United States History Commons^™

In Memoriam: Fred R. Gowans (1936-2023), Rocky Mountain Fur Trade Historian, Jay H. Buckley

Faculty Publications

Fred R. Gowans is the proverbial American original – or, better yet, Western American original. Fred talked and wrote convincingly about the American West and the fur trade because he spent so much time in it, exploring or retracing old trails. Fred made no pretenses. He dressed for class, public talks, or academic presentations the same way he dressed for working with his horses: Western hat, Western shirt, Levis, cowboy boots, and on the rare occasion a sport coat and bolo tie. He lived with his wife Gloria in a log home that he and his father Floyd had built …

The Whispered Crimes Of Sexual Violence In The European And Pacific Theater Of World War Ii, Channing N. Morrison

History Theses

This thesis addresses sexual violence in World War II in both the European and Pacific Theater. Often, the violence of these War Crimes tends to be overshadowed and not talked about. This thesis examines the stories of women, children, and men who suffered from sexual brutality in World War II and how nations try to hide or justify acts of rape and violence. By using as case studies the nations of Japan, Germany, the United States of America, and the Soviet Union, and how they either committed sexual acts of violence or handled rape cases when it came to the …

The Unseen River And Infrastructural Silences: The Santa Ana River And The Ontology Of Floods, Cooper Lennon Crane

Pomona Senior Theses

This article discusses the history of land development and infrastructure along the Santa Ana River in Southern California. The river plays a significant role in the landscape of many of Southern California’s cities and urban geographies but has been relatively underdiscussed in literature. This article approaches the river using a combination of historic ethnography and sociocultural theory to unpack the meanings of the infrastructure of the river and its relation to Southern Californians. From these meanings, the article places the river in context with environmental politics, urban development, and water management issues in California today. The article argues that the …

Prince Basketball's Ambassadors: Virginia Union's "Dream Team" And The Origins Of Integrated College Basketball, 1938-42, Marvin T. Chiles

History Faculty Publications

This article explores the history of integrated college basketball in the United States, with a focus on the Virginia Union Panthers. The Panthers, known as the "Dream Team," broke the color barrier in college basketball in the 1930s and 1940s. The article also discusses the 1992 U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball Team, known as the "Dream Team," and its impact on race relations. It argues that the original Dream Team was actually the Virginia Union Panthers, who symbolized the defeat of white supremacy through athletic achievement. The article highlights the challenges faced by historically black college sports, such as lack of …

[Review Of The Book Sailing To Freedom: Maritime Dimensions Of The Underground Railroad, By T. D. Walker (Ed.)], Ingo Heidbrink

History Faculty Publications

"Sailing to Freedom: Maritime Dimensions of the Underground Railroad" edited by Timothy D. Walker explores the often overlooked maritime aspects of the Underground Railroad. The book consists of ten chapters written by historians specializing in African American history and the land-based Underground Railroad. While the book offers valuable insights into African American history and escaping slavery, it is less focused on maritime history. The chapters discuss various ports along the Eastern Seaboard, detailing the preparation, boarding, and arrival of enslaved individuals seeking freedom. The book provides a nuanced analysis of individual escape stories, although some chapters may be repetitive. It …

Indigenous Sovereignties In The Americas [Review Of The Book Indigenous Borderlands: Native Agency, Resilience, And Power In The Americas, By J. Rivaya-Martinez]., Miller S. Wright

History Faculty Publications

[First paragraph] Correcting the continued erasure and marginalization of Native American and Indigenous peoples as historical actors unites the essays of Indigenous Borderlands: Native Agency, Resilience, and Power in the Americas, edited by Joaquín Rivaya-Martínez. Incorporating multidisciplinary approaches, the edited collection consists of thirteen essays, written by twelve scholars, analyzing “Indigenous agency, adaptiveness, resilience, sovereignty, and power,” across the Americas from precontact with Europeans and Africans to the twentieth century (pp. 1-2). The collection examines how Indigenous peoples adapted to European colonization to protect and maintain their sovereignty, cultures, and territories and, in so doing, shaped the creation of …

Digitizing Historical Resources On The Ohio & Erie Canal, S. Victor Fleischer

University Research

Louis Baus, photographer, shot numerous scenes along the Ohio & Erie, Miami & Erie, and the connecting feeder canals. This collection of over 400 photo negatives portrays a sense of canal life during the late 1800s to early 1900s. Found in this collection are images of canal boats, crew and passengers, as well as various locks, businesses and homes along the canal ways.

New York City’S Health Governance And Activism From The 1950s To The 1970s, Andres Valcarcel

Theses and Dissertations

New York City's expansive network of hospitals and preventative health services has an intense history outside of the popular narratives of biomedical and technological advancement. This thesis will discuss the period between the 1950s and 1970s and the various movements and parties that shaped the city's health and hospital system. During this period, New York City's healthcare delivery system became increasingly privatized and commercialized; processes that improved the quality of healthcare yet simultaneously barred the poorest from accessing it. Communities, healthcare workers, and civil rights organizations worked to address perceived faults and extend their agency in health and hospital policy; …

James Hyde (D. 1875) And Wife Mary Wright (D. 1865), Of Long Island And New York City., Charles H. Smith

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Discussion of James & Mary (Wright) Hyde family of Long Island and New York City.

John Laird And Matt Friday At Monterey Pride

Monterey County LGBTQ Histories Exhibit

No abstract provided.

Let Your Head Hang Down: A Narrative Examination Of Cultic & Conspiratorial Romance, Kyle Macy

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

A response to recent cultural trends of radicalization, extremism, and violence in American society, this dissertation, a novel rendered in ephemeral fragments of oral histories, interrogates the romanticist postures that compel a community of musical artists, the so-called “Folk Revival Revival,” toward infamy and tragedy. Where more traditional sociological approaches to cultic formations stress the importance of centralized charismatic authority, and more traditional psychological approaches rely upon a conspiratorial Cold War ethos of cognitive bias and coercive control (i.e. “brainwashing”), this project meets such assumptions with incredulity, asserting instead that cultic and conspiratorial entrancement awakens first from within, and may …

Death And Grief In 21st Century America: A Literature Review On Bereavement & Attitudes Toward Death, Jordan Whitney

Honors Program Theses

In modern Western society, death has been dissected and neatly packaged like meat at the grocery store. The unsavory aspects are hidden and our discomfort around dying has turned death into a commodity. In typical consumerist fashion, we are sold the “proper way” to die and grieve as a result. Funeral homes guide us through this new experience with the goal of assisting us through our grief. While most report positive experiences with funeral directors’ services, there remains evidence of overcharging and pressuring into the purchases of unnecessary additional services. This thesis explores modern attitudes and practices towards death, grief, …

Hillbilly Bands: Southern Rock's Impact On Southern Identity In The 1970s, John H. Hartman

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Music has always been a conduit in which its artists are able to voice their views, influences, desires, and heartbreaks to a wide audience. Southern Rock is no different. The emergence and popularity of the genre in the 1970s is not a coincidence, but rather a reflection of the South during this time. The South as a whole was changing due to the passage of the Civil Rights Act, ending Jim Crow Laws and denouncing racial oppression throughout the nation. For the South, This meant drastic changes to their society and the slow recognition of the racially oppressive ideals that …

A Cherokee Historiography: 125 Years And The Trail Of Tears, Joshua Huberman

History - Master of Arts in Teaching

Synthesis Essay..............................3

Document Section.........................28

Textbook Engagement...................38

Bibliography....................................48

We Did What? To Whom? An Analysis Of How Us Educational Materials Present The Philippine-American War And Occupation, Jude Beekman

Honors Program Theses

Since the turn of the 21st century, decisions of American leaders have continued traditions of American exceptionalism and general attempts at dominance, although this is continuously brought into question. A generation has since passed through school and experienced curriculums that have implied such American exceptionalism and dominance. Acknowledged for decades, the military-industrial complex has extended into the 21st century with involvement across the globe, but notably in the Middle East. For those indigenous to the Pacific, militarism extends to how people perceive the bodies and selves of indigenous peoples. There exist multiple definitions of colonialism and imperialism, but in essence, …

Maine As Modernism’S Vernacular Muse: The Ogunquit Artists Colony As Microcosm For The Transition To American Modernism, Lydia C. Burke

Honors Theses

Maine has played a vital but largely unacknowledged role in the development of American modernism as both an environmental and cultural repository of inspiration. By examining the artistic and pedagogical tensions present in the Ogunquit, Maine art colony, this thesis explores Maine as an inspiration point for many of the foundational artists and teachers of the American modernist art movement. The gap in literature addressing the question, “why Maine?” leaves a void in the scholarship of American history and art history. Setting the scope of its research within this vital question, this thesis argues that Ogunquit, Maine served as a …

Lessons Not Learned, Kyle Missbach

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

In July 1936, Spain descended into chaos and civil war. Fascists in the military, Catholic Church, and aristocracy rebelled against a government elected to reform centuries old power structures. The United States reacted in surprise and joined France and Britain, staunchly refusing to be involved. For six months, the Department of State impeded attempts to material assist the Spanish government, until Congress passed an updated neutrality law prohibiting trade with Spain or the rebels. Congress again renewed and updated the law a year later. Yet in spring of 1939, at the end of the war, Franklin D. Roosevelt told his …

The Social Contract: Duty And Discrimination In Public Service, Brian Corteville

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

What do citizens owe the government? And conversely, what does the government owe its people, particularly those who volunteer for military or public service? The works in this portfolio attempt to answer these questions and delve into the social contract between the American government and its citizens, often through the lens of sexual orientation. Using original correspondence from the Center for War Letters at Chapman University as well as existing works concerning Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and the Lavender Scare, the collected essays aim to tell the story of everyday Americans who answered the call to public service only to …

A Narrative Map Of Fort Missoula: Silence, Stillness And Death In Living Cultural Memory, Daniel A. Goldhamer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Fort Missoula is a rare site of history, memory, and narrative. This project seeks to trace the complex web of identities and relationalities at the Fort through a narrative map: a method that combines site-based ethnography and qualitative storytelling relying on first-person perspective. This methodological framework reveals that Fort Missoula’s distinct character lies in its role as a living archive of cultural memory, accessible through the past, present, and future narratives of its places and spaces. Engaging with the theories of Foucault (1972), de Certeau (1984), and Low (2017), the narrative map of Fort Missoula is a work that investigates …