Oral History Commons^™

Recovering Lost Voices: The Rappahannock Tribe And The Jamestown Festival Of 1957, Woodie L. Walker Ii

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis employs the interdisciplinary methodologies of ethnohistory and oral history to examine the legacy of the 1957 Jamestown Festival through the experiences and memories of Rappahannock people. “Recovering Lost Voices: The Rappahannock Tribe and the Jamestown Festival of 1957” adds to the historiography of Virginia Natives by revealing that Rappahannock participation in the Jamestown Festival was the culmination of centuries of cultural preservation, greatly influenced and made immediate by their experiences in “Jim Crow” Virginia during the twentieth century. This research establishes that the enduring legacy of the Festival for the Rappahannock Tribe was political influence, culminating in state …

Narratives Afield: An Oral History Experience, J. D. Carruthers

Theses and Dissertations--History

This paper documents the comprehensive process of designing and executing a video oral history project through a case study of The Living History Oral History Project which is accessioned to the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History. Discussions of each phase of the project from concept, design, field work, archiving, and interpretation demonstrates how expanding technology increases the narrative opportunities presented by oral history research. The added feature of digital video technology creates visuality, which is an expansion on Alessandro Portelli’s concepts of orality and history telling. Since discoverability and accessibility is a traditional problem in using oral history …

Twilight Of Newhaven: The Transformation Of An Ancient Fishing Village Into A Modern Neighborhood, Asa James Swan

Theses and Dissertations--History

In 1504, King James IV of Scotland founded the village of Newhaven, three miles north of Edinburgh on the shores of the Firth of Forth. Newhaven rose to prominence as the most well-known of Scotland’s fishing villages and reached its zenith in 1928 with the launching of its last ship, the Reliance. It was the beginning of the end of the Newhavener way of life, their twilight. This is the story of decline and domicide as economic forces and the City of Edinburgh Council transformed the ancient village of Newhaven into a modern neighborhood. This small fishing community, with …

In The Shadows Of Apollo: The Space Age Legacies Of Dispossession In Hancock County, Mississippi, Stuart Simms

Theses and Dissertations--History

In the Piney Woods of Mississippi, John C. Stennis used political connections to displace small communities in a 150,000-acre space in Hancock County, Mississippi for the creation of a rocket test facility for NASA. What became the John C. Stennis Space Center created a narrative that preached of the benefits of the facility in the region while local residents from the displaced communities remember the facility in different terms.

Envisioning Catholicism: Popular Practice Of A Traditional Faith In The Post-Wwii Us, Christy A. Bohl

Theses and Dissertations--History

Marian apparitions in the United States have occurred in ever-increasing numbers since World War Two, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s. These apparitions occupy a unique space in religious life, as they provide opportunities for Catholics to practice their faith outside of the Church hierarchy while still maintaining their status as faithful Catholics, often placing women in prominent positions. Although apparitions are an important part of faith for thousands of American Catholics, most Americans and Catholics are unaware of how widespread this movement is. This dissertation takes a comparative approach to examine a selection of apparition events, illuminating the pilgrimage …

Interview With Barbara Tint, Barbara Tint, Patricia A. Schechter

Conflict Resolution Oral Histories

Barbara Tint was interviewed by Patricia Schechter on May 29, 2020, in Portland, Oregon. Also participating in the interview are Alex Berg, Cleophas Chambliss, Oona Fisher Campbell, Jake Hutchins, Alex Ibarra, Lady J, Liza Schade, and Stephanie Vallance.

In this interview, Tint describes her path to academia through working as a counselor and with conflict resolution in a number of international settings. The discussion takes a theoretical turn when students inquired about the philosophical underpinnings of Tint's work.

El Guerrero Obsidiana, Marvin P. Sarkar Bynoe

CMC Senior Theses

This work of creative writing explores the role of the maroons, or escaped Africans, in Caribbean plantation society. The novel pays homage the tradition of creole storytelling and asserts the importance of this practice in creating more complete historiographic narratives. Incorporating the themes of magic, rebellion, darkness/light, heroism, and brutality characteristic of Afro-latinx literature. The work attempts to continue the decolonizing work of disrupting the capitalist dichotomy between freedom and enslavement which threatens to erase the multiplicity of black existence in the colonial Caribbean.

Village-Temple Consciousness In Two Jaffna Tamil Villages In Post-War Sri Lanka, Pathmanesan Sanmugeswaran

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

This dissertation investigates how community rebuilding is occurring in a gravely damaged, post-conflict society. Specifically, it looks at how people in two villages in Tamil, Hindu, Jaffna, Sri Lanka, are using their ‘sense of place’ and ‘place-making practices’ or what I call here their ‘village-temple consciousness’ or village consciousness, to maintain and rebuild their communities after war to make them, once again, places in which they feel a comfortable sense of belonging. This is a comparative study because Inuvil and Naguleswaram were affected differently by the Sri Lankan civil war. That is, while Inuvil, was physically damaged and socially disrupted …

"Island Of Integration": Desegregation Of The Women's Army Corps At Fort Lee, Virginia, 1948-1954, Meika Downey

Theses and Dissertations

Countless studies exist examining President Harry S. Truman’s Executive Order 9981 mandating racial desegregation of the U.S. armed forces, though all singularly focus on the experiences of male soldiers in the twentieth century. This thesis examines how the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) training center at Fort Lee, Virginia implemented desegregation in 1950 in the midst of the Korean War with relative speed and tolerance. Determined through archival records including official WAC reports, photographs, newspapers, and nine newly conducted racially diverse oral history interviews with WAC veterans, I demonstrate how the Fort Lee training center became a physical and cultural “island …

Handing Down The Heritage: Preserving Irish Diasporic Identities In The Festival City Of Montana, Margaret Mary Walsh

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Butte, Montana is a tough, historic industrial town in western Montana known for its mining, its Irish, and strangely, its festivals. The city boasts countless parades and community events each year for a variety of holidays as well as for showcases of traditions and ethnic pride. Three celebrations in particular, St. Patrick’s Day, Fourth of July, and An Rí Rá, attract visitors from all over the country – and world – who seek to experience the enthusiasm and splendor of these celebrations. So, what can these popular celebrations in Montana’s Festival City, Butte, reveal about the Irish community living there? …