity At The January 6 Capitol Insurrection, Emma Elise Newton

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The January 6 Capitol insurrection was heavily documented with recorded videos and photos, across legacy and social media. Despite engaging in criminal acts, many participants recorded themselves participating in the attack and posted their videos to Parler, a right-wing alternative to Facebook and Twitter that gained traction among the far-right, QAnon conspiracy theorists, and white supremacy groups. These social media videos detail an interesting rhetorical dynamic at play, one that is not so recognizable in legacy media: performances of sex/gender. Analyzing videos uploaded to a conservative social media landscape provides a lens into performances of gender as it intersects with …

Black Steel: Obsidian And Aztec Death Culture, Michael Stevens

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

This essay discusses the role played by obsidian, or “black steel” as it is often referred to, in the development of Aztec death culture from human sacrifice to ritualistic mutilation.

In The Age Of Imperialism: A Study Of Hankow Based On The Maritime Customs Decennial Report (1892-1901), Sze Pui Yin Daisy

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

This research is based mainly on the Maritime Customs Decennial Report (1892-1901) to scrutinize the circumstances and development of Hankow, a typical Chinese port, in the Age of Imperialism. This essay argues that the western powers did not merely exploit the Chinese resources in the Age of Imperialism, but came hand in hand with capital, goods, and scientific knowledge, which facilitated trades and introduced technologies to China. This transformed Hankow into a global emporium with not only new constructions but also metropolitan characteristics. To this end, imperialism and modernization co-existed.

The Peacock Dress: The Language Of British Imperialism In India, 1899-1905, Rebecca Onken

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

This essay aims to discuss the actualization of the imperialist language through the Peacock Dress of Lady Mary Curzon, the new viceroy’s wife in the British colonial India. As the essay argues, the Peacock Dress holds within it a history of appropriation, not appreciation. It highlights the unique colonizing language of the British rule, the racist cloaked as ‘civilizing’ sentiments of the West, the subjugation of the Indian textile industry, and the manifold ways that the British turned their Indian subjects into a colonial Other.

Race, Class, And Populism: Thomas Watson And The Fall Of The Agrarian Ideal, Max Bouratoglou

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

This article reconsiders the politics and political transformation of the Georgia Populist Thomas E. Watson (1856-1922), focusing specifically on the years from 1894 to 1896. Watson began his political career committed to a multiracial agrarian democracy in the epoch of Jim Crow and the New Departure Democrats. While historians have considered his shift from multiracial organizer to self-proclaimed white supremacist, many have failed to correctly point to the defining years precipitating this shift, which coincided with an abandonment of his radical agrarian policies as well. Through a historical contextualization of his life and career, this article provides a new framework …

The Agrarian Road To Peace: Henry Morgenthau's Post-War Planning For Germany, Logan W. Ray

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

In September 1944, allied leaders Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston S. Churchill met at Quebec to discuss the post-war planning of Germany. Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau accompanied Roosevelt to this conference and put forward his agrarian plan for Germany which would bear his name, the Morgenthau Plan. His plan called for the industrial reorganization of Germany and transition it to a farming community, thus making the country incapable of war. Though his plan was accepted at the Quebec Conference, its fierce opposition from the War Department and its leak to the press pressured Roosevelt to abandon the plan.

The Atomic Bombing And Soviet Union’S Expansion In The Far East, Negar Nasrkhani

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

Traditionally it is argued that the Atomic bombs were dropped to end WWII as the best solution to save both American and Japanese lives. However, using primary and secondary sources, this paper argues that the A-bombs were dropped as part of the Atomic diplomacy to limit Soviet expansion in East Asia, and the war could have ended with limited casualties without the use of the A-bombs.

Drugs, Ethnic Profiling, And The American Perception Of Colombian Immigrants, 1979-1990, Laurisa Sastoque

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

This paper analyzes how the media’s portrayal of Colombian drug trafficking turned into a stigma that affected the Colombian community in the United States. By reviewing periodical sources between the years 1979-1990, this paper argues that the formation of the drug trafficking stigma stems from the media's almost exclusive portrayal of Colombians as drug traffickers, within a context of U.S.-Colombia relations that encompassed tensions regarding responsibility for the growing transnational drug problem. Ultimately, this study proves that the drug trafficking stigma for Colombian immigrants is inherently tied to how American society viewed the Colombian government’s actions in the war on …

Empire, Exoticism, And Heterotopia: The Interior Of A Chinese Shop, Xinyao Lu

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

This essay tries to interpret a 17^th-century Dutch painting, the Interior of a Chinese Shop from a postcolonial perspective. It argues that the picture is a reflection of the desire and anxiety of the Dutch empire to collect oriental luxuries under the context of mercantilism. It is a heterogeneous space that consists of exotic objects from different geographical zones and timelines, which corresponds to Foucault’s concept of “heterotopia.” The fantasy shown from the painting exposes real spaces and reveals the complexity between Self and Other, leading to a place that is beyond the dualist structure.

Review Of July Crisis: The World’S Descent Into War, Summer 1914, Avan Fata

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

This is a review of July Crisis: The World's Descent into War, Summer 1914 authored by T. G. Otte.

Review Of Eisenhower: A Life, Matthew Chopp

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

This is a review of Review of Eisenhower: A Life authored by Paul Johnson.

Review Of Jesus And John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted A Faith And Fractured A Nation, Albert O'Neal Jackson Jr.

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

This is a review of Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation authored by Kristin Kobes Du Mez.

Mr. Clover Goes To Washington: Land, Water, And Fraud In The Mono Basin, 1910-1945, Robert B. Marks

Eastern Sierra History Journal

The water woes of the Mono Basin of the Eastern Sierra region of California did not begin when Los Angeles' Department of Water and Power began to purchase water rights there in the early twentieth century. Robert Marks argues persuasively that James B. Clover's water schemes predated, and in a sense, opened the way for Los Angeles later to tap Sierran snowmelt and funnel it down to Southern California.

Jared A. Fogel Photograph Collection, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Finding Aids

The Jared A. Fogel collection is comprised of eighty-five historic photographs ranging from 1860-1960. The photographs depict primarily queer men using figurative body language to indicate their sexuality. The first thirty-one photographs have descriptions provided by original collector, Patrick Hobgood.

Find this collection in the University Libraries' catalog.

Etiem Rivera Gonzalez, Megan Angelo, Elizabeth Perez

Latinx Civil Rights

Etiem Rivera Gonzalez discussed her hardships as a DACA student and her parents’ lack of education and their traditional values. She prioritized gaining higher education by communicating with her high school professors and counselor to find financial assistance. She explains her experience working part-time and participating in school activities. Rivera Gonzalez talks about her career path and gives advice to students struggling with the immigration system.

Johnston Family Papers - Accession 1217, American Civil War, Thomas Jefferson Johnston, Robert James Johnston, Johnston Family, Huber Family, Nesbit Family, Stassen Family

Manuscript Collection

The Johnston Family Papers is a collection primarily focused on genealogical materials. Much of the content was gathered by Andrew D. Johnston, with significant contributions from family members. The collection includes genealogical research conducted by both Andrew D. Johnston and Patricia Andrews Johnston Treadwell. This research comprises Family Tree Maker files, pedigree charts, descendant reports, ahnentafel reports, family unit charts, grave records, family narratives, published genealogical resources, marriage announcements, and obituaries. Prominent family names in the collection include Johnston, Huber, Nesbit, Stassen, Wiedderecht, Glass, Briegel, and Boese.

In addition to the genealogical materials, the collection contains the personal papers of …

“Let Him Walk With You”: Telling Stories About Fifteenth-Century Men, And The Women They Left Behind, Rachel E. Moss

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

In this article I use a blend of autoethnography and historical storytelling to explore the role of outdoor space in forming relationships between fifteenth-century men and their maintenance of hegemonic power. By weaving together three striking vignettes from late fifteenth-century England, constructed as creative retellings of the historical evidence, with autoethnographic notes on my own lived experience, I am able to fill in the gaps of the historical record and open up questions about the implications of what has been left out. I argue that the medieval cultural understanding of the outdoors as both spiritually and physically beneficial, as well …