United States History Commons^™

Full Issue

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Awards For Outstanding Papers Written In 2026

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

African or Middle Eastern History

American Indian Studies Indigenous History Award

Bertis L. and Anna E.C. Embry Award in Global Latter-day Saint History

Cultural History Award

De Lamar and Mary Jensen Award in European History

Eugene E. Campbell Award in Utah History

Family History Award

Fred R. Gowans Award in 19th Century American West History

Faith and Reason Paper Competition

History of Empire Award

History of the Family Award

Latin American History Award

Latino/Latina History Award

Leroy R. Hafen Award in North American History

Mark R. Grandstaff Award in Military History

Sechin Jagchid Award in Non-Western History

Women’s History Award …

Co-Opting Modernity: The Semantic Retooling Of Faith At The 1893 World’S Parliament Of Religions, Erik P. Palmer

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

The 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago served as a high-stakes arena where the boundaries of religious legitimacy were redrawn through the intentional adoption of social science vocabulary. Staged within the Neo-Classical architecture of the White City of the World’s Columbian Exposition, the event was more than a civil gathering; it functioned as a “Museum of Faiths” where religious traditions were curated, categorized, and evaluated against the perceived benchmarks of Western civilization. The physical environment of the Fair, a monument to industrial triumph, was built to display things that worked. The organizers demanded that religions demonstrate they were useful …

Moving Forward, Looking Back: How Mormon Women Sought To Carry Their Polygamous Past Into A Progressive Future Article, Evan Janis

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

The influence of woman is fully recognized.” These words, spoken by Emily S. Richards, echoed the shared mission of Utah women at the World’s Congress of Representative Women: to overturn the public perception of them as ignorant, crude, and barbaric. After decades of legal and social campaigns against the so-called “second barbarism” of polygamy, the reputation of Mormon women had been one of its greatest casualties. Cast as too homely to marry a respectable man, too naive to resist deception, and too submissive to think for themselves, the Utah delegation to the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair sought to redefine their …

Letters From The Levant: An Astellian Reading, Tanner Stott

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Among the more startling friendships of early 18th-century London’s literary scene is that of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and Mary Astell. Their commonalities—remarkable self-education, political activism, and prolific writing—are dwarfed by vast differences of class, politics, and character. Astell, a curiously conservative woman nearly twenty-three years Montagu’s senior, spent her unmarried life squarely in the middle class. Montagu, on the other hand, began her life in England’s loftiest social echelons—the daughter of a Duke, she eloped with untitled Edward only to see him become one of England’s wealthiest men. Montagu lived colorfully with “principles,” according to Lady Irwin, “as corrupt …

Civilizing The Russian Frontier: Ferdinand And Elisabeth Von Wrangell’S Impact On Russian America, Ariel Brown

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In the early 19th century, the Russian colonies in North America struggled due to alcoholism, limited health care, violent attacks from Native tribes, extramarital relations, rat infestations, and weather-induced architectural decay. It is no wonder then that Ferdinand von Wrangell, the sixth governor of Russian America said, “It was our duty or rather we considered it as such, to introduce the concepts of decency and mores to this remote corner of the globe.” He believed his wife Elisabeth would also play a large role in that endeavor, stating, “In the absence of European females our ideas, conventions of civilization and …

From Cotton To Canyons: An Analysis Of The Historic Industries Of Southern Utah, Brielle Beardall

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

On October 6, 1861, Brigham Young stood before Latter-day Saints gathered in the Old Salt Lake City Tabernacle and called 300 missionaries on an ambitious undertaking: Over three hundred families would leave their homes and settle in the Utahn southwestern desert; a region that earned the nickname of “Utah’s Dixie” for both its southern location and its punishing heat. Their mission was to cultivate cotton and increase Utahn economic independence from the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Allen Joseph Stout recalled in a personal journal about his experience learning of the call to Southern Utah, “My neighbors reported that …

Narrating The Bucolic South: How Southern Living Reflected And Shaped The South In The 1990s, Krista C. Wright

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In December 1995 at a company Christmas party, previous editor Gary McCalla spoke with Emory Cunningham, sitting president and chair who oversaw the transition from the practical Progressive Farmer to a lifestyle magazine for the “New South.” Looking around the room, Cunningham remarked, “These young people have no idea where we came from.” McCalla recalled a memo he and John Logue, creative director of the magazine, had written in the early days, outlining “what we believed had to be done to save Southern Living.” At that moment, the two noticed the song playing in the background— “History” by Michael …

“Wak[Ing] Up A Sleeping Giant”: Zions Opinion’S Crusade For Independent Governance And Free Speech At Brigham Young University During The 1968–1969 School Year, Joseph Boysen

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In 1968, university and college students across the United States demanded a larger voice in university governance. Sit-ins, rallies, and demonstrations were common, whether for civil rights, free speech, women’s rights, or against the Vietnam war and the draft. For instance, students took over the office of the President of Columbia University to protest the University’s appropriation of land that might have benefited the Black community. In this context, the students at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, had the chance to consider how they were going to pursue their own calls for change. Although they did not engage in …

Le Roi Shrinks Before La Nation And La Liberté: Feminine Allegories And The King In French Revolutionary Prints, Jared Cluff

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Printers in the early years of the French Revolution faced an unprecedented problem with new, unprecedented legal flexibility. Though the most cohesive government-coordinated efforts to overturn old symbols and refashion France’s national identity would not come until the Republican period, French engravers in the early years of the Revolution found existing Old Regime symbols and visual codes inadequate tools, so sought “a visual formula for [this] unprecedented historical change.” Furthermore, while the National Assembly did not completely do away with the Old Regime censorship systems that it ostensibly abolished with the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, printers …

Reshaping Home: Chinese Immigrant Women’S Adaptation And Family Transformation Under Exclusion, Chloe Nicole 零星 Isom

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In 1941, Jew Law Ying arrived at the port of San Francisco with her infant daughter, Bak Heong, seeking admission to join her merchant husband, Yung Hin Sen, in the United States. Upon arrival, immigration officials detained Jew Law Ying and her daughter and required both her and her husband to answer nearly two hundred detailed questions about themselves to prove their identities and relationship. Officials designed these questions to uncover inconsistencies and expose fraudulent relationships, and they were so intricate that, despite their legal and legitimate marriage, Jew Law Ying and Yung Hin Sen had prepared extensively, memorizing answers …

From The Editor: Preface, Phoebe England Baker Editor In Chief

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C. for a class. There, I experienced the life-changing Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Never had I attended a museum that was so well-curated. The museum started in the basement, a space intentionally designed with narrow passages, low ceilings, and dim lighting to evoke the conditions of a slave ship.

Front Matter

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Student Awards

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Awards for Outstanding Papers Written in 2025

Dam Negotiations: Water, Diné Sovereignty, And The Navajo Dam, George Smith

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

On July 30, 1958, contractors working for the Bureau of Reclamation broke ground on the Navajo Dam, located about 35 miles east of Farmington, New Mexico. Diné Tribal chairman Paul Jones had called the dam a “new hope for [his] people,” anticipating increased agricultural and industrial capacity from irrigation and flow management. Though officially approved in 1962, the contingent Navajo Indian Irrigation Project (NIIP) that was to provide those many of those benefits remained to be completed in 2024. By contrast, the San Juan Chama Project (SJCP), the other project contingent upon the dam, diverted water from the San Juan …

Marcion And The Crisis Of Second-Century Christianity, Samuel Petersen

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Almost a century after the death of Christ and his original apostles, the 2nd-century Judeo-Christian church found itself in a vicious struggle for survival catalyzed by an ongoing negotiation between the church’s traditional Jewish roots and establishing its own identity. The loose confederation of Jesus-believers fought to gather themselves into a functional body as they wrestled with questions surrounding the very nature of the Christian faith.

“No Hen Should Herald The Dawn Lest Misfortune Follow”: Gender, History, And Power Sima Guang’S Comprehensive Mirror, Zoe Ngan

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

It was not a particularly notable occasion when Emperor Gaozong 高宗 of the Tang dynasty (AD 618–907) established Wu Zetian 武則天 as a mid-ranked concubine in 654. Emperors, throughout Chinese history, were polygamous rulers who acquired no shortage of concubines per the Rites of Zhou 周禮, an ancient ritual text which proposed that rulers obtain 121 wives and consorts. Wu’s nomination signified the unpredictability of imperial favour and almost certainly did not turn heads when her appointment occurred.

“I, Too, Want To Be Free”: Women And The Birth Control Movement In Utah, 1914–1940, Evelyn Wilcox

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Like many other women, I too, want to be free,” explained a 33-year- old Utah woman in a 1925 letter to Margaret Sanger, a prominent leader in the birth control movement. This woman, whose name is unknown, was married to a 78-year- old man with whom, she thought, “in her ignorance,” that she would never have any children—she was proven wrong. With six children under the age of eight at the time and wanting to prevent having more, this woman’s predicament reflects Sanger’s mission to inform everyday women of birth control so they could make their own reproductive choices. After …

Christianity Behind The Iron Curtain: How Creative Arts Gave A Voice To The Voiceless, Riana Johnson Wills

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In 1988, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) held celebrations across the Soviet Union to mark the Millennium of Christianity in Russia, commemorating a thousand years since the baptism of Rus in 988. While this was a monumental day for Christians, many believers across the Soviet Union felt a sense of dissonance. For decades, religious freedom and worship had not been privileges they enjoyed. Thousands of Christians suffered for their belief. The communist regime began in 1922 with Vladimir Lenin. The USSR built upon Marxist ideology where atheism is a fundamental and they expected nationwide compliance to these ideologies. …

Rationed Victory: A Study Of American Civilian Rationing In World War Ii, Alex Moulder

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In any conflict or competition it is often said that the winner is “fueled to victory.” This could come as a result of training, diet, stamina, support from others, or sheer willpower. Even small variations in any of these elements can have significant consequences and affect outcomes. The same can be said about civilians during wartime, especially during the largest conflict of the twentieth century, World War II. The war cemented the United States as a global power, thanks in part to its massive economy, technologies, and industries, which helped to overcome the war of attrition against the Axis powers. …

“It Was The Women Who Kept It On”: The 1984–85 National Union Of Mineworkers Strike In Wales, Brett Bodily

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

On March 3rd, 1984, more than 140,000 miners, all members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) walked out on strike in protest of proposed colliery, or “pit” closures. Years of disputes culminated in a major showdown between the largest labor union in the United Kingdom and a resurgent national conservatism led by Margaret Thatcher— leader of the Tory party. The communities built around coal mining recognized the Tory pit closure plan for what it was—an existential threat to their way of life. Women within these communities rose to the occasion and took on leadership and organizational responsibilities, many for …

Leasing Land, Losing Sovereignty: Us Military Land Leasing In Okinawa, Japan, Kathryn Blau

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Military land leasing in Okinawa has played a central role in limiting Okinawan political sovereignty since the end of World War II by fostering economic dependence on US military bases and enabling policies that override local opposition. Tracing the evolution of the leasing system under both American occupation and Japanese administration reveals how land expropriation, compensation policies, and increasingly generous financial incentives encouraged reliance on base-related income while discouraging advocacy for land reversion and base reduction. The analysis further demonstrates how the Japanese government's legal enforcement of mandatory lease renewals, particularly during the 1996 Okinawa land dispute, curtailed the rights …

Editor's Preface, Gabe Smock

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

This editor's preface explores the origins and enduring mission of The Thetean, BYU's undergraduate history journal. Through archival research in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, the journal's founding history is traced to its inaugural 1967 edition, revealing the origin, pronunciation, and meaning of its distinctive name as a reference to Phi Alpha Theta, the history honor society. The preface highlights the journal's longstanding commitment to encouraging scholarly research, providing publication opportunities, and introducing students to the work of historians. By recovering the journal's own history, it underscores the broader value of historical inquiry: understanding the past to better …

Front Matter

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Gathering Knowledge, Sustaining Science: The Female Forager And American Mushroom Culture, 1880–1930, Madeline S. Dede-Panken

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Unearthing origins of modern mycophilia, this dissertation explores the mushroom mania which reverberated through American society at the turn of the twentieth century, empowering Anglo-American women in new ways. America’s largely forgotten first mushroom fad illuminates gendered negotiations of foraging culture and public science. Beginning in the 1880s, a remarkable cohort of women helped turn mushrooms from shunned, mysterious organisms into wholesome delicacies for culinary and intellectual enrichment. Female enthusiasts fostered a vibrant mushroom culture and nationwide network of mycophiles. Culinary applications and poisoning fears legitimized women’s presence in scientific endeavors, positioning mycology as vital female knowledge for public safety …

Reexamining The Croton Aqueduct: A Ward-Level Microhistorical Analysis Of Infrastructure And Cholera Mortality In 1849 New York City, Alexandria R. Toothman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This work reexamines the Croton Aqueduct’s role in public health by shifting analysis from the citywide level to the ward level, revealing that infrastructure expansion did not produce uniform benefits across New York City. When the Croton Aqueduct opened in 1842, it was celebrated as an achievement that would deliver pure water and eliminate disease. However, only seven years after its opening, in 1849, cholera returned with greater force in the Sixth Ward. This work shows that the uneven distribution of Croton infrastructure corresponded with uneven cholera mortality rates, challenging narratives that present Croton as a singular triumph of urban …

Assessing Legacy Collections: Analyzing The Preservation, Recovery, And Interpretive Value Of Archaeobotanical Remains From Site 15le70 (Pine Crest Rockshelter), Lee County, Kentucky, Jennifer Carroll

Graduate Final Projects

This paper uses the archaeobotanical assemblage from Site 15Le70, a multi-excavated and extensively looted rockshelter in eastern Kentucky, while opening new lines of inquiry into gendered labor and practice during the Archaic-Woodland transition. Because legacy collections are often dispersed across institutions and/or research projects, the materials from any single site may be fragmented, as was the case for 15Le70. Such collections can be overlooked, yet this investigation into 15Le70’s archaeobotanical assemblage demonstrates that partial or scattered datasets can yield meaningful results and hold the potential to fill gaps in the archaeological record left by looting.

In this study, a small …

A Weapon Waiting To Be Used: The Strategic Importance Of The Women Airforce Service Pilots Of World War Ii, Piper Hanson

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP, were a group of women pilots who worked in a civilian capacity with the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) during World War II. The air war in both Europe and the Pacific Theaters was extremely deadly with high casualty rates, and the USAAF struggled to train new aircrews. Established in 1943, the WASP program aimed to free male pilots on the home front for combat duties by allowing women pilots to take over non-combat roles. WASPs ferried military planes from manufacturers to bases, test-piloted damaged or dangerous aircraft, and trained military personnel …

Munificence: The History And Legacy Of The Munson Steamship Line, 1865–1955, Nicholas C. Benda

Honors Scholar Theses

This paper provides an overview of the Munson Steamship Line, an American steamship company founded by Captain Walter David Munson. A veteran of the American Civil War, Captain Munson visited Cuba following the war’s conclusion and became involved in Cuba’s oil and sugar industries, gradually becoming involved in the international sugar shipping trade. An 1890 innovation in shipboard technology and its impact on the Cuban American molasses trade was a moment that established a multi-generational maritime empire, officially incorporating the Munson Steamship Line shortly after the American intervention in the Cuban War of Independence and expanding throughout the Atlantic. His …