European History Commons^™

The Possession Of John Toldervy Early Quakerism And The Polarization Of Print Polemic In Cromwellian England, Hyrum Veach

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In the winter of 1655, ex- demoniac, dismissed apprentice, and sometime Quaker John Toldervy published a short memoir entitled The Foot out of the Snare.1 The pamphlet presented itself as a part conversion narrative and part anti- Quaker exposé, and told a startling story of demonic possession. After Toldervy became a Quaker, he told his readers, his mind was corrupted by a “seducing spirit” that convinced him that he was both Christ and the Archangel Michael and drove him to perform many bizarre acts.2 Two months later, after a brief pamphlet war with soon- to- be- disgraced Quaker James Nayler,3 …

Superheroes To Regular Joes The Vietnam War Through The Lens Of American Comic Books And Cartoons, Ella Henricksen

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Historians generally agree that American comic books got their start in 1842 with Rodolphe Töpffer’s The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck,1 but pairing images with text is far from a novel idea—it is practically as old as the invention of writing. By the late 1800s, cartoons and caricatures were staples in papers. Satirical editorial cartoons poked at serious issues, and single- panel gag cartoons showed a humorous picture with a caption. Short comic strips like The Yellow Kid featured regularly appearing characters,2 and in 1933, Famous Funnies (a reprinting of popular humorous news comic strips) finally made the jump to …

Sounds Of Solidarity Pan Africanism, Internationalism, And The Black Experience At Blue Note Records, Nathan Neher

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Blue Note Records is considered one of the most prolific and influential independent American jazz record labels of the mid- twentieth century. The label was founded in 1939 by German- Jewish immigrant Alfred Lion who had fled Nazi Germany. Lion’s longtime friend, Francis Wolff, would later also leave Germany to join Lion and help with photography and other business affairs.1 Originally recording traditional jazz and swing groups, Blue Note transitioned to modern jazz in 1947, eventually helping facilitate the development of hard bop, post- bop, and avant- garde jazz in the mid- twentieth century.2 Lion played a prominent role in …

Pain For Profit The Motivations Of Slave Surgeons In The Eighteenth To Nineteenth Century Caribbean, Gabe Smock

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

When late eighteenth- century British surgeon Dr. Alexander Falconbridge ventured belowdecks to check on the hundreds of slaves chained there, he had no illusions about the horrors of the Middle Passage. After all, this was not his first voyage providing medical care for slaves until they disembarked at the infamous markets of colonial Kingston, Jamaica. He took a moment to brace himself, then ventured down into the damp air below only to encounter a sight so awful that it was difficult to put into words when he recounted the experience years later to Parliament. As a consequence of being packed …

“Radio . . . What [Is It] Doing To Our Children?” The Impact Of Radio On Families During The Golden Age Of Broadcasting, Samuel Pulsipher

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Eerie string music, a dark cackle of laughter, and then a sinister voice says, “Who knows what evils lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows.”3 Suddenly, an interruption by the Goodrich Man. He has something to say about Goodrich tires with their lifesaving tread and blow- out protection: “So, play safe, equip your car with Goodrich, safety Silvertown!” The Goodrich- Man is ushered out by organ music as our hero Lamont Cranston, the Shadow, is introduced. He is heralded as a man of wealth and science who devotes his life to righting wrongs, protecting the innocent, and punishing …

Rap And Rhyme An Insider Look On African American Life In Urban America, Rachel Van Katwyk

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Thousands of hands clapped and cheered for the rap artists heralded as the rock stars of the age. Fans packed into Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena, chanting to hear the song they all wanted to scream. F*** the Police. T he rap group, N.W.A., toured America in the summer of 1989 and was contractually obligated to forgo performing that particular song. Scattered among the crowd were police officers ready to take action if the song started playing. N.W.A. called an audible, and DJ Yella projected the song from the speakers for thirty seconds before three sharp shots were heard. At the …

Personal Politicking Dolores Huerta’S Key Contributions To Farmworker Organizing, Keylla Ortega

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

When she was just in her mid- twenties, Dolores Huerta served as a board member of one of the most influential mid- century civic organizations in California, the Community Service Organization (CSO). Huerta quickly established herself as a key voice in the farmworker movement for labor rights, but she recognized early on that as a woman she had to work strategically to win votes in board meetings. She later recalled, “If I wanted to get a vote on a tough case, like to fight the police department, I had to really use . . . all of this personal kind …

Editor's Preface, Brett Bodily

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Japanese Imperial Education In Korea And Taiwan And The Lens Of Reciprocal Assimilation, Devin Sanders

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

During the 19th century, the nation of Japan underwent a variety of political, social, and economic changes, including but not limited to events such as the Meiji Restoration in 1868 and the first Sino-Japanese War in 1894-1895. This paradigmatic shift sought to usher in a new era of Japanese dominance on both regional and international scales. Japanese dominance and international relevance, as indicated by Meiji-era domestic and foreign policy, was to be realized through adopting demonstratively successful policies, technologies, ideals, governments, militaries, economic approaches, and even the appearances of Western powers.1 Indeed, influential Japanese leaders such as Fukuzawa Yukichi believed …

Vanguards Of Change In The “Georgia Of The North” Youth Activism In The New Jersey Civil Rights Movement, Emily Peterson

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

On February 17, 1948, the small suburb of Somerville, New Jersey began preparations for its annual “Brotherhood Week” meeting, part of an annual national initiative to address racial and religious prejudice. That day, the planning committee for the event received the following letter from a local high school student who served on the Brotherhood Week Youth Planning committee: “Every February…Brotherhood Week rolls around...But what about the other 364 days of the year? What happens to our fine ideas of cooperation, understanding, and goodwill then? Nothing ever comes of these meetings. We, the youth of Somerville, feel there should be a …

An Investigation On Food Restriction In The Medieval British Church, Cope Makechnie-Hardy

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

When Seaxburh, Queen of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Kent, retired to her sister’s newly established religious house at Ely in 665 she was a physically broken woman, with “wan cheeks from fasting” and a body frail from years of food restriction.1 Already throughout her life Seaxburh had used her body as an integral part of her devotion to Christ, and after arriving at Ely “signed her stomach with the mark of Christ so that she might not burden it with food.”2 Nearly six hundred years later, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary would engage in a similar practice, referred to by historians …

Breaking Apartheid With Interractial Friendships, Izzy Maire

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In August 1956, thousands of South African women marched in front of the Union Building in Pretoria, South Africa. In their arms they carried petitions that demanded the abolishment of apartheid era pass laws, which required non-white South Africans to carry passbooks. The photo above depicted four women that lead this united legion of women. The white woman in this picture, Helen Joseph, commented on the racial identity of these leaders. She wrote, “Four women had been chosen as leaders for the day, Lillian Ngoyi, the African, Rahima Moosa, the Indian, Sophie Williams, the Coloured and I, the white.”1 As …

The Civil War And The Apocalypse Insights From The Millennial Sta, Megan Mcconnell

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

An editorial published in the Millennial Star on May 11, 1861, almost exactly one month after the start of the American Civil War, declared that the war that had broken out on the American continent was part of the “signs of the times” and that it “should be an incentive to diligence and faithfulness” to the European members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The war would be a calamity to a degree that had never before been seen on the Earth and one which the “nations of Europe cannot escape from.”1 The editor pronounced that the …

Blood In The Snow The Mormon-Timpanogos Conflict At Battle Creek, Nathan Hale

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

On March 5th, 1849, a group of 36 Mormon men surrounded the Native American camp of a small band of Timpanogos at Battle Creek, which is present-day Pleasant Grove, Utah. The Mormon militia suspected this band of cattle rustling, and a conflict ensued that resulted in the shooting and killing of four Timpanogos men. During the battle, the women and children of the native camp took cover and endured exposure to the cold elements and frigid water of Battle Creek. Six days later, these same women and children arrived in Salt Lake City. Among the group of Native American survivors …

Remembering The Lady Representations Of Abigail Adams In The Women’S Rights Movement, Allison Haack

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In November 1975, Redbook, a women’s magazine, included a “call to action” issued to women of the United States. This call was set forth both in response to the bicentennial celebration of the Declaration of Independence as well the UN National Women’s Year. In it, over fifty organizations came together to lay out an eleven-step plan to achieve greater political equality between the sexes—namely, the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. To introduce this call to action, Bess Myers, the author, shared several anecdotes about Abigail Adams, including Adams’ charge that her husband “remember the ladies” when he went off …

“To Inherit God Himself?” The Metaphysical Transformation Of Man As Theorized In Cotton Mather’S Biblia Americana, Michael Green

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

The tumult of the Enlightenment was enormous, not least in its impact on theologians of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Biblical exegesis (explanation of a scriptural text based on its own historical and cultural circumstances) of the Reformation that idealized interpretations grounded in unerring prophetic figures were suddenly and forcefully subjected to the tide of historical literalism propagated by major intellectual figures such as Hugo Grotius and Baruch Spinoza. They and their cohort believed that the Bible should be treated as a historical source and its merits scrutinized based on its literal accuracy

The Incomplete Conquest Of Spanish Guinea 1471-1910, Pual Guajardo

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Mary Henrietta Kingsley, the famous early female explorer of Africa, once remarked that an appointment to the Equatoguinean island of Fernando Po was “equivalent to execution, only more uncomfortable.”1 Similarly, historian Randall Fegley remarked that Port Clarence, which became the capital of Equatorial Guinea, was known as “death’s waiting room.”2 When we think of the Spanish Empire, we usually envision the empire that decimated the Aztecs and the Incas, not a regime that failed to conquer and colonize an island one-fifth the size of Hawaii. Yet, for more than 400 years, the small indigenous community of Fernando Po quietly defied …

Whistleblowers: A Maya Narration On The Participation Of The Dead In The Cycle Of Life And Death, Emma Belnap

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

There is a common saying in modern American culture inspired by opera and the drudgery with which people view it. As the maxim goes, “It is not over until the fat lady sings.” If the Maya were to have their own variation on that saying, it may perhaps go, “Life is not over until the whistle is in the grave.” At burial sites on Jaina Island, an island near Campeche, Mexico rich with Maya history, hundreds of sculpted whistles have been found in graves, depicting various gods, animals, and humans.1 These objects give invaluable insight into the beliefs and practices …

Editor's Note, Cope Makechnie-Hardy

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

The medieval historian William of Malmesbury wrote that the legendary King Arthur was “worthily deserving to be celebrated, not by idle fictions, but by authentic history.”1

Front Matter

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Res Historica, Volume 4, Lynneth Miller Renberg Phd, Alpha Rho Epsilon Phi Alpha Theta

Res Historica

The 2025 journal of historical research by Anderson University students, Res Historica.

The editorial team for this edition of Res Historica was Dr. Lynneth Miller Renberg, Samuel Sanders, and Julia Ackerman. The cover art for this volume is an open access image.

Introducing The New Sahs President & Vice President, Thomas Quinn Marabello

Swiss American Historical Society Review

It is an honor to serve as the new President of the Swiss American Historical Society, an organization that I have come come to truly enjoy being associated with.

Swiss Good Offices In Afghanistan, 1979-1992, Dr. Liliane Stadler

Swiss American Historical Society Review

In February 2024, I published my first monograph on Switzerland’s good offices in Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion of 1979. In October 2024, I presented my book at Johns Hopkins University in Washington D.C., where I currently hold a two-year postdoctoral position at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs. I would like to thank the Swiss American Historical Society (SAHS) for reprinting my remarks in the SAHS Review, as well as Ambassador Dr. Ralf Heckner and Vincent Barras from the Swiss Embassy for joining us at Johns Hopkins for the event.

Leo Schelbert Award

Swiss American Historical Society Review

The Leo Schelbert Award is given to the best submitted research paper and is open to both undergraduate and graduate students. The topic can be anything that relates to the mission of the Swiss American Historical Society (SAHS), which focuses on increasing an understanding of Swiss and/or Swiss-American history.

Centennial Committee

Swiss American Historical Society Review

The Centennial Committee of the Swiss American Historical Society is organizing to plan and consider ideas for celebrating our milestone 100th anniversary which will occur in the year 2027. In addition to a trip to Switzerland and holding our annual meeting in Chicago where the Society was founded, we also are interested in potentially doing an exhibit at the Embassy of Switzerland and/or the Swiss Center of North America, doing an oral history project, finding donors to contribute to the Leo Schelbert Award, creating merchandise, potentially creating a video, and publishing a commemorative book on the history of the Society. …

2024 Reports, Thomas Quinn Marabello, Barbara Müller, Ernie Thurston, Richard Hacken

Swiss American Historical Society Review

Business Meeting Report—September 28, 2024

President’s Report for 2024

President’s Report for 2024 for The Friends of the Swiss American Historical Society

Annual Financial Report of the SAHS

SAHS Membership Report

Publications Report

SAHS Website Report 2024

Front Matter

Swiss American Historical Society Review

No abstract provided.

The Connection Between Zermatt And Vail: How A Swiss Alpine Village Influenced The Creation Of A Colorado Village And Ski Resort In The Rocky Mountains, Thomas Quinn Marabello

Swiss American Historical Society Review

When one hears the places “Zermatt” and “Vail” we tend to think of skiing. Both are known worldwide for great skiing and beautiful mountains. While Zermatt has existed for centuries, Vail only became permanently inhabited by people after World War II. Zermatt did not become a well known place until the nineteenth century when adventurers sought to climb the Matterhorn, and then it became a popular tourist destination. However, Zermatt influenced the creation of the village of Vail, thanks to a man named Peter Seibert who spent time there and wanted to create a European Alpine style ski village in …

New Swiss Ambassador To The U.S.

Swiss American Historical Society Review

The new Swiss Ambassador to the U.S., Dr. Ralf Heckner, presented his credentials to President Joseph R. Biden during a ceremony at The White House on September 20, 2024. A native of Davos, Ambassador Heckner served as ambassador to India and Bhutan before coming to Washington, DC. He also served as Deputy Head of the United Nations and Other International Organizations, and has a PhD in history from the University of Fribourg.