United States History Commons^™

New York Times V. U.S.: Implications And Relevance In The 21st Century, Maria E. Lombardi

Student Publications

In 1971, the New York Times released the first installment in a series later referred to as the Pentagon Papers that would eventually have significant political, social, and historical impacts that are felt even in the 21st Century. Following the first release, President Nixon’s administration sought an injunction against the publication of the remaining contents of the classified study, ultimately becoming an extensive legal process that culminated in the Supreme Court. In a per curiam opinion, the Court ruled that in accordance with Organization for a Better Austin v. Keefe and Near v. Minnesota that the federal government did not …

Reading "Between The Lines", Sarah Hansen

Student Publications

Twenty-seven years: the time it took after Paul O’Connell’s return from Vietnam for him to fully reflect on his war experience. O’Connell, a Marine who at the age of eighteen served in the jungles of Vietnam from October 18^th, 1968 to October 1^st, 1969, was a purple-heart receiving grunt who faced some of the most horrid experiences of guerrilla warfare. His memoir, Between the Lines, is a collection of his letters written home from Vietnam, and reflections about his experiences and the “between the lines” of the correspondences. Throughout his memoir, the themes of heroism, cowardice, …

Documenting Women’S Civil War Experiences In The Ohio Valley At The Filson, Eric Willey

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

This collections essay describes archival collections of the Filson Historical Society of Louisville, Kentucky. These collections document women and their experiences in the American Civil War.

Review Of Prigg V. Pennsylvania: Slavery, The Supreme Court, And The Ambivalent Constitution, Susan David Demaine

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In 1842, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in Prigg v. Pennsylvania, resolving a dispute about fugitive slave rendition that had raged between the states for decades. H. Robert Baker’s analysis of the decision and the events that led up to it is the first book-length work to investigate Prigg and its place in American history. Baker traces the development of fugitive slave laws and recounts the heart-wrenching story that lies behind Prigg to shed light on the Supreme Court’s decision and the gradual clarification of American federalism.

Review Of Native Historians Write Back: Decolonizing American Indian History Edited By Susan A. Miller And James Riding In, Angela Parker

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Susan Miller and James Riding In position this anthology as the first to collect historical work from Native scholars participating in an "Indigenous discourse"-an academic conversation "rooted in North American Indigenous thought" and, they claim, global Indigenous thought. If your essentialism alarm bells are ringing, it is for good reason. Ignore the alarms long enough to work your way through the entire anthology and you will find rich, complicated, vibrant historical analysis and critique from Indigenous historians working in Canada and the United States.

The introduction and framing essays by Susan Miller in part 1 elaborate on the idea of …

Review Of A Geography Of Blood: Unearthing Memory From A Prairie Landscape By Candace Savage, Susan Naramore Maher

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Candace Savage and her companion Keith Bell first discovered Eastend, Saskatchewan, on a journey home to Saskatoon from Cody, Wyoming. They planned a brief stopover but ended up hooked on the town, returning for further visits, and finally buying a home. In a sense, Savage has been pursuing a deeper habitation of Eastend for many years. As a recent transplant, she has sought to understand this comer of Saskatchewan across many spatial manifestations and through many layers of cultural existence. A frequent visitor to the Wallace Stegner House, immortalized in Wolf Willow, she has also worked to uproot Stegner's …

Review Of Theodore Roosevelt In The Badlands: A Young Politician's Quest For Recovery In The American West By Roger L. Di Silvestro, Mark Harvey

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Biographers of Theodore Roosevelt have long been aware of the significance of the time he spent in the Badlands of Dakota Territory during the 1880s. After an initial visit in 1883, Roosevelt returned the following year, this time overwhelmed with grief. Earlier that year he had experienced unimaginable personal tragedy when his beloved wife, Alice, and his mother died on the very same day. A few months later TR returned to western Dakota by train, bound for a landscape he hoped would bring him solace, healing, and renewal.

Over the next several years, Roosevelt returned to the Badlands for weeks …

Review Of Terrible Justice: Sioux Chiefs And U.S. Soldiers On The Upper Missouri, 1854-1868 By Doreen Chaky, Steven C. Haack

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

When strong tensions exist between cultures, small incidents can have grave consequences. Thus, in August of 1854, when a Sioux Indian living near Fort Laramie, Nebraska Territory, found a lame cow and killed it to feed his family, a sad chapter began. The cow's emigrant owner complained of his loss to the fort's commander, and Lt. John Grattan was soon on his way to a Sioux encampment to demand that the thief be turned over to face justice. As a cannon rolled into place to reinforce his demand, violence broke out, and thirty soldiers, including Grattan, soon lay dead. Secretary …

Review Of Fighting Their Own Battles: Mexican Americans, African Americans, And The Struggle For Civil Rights In Texas By Brian D. Behnken, Edwin Dorn

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

If you are an African American, a Mexican American, or a progressive Anglo who grew up in Texas in the past century, reading Brian Behnken's book, filled as it is with examples of the state's racism, is sure to tear off a few old scabs. Behnken's main objective, however, is to explain the factors that kept black civil rights activists from working with their Hispanic counterparts to reduce racial segregation and discrimination.

One factor, Behnken argues convincingly, was geography: the battleground for the black struggle was in the eastern part of the state, the Mexican American battleground hundreds of miles …

“A Very Brutal Man”: Lewis Horton, David Todd, And Prisoner Torture, S. Marianne Johnson

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

In the late summer of 1861, just after the battle of Bull Run, Union seaman Lewis Horton was captured while serving on the U.S.S. Massachusetts and taken to Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia. In transport, Horton would recall being shackled to his comrades and marched through the streets for people to jeer at and being forced to spend a night in a building used for convict slaves. Hobnails, Horton remembered, had been hammered partly into the walls and floors of the building, making it too torturous to lie down or lean against the walls. Once he arrived in Richmond, Horton …

Lehman-Collet Papers (Mss 474), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 474. Business and legal papers, primarily of Bowling Green Kentucky businessman George Lehman and his nephew George A. Collet. Includes materials relating to Lehman’s estate and to other Collet family members.

A Hypochondriac Investigates The Evolution Of Medicine, Natalie S. Sherif

Blogging the Library

This exhibit will open to the public in February 2014, but until then I have my work cut out for me. I am currently researching various aspects of medical history spanning from the mid-1800s, through the Civil War, to WWI. Thus far I have read accounts of women volunteers during the American Civil War, important changes that went into effect during WWI, and an overly detailed description on how to perform tooth extractions according to the latest science of the 1860s. [excerpt]

Ngram 150th: Race, Sex And Big Data, John M. Rudy

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

Data is powerful in the right hands. Aggregate data is even more powerful. And Google is data.

One of the odder tools in the Google arsenal is the Ngram viewer a search engine which charts trends within the folds of Google Books' database. Punch in anything. I mean it. Try anything in the Ngram search engine and start falling down the historical trends rabbit hole. [excerpt]

The Grizzly, September 26, 2013, Sabrina Mcgettigan, Mary Deliberti, Briana Mullan, Deana Harley, Amanda Frekot, Vivek Reddy, Shawn Hartigan, Olivia Z. Schultz, Jordan Ostrum, Adebayo Adeyemo, Briana Keane, Atticus Graven, Bethany Mitchell, Austin Fox, David Rogers

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Courtyard Pilot Program Extended • "Much Ado" About UC Drama • Extern Program • Marks Discusses Online Education • Live Music at Reimert • Community Yard Sale This Weekend • New Film Professor Joins the Campus • Enactus Prepares for a New Year • Opinion: Make the Most of Your Ursinus Years; School Spirit Should Extend Beyond Campus • Senior Spotlight: Jenna Stover • Topic of Injuries Overshadowing Football Season • Family Day Roundup

Graham, Robert Duke, 1900-1984 (Mss 473), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 473. Correspondence and scrapbooks of Robert D. Graham, Democratic mayor of Bowling Green, Kentucky from 1960-1963 and 1968-1971. The materials mostly document his public career, but some personal papers, including those of his wife Edith, are included.

Carmichael Family Papers (Mss 467), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid for Manuscripts Collection 467. Correspondence, legal papers, and miscellaneous material from several related families: Standrod, Campbell, and Carmichael. Includes a claim made after the Civil War for compensation for an enslaved man who joined the Union Army (Click on "Additional Files" below).

Harmon, Arlis Odell, 1905-1992 (Mss 153), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 153. Poems, 1934-1991, obituaries, 1964-1990, written by Arlis Odell Harmon, a gospel song writer and enthusiast, of Allen County, Kentucky. Includes correspondence about gospel music, genealogical data, photos, etc.

American Commemorative Panels: Ray Charles, United States Postal Service. Stamp Division

Rodney Lawrence Hurst, Sr. Stamp Collection

Informational pages for Ray Charles Commemorative Stamp – American Commemorative Panels, includes images of the stamps, information about the physical stamp and biographical information for Ray Charles. First issued September 23, 2013.

Curd, Edwin William, 1864-1923 - Letters To (Sc 2767), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2767. Letters to Edwin W. Curd, Cave City, Kentucky, from shoe merchants J. Benckenstein and Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. The firm discusses the terms on which Curd should act as salesman for its goods, reports, discounts, payment of his traveling expenses, etc. The issues evidently became the subject of a legal dispute between the parties.

Things Never Change: Piecing Together College Life, John M. Rudy

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

Sometimes you stumble on something on eBay you just can't pass up. It's that $6 buy that is awkward, odd and just a little out of your scope. But it's only $6. If you'd buy a burger for $6, you shouldn't pass up an original letter from 1835.

Every letter has a story. And each of those stories has its own drama, its own meaning, its own power. The mundanities of human life can be just as powerful as the battles and charges. [excerpt]

The Grizzly, September 19, 2013, Sabrina Mcgettigan, Briana Mullan, Mary Deliberti, James Wilson, Vivek Reddy, Brandon Patterson, Nicholas Dimuzio, Deana Harley, Shawn Hartigan, Briana Keane, Gerald Merle Gares, Bethany Mitchell, Derrick Falletta, David Rogers

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

New UC Faculty Members' Plans • Sustainability Week at UC • Ursinus Image Beyond Campus • Tuition Based on Other Colleges' Numbers • Honored Professor • Family Day Brings Food, Fun • Student Groups Spread School Spirit • Opinion: Ursinus Needs a Practical Living Course; Community Service Belongs in the Curriculum • Olympics 2020: Tokyo Wins Bid Over Istanbul • Athletic Communications Promotes UC Athletes • Football, Field Hockey, Men's Soccer Take Home Wins

Klein, Wilma - Collector (Sc 2766), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2766. Will (1823) of James Bray, Chesterfield County, Virginia, in which he frees his slaves and bequeaths all his property to them; poem (1928) to her parents by Ruthia Chloe Jane Miller, Bowling Green, Kentucky; Beech Grove Missionary Baptist Church ordination minutes, 27 November 1994; and birthday greetings to William H. Howard, Tompkinsville, Kentucky, from Governor Paul E. Patton, 8 April 1996.

At All Costs: The Stand Of The 16th Maine At Gettysburg, Bryan G. Caswell

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

The order to hold to the last, to continue fighting, to refuse to break no matter the cost, is often held to be a noble and heroic concept, especially in the Victorian context of the nineteenth century and the American Civil War. The most famous action of this kind at the Battle of Gettysburg is of course the stand of the 20th Maine on Little Round Top on July 2, 1863, which has been popularized through the writings of Michael Shaara and the 1993 film Gettysburg. The 20th Maine’s commanding officer, Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, reflects upon this unique …

Montell, William Lynwood, 1931-2023 - Collector (Sc 2765), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2765. Program of The Sixth Annual Gathering of Authors, presented by the Paul Sawyier Public Library and held in Frankfort, Kentucky, on 24 August 2013. The program is autographed by the attending authors, some of whom include inscriptions to Dr. Lynwood Montell.

Victory, Reconciliation, And Reunion: The Soldiers’ And Sailors’ Monument Of Easton, Pennsylvania And A Memory Of The Civil War, Bryan Toth

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Thirty-five years after the Civil War came to an end the people of Easton, Pennsylvania erected a monument to honor the men of Easton and Northampton County that fought and died in the sectional conflict. With the nation recognizing the sesquicentennial of the Civil War the study of how the people of Easton have chosen to remember this conflict can help us better understand the war itself and its ever changing place in the collective national psychology. The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument that was built in Easton’s Centre Square is reflective of a Northern monument design, and a memory of …

Adams, Lura Alice (Hopper), 1903-1996 (Mss 454), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 454. Letters to Lura Alice (Hopper) Adams, Franklin and Bowling Green, Kentucky, written by her parents, David Carson Hopper and Victoria Frances (Wade) Hopper from Russell Springs, Kentucky. Includes a typescripted compilation and background information from Lura’s daughter, Marion Lee Adams.

The Grizzly, September 12, 2013, Sabrina Mcgettigan, Olivia Z. Schultz, Briana Keane, Amanda Frekot, Derrick Falletta, Dana Feigenbaum, Vivek Reddy, Briana Mullan, Dave Muoio, Bethany Mitchell, Mary Deliberti, Brian A. Kennedy, Jordan Breslow, James Wilson, Kevin Medina, Adebayo Adeyemo, Shawn Hartigan

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Reimert Arrest • USGA Leadership Retreat • Construction in Thomas and Pfahler • Ursinus Site Undergoes Update • 14th Annual Fringe Festival • New Pitch Program Rewards Creativity • Policy Changes a Result of Student Demand • Opinion: Chemical Attacks Need International Response; We Should Stay Out of Syria • UC's Open Laptops • Volleyball Counting on Newcomers This Season • Athletic Training Room Source of Aid and Knowledge • Men's Soccer Looking to Improve • More Shots a Priority for Bears

Shaw's Backside: The Other Side Of An Icon, John M. Rudy

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

This week I find myself in Boston, one of the couple of American cities which call themselves the cradle of liberty. But I'm not drawn like a moth to the Revolution. It's just not my bean.

Instead, I find myself in the awkward position of standing at a visitor desk and asking a park ranger what will interest a Civil War geek in a Revolutionary-bent city. That dog don't hunt so well. [excerpt]

Jackson, Sheila Lavern (Harris), B. 1955 - Relating To (Sc 1110), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1110. Materials generated by and for the Sheila Harris Fund, to benefit Harris, a native of Franklin, Simpson County, Kentucky. A Western Kentucky University graduate and aspiring opera singer, she had benefactors who made it possible for her to graduate from the Curtis Institute of Music in 1982. Includes programs of some of her recitals and a photograph.

Feather Crowns (Sc 1115), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1115. Correspondence concerning inquiry of Tom Russell, Dallas, Texas, with Western Kentucky University personnel, Bowling Green, Kentucky, about feather crowns. Includes family story regarding the formation of the crowns in a goose down pillow after an individual’s death.