Cultural History Commons^™

The Immigrant Woman:Jewish Assimilation In The Lower East Side Ghetto Of New York City, 1880-1914, Rachael Siegel

History Theses

This paper looks at the factors that affected the extent to which Eastern European Jewish women were able to assimilate into American society between 1880 and 1914. By 1920, approximately 45% of Eastern European Jewish immigrants resided in New York City, primarily on the lower East Side. The population density of the Lower East Side made it the most crowded neighborhood in the city, if not the world. Eastern European Jews, especially Russian Jews, comprised the largest number of immigrants to the United States.

When these immigrants moved into the safety of the United States, they transplanted the traditions of …

The Olympic Glory Of Jesse Owens: A Contribution To Civil Rights And Society, Casey Aaron Nash

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Jesse Owens was the star of the Berlin Olympics in 1936. His four gold medals in Hitler's Germany, as an African American, had far reaching implications back in the United States. Despite segregation and a social hierarchy that was an impasse to both black opportunity and achievement, Owens created a lasting legacy that drastically impacted race relations. The purpose of this thesis was to examine what the Olympic glory of Owens represented for society. Owens as an Olympian in 1936 manufactured a brand of social capital that tied people together in commonality—as Americans. As well, in both myth and deed, …

Forgotten Heroes: Lessons From School Integration In A Small Southern Community, Whitney Elizabeth Cate

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the fall of 1956 Clinton High School in Clinton, Tennessee became the first public school in the south to desegregate. This paper examines how the quiet southern town handled the difficult task of forced integration while maintaining a commitment to the preservation of law and order. As the strength of a community was being tested, ordinary citizens in extraordinary circumstances met the challenges of integration with exceptional courage.

Art Acknowledged And Disregarded: Art And Its National Context At St. Cloud State University, Krista L. Lewis

Culminating Projects in History

Existing histories of St. Cloud State University pay little attention to art and its place at the school. Given that the university is currently home to an accredited art program, and a rather large collection of art, recognition of the contribution art has made to the school is overdue.

Delving into records, one finds that art played a role in the curriculum and mission of the institution from its very beginning as a normal school. Though not always strong or valued, it grew with the school nonetheless. Examining this role as it relates to developments with art regionally and nationally …

Bawds, Babes, And Breeches: Regendering Theater After The English Restoration, Laura Larson

History Theses

Restoration England (1660~1720) was a raucous time for theater-making. After an 18- year Puritanical ban on the theater, and with the restoration of the worldly Charles II to the throne, English theater underwent a pivotal rebirth. At this time, women were allowed to act on the public stage for the first time, an event carrying enormous implications for gender roles. This paper argues that actresses posed a threat to the patriarchal hierarchy that was in place at this time. Their unique position in professional theater and unusual access to a public voice not available to the rest of women enabled …

Captivity, Adoption, Marriage And Identity: Native American Children In Mormon Homes, 1847-1900., Michael Kay Bennion

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Indigenes of North America's Great Basin developed a way of life based on the available resources the Basin provided. Their culture and customs provided a stable means of understanding and interacting with nature and men. Their myths elaborated on expectations, hopes, and fears, in real and metaphorical ways, as evidenced by stories of the trickster Coyote. As Great Basin bands contacted Europeans, they adjusted their resource gathering based on new technologies, such as horses and guns, as well as their myths to cope with change. This process entailed some adjustment in their perceptions of the world around them and …

Buffalo, New York’S Citizen Soldiers: Personal Histories Of Combat, Trauma, And Returning Home After The Second World War, Drew H. Lewandowski

History Theses

Buffalo, New York’s Citizen Soldiers: Personal Histories of Combat, Trauma, and Returning Home after the Second World War

This thesis focuses on interviews from nine World War Two veterans who are from Buffalo, New York and the immediate surrounding areas. Included are three infantry men from the European theatre, including one paratrooper. Three who served in the Pacific theatre, including one medical officer, a medic, and one man served in the occupation of Japan. The remaining three served in the Air Corps in Europe, one pilot, one bombardier, and one fighter pilot.

Through extensive interviews, both written and filmed, this …

By My Side: Charles E. Burchfield's Letters To Bertha K. Burchfield From 1923 To 1963, Alana Ryder

History Theses

Over the past 80 years, research on American artist Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967) has often placed little emphasis on the people and events that were essential for his artistic freedom and the success of his career. This paper, based on the contents of forty years of letters between Burchfield and his wife Bertha Kenreich (1886-1973), challenges the artist’s mythology, which includes misconceptions of his isolation, lack of influences, dislocation from art history and the insignificance of human connections and activities.

New dimensions of Burchfield's identity are examined, significantly his positions as a husband, father, friend to other artists represented by …

Slavery And Empire: The Development Of Slavery In The Natchez District, 1720-1820, Christian Pinnen

Dissertations

“Slavery and Empire: The Development of Slavery in the Natchez District, 1720- 1820,” examines how slaves and colonists weathered the economic and political upheavals that rocked the Lower Mississippi Valley. The study focuses on the fitful— and often futile—efforts of the French, the English, the Spanish, and the Americans to establish plantation agriculture in Natchez and its environs, a district that emerged as the heart of the “Cotton Kingdom” in the decades following the American Revolution. Before American planters established their hegemony over Natchez, the town was a struggling outpost that changed hands three times over the course of the …

The Spirit Of Triumph, James Anderson Depreist: The Life, Career And Music Of An American Conductor, Darryl Eric Harris Sr.

Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to present an organized account of the life, career and music of this prominent American symphonic conductor. James Anderson DePreist is an African American conductor/composer, educator and spokesman for the Americans with Disabilities who has achieved prominence in the symphonic field while overcoming many obstacles, both physical and social. In addition to having have conducted orchestras all over the world, this maternal nephew of famed contralto Marian Anderson is best known as the arranger/composer of Theme For The Cosby Show, the 1988–1989 season, as recorded by the Oregon Symphony Orchestra.

In addition to a …

Buffalo Bill's Wild West In Germany. A Transnational History., Julia Simone Stetler

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation examines European and especially German responses to Buffalo Bill's Wild West show during its two European tours in 1890-1891 and 1906. It argues that the different European countries creatively adapted the content and message of the show according to their own specific cultural values and needs. By considering Buffalo Bill's Wild West within the specific cultural contexts of the nations it toured, we are able to better explain reactions to it, including Germany's astoundingly positive response. The show was an entertaining event for American and European audiences alike with its exoticized figures, spectacular stunts, and colorful drama; however, …

Die Deutschen In Kalifornien: Germans In Urban California, 1850-1860, Carole Cosgrove Terry

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

German immigrants came to San Francisco, Sacramento and Marysville, urban northern California, seeking a better life than they had in the Germanic states of central Europe. Some came directly from Germany but some made an intermediate stop during their journey in Europe or the United States. In all three cities, they created an ethnic community where they practiced the social, economic and cultural traditions from their homeland,including Vereinswesen (associational life) and Gemutlichkeit (celebration of the joy of life), led by their ethnically based association, the Turnverein. They interacted with the main steam Anglo-Americans through associations and celebratory events to create …

The Hegemony Of English In South African Education, Kelsey E. Figone

Scripps Senior Theses

The South African Constitution recognizes 11 official languages and protects an individual’s right to use their mother-tongue freely. Despite this recognition, the majority of South African schools use English as the language of learning and teaching (LOLT). Learning in English is a struggle for many students who speak indigenous African languages, rather than English, as a mother-tongue, and the educational system is failing its students. This perpetuates inequality between different South African communities in a way that has roots in the divisions of South Africa’s past. An examination of the power of language and South Africa’s experience with colonialism and …

"A Single Finger Can't Eat Okra": The Importance Of Remembering The Haitian Revolution In United States History, Ashleigh P. Shoecraft

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis discusses the impact of the Haitian Revolution on the United States as a lens through which to view the transnational nature of American exceptionalism. It concludes with an articulation of the necessity of incorporating this relational nature of United States identity development into high school coursework, and advocates for teaching about the Haitian Revolution as an effective means through which to do this.

Pure Land And The Social Order In Twelfth-Century China: An Investigation Of "Longshu’S Treatise On Pure Land", Trevor Davis

Student Work

A 2012-2013 William Prize for best essay in East Asian Studies was awarded to Trevor Davis (Saybrook College '13) for his essay submitted to the History Department, “Pure Land and the Social Order in Twelfth-Century China: An Investigation of Longshu’s Treatise on Pure Land.” (Valerie Hansen, Professor of History, advisor.)

Davis' essay makes a powerful argument about the Pure Land Buddhist Wang Rixiu's understanding of Southern Song (1127-1279) society. Although Pure Land Buddhism is often thought to be egalitarian - or at least to challenge traditional hierarchies - Trevor shows that for Wang Rixiu, an egalitarian Pure Land coexists …

West Virginian Dancers: The Creation And Development Of The West Virginia Ballet Festival/West Virginia Dance Festival Community, Lauren Angel

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This thesis examines the West Virginia Ballet Festival (WVBF), which began in 1968 and became the West Virginia Dance Festival (WVDF) in 1981. This work studies the four groups that made up the festival community, including the West Virginia performance dance teachers who founded the festival, the West Virginia performance dance students who attend the events, the out-of-state professional guest artists who taught and performed at the festivals, and the nonartistic professional administrators who organized the WVDF. The WVBF/WVDF was part of West Virginia regional culture and the national performance dance boom. I argue that performance dance must be incorporated …

Mexican-Americans In Los Angeles: Strengthening Their Ethnic Identity Through Chivas Usa, Stephanie Goldberger

CMC Senior Theses

A large Mexican-American population already exists in Los Angeles and, with each generation, it continues to rise. This Mexican-American community has maintained its connection to its heritage by playing and watching soccer, Mexico’s top watched sport. In this thesis, I analyze how Major League Soccer's Chivas USA serves as an outlet through which many Mexicans in Los Angeles have developed their ethnic identities. Since the early twentieth century, Mexicans in Los Angeles have created separate residential communities and sports organizations to strengthen their connections with one another.

To appeal to Mexican-Americans, Chivas USA has branded itself closely to its sister …

Exhumándo La Memoria: La Memoria Histórica Español Tras El Cine Y Los Periodicos, Jillian Kate Raftery

CMC Senior Theses

(In Spanish) The Spanish Civil war isn't over in the hearts and minds of the people of Spain; rather, it is still being fought in the ideological realm of historical memory. Originally explored in literature and film, the theme of historical memory has not only become more visible and more explicit, but has taken the leap from art and literature into the political realm to become one of Spain's most pressing political issues.

Deciphering The Cultural Heritage And Function Of The Ella Strong Denison Library Complex, Sara E. Zúñiga

Scripps Senior Theses

To be submitted.

Distorsionados Por La Opresion, Leonard Cambra Jr.

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

The investigation will be carried out through a detailed analysis of the Book: Retahilas by Carmen Martin Gaite and will show both the author's affinity with the past and her rupture with it to demonstrate that it is only in self knowledge as the result of suffering that one can begin to authentically communicate with others.