Public History Commons^™

A History Of African Americans In Nebraska, Preston Love Jr., Adam Fletcher Sasse, Le Clara Gilreath, Portia Love, Heather Fryer

Truth and Reconciliation History Project

Black people have been present in Nebraska from its earliest days as a U.S. territory. The first U.S. Census of Nebraska, conducted in 1860, counted eighty-one Black people who, together, formed .28 percent of the young territory’s 28,841 residents. That number grew to 3,443 Black residents in 1900, representing 3.5 percent of the 102,555 residents of the state of Nebraska. The number and location of Black Nebraskans varied greatly through the twentieth century, comprising 13.7 percent of the state’s population in 1940 and 11.8 percent in 2020. Although African Americans have been relatively small in numbers, the historical record reflects …

Recent Arrivals: Refugee Resettlement In Nebraska, Emira Ibrahimpašić, Julia Reilly

Truth and Reconciliation History Project

One of the stories Nebraskans tell themselves is that the story of Nebraska is a story of immigration. One of the most recent versions of this story is that Nebraska is one of the best and most welcoming places in the country to be a resettled refugee. In many respects, this narrative is true, but as with all narratives, reality is more complicated. This chapter attempts to paint a fuller picture by providing a detailed history of the foundation of Nebraska’s refugee resettlement program, and an overview of five of the most populous refugee communities in Nebraska. First, we survey …

Exclusion From The Good Life: The Impact Of Anti-Asian Racism On Asian Nebraskans, Heather Fryer, Sharon Ishii-Jordan

Truth and Reconciliation History Project

To understand how Americans of Asian descent experienced, adjusted, and overcame negative experiences in Nebraska, recognizing the external forces on their lives is paramount. The experiences of Asians in their diaspora across the U.S. and Nebraska during a 150-year span have been shaped by both external (global and domestic) and internal (personality and resilience) factors. The presence of stereotypes specifically targeted toward Asian Americans due to exotic imaginings, pseudoscience, and economic fears, in addition to the images created by national media, gave rise to society’s acceptance of stereotypes. These external factors contributed to a belief that continues to this day …

Roots Of Justice: A History Of Race And Racism In Nebraska, Kevin Abourezk, M. Dewayne Mays, Paul Olson, Gabriel Bruguier, Preston Love Jr., Adam Fletcher Sasse, Heather Fryer, J.S. Onésimo (Ness) Sándoval, Sharon Ishii-Jordan, Emira Ibrahimpašić, Julia Reilly

Zea E-Books Collection

There is much to understand about the history of Nebraska and how the past shapes the present. This book attempts to bring into clearer focus the triumphs and trials of five broad groups whose lives have often been overlooked when the state’s history is told. The authors know some of this history of racism firsthand: Most of them have lived as people of color in Nebraska. They’ve experienced “the good, the bad and the ugly” that makes up our state story. We encourage educators, scholars and family historians to continue to dig, to document and to tell these stories. And …

A Complex Border: Intractability And The Physical Roots Of Discursive Legitimations In Cyprus, Hilmi Ulas

Peace Studies Faculty Articles and Research

The Cypriot conflict is one of the most intractable conflicts of the modern era, and the collapse of complexity among the actors in the conflict—mainly the Republic of Cyprus, North Cyprus, and Turkey—appears to be the main cause of the continued “no war, no peace” state. Subsequent socio-psychological self-organization among these actors then produces conflict-perpetuating feedback loops and dynamics. These dynamics include identity narratives, narratives of “the other,” and narratives of the nature of the conflict, which, at the grassroots level, can legitimize ongoing engagement in the conflict, whereas peace is painted as an undesirable and undeserved/unjust compromise. Given this, …

[Review Of] The Trial Of A Nazi Doctor: Franz Lucas As Defendant, Opportunist, And Deceiver By Andrew Wisely. New York, Ny: Berghahn Books, 2024. Pp. Xiv+364. Cloth $150.00. Isbn 978-1-80539-530-0., Stefan Cristian Ionescu

History Faculty Articles and Research

"While we know a lot about the general framework of the trials of Nazi perpetrators, including of specific professional groups, the field of Holocaust, mass violence, and perpetrator studies still needs more in-depth studies on the careers, crimes, and the postwar whereabouts of individual midlevel Nazi officials who had power of life and death over thousands of inmates of Nazi camps and whose lives and careers were not thoroughly investigated by scholars. That is why the book authored by Andrew Wisely examining the case of the SS doctor Franz Bernhard Lucas as a long durée historical biography, is a much-needed …

Review: Wombs Of Empire: Population Discourses And Biopolitics In Modern Japan, By Sujin Lee Available, Alexander Bay

History Faculty Articles and Research

A review of Wombs of Empire: Population Discourses and Biopolitics in Modern Japan by Sujin Lee.

Left Or Right, Loyal Or Disloyal: Ideology, Partisanship, And Empire In The Construction Of Interwar Japanese American Politics, Vivian Yan-Gonzalez

Asian American Studies Faculty Articles and Research

This article examines the first cohort of Japanese American voters in California in the interwar years, in order to explore the construction of racialized parameters on Japanese American political agency. Inter-imperial competition between the United States and Japan over the future of the Pacific, along with the popular and legal linkage of race and citizenship, produced a persistent distrust of Japanese American voters. Although Japanese Americans shaped their political strategies to appease these suspicions, militarized state demands for loyalty after the attack on Pearl Harbor sharply contracted their options from a range of diverse ideologies and partisanship to a narrow …

In The Name Of The Mother, The Nation, And The Race: White Women, The Jim Crow South, & Moralized White Supremacist Feminism, Shayna M. Lawson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis introduces the concept of moralized white supremacist feminism to examine the central role white women played in constructing, legitimizing, and sustaining racial hierarchies in the Jim Crow South through a network of cultural and political organizing, particularly through the United Daughters of the Confederacy and Women’s Ku Klux Klan. Far from passive observers, white women were strategic agents of segregation, leveraging ideals of purity, motherhood, and moral virtue to enforce anti-Black violence and oppression through educational, civic, legal, and symbolic institutions, as well as extra-legal practices. Drawing from archival materials, oral histories, and critical race theory, this study …

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.

Matthew Kinnard, Matthew A. Kinnard M.S., Ph.D.

We Are NIH Oral History Project

No abstract provided.

“I Was Just Doing My Job”: An Oral History Of Vietnam Veterans And The Impact Of Their Voices In Collective War Memory, Alyssa Morris

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This master's thesis explores how oral histories from Vietnam veterans provide vital counter-narratives to traditional, often impersonal, military histories. Inspired by the author's grandfather, a Vietnam veteran, the project collects and analyzes ten interviews conducted as part of the Library of Congress’ Veterans History Project. The study emphasizes how oral history not only preserves overlooked personal stories but also restores humanity and empathy to historical understanding. Not only does this project highlight the findings of the interviews but also details the process the author went through before and during the interviews, accompanying that is advice on best practices and how …

A Tale Of Two Women, Cassady Brown

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Avenging Chief Sam: A Missed Opportunity In Galveston’S Commemorative Landscape, Eddie L. Brown Jr.

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This work centers on Chief Alfred Sam and the Oklahoma Blacks who were followers of his 1914 Back-to-Africa Movement. While public memory has portrayed return to Africa movements as disconnected moments in Black history, my work reinterprets Sam’s movement as foundational and revisits Galveston as the space utilized by nearly five hundred of his followers. It further asserts, that Galveston should be considered as the historical extraction point for the United States’ only Back-to-Africa movement of the twentieth century. While the Galveston landscape holds more than 200 historical markers and is the commemorated home of Juneteenth, no commemorative markers exist …

“Mimicking Straights”: The Legacy Of Conservatism In Homophile Activism, 1950-60s, Brock Manasseri

History Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this thesis I explore historical misconceptions about the homophile movement that was active during the sixties and 1950s. Scholarly narratives have borrowed Gay Liberation’s perspective that narrowly defined homophiles as conservative, respectable, and tied to gendered roles. This representation only reflects the ideas of leadership, rather than the membership. Homophiles were a highly diverse group of people, both intellectually and demographically. Assumptions about their politics and practices began in straight society but did come to be repeated by their critics. In truth, homophiles included radicals and conservatives and their publications served as the stage on which to debate the …

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.

From Tragedy To Triumph: Maine’S Lgbtq+ History (1984-2005), Aidan King '25

All Student Scholarship

Maine’s LGBTQ+ history may be very rich, but true acceptance was an uphill battle. For decades, queer residents of Maine fought for equal rights in the state. The Stonewall riots in 1969 in New York City were an early sign that LGBTQ+ citizens were not going to continue to let their identities be suppressed, but as the years progressed, so too did the confidence of queer people to be open about their identities, including in Maine. In 1973, at the University of Maine, the Wilde-Stein Club was established, to the deep chagrin of homophobic fundamentalist preachers whose protests against the …

Beyond The Game: Black Power In Sports

The Civil Rights Movement (HIS/BLS 347) Zine Project

No abstract provided.

Piecing Together The Past: Documenting The Philanthropic History Of Lincoln’S Arts And Culture, Audrey L. Ellis

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This project explores the creation of a book chapter discussing the history of philanthropy in Lincoln, Nebraska, focusing on its impact on arts and culture. The chapter will be published in Fall 2025 by the Lincoln Community Foundation. By documenting philanthropy in the arts and culture spaces, this book and chapter hope to inspire further giving by showcasing the benefit that has been reaped through giving. Through research of public records and a series of interviews, this chapter examines Lincoln’s key donors and arts organizations from the mid-19th century to the present. This project explores the process and key takeaways …

"Nuestra Herencia, Nuestra Historia – Our Heritage, Our History" Preserving Hispanic Heritage Month At St. Mary’S University, Barbara Ortiz

Capstone Projects

This project aims to initiate the preservation for culturally significant events of Hispanic Heritage Month at St. Mary’s University through collection, documentation and archival efforts. By capturing events, speeches, performances, and exhibits, I plan to create a lasting historical record that highlights the contributions and experiences of Hispanic students, faculty, staff, and community members. The Digital Commons will serve as the primary archive and research space, providing a valuable and accessible resource for future generations, fostering understanding, appreciation, and celebration of Hispanic heritage within the St. Mary’s and Westside San Antonio community.

Hidden Gems In The Cops/Metro Archival Collection, Qiuying Chen

Posters - 2025

This student poster was created for the 5th annual Research Showcase at St. Mary's University. From the poster:

University of Texas in San Antonio’s Special Collections has boxes upon boxes of COPS/Metro archival records which include rarely-known stories including these about a United Nations award, nationwide documentaries, and an inspiring bishop. In this project, it is my goal to uncover these special memories.

“A Wonderful World?”: C&S’S Georgia Plan, Urban Renewal, And Historic Preservation In Savannah, Augusta, And Macon, J. Mark Souther

History Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Quarter Century Of Scholarship: Trends In The St Mary’S Law Scholar’S Journal, Trenton Boudreaux

Capstone Projects

This project catalogs the trends of the articles published in The Scholar: St Mary’s Law Review on Race and Social Justice. Over its 25-year history, The Scholar has published 26 volumes discussing issues related specifically to minority and social justice issues. The project catalogs the topics covered in the volumes, and explores this data for historical trends. The project posts these results on the St. Mary’s Law School History page and provides historical context for some of the topics covered. This information provides a valuable resource for researchers into The Scholar as a publication.

Getting Engaged: Public Engagement Quiz For “Unity In Action” At Saaacam, Terry Pohl

Capstone Projects

I developed the Getting Engaged Capstone Project in partnership with the San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum (SAAACAM) and their new Museum. The primary purpose of this project is to provide the “Unity in Action,” room, the first exhibit in the final hall of the SAAACAM Museum, with materials to support its cause. This project is dedicated to doing virtually what the “Unity in Action” room is trying to do in person – to send the audience out into the world with a tangible project they can participate in that will help create positive change in the community …

Carter County Veterans, Rhonda Sparks P'Simer, Kaitlyn P'Simer

County Histories of Kentucky

Veterans in the Sparks, Tackett, Roak, and P'Simer families in Carter County, Kentucky.

Public Memory Through Memorialization, Sophie A. O'Brien

SPARK Symposium Presentations

This research project aims to contextualize the story surrounding various Nashville monuments that memorialize civil rights leaders. This project will explore the history of monuments and road names in Nashville. The history will span from the Confederacy to the civil rights movement and examine how public memory has evolved and changed with the removal of some statues and the changing of road names. It aims to show who we choose to memorialize and why, and how the civil rights leaders we choose to remember reflects public sentiment of the civil rights era.

The Forgotten Heroes Of Postman’S Park, John Price

Heroism Science

The Watts Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice in Postman’s Park contains fifty-three memorial tablets, each dedicated to an act of life-risking bravery, undertaken by an otherwise ordinary individual, largely in the course of their everyday life, and within commonplace surroundings. The memorial’s creator, G. F. Watts, was a pivotal figure in the conception and promotion of the idea of ‘everyday’ heroism in Britain. Where he led, others followed. On this basis, the Watts Memorial has come to inform our understanding of how everyday heroism as a concept was constructed. Further research has now identified eighty-four individuals who were intended for commemoration …

“These Are Not Ordinary Criminals!” The First War Crimes Trial At The People's Tribunal And Its Implications In Post-Holocaust Romania, Stefan Cristian Ionescu

History Faculty Articles and Research

This article examines the neglected war crimes trials of Holocaust perpetrators that took place at the People's Tribunal in early postwar Romania, focusing especially on the first trial (the “Macici group”). The article shows that in spite of the political interferences by the new pro-communist regime and the USSR, the Macici group trial in particular, and the first war crimes trials in general, were not Stalinist show trials or fake trials and they sentenced real war criminals and accurately captured Romania's participation in the Holocaust. Unlike the Antonescu group trial – that indicted the former pro-Nazi dictator and his closest …

Towards The Non-Spectacle: Responses To Necropolitics In The Artwork Of Teresa Margolles And Maya Watanabe, Leslie Anne Condon

Masters Theses

How do we engage with artwork that addresses complicated histories

of colonialism and political violence, specifically intangible and

incomprehensible violence? Mexican artist Teresa Margolles’ 2005 work, Lote

Bravo, is named after and composed of the soil from a mass grave site

discovered in 1995 in the southeastern corner of Ciudad Juárez, a city known

internationally for the femicide that has continued to haunt its streets and

peripheries since the 1990s. Peruvian filmmaker Maya Watanabe’s 2019 film

Liminal cinematically documents the official exhumation of two mass graves

in the Ayacucho and Huánuco regions of the Andes highlands, where

thousands of …

Restitution Of Jewish Property In Northern Transylvania During The Early Postwar Years, Stefan Cristian Ionescu

History Faculty Articles and Research

The restitution of Jewish property in the multiethnic region of Northern Transylvania faced numerous challenges during the first post-Holocaust years as a result of the complicated wartime history, postwar demographics, legal status, interethnic dynamics, and occasional violence. Having the lowest rate of survival among all Jewish communities in Romania, most of the region’s Jews died during the deportation and did not return to their native places to claim their properties. This impacted the extent of restitution of individual private property. Some of the Aryanized property was restituted to the Jewish survivors or their heirs because the wartime beneficiaries fled the …