United States History Commons^™

Advertising The West: The History Of La Fiesta De Los Vaqueros, Monique Davila

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

In February 1925, Tucson celebrated the first La Fiesta de Los Vaqueros with a three-day rodeo that ended with a huge parade through the city center. Created by Philadelphia-born and new resident of Tucson Frederick Leighton Kramer and other Tucson city boosters, the event became an annual fiesta with the hopes of not only promoting Tucson and a fundraiser for the University of Arizona’s newly established polo team, but also a way to share Kramer’s newfound enthusiasm for Tucson’s beauty and history. However, the history the fiesta presented centered around the Anglo-American pioneers of southern Arizona. This approach ignored the …

Poles And Puerto Ricans: Immigration And Assimilation In The Pioneer Valley, Gabriel S. Proia

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

This paper attempts to explain why Polish immigrant farmers who came to the Pioneer Valley around the turn of the century assimilated more fully into the dominant culture and achieved on average greater economic success than Puerto Rican immigrant farmers who engaged in similar work in the same region roughly fifty years later. I begin by reviewing American Studies literature on assimilation dynamics to develop a framework for qualitatively evaluating how both groups changed over time. The evaluation is thereafter based on local newspaper articles and secondary ethnographic and historical literature from throughout the twentieth century, as well as interviews …

Black Radio’S Contribution To Collective And Cultural Memory: Personnel Perspectives Of Black Radio History In The United States, Kim Fox

Faculty Journal Articles

This interdisciplinary research investigates the significance of the community connection between Black radio personnel and their audiences through the lens of collective and cultural memory narratives. The study addresses two key research questions. First, how do Black radio personnel’s collective and cultural memories contribute to the Black public sphere? Second, what are the defining characteristics in developing parasocial relationships and interactions between Black radio personalities and their audiences? The qualitative research employs an autoethnographic methodology and a questionnaire, utilizing insights gained from the author’s experiences working at a Black-owned radio network and station. The questionnaire, distributed to key informants in …

Come As You Are: The Rise And Fall Of The Grunge Movement And Its Implications On The Identity Of Seattle, Colin J. Wood

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

This paper evaluates the rise of the Grunge movement through Nirvana’s Nevermind album as a unique burst of culture through the city of Seattle. Culturally, in the late 20th century, Seattle found its identity in the area around it, though other American cities overshadowed its significance. Through music, figures such as Jack Endino and the iconic Kurt Cobain gave Seattle an unfathomable uplift within global culture. This paper argues that grunge culture emerged as a distinct facet of Seattleite identity, with elements like flannel clothing and thrifting playing pivotal roles in shaping the city's recognizable and esteemed cultural landscape. It …

Usa Archaeology Museum Newsletter - June 2024, Archaeology Museum

Archaeology Museum Newsletters

In this edition of the museum's newsletter:

• Document the Historic Plateau/Africatown Cemetery?
• Giving to the Archaeology Museum

America, Dreaming., Sarah Meftah

Masters Theses

There is a version

of America

that exists

only in dreams,

a kind of folklore,

shrouded in images,

technicolor interiors,

wrapped in plastic,

ghosts of recent past

to haunt and guide;

a constant reminder.

Wishful thinking

a constructed imaginary,

one I can hold in my hand.

Popular culture and spectacle, America and the domestic ideal, capitalism and the collective unconscious of a national identity. As an artist, I am interested in the myriad images that manifest for a viewer when they think of the spectacle of American pop culture, its domestic archetypes, and the material worship it revolves around. My …

The Memory Of A Victory: The Spanish-American War Through Cocktail Names, “War Drinks” And The Art Of Mixing, Ilaria Berti

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

The relevance of examining late nineteenth-century Cuba depends from its being a colony under two powers, one European and one extra-European: the formal Spanish empire that had the political power and the informal supremacy of the US economic influence. However, within the framework of of enlarging its authority in the American region, the US perceived Cuba as a strategic island that was under the Spanish dominion. For the US expansionistic aims, Cuba has, in fact, been defined as a laboratory for the US empire (Pérez 2008) Through the analysis of newspapers’ articles, images published in the satirical magazine The Puck, …

The Holocaust's Legacy: Influencing Jewish Political Identity, Jordan Eskew

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis addresses the intricate relationship between the historical persecution of the Holocaust and its enduring influence on contemporary Jewish political engagement, a subject of significant contemporary relevance in political and international relations. Despite broad recognition of the Holocaust’s impact, the specific ways in which its memory affects Jewish political attitudes and actions around the world in the modern day have not been sufficiently thoroughly examined. Utilizing qualitative methods, including interviews with 20 individuals—public figures, Holocaust survivors, their descendants, and broader members of the Jewish diaspora— this study focuses on understanding the interplay between historical trauma, community cohesion, and the …

Remembering The Civil War In Indian Territory: Conflict, Commemoration, And The Birth Of A State, 1861-1965, Sarah Elliott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project argues that the Civil War was the mechanism by which Indian Territory transformed into the white-dominated U.S. state of Oklahoma, both in population and identity. Factions of the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole Nations in Indian Territory allied with the Confederacy at the outset of the war. During Reconstruction, the federal government used these alliances to justify harsh treaty terms that dissolved tribal sovereignty and dispossessed these nations of much of their land. Initially, the federal government resettled other forcibly removed Indigenous peoples on this confiscated land, but the late nineteenth century, the Dawes Allotment Act and …

Out Of Print: Gay Periodicals And The Psa-Rinting Of A Gay Male World, 1969-1980, Jack Morris

Masters Theses, 2020-current

As the Gay Liberation movement spread across the cities of the United States during the 1970s, one institution bolstered it more than any other: the gay press. This thesis examines the role of the gay press in constructing an imagined community of gay men during the 1970s, uncovering the methods in which it fashioned a gay world that both encompassed and reached beyond the temporal and geographic boundaries of the United States. It argues that writers in gay periodicals built gay community and the Gay Liberation movement in numerous ways, such as reporting on gay history, uncovering foreign gay communities …

Iron In The New World’S Veins: Government, Ironworks, And Community In The Massachusetts Bay Colony, Abigail Adam

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The Massachusetts Bay Company conceived of a colonial iron industry as early as 1628; two years before its leaders migrated to the New World. The colony’s founders continued their efforts to establish a functioning iron industry in subsequent decades. With the General Court’s support, John Winthrop Jr. engaged in business with the London-based Company of Undertakers to make the iron industry a reality. Nevertheless, previous scholarship has neglected the iron industry’s place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s establishment. Yet surviving court records and correspondence indicates that these two bodies are inseparable. Indeed, the General Court used the ironworks to materially …

Aguaaaa!!!, Cory Villegas

Theses and Dissertations

“AGUA” is a call for new models of learning and sharing, celebrating the diasporic as a place of global revolution. Salsa, rooted in Latin American and Afro-Caribbean histories, is choreographer Cory Villegas’s expression of cultural legacy. As an Afro-diasporic dance, Salsa carries the wealth and variety of African and Indigenous roots. Villegas contextualizes her thesis event “Las Leyendas: An Afro Cuban Suite,” presenting herself and her troupe Soul Dance Co. as evidence that contradicts the erasure of Latin & Caribbean Culture in US dance history. The paper uses English and Spanish, written, visual, and oral materials with an accompanying webpage.

Mixed Feelings: The Emotional Appeals Of Zitkala-Ša’S American Indian Stories, Kayla Joan Baur

Publications and Research

Zitkala-Ša (Lakota: Zitkála-Šá, meaning Red Bird) was among the first to write about the experiences of Native American children in the U.S. Indian boarding school program to an English-speaking audience. As a writer and political activist, Zitkala-Ša uses emotional appeals and cultural ideas she learned through her white education to expose the very boarding school institutions that taught her. In American Indian Studies (1921), Zitkala-Ša critiques the violence that the Indian boarding school system inflicts on young Native Americans. She presents these critiques through emotional appeals that take two forms: one, a more traditional sentimental appeal associated with middle-class white …

The Black Press And Late Imperial Russia, Benjamin Pierce

History Undergraduate Honors Theses

For centuries, western observers had looked to Russia and seen a place fundamentally different from their home countries. In their accounts, Russia was distinctly oppressive, a state characterized by tyranny, barbarism, and Mongolian influence. But these accounts were faulty. They were written by merchants, diplomats, and explorers, wealthy white men who had never experienced the kind of repression they witnessed in Russia. When Black Americans looked to Russia, however, they saw a place fundamentally similar to the United States. Both countries were large, multiethnic empires driven by territorial acquisition and fueled by forced labor. By tracing the coverage of Russia …

From Tidewater To Tennessee: The Structuring Influences Of Virginia Schemata In The Settlement Of East Tennessee, Slade Nakoff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For over two hundred years, historians have debated the historical importance of early Tennessee migrants in shaping the state’s history. These discussions center around North Carolina's impact compared to Virginia's. By shifting discourse to the retention of migrant mentalities, the overwhelming influence of Virginia emerges through the continuity of privilege and commodification schemata. This study employs an interdisciplinary methodological approach combining schema theory, memory studies, and material culture analysis to outline the retention of mentalities from Tidewater, Virginia, to East Tennessee during the early settlement period. By utilizing the case study of John Carter of Watauga (1728-1781), the research illustrates …

The Grizzly, April 25, 2024, Marie Sykes, Ellie Burns, Kathy Logan, Sean Mcginley, Kate Horan, Mairead Mcdermott, Georgia Gardner, Adam Denn, Renie Christensen, Dominic Minicozzi

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Weaving Stories Into Dance • CoSA Coming This Wednesday! • Ursinus Students Present Biology Projects in San Diego • Editor's Note • Marie Sykes: Editor-in-Chief Signing Off • Grizzly Editorial Team: Senior Goodbyes • Grizzly Editorial Team: Returning Members • Final Crossword • 2024 Spring Sports Recap: Women's Athletics • Signing Off, Go Bears!

Republican Manhood And The Disabled Revolutionary War Veteran In The Early American Republic, 1789 – 1797, Virgil Clark

Madison Historical Review

In the aftermath of the American Revolutionary War, several Disabled Continental Army soldiers scattered across the burgeoning Republic were driven by desperation to write letters, pleading with General George Washington for his support. The soldiers’ decision to draft these letters stemmed from their profound frustration and disillusionment with the post-Revolution American state. The soldiers' discontent resulted from the sense of neglect they experienced after the state rejected their petitions for a Disabled Veteran’s pension. As time passed and rent went unpaid, medical bills piled up, and the threat of vagrancy loomed over these men like a malevolent specter. Unable to …

The Grizzly, April 18, 2024, Marie Sykes, Nicolas Ungurean, Andrew J. Perez, Ellie Burns, Kathy Logan, Kate Horan, Sidney Belleroche, Renee Washart, James Rapp

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Tensions High at Congressional Town Hall • Tree Planting Ceremony to Honor Damiano Rotolo • Ursinus Hosting "Out of Darkness" Walk • Phi Kap's LLS Fundraiser • Expert Tips on Graduate School Planning: What You Need to Know • First Year Review on First-Year Housing • Every REP Matters • ReLAXing is Not an Option

The Grizzly, April 11, 2024, Marie Sykes, Ellie Burns, Sean Mcginley, Maddie Wilson, Vaughn Dibattista

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Lavender Graduation: Recognizing LGBTQ+ Seniors • Check Out These Senior Honors Projects! • The Arts at COSA • Bear Innovation Contest • Crossword: Solar Eclipse Edition! • UC Softball Crossword • Walking On, Standing Out: The Jay Sims Story

The Grizzly, April 4, 2024, Marie Sykes, Renee Washart, Caitlin Cunnane, Nicolas Ungurean, Kate Horan, Kathy Logan, Dominic Minicozzi, Donovan Dyitt

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Counting Craters With Physics • Talking With the Cast of Captain Darling • Main Street Revitalization Plan • Watson Fellowship Winner Tommy Armstrong '20: Travels and Reflections • Seniors Share Their Favorite Memories at Ursinus • Sudoku! • NCGA National Championship Puts Ursinus on the Map • Springing Into Action

Res Historica, Volume 3, Lynneth Miller Renberg Phd, Alpha Rho Epsilon Phi Alpha Theta

Res Historica

The 2024 journal of historical research by Anderson University students, Res Historica.

The editorial team for this edition of Res Historica was Dr. Lynneth Miller Renberg, Johnathan Sorce, and Samuel Sanders.

El Nacimiento Del Rock En Español: ¿Cómo Fue Que Este Género De Música Latina Tuvo Éxito?, Alejandro V. Martinez

World Languages and Cultures

This paper titled El nacimiento del rock en español: ¿Cómo fue que este género de música latina tuvo éxito? will cover information regarding the Spanish rock movement. This essay compares what is written in this paper to that of prior scholars to show that although they do bring valid points, there is a lot more than many of us realize. There are various articles and reports written about the movement, but many do not explain the creation of the movement, let alone its survival in the music industry as a new genre that some had never heard of or had …

3rd Place Contest Entry: From Film Sets To Front Lines And Back Again: Reinventing Star Image In Post-World War Ii Hollywood, Livia Belen Lozoya

Eric M. Scandrett Graduate Library Research Prize

This is Livia Lozoya's submission for the 2024 Eric M. Scandrett Graduate Research Prize, which won third place. It contains their essay on using library resources, their bibliography, and a summary of their research project on established movie stars who voluntarily left their lives of luxury to serve in World War II and returned to a changed postwar film industry, specifically James Stewart, Robert Montgomery, Marlene Dietrich, and Myrna Loy.

Livia is a student in the Masters of Arts in Film and Media Studies program at Chapman University. Their faculty mentor is Dr. Emily Carman. Her thesis, available here, …

Hollywoodlandia: Celebrity Women, Movie Culture, And American Public Womanhood, 1916-1950, Skye Cranney

History Theses and Dissertations

This project proposes to study the ways in which celebrity women’s behavior may have encouraged American women to challenge, but not necessarily subvert, traditional gender roles even as Hollywood publicity continued to emphasize the importance of those same roles in women’s lives. It does that by examining three sites where celebrity women prominently lived, worked, played, and volunteered between 1920 and 1950: the Hollywood Studio Club, a boarding house only for women in the entertainment industry, in Los Angeles; the Sun Valley Ski Resort, the first modern ski resort in the American West, in central Idaho; and the Hollywood Canteen, …

Borglum’S Horse Flies: The Early Opposition To Mount Rushmore, Riley Merritt

Honors College Theses

This thesis explores the evolution of opposition to Mount Rushmore from 1923-1927—the period before carving began. The resistance was led by a group of preservationists who were concerned about the potential ecological and societal impacts of the project. While much of the existing scholarship has focused on the relationship between the local Indigenous community and the monument, I argue that the preservationists, who opposed the site for their own reasons, deserve similar attention. I aim to reframe the Mount Rushmore controversy within the broader context of the conservation movement, thereby contributing to wider environmental and historical debates. I also emphasize …

Bearing The Benefit: An Evolution Of Passing To Trespassing & How We Got Here, Kennedi J. Williams

Honors College Theses

In recent years, we have seen a shift in the social treatment of white people in America. The desire to be politically correct at all times, in hopes of avoiding becoming the next viral “Karen” or racist has become imperative. The following thesis will explore the latest trend of white women buying racial capital by producing mixed-race children. At first glance, this idea can be a bit problematic. How can we assume the reasoning behind a woman choosing to bear a child? With this in mind, I would like to emphasize that individuals do not have to consciously be racist …

The Grizzly, March 28, 2024, Marie Sykes

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

This is an April Fool's parody edition of the Ursinus College Grizzly newspaper entitled "The Goofly."

The Grizzly, March 21, 2024, Marie Sykes, Sean Mcginley, Ellie Burns, Renee Washart, Caitlin Cunnane, Carlota Corral Elejabeitia, James Rapp

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Talking Campus Antisemitism and New Social Science With Professor Kopstein • Deadnaming Emails Resolved • Joey Nolan Named Watson Fellow • Drug Delivery Via Carbon Nanotubes • Breakaway Student Productions and WVOU Present: Mircalla • Studying Abroad as a Fulbright Fellow • Softball Spring Break Senior Catch-up and Their "Revenge Tour" • Ursinus Men's LAX Crossword

The Grizzly, March 14, 2024, Marie Sykes, Sidney Belleroche, Sean Mcginley, Isabel Martinez-Robles, Gregory Dervinis, Nicolas Ungurean, Dominic Minicozzi, Adam Denn

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Librarian Skorina Talks Potential Renovations to Myrin Library • Sodexo Chef Cook-off at Wismer • March Crossword Puzzle • You Like Jazz? • Senior Honors Projects: Featuring Grabowski and Grubb • Where's the Party at? • Winter is the New Spring! • Bears Hard at Work Over Spring Break

"In The Footsteps Of Hercules": The Influence Of Classical Antiquity On Eighteenth-Century Militaries, Scott Madere

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This project examines the pervasive influence of ancient Roman and Greek figures, historical events, literature, and military methods on the leaders and practitioners of eighteenth-century warfare. Rulers, generals, military theorists, and officers frequently consulted classical histories and literature for solutions to the common military problems of the period – tactical, operational, and strategic – showing remarkable faith in ancient military methods despite their growing dependence on gunpowder weaponry and related technologies. This dissertation examines why this was the case and concludes that classical antiquity not only maintained the credibility of its wisdom in the context of modern warfare, but also …