United States History Commons^™

Unit Plan: Examining The Struggle For An Equitable Education System In Portland, Oregon, Melinda Gale, Oliver Brown

African American History in Oregon: Lesson Plans

This unit is designed for five 90 minute periods in US history or African American history.

Using an array of primary sources, as well as select secondary texts, students will investigate the history of segregation, desegregation, and multicultural school reforms in Portland, Oregon. The unit will explore the relationship between local community organizations and Portland Public Schools, having students evaluate the effectiveness of both groups in terms of school reform. In the culminating project students will create a three-minute policy proposal that they present as testimony in a Portland Public Schools Board meeting.

Unit Plan: The Role Of Community Organizations In The Oregon Civil Rights Movement, Michael Gifford, Lance Erickson

African American History in Oregon: Lesson Plans

This unit will introduce students to the role of Community Organizations in the Civil Rights Movement in Portland, Oregon. They will be presented with information on the various organizations and issues facing African Americans who lived in Portland during the civil rights movement. At the conclusion of the unit students will be able to discuss the community organizations played in relation to the success of civil rights protests in Portland. They will also have an understanding of how the African American civil rights movement served as a model for modern activism.

Unit Plan: The Role Of The Urban League Of Portland In The African American Community, Amber Ferris, Andre Hawkins, Cari Yelvington

African American History in Oregon: Lesson Plans

This unit is intended for a high school social studies classroom. It can be utilized in a variety of social studies courses as it touches upon community organizing, Oregon history, and African American history. The lessons focus on the Urban League of Portland's role in "uplifting" the African American community, with particular attention to the issues of equality in housing and education. The unit materials provide some history and basic information about the Urban League of Portland as well. Developing student skill in text and chart analysis is emphasized in this unit. Formative assessments are embedded within the lessons. At …

Unit Plan: The Desegregation Of Portland Public Schools, Sadie Adams, Dia Nelson

African American History in Oregon: Lesson Plans

The greatest turning point in United States history was when the Brown vs. Board of Education decision outlawed the policy of "separate but equal." It paved the way for equal rights to become a reality across the nation. This unit starts with the national context educating students on segregation before the Brown decision. As students move through the lessons they build background knowledge on the impact of Brown from a national context down to a more local context by focusing on the desegregation in Portland Public Schools in Portland, Oregon. Students will develop reading, writing, and critical thinking skills through …

Upholding The Monroe Doctrine: American Foreign Policy In The 1954 Guatemalan Coup D'Etat, Nadjalisse C. Reynolds-Lallement

Young Historians Conference

During the Cold War era, the US developed resentment toward the democratically elected government of Guatemala due to fears of Soviet influence in Latin America and liberal reforms orchestrated by President Arbenz that limited the interference of large American corporations in the Guatemalan economy. In keeping with a long history of imperialistic foreign policy, this distrust resulted in the Eisenhower administration and the CIA conspiring to overthrow the Arbenz administration and setting up a new Guatemalan government designed to be more sympathetic to American interests.

Fair Trial In A Sensationalist Society: Charles Manson And The Tate-Labianca Trial, Jamie L. Cannady

Young Historians Conference

The American legal system was created to ensure each citizen a fair and impartial administration of justice. Charles Manson, notorious criminal and leader of the Manson Family, faced one of the most sensationalistic and dramatized trials in all of United States history. This study views Manson's trial under these promised civil liberties, scrutinizing how Manson and his followers were not given the right to fair trial as secured under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Through many contemptuous actions by the court and media, the accused Family members were sentenced to death without an unbiased and lawful verdict.

Griswold V. Connecticut: A Study Of Resistance To Sexual Revolution In Connecticut, 1961, Natalie Pearson

Young Historians Conference

In 1965, the last remaining anticontraceptive law in the United States was made unconstitutional in Griswold v. Connecticut. Despite widespread acceptance of the use of contraceptives, Connecticut legislatures put up incredible resistance to the sexual revolution of the 1960s and subsequent demand that the statute--outlawing individual use of contraceptives--be removed. This paper asserts Connecticut's foundation as a haven for Protestant values as the reason for this determined resistance to the acceptance of contraceptives.

Riveting Rosie's Riveting Struggles: Women Shipyard Workers In Wwii, Stephanie Lippincott

Young Historians Conference

The women workers of WWII are generally portrayed as strong, happy, independent women sporting colorful bandanas and cocky grins, yet this manicured Rosie-the-Riveter image is a far cry from capturing the experiences of the average woman laborer on the home front. An examination the Kaiser shipyards in Portland and Vancouver makes it evident that women workers faced a plethora of obstacles and stressors in the workplace, only to find themselves booted back into the position of housewife at the end of the war.

Model Lessons About Geography And The United States Civil War, Amy Fifth-­Lince, Tabitha M. Richards, Alan Town, Jack Gordon, Julie Johnson, Sean Stewart, Mark S. Walls, Margaret Skyberg, Melanie Mays, Merx Lavine, Steve Reeves, Ryan Mcwayne, Colleen Pallari

Instructional Materials

Model lessons about geography and the United States Civil War to use with The Student Atlas of Oregon.

Who Owns This Body? Enslaved Women's Claim On Themselves, Loucynda Elayne Sandeen

Dissertations and Theses

During the antebellum period of U.S. slavery (1830-1861), many people claimed ownership of the enslaved woman's body, both legally and figuratively. The assumption that they were merely property, however, belies the unstable, shifting truths about bodily ownership. This thesis inquires into the gendered specifics and ambiguities of the law, the body, and women under slavery. By examining the particular bodily regulation and exploitation of enslaved women, especially around their reproductive labor, I suggest that new operations of oppression and also of resistance come into focus.

The legal structure recognized enslaved women in the interest of owners, and this limitation was …

No Place For Middlemen: Civic Culture, Downtown Environment, And The Carroll Public Market During The Modernization Of Portland, Oregon, James Richard Louderman

Dissertations and Theses

Following the Civil War, the American government greatly expanded the opportunities available for private businessmen and investors in an effort to rapidly colonize the West. This expansion of private commerce led to the second industrial revolution in which railroads and the corporation became the symbols and tools of a rapidly modernizing nation. It was also during this period that the responsibility of food distribution was released from municipal accountability and institutions like public markets began to fade from the American urbanscape. While the proliferation of private grocers greatly aided many metropolises' rapid growth, they did little to secure a sustainable …

Senator Dodd Versus The National Rifle Association: Passing The Gun Control Act Of 1968, Bennett D. Sorensen

Young Historians Conference

After the assassination of President Kennedy, Senator Dodd sought to pass gun control legislation. The National Rifle Association took the forefront on the debate against Dodd and became more politically active as an organization. After long debate, news coverage, and blame on both sides, the assassinations of two political figures MLK and Robert Kennedy spurred Dodd's Bill into passing, but only after amendments lessening its original effect The Gun Control Act of 1968 formed the basis of the modern, polarizing gun control debate and reflects the process of passing gun control legislation today.

John Law’S Flawed But Well Intended Système, Katy Baker

Young Historians Conference

Of the world's many economic meltdowns spurred by desperation, overconfident leaders with too much power, and a lack of experience or transparency, the Mississippi Bubble was one of the first that wiped out an entire economy. This paper explores how the decisions of John Law, a Scottish financier, economist, and compulsive gambler, led to the so-called Mississippi Bubble. A phenomenon which contributed to the drastic rise and fall of individuals' finances, hyperinflation, the devaluation of France's currency during the regency of Philippe d'Orleans.

How Did Wwii Pull The United States Out Of Economic Stagnation?, Chris Constans

Young Historians Conference

This investigation will evaluate how U.S. involvement in WWII stimulated the economy allowing America to climb out of economic stagnation and decline. To assess the extent to which the war stimulated the U.S. economy, this investigation will focus on parts of the economy specifically effected by the war, and the U.S. economy as a whole from 1939‐1945. To understand the drastic change in economic growth, Depression era statistic will be referenced for comparison. The investigation will cover macroeconomic topics specifically government spending and the multiplier effect and their effects on GDP. This investigation does not extend to Roosevelt’s New Deal …

Hardcore Punk For A Hardcore President: The Action And Response To Ronald Reagan, Julian Heninger

Young Historians Conference

President Ronald Reagan has been both highly revered and despised by different groups of Americans. In order to find an accurate view of what life was really like under the Reagan presidency, this study views Reagan through the exciting and gritty lens of the Punk movement, specifically in Southern California. Through research of lyrics, a personal interview, and writers of the Punk era, the voice and feelings, personality and purpose of a great amount of people reveal the true opposition to the effects the Reagan Administration had on the Nation.

The Armenian Problem: What Was The United States’ Response To The Armenian Genocide?, Alexandra Fleming

Young Historians Conference

The Armenian Genocide was an appalling tragedy that has proven to have longstanding effects upon many individuals. Would the effects have been so widespread if the Armenian people received more help? This paper will explore the United States' involvement in the Armenian Genocide as shown through primary sources by individuals in the U.S. and Armenia.

Labor Issues During The Construction Of The Panama Canal, Paul C. Diebold

Young Historians Conference

The Panama Canal represented America’s first great achievement on the international stage. But in its triumph, the United States showed itself willing to pursue success on the backs of the laborers—most of them black—without whom the canal could not have become a reality. This paper focuses on these men—men who braved dangerous conditions and the institutionalized segregation of the Canal Zone despite America’s reluctance to confront the issue of racism over a group of non-citizen, non-white laborers hundreds of miles removed from any American city or shore.

Past Tense, 2013, Retired Association Of Portland State

Past Tense columns of the RAPS Sheet

January, 2013 "A Tribute from 1955"

February, 2013 "Remembering our PSU Women's Association"

March, 2013 "RAPS, the Campus Traveler"

April, 2013 "Early Leadership at Portland State College"

May, 2013 "The Beginning: Geology at Portland State"

June, 2013 "Launching Study Abroad at Portland State"

September, 2013 "We Celebrate a Half Century of RAPS at PSU!"

October, 2013 "Celebrating the History of RAPS"

November, 2013 "PSU Football Players Make the Pros"

December, 2013 "PSU's Chamber Choir Has Been Singing Since 1975"

Black And Blue: Police-Community Relations In Portland's Albina District, 1964-1985, Leanne Claire Serbulo, Karen J. Gibson

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

As in many cities across America, the relationship between African Americans in Portland, Oregon, and the city police force was fraught with tension through the late twentieth century. Scholars Leanne Serbulo and Karen Gibson argue that Portland's African Americans, who collectively made up less than ten percent of Portland residents and were segregated into neighborhoods including the Albina district, experienced police as figures of colonial oppression. The authors chronicle how, over two decades bordered by African Americans' deaths at the hands of police, neighborhood activists attempted to reform the police department and met resistance. The authors conclude that transformation of …

Portland, Oregon's Long Hot Summers: Racial Unrest And Public Response, 1967-1969, Joshua Joe Bryan

Dissertations and Theses

The struggles for racial equality throughout northern cities during the late-1960s, while not nearly as prevalent within historical scholarship as those pertaining to the Deep South, have left an indelible mark on both the individuals and communities involved. Historians have until recently thought of the civil rights movement in the north as a violent betrayal of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s vision of an inclusive and integrated society, as well as coinciding with the rise, and subsequent decline, of Black Power. But despite such suppositions, the experiences of northern cities immersed in the civil rights struggle were far more varied …

Rutherford Family Collection Celebration: Exhibit Catalogue, Charlotte Rutherford, Marti Clemmons, Meg Langford, Jeanne Roedel, Tasha Triplett, Marc Carpenter, Patricia Schechter

"Say We Are Here" Exhibit

This is the catalogue for the exhibit, "Say We Are Here: Culture, Community and Activism across Four Generations of Black Oregonians."

Rutherford Family Collection Celebration: Poster, Thomas Cober

"Say We Are Here" Exhibit

This is the poster advertising the exhibit, "Say We Are Here: Culture, Community and Activism across Four Generations of Black Oregonians."

Ida B. Wells-Barnett And The Carceral State, Patricia A. Schechter

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

My remarks today are entitled "Ida B. Wells-Barnett and the Carceral State." I want to focus on the carceral state—that is, the government functions of 'confining, surveillance and punishment'—in order to engage with some recent scholarship on race, policing, and imprisonment in the United States. These are topics that Wells-Barnett had a great deal to say about hundred years ago, especially as related to lynching. I’d like to suggest that her work in prison reform, probation work, and advocacy for inmates back in the progressive era connects to the contemporary crisis around race and mass incarceration in important ways.

The Lumberman's Frontier: Three Centuries Of Land Use, Society, And Change In America's Forests, William L. Lang

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

A review of the book "The Lumberman's Frontier: Three Centuries of Land Use, Society, and Change in America's Forests," by Thomas R. Cox is presented.

Imperialistic Incentives, Katherine Jensen

Anthós

Within this essay I will summarize author Andrew Wender Cohen’s 2010 article entitled "Smuggling, Globalization, and America’s Outward State, 1870-1909." I will describe the structure of the article as three distinct sections with an introduction and conclusion and complete a deeper analysis of the function of each section on an individual basis. An investigation of the primary and especially secondary sources will help to put Cohen’s article into context as part of a greater discussion between other historical scholars. A closer look into the relevance and fit of the sources/evidence used for Cohen’s article will be complemented by a study …

The Quiet Bigotry Of Oregon's Compulsory Public Education Act, Nicole L. Mandel

Young Historians Conference

Oregon's Compulsory Education Act, passed in 1922 and rejected by the Supreme court in 1925, required that all school-aged children attend public school. It was a direct attack on Catholics and Catholics schools by the KKK (Ku Klux Klan) and the Oregon Masons. However, when selling this idea to the public, the KKK and Masons never mention Catholics or any anti-Catholic sentiment behind the bill, and sold it purely as a public-school protective measure - thus they kept their bigotry "quiet."

A Sequence Of Unfortunate Events: Why The Lost Colony Collapsed, Kate Jesse

Young Historians Conference

The era of colonization of the Americas began in 1492 with Columbus. However, it is not until the Roanoke Colonies in 1584 and 1587, that England attempted to claim part of this new land for itself. However, both colonies failed. The first ended when the inhabitants returned to England after a year on Roanoke Island while the second, known as the Lost Colony, mysteriously disappeared. This paper examines the causes of the second Roanoke Colony's failure as the combined results of the inability of John White to resupply the colonists quickly and the unfortunate location of the colony near Algonquians …

Past Tense, 2012, Retired Association Of Portland State

Past Tense columns of the RAPS Sheet

January, 2012 "Judith Ramaley: Portland State's First Female President"

February, 2012 "The Regional Research Institute: A Pioneer and a Survivor"

March, 2012 "The Beginning: Teacher Education at Portland State"

April, 2012 "The Beginning: History at Portland State"

May, 2012 "Snapshots of Diversity at PSU"

June, 2012 "Making Music: The Music Department's Beginnings"

September, 2012 "Gordon Dodds: the Savior of Portland State's History"

October, 2012 "The Early Years: Engineering at PSU"

November, 2012 ""Can PSU help?" Special Education Leadership in Autism Research"

December, 2012 "A History of Holiday Giving"

Railroaded: The Transcontinentals And The Making Of Modern America, William L. Lang

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

A review of the book "Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America," by Richard White is presented.

The Responsibility Of Intellectuals: Chomsky And Student Opposition To The Vietnam War, Matthew S. Krane

Young Historians Conference

The paper offers a critical perspective on the relevance of noted public intellectual Noam Chomsky’s work to American opposition to the Vietnam War. It gives a brief background of the war and United States policies in order to set the stage for an analysis of Chomsky’s critique. Then, the paper situates Chomsky’s main work of dissent, The Responsibility of Intellectuals, in the proper chronological and historical context. Two paradigms of protest by intellectuals and students are noted: logical and reactionary. In Vietnam, it is argued that the former was rooted in the latter, which no intellectual justification touched; therefore, while …