Social History Commons^™

Every Man A Historian Means Every Man: Speaking With The Fringe, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

The amazing power of the internet age is the pure democratizing ethic it has injected into our culture. We aren't simply pleased when the world around us solicits and listens to our opinions, we've come to expect it. Every news story has a comment thread; every article asks for our feedback. The White House solicits input from the American "user" and offers meaningful responses. In short, we are a people who are growing more vocal in our daily lives. The brilliant constitutional law professor and master of cultural understanding Lawrence Lessig has called our culture "Read-Write" as opposed to "Read-Only." …

Barret, Thomas Lowry, 1878-1939 (Sc 2552), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 2552. Correspondence between Thomas L. Barret of Barret Boats Inc. and Jefferson County, Kentucky officials regarding the condition and sale of one of Barret's boats. The conversation turns to Barret's description of a previous owner of the boat as "a Jew." Subsequent correspondence relates to this comment.

Johnson, Marjorie (Brown), 1911-2001 (Sc 2553), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2553. Marjorie Johnson’s autograph book containing messages, reminiscences, and signatures from friends, acquaintances, and classmates from Rochester High School. Includes a few news clippings and a short list of teachers from Rochester High School, 1926-1929.

Lost And Found: Where The Iconic Meet, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

I know exactly when I began believing in the Muppets again. I am a child of the '80s. I was five years old when Jim Henson died. I remember watching the TV with my Mom crying beside me as Frank Oz's Fozzie, Richard Hunt's Scooter and Dave Goelz's Gonzo read to their friends the condolence letters sent by thousands of grieving fans. I remember the slow building of "Just One Person." [excerpt]

Chism Family Papers (Sc 603), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans including slave items (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 603. Chiefly business papers of the Chism family of Monroe County, Kentucky, with most of the papers being those of J. T. Chism (1810-1884). Includes slave items, 1808, 1856 (2); letters pertaining to the pork industry and trade, 1867-1880 (36); doctor’s letters containing medical instructions for patient and prescriptions, 1863-1864 (4); receipts for goods sold to Union forces, 1863-1864 (8); and miscellaneous items.

Smith, Esther (Lamastus), 1907-1994 (Sc 2544), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2544. Reminiscences of Esther (Lamastus) Smith of her family and childhood on a farm in Butler County, Kentucky. Smith provides family information and covers topics such as livestock raising, school games, spinning wool, transportation, telephone service, hair styles and other aspects of rural life. Includes poems, presumably by Smith.

Good Morning To The Night: Requiem For My Battlefield, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

The fireflies have started to appear around Gettysburg. We have a new sliding glass door in the kitchen that I can press my face against and see them. I did it the other night when Jess mentioned they're out there. [excerpt]

Campbell, May E. (Sc 510), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan of selected pages from album (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 510. Autograph album of May E. Campbell, Newport, Kentucky, 1883-1885, which contains autographs of Bowling Green, Kentucky friends. Also, a 1972 letter from Florence Cooksey, Madison, Wisconsin, a relative of Miss Campbell.

Washington, William Armstead, 1800-1883 (Sc 506), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 506. Memory album containing poetry written by William Armstead Washington, Logan County, Kentucky, some of which was written for his sisters, Sarah Virginia and Louisa Fairfax. Also, a poem written by J.A.C. Boyer which he dedicated to Sarah V. Washington, and holographic notes (2) are included.

Stockdale, Elizabeth Ann, 1821-1840 (Sc 507), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 507. Autograph album of Elizabeth Ann Stockdale, Russellville, Logan County, Kentucky, which contains essays as well as poems. Includes a poem written in 1869 for Miss Stockdale’s mother after Elizabeth Stockdale’s death. Also, a loose holographic copy of one of the album’s poems.

Potter, Blanche Genevieve (Jamison), 1860-1942 (Sc 512), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan of selected pages from album (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 512. Autograph album covering the years that Miss Jamison, of Nashville, Tennessee, was a student at Ward Seminary, Nashville, Tennessee. In 1881 Miss Jamison married J. Whit Potter of Bowling Green.

College Kids With Guns: Hidden In Plain Sight, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

Sunday morning found me out in the field with a stalwart group of Gettysburg devotees: the Gettysburg Discussion Group's annual spring Muster. When the coordinator of this year's Muster put out the call for something a bit different, perhaps something in town for Sunday, my ears perked up. I've been looking for groups to test out the nuggets of the College's Civil War story on and the GDG seemed like the perfect group of guinea pigs. [excerpt]

Stayton, George Cowden, 1847-1931 - Letters To (Sc 2538), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 2538. Letters (2) to George C. Stayton, Bowling Green, Kentucky, regarding business matters; also letters (3) from his sister Sarah Stayton, Scottsville, Kentucky, regarding the making of a dress and various weddings and courtships.

"Sewing A Safety Net: Scarborough's Maritime Community, 1747-1765", Charles Foy

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

From 1747 to 1765 Scarborough created a safety net to keep its maritime dependents from becoming impoverished. A web of kinship connections that permitted sailors to move between land and sea as well as between maritime roles as they aged; the employment of maritime servants; the extensive hiring of elderly seamen; the use of the Seamen’s Sixpence after legislative reform in 1747 to develop locally operated seamen’s hospitals for the benefit of sailors and their families; and strong community support of the hospitals worked together to provide a social safety net that was, by eighteenth century standards, robust and effective.

Peace, Politics, And Vortex: The Cultural And Political Consequences Of Oregon's Only State Sponsored Rock Concert, Kathryn J. Van Marter-Sanders

Lawrence University Honors Projects

As the 1960s drew to a close, mainstream America realized that the rebellious youth counterculture was not going to go away quietly. Meeting the problem head on as the authorities had in Kent State resulted in violent deaths and even more protests. This trend broke, possibly for the first time, at McIver Park in Portland, Oregon during the first ever state-sponsored rock concert. To make the concert, called ‘Vortex One,’ possible, Governor of Oregon Tom McCall, and The Family commune joined forces to create a peaceful alternative to possible violent opposition of the American Legion National Convention. The concert, however, …

"The People For Whom He Saved The Union": Ninety Years Ago In Dc, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

Reading the official Facebook page of one of my favorite history authors yesterday, I saw a pithy note about a "day of note." Ninety years ago this week, President Warren Harding dedicated the Lincoln Memorial at the west end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. [excerpt]

Cossitt, Franceway Ranna, 1790-1863 (Sc 396), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 396. Letter from Franceway Ranna Cossitt, Princeton, Kentucky, to brother, Ambrose, Claremont, New Hampshire. He reflects on the death of their mother, describes his family, and relates his success and progress as president of Cumberland College, Princeton.

Weed, Hugh M. (Sc 395), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 395. Printed invitation to a Christmas ball at Hugh M. Weed's house, Shawneetown, Illinois, sent to Mr. Adrian Davenport and lady.

Haupt-Enstance: Whatever Became Of Herman?, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

Tom Lehrer, on his 1965 album That Was The Year That Was, sang a send-up of then-Vice President Hubert Humphrey with his, "Whatever Became of Hubert." The song's been going through my head this past week or so, but with the name "Herman" taking the place of LBJ's second-in-command. [excerpt]

The Closure Of New Orleans' Charity Hospital After Hurricane Katrina: A Case Of Disaster Capitalism, Kenneth Brad Ott

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Amidst the worst disaster to impact a major U.S. city in one hundred years, New Orleans’ main trauma and safety net medical center, the Reverend Avery C. Alexander Charity Hospital, was permanently closed. Charity’s administrative operator, Louisiana State University (LSU), ordered an end to its attempted reopening by its workers and U.S. military personnel in the weeks following the August 29, 2005 storm. Drawing upon rigorous review of literature and an exhaustive analysis of primary and secondary data, this case study found that Charity Hospital was closed as a result of disaster capitalism. LSU, backed by Louisiana state officials, …

"Forever Free": It's Deja Vu All Over Again, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

A friend and colleague has a great quip she uses when planning Civil War interpretation in the DC area. "Why," she asks, "would a black single mother with two daughters come to this event? What's here for her?" [excerpt]

Selby, Cornelia Frances, 1916-2005 (Sc 2530), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 2530. Letters from Cornelia Frances “Fran” Selby to her sister, Mary Agnes Selby in Utica, Ohio, written during Cornelia’s service in the Women’s Army Corps at Camp Campbell, Kentucky. She writes of her activities, her anticipated furlough and their male acquaintances.

Strange Collection (Mss 42), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 42. Correspondence, 1864-1878 (8); journal, 1852-1883; scrapbooks (2); Manuscript: “House of Madison and McDowell in Kentucky,” 1888; family genealogical data; slave records; etc., of Agatha (Rochester) Strange, 1832-1896, a lifelong resident of Bowling Green, Kentucky.

You Can Hide `Neath Your Covers: Confronting The Boss, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

Public servants are paid to serve the American people. Do it well." Donald Rumsfeld, 2001

It's not often that I quote or even think about Donald Rumsfeld. I'm pretty sure he doesn't think about me at all. Still, that quote above is a keen (if obvious) observation that so often we in the world of public service Civil War interpretation forget. I work for the Federal Government in my 'real' job. This blog is where I brain dump everything else rattling around in my mind. Inspiration strikes at all hours, and last week the bolt came out of the blue …

Moore, Nancy Elam, 1807-1889 (Mss 405), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 405. Journal of Nancy Elam Moore, an eldress of the Shaker colony at South Union, Kentucky, describing life in the colony during the Civil War, 1861-1863, especially visitation and exploitation by both Union and Confederate forces. Includes a diary of unknown authorship recording daily life at the colony in 1866. The original diary is owned by the Dayton [Ohio] Public Library.

The Black Experience In Postwar Germany, Jamie Christopher Morris

Honors Scholar Theses

This paper endeavors to find the extent of anti-black racism in various sectors of German society following World War Two through an examination of primary sources and secondary scholarship. While some Germans, often women, tolerated and even loved African-American soldiers, many German men actively sought to keep black GIs out of their communities, encouraged by white GIs. Afro-German children were viewed as a huge and shameful problem to be dealt with en masse by the government. The development of German anti-black racism is interesting to track how the German people shifted from Nazi attitudes towards Americanized ones.

Crusader, May 4, 2012, College Of The Holy Cross

Student Newspapers

The student newspaper for the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. Articles include coverage of campus events and issues, sports, editorials and special features.

4th And Goal: What Is The Interpretive Touchdown?, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

What is the aim of historic interpretation? That seems like it would be a simple question to answer, but it's simply not. Historic interpretation seems to be a many headed Hydra, with each interpreter seeing their own purpose and their own goals within the craft. [excerpt]

The End Of Nowhere: The History Of Tuberculosis In Ri, Emma G. Sconyers

Senior Honors Projects

The World Health Organization estimates that approximately one third of the word's current population had been infected with tuberculosis. Prior to the 1940's TB was considered an incurable, chronic affliction. Historically, many people were forcibly detained in tuberculosis sanatoria to lessen the spread of the disease; my great granfather being one of them. In 1939, without warning, he was taken from his pregnant, jobless wife and one-year-old daughter, who were left to fend for themselves for two years without government planning or assistance. He spent those two years at Wallum Lake Sanitorium in northern Rhode Island, a place my great-grandmother's …

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 …