Oral History Commons^™

Conga Santiaguera: A Century Of Innovation And Competition, Nick Herman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Santiago de Cuba is home to the island’s biggest, oldest, and most famous carnival.  Any local resident will confirm that “sin conga no hay carnaval (without conga there is no carnival).” In Santiago, conga refers to a vibrant street procession, the music that drives it, and the ensemble that makes the music.  Conga Santiaguera: A Century of Innovation and Competition presents a musical history of the conga from roughly 1910 to 2010.  This project, https://cuny.manifoldapp.org/projects/conga employs an eBook, musical analysis, oral histories, and audiovisual media to show how the conga has been constantly reinvigorated by innovation, competition, and Afro-Diasporic …

Jadughar: The House Of Magic, Dhruvi A. Shah

Masters Theses

Jadughar or the House of Magic is what people call a 'museum' in parts of South Asia. The practice of museum making, at its origin, is the act of collecting, preserving, interpreting and representing a culture’s tangible and intangible heritage to make it accessible to diverse audiences. Since the early 19th century such practices have been performed at various kala bhandars (art centers) in India, without the need of a formal or institutional organisation. The British introduced the model of a ‘museum’ in South Asia, with the aim of not only preserving ethnographic collections, but also showcasing their power and …

The Brethren In China: Cross-Cultural Relationships Within An Imperial Structure, Sebastian S. Kochall

History and Political Science Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Groove Goes The Distance: An Initial Inquiry Into Jazz Music In Egypt, Farida Gohar

Theses and Dissertations

Jazz music has been a historically contentious site of social, cultural, and political signification. From the violent subjugation that characterized its origins and aspirational freedom that animated its practice, to its transformation into a distinctly “American” music instrumentalized by the US State Department to counter Soviet influence, jazz’s capacity for the inscription of meaning is vast and regularly cause for debate. The particular configuration of jazz music in Egypt is no less complicated although seldom studied. This thesis ventures an initial mapping of the dynamics and negotiations that historically defined the initiation of “Egyptian” jazz, as well as the ones …

My Autobiography Of Listening: A Worksheet, David Keck

C. Listening for One’s Own Voice

This 1-page worksheet provides a framework for exploring the ways in which a person's experiences shape their listening habits and capacities. It helps users answer the question, "How did I come to listen this way?"

“An Extremely Dangerous Institution:” The Cultures And Controversy Of Public Social Dances In Montana, 1900-1930, Danielle Allison Brown

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This paper explores public social dances east of the Continental Divide in Montana from 1900 to 1930. Rural social dances in schoolhouses and urban dances in dance halls created two different dance cultures. The relaxed nature of rural dances preserved the traditional values of nineteenth-century social dances, which reinforced community and family ties. Urban dances reflected the modern fads of the roaring twenties and challenged traditional values with sexual suggestiveness. Progressive Era moral reformers concerned about the possibility that social dance promoted illicit sexuality participated in an anti-dance movement and pushed for regulations of social dances. The anti-dance movement in …

Diplomacy Derailed: Discrimination’S Detour On Route 40, Gage A. Kivlen

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The 1961 Route 40 campaign in Maryland became a critical battleground where three competing approaches to addressing racial segregation revealed deep contradictions in Cold War America. Route 40, a major highway between Washington D.C. and New York, became an international embarrassment when African diplomats from newly independent nations were repeatedly refused service at restaurants and hotels. This crisis prompted responses from three distinct actors: the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), which employed grassroots organizing and direct action; the State Department's Special Protocol Service Section (SPSS), which pursued top-down diplomatic solutions; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which conducted extensive …

Investigating The Relationship Between Noun Classes And Plant Folk Taxonomy In Chasu Language Of Kilimanjaro Region In Tanzania, Peter Rabson Mziray

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The current study investigates the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu (G 22). The study focuses on two objectives: the first objective is to describe the plant folk taxonomy in Chasu and the second objective is to determine the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu. Data were collected from rural villages in Same and Mwanga districts by using free listing, field interviews (jungle-walk-and-identify), and written texts containing Chasu plant names. The findings reveal that Chasu folk taxonomy reflects different ethnobotanical categories; including a unique beginner which is mmea/mimea ‘plant(s)’, and three life …

Acting Religion: Analyzing The Aids Crisis Through A Religious Lens, Anya Thaovan Nguyenkhoa

Voces Novae

No abstract provided.

Death, Violence, And Condemnation: The News Media Coverage Of The 1981 Prisoners’ Hunger Strike In Northern Ireland In The United Kingdom And Ireland, Tyler Coker

Voces Novae

No abstract provided.

The Perry Lewis Interview, Shane Hand, John Brundrett

Oral Histories

This is an interview related to the integration of Alvin Community College (ACC), which was called Alvin Junior College (AJC) from its founding in 1948 until 1976. The interview is with Mr. Perry Lewis and takes place on May 7, 2025. The interviewers are Dr. Shane Hand and Professor John Brundrett.

Pedro Aceves Mfa Thesis, Pedro M. Aceves

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

My Work is about looking at Cruising through a queer decolonial lens. Using multiple mediums such as photo, glass, Augmented reality, and film, I explore these queer histories and aesthetics through not just an anthropological approach but also an artistic epistemological approach weaving together narratives of prehispanic and modern queer Latinidad.

Review Of: "Bloody Orkney? A Comparison Of The Perceptions Held By Sailors And The Reality Of Leisure And Recreational Opportunities At Scapa Flow During The First World War”, Mary-Beth Otten

Bridges: An Undergraduate Journal of Contemporary Connections

This review examines Ian Watson’s article, "Bloody Orkney? A comparison of the perceptions held by sailors and the reality of leisure and recreational opportunities at Scapa Flow during the First World War," published in The Mariner’s Mirror. Watson investigates the contrasting views of sailors stationed at Scapa Flow, a newly established naval base in the Orkney Islands, which, despite its strategic importance, was often seen as dull due to a lack of typical amenities. Through a rich array of primary sources, including letters and audio recordings, alongside secondary research, Watson describes how the Navy developed recreational activities to boost …

The Archie Family Interview, Shane Hand, John Brundrett

Oral Histories

This is an interview related to the integration of Alvin Community College (ACC), which was called Alvin Junior College (AJC) from its founding in 1948 until 1976. The interview is with Sharmeal Archie, Mary L. Smith, and Lynette Mason and takes place on February 10, 2025. The interviewers are Dr. Shane Hand and Professor John Brundrett.

Oral History Casey Goodson, Brady Goodson

Oral Histories HIST 300, Fall 2024

Interview of pastor Casey Goodson by Brady Goodson. Discusses elementary education and teaching as well as the work of a pastor.

Dr. Rachael Cassidy Interview With Oral History Class 2024 About The New Mexico Historical Review, Holly Guise

Oral Histories HIST 300, Fall 2024

For this interview in Dr. Holly Guise's class, students interviewed Dr. Rachael Cassidy about her previous experience working for the New Mexico Historical Review. She was the first Native person to serve as the Managing Editor of the NMHR.

The Impact Of H. L. Hunt's Contribution To The East Texas Oil Boom: Exhibit Planning And Fabrication, Ashley N. Watson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The East Texas Oil Boom was a major event in Texas history that elevated the oil industry in Texas to new levels. It brought new jobs, and a new style of work and living to the state. The boom attracted businessmen such as H. L. Hunt and Clint Murchison. H. L. Hunt was a prominent figure in the East Texas Oil Boom, who established a multifaceted corporation and influenced statewide legislation for hot oil and proration. Hunt, who chose to make money at any cost, was often viewed as untrustworthy and deceptive but his business practices were lucrative, and he …

Past * An Introduction To The Problem, Zelimir Zilnik, Boris Buden, New Media Center Kuda.Org, Olivera Jokic

Publications and Research

Who can know what is in the past? Is it what historians can tell us? Should we also trust what we can remember? Past • An Introduction to the Problem proposes that the problem of the past now concerns everyone. Visions of a different, brighter future defeated in the Cold War and its heated afterlives, we are being offered the past as the only horizon of possibility. And what are we supposed to find in that past? Philosopher Boris Buden considers these questions in a series of essays and conversations with filmmaker Želimir Žilnik, one of the most prominent filmmakers …

Oral History Interview With Ella Anagick Education History, Holly Guise

Oral Histories HIST 300, Fall 2024

Holly Miowak Guise's Survey of Native American History interviews Ella Anagick (Inupiaq) about her education with the Mt. Edgecumbe High School Native boarding school in Alaska, and other topics in Alaska history.

Aryanization Bureaucrats In Post-Holocaust Romania, Stefan Cristian Ionescu

History Faculty Articles and Research

This article investigates the post-war life trajectories and careers of eight Aryanization (»Romanianization«) bureaucrats who were involved in the persecution and dispossession of Jews during the pro-Nazi Antonescu regime (September 1940–August 1944). While many of them were removed from the civil service, became unemployed, went into hiding, or were arrested, others thrived – at least temporarily – thanks to their skilful navigation of the post-Antonescu transition, their highlevel connections with the political establishment, and the ability to claim certain merits for their behavior before August 1944, either as victims of or by resisting against the Antonescu regime. However, most of …

Exposing The Governmental Amnesia Of The Human Rights Violations That Occurred In The Magdalene Laundries, Sarah G. Gallagher

Student Theses

Throughout history, Ireland is not regarded as a champion in the area of human rights discourse, but in recent years it has found itself present in it. Pre-secularized Ireland violated human and women’s rights in institutions such as the Magdalene Laundries. Within these institutions, girls and women were subjected to various types of abuse (e.g., sexual, physical, emotional, and mental). After their time in the Laundries, they faced a life of silence and shame due to the stigma of being incarcerated in a Laundry. Due to the stigma, survivors were unable to discuss their experiences in the Laundries as they …

Quote Transcript, We Exist Series 5: Stories Of Education And Employment In Maine, University Of Southern Maine Digital Projects

Quotes

Accompanying materials for We Exist Series 5: Stories of Education and Employment in Maine.

We4: Leisure Quotes, Lance Gibbs Phd

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Welcome to the fourth exhibit in the series of “We Exist”. In this section we have selected quotes that represent and explain how Maine’s Black residents’ create the processes behind their engagement in particular leisure activities. The quotes also highlight the particular types of leisure activities that Maine’s Black residents suggest that they are involved in. The quotes are taken from transcripts of the oral history project "'Home Is Where I Make It': African American Community and Activism in Greater Portland, Maine”. The interview subjects are all native to Maine or are longtime residents of Maine. The original intent of …

Queer History In The Streets: A Walking Tour Of Portland, Maine, Megan Macgregor

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The University of Southern Maine’s Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer + Collection preserves the history of LGBTQ+ communities in Maine. The collection contains books, personal papers, photographs, and newspapers documenting the LGBTQ+ activism from 1970s to 1990s.

While three research publications have some out of the collection (one article and two thesis), no overall history about Maine’s LGBTQ+ community has been written. As a result many Mainer’s, queer and straight, know very little of the history. The instruction and outreach librarian and the staff of USM’s Special Collections wanted an opportunity to …

2nd Place Contest Entry: Student Governance During The Free Speech Movement, Philip Goodrich

Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize

This is Philip Goodrich's submission for the 2022 Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize, which won second place. It contains their essay on using library resources, their bibliography, and a summary of their research project on student governance during the free speech movement.

Philip is a fourth-year student at Chapman University, majoring in History and Political Science. Their faculty mentor is Dr. Alexander Bay.

Interview With Curtis Hames, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections Oral History Collection

Curtis Hames interviewed by an unknown interviewer, July 25, 1989. Find this collection in the University Libraries' catalog!

Seeing Forced Isolation Through New Eyes: Covid-19, Anne Frank, And The Violence Of The Nation-State, Anna Raines

CMC Senior Theses

In my senior thesis, I explore the social, political, and cultural effects and consequences of forced isolation. Forced isolation is a strategy adopted by governments in order to deal with a range of issues in contemporary history, often resulting in exclusionary practices, the redefinition or assertion of national sovereignty and nation-state boundaries, contagion, detention, and imprisonment. As a consequence of these varied processes and actions, when an individual or a social group is forced into an isolated space and ostracized from society, they are cast out of routine socialization, and the effects of this can endure even if a return …

Beirut/The Other Side Of The City: The Impact Of Visual Texture Production Of The Lebanese Postmemory Generation, 1989 - Present, Mohamed Moustafa Gameel Ebada

Theses and Dissertations

In 1989, after the Ta'if agreement, the war in Lebanon started to fade, which ended years of one of the most destructive civil conflicts in the region with no decisive winner or loser. The year also marked the birth of a new Lebanese generation who did not experience the war in person. It is a generation of postmemory, a term Maria Hirsch coined to describe the reminisces of those who did not have a personal encounter with past traumatic events. However, it was not before February 2005, when Rafic Al-Hariri's violent assassination occurred, when the postmemory generation started to question …

Finding A Place For World War I In American History 1914-1918, Jennifer D. Keene

History Faculty Books and Book Chapters

"World War I has occupied an uneasy place in the American public and political consciousness.1 In the 1920s and 1930s, controversies over the war permeated the nation’s cultural and political life, influencing memorial culture and governmental policy. Interest in the war, however, waned considerably after World War II, a much larger and longer war for the United States. Despite a plethora of scholarly works examining nearly every aspect of the war, interest in the war remains limited even among academic historians. In many respects, World War I became the 'forgotten war' because Americans never developed a unifying collective memory about …

Nationalistic Massacre Victims Triumph Over Ccp, Nathan Huffine

Voces Novae

Following the Japanese invasion of mainland China, and the subsequent Nanjing Massacre in 1937, Chinese Massacre survivors gained a nationalistic perspective as a result of their lived experiences. Later, these survivors’ nationalistic perspective came in direct conflict with the class-based perspective held by the Chinese Communist Party. This clash in political views helps shed light upon much of the internal and external Chinese historical narrative throughout the mid to late twentieth century.