United States History Commons^™

In Gettysburg, The Confederacy Won, Scott Hancock

Africana Studies Faculty Publications

Almost every day, I ride my bicycle past some of the over 1,300 statues and monuments commemorating the Civil War in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where I live. They are everywhere. None of them are of black people.

The Battle of Gettysburg, fought over three days in July of 1863, is often considered the turning point of a war fought over the fate of slavery in America. Black people ultimately were the reason why over 165,000 soldiers came to this Pennsylvania town in the first place. But on the battlefield, as far as the physical memorials, they disappear. (excerpt)

Sebastian Râle (1652-1724) : In Commemoration Of His Martyrdom, Vincent Lapomarda S.J.

Holy Cross Bookshelf

Biography of Sabastien Râle, S.J., who served as a missionary to the Abenaki in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

Farley, Seth Thomas, Jr., 1917-1999 (Mss 617), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 617. Correspondence, documents, news clippings and ephemera from Seth Thomas Farley, Jr., a life-long educator. This collection includes a good deal of information about Farley’s teaching career prior to his work as a professor at WKU, his involvement in organizations that fought alcoholism and gambling (particularly the lottery in Kentucky), his church work, and his service on a committee to choose a federal magistrate for the western district of Kentucky. The collection includes an entire box of assessment related material related to Fort Knox Dependent Schools in the mid-1960s.

Concord’S Wayside: Home Of What?, Olivia Ortman

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

This summer, I have had the privilege of interning at Minute Man NHP in Concord, Massachusetts. My primary station here is the Wayside: Home of Authors. Right about now, you might be wondering what the Wayside is. That’s alright, I didn’t know what the house was until just this summer. The Wayside was the home of Louisa May Alcott, Nathanial Hawthorne, and Harriet Lothrop (or Margaret Sydney) – all prominent authors in the 19th century. This house also stood witness to the “shot heard round the world” and provided brief shelter to a fugitive slave. This house is a gold …

Monuments Ought To Be Considered Case By Case, Michael J. Birkner

History Faculty Publications

In a press conference last week President Donald Trump made this contribution to the escalating debate about monuments and memorials to American heroes who, by today’s reckoning, failed a moral test.

The statue debate is inherently emotional and when it comes to keeping certain statues up or pulling them down, it riles people up —including Donald Trump. However, it is important to separate President Trump’s intemperate and often factually inaccurate remarks at Tuesday’s press conference from the statue controversy as it is currently playing out. (excerpt)

Choosing Your Battles: Provoking The Public At Fredericksburg And Spotsylvania National Military Park, Abby M. Currier

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

During training to be an intern at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, our instructors continuously stressed the importance of reading our audience. Whether we were greeting visitors at the front desk or leading walking tours, our job was to always watch the visitors and gauge what they are interested in. For me, this was initially very frustrating. I prefer to deal with concrete things instead of making judgement calls. It all sounded pretty wishy washy and that I would somehow ‘know’ what the visitor wanted just by looking at them. Needless to say, I was not convinced.

Should We Banish Robert E. Lee & His Confederate Friends? Let's Talk., Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

After 152 years, Robert E. Lee is back in the headlines. But not in any way he could have imagined.

The “Unite the Right” forces descended on Charlottesville, Va., to protest calls for the removal of an equestrian statue of Lee that has been sitting in a city park since 1924. The larger question, however, was about whether the famous Confederate general was also a symbol of white supremacy.

The same issues were in play in May when a statue of Lee was removed from Lee Circle in New Orleans. There are also more than two dozen streets and schools …

Taylor, Richard, B. 1941 (Sc 3139), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3139. Handwritten note card from Richard Taylor, Frankfort, Kentucky, to James Baker Hall thanking him for arranging a recent event honoring Larkspur Press of Monterey, Kentucky. He also refers to the work of the operator of the Press, Gray Zeitz.

Making The Most Of Interpretative Tours At Fredericksburg And Spotslyvania National Military Park, Julia K. Deros

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Freeman Tilden argues that the purpose of good interpretation is to inspire people to want to discover and learn for themselves in order to gain an understanding and appreciation for what they see. After having experienced the challenges of interpreting the battlefields at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, I agree that provocation is important to good interpretation.

Emerging Cold War Ideologies During The Populist Era In Latin America And The Us Media Response, Katherine D. Prince

History Theses

This thesis aims to identify the characteristics of populism and how those characteristics directly affected the politics and helped set the stage for later military dictatorships in Latin America. This text aims to look at how military regimes in Latin America placed blame on populist leaders and used their inefficiencies as a justification for taking power and establishing military rule. In many instances in Latin America, populist leader’s time in office was characterized by inflation and concern over foreign investment.

The concern over foreign investment and possible foreign takeover of local industries provides the background for another concern, that of …

Lincoln's Words At Gettysburg Resonate After Charlottesville, Christopher R. Fee

English Faculty Publications

Seven score and fourteen years ago, Abraham Lincoln eloquently reminded us of the idealism of our founding our fathers, who “brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. “

Lincoln also called upon all persons of good conscience, not simply to remember the sacrifice of those who died preserving these ideals on the battlefield at Gettysburg, but also to act upon those ideals, and to rise to the challenge “to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us….” (excerpt)

Logan, Mary Middleton (Curd), 1915-2019 - Collector (Sc 3137), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3137. Chiefly invitations, Christmas cards and brief letters from Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt to James and Mary Logan, Hyde Park, New York. Includes a photograph of Mrs. Roosevelt’s Hyde Park cottage, Val-Kill, and of prominent mourners at her funeral. Also includes invitations to Roosevelt memorials and social occasions from the Roosevelts’ son John, and birthday greetings to Mary from President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton.

A Different Sort Of Park: Interpreting Pow Experiences At Andersonville National Historic Site, Andrew Knight

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Unlike many other historic sites, Andersonville does not fit neatly into any one box. It is not a battlefield, although we still interpret the experience of soldiers and the ideas they fought for. It is not a historic home or building; the only original parts of the site left are earthworks. Andersonville is a Civil War site but tells a story common to every war. Andersonville National Cemetery contains the remains of American soldiers from every American war except for 1812. Unlike any other National Cemetery entrusted to the National Park Service (except for Andrew Johnson National Historic Site) Andersonville …

An Impossible Direction: Newspapers, Race, And Politics In Reconstruction New Orleans, Nicholas F. Chrastil

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis examines the racial ideologies of four newspapers in New Orleans at the beginning and end of Radical Reconstruction: the Daily Picayune, the New Orleans Republican, the New Orleans Tribune, and the Weekly Louisianian. It explores how each paper understood the issues of racial equality, integration, suffrage, and black humanity; it examines the specific language and rhetoric each paper used to advocate for their positions; and it asks how those positions changed from the beginning to the end of Reconstruction. The study finds that the two white-owned papers, the Picayune and the Republican, while political opponents, both viewed …

Three Companies, One Story: The History Of Railroading In North Little Rock, Joseph Wayne Alley

Theses and Dissertations

The early railroads that operated in North Little Rock at the turn of the Twentieth century were a vital part of the city’s makeup. Not only did they impact the local area directly, but this system also acted as a hub that served a good majority of the country. This exhibit focuses on three important parts of the railroads that serviced North Little Rock: the Baring Cross Bridge, the Fort Smith Crossing, and the Iron Mountain Shop Complex. Using maps and other items, the exhibit shows show the most important parts of these railroads in the city.

Flapperism: A National Phenomenon Comes To New Orleans, Tracy Carrero

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Thomas Paine And The Rhetoric Of American Identity, Oma Jean Quiroz

Theses and Dissertations

From 1700 to 1770, the population of the English colonies in North America grew from a mere 260,000 to 2,150,000 (Breen & Hall, 2004, p. 257). New settlers came from various cultures and faiths unlike the earlier settlers. Thomas Paine united these now diverse peoples into one people creating an American culture, not from new ideas, but from a perpetuation of existing ideals in Colonial America. Paine’s language preserved and rekindled colonial ideals for a melting pot of peoples that would have quickly become a varied nation of states instead of what became a nation of “United States.” This thesis …

Interpreting The Life And Times Of Maggie Walker, Lucy A. Marks

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

As a part of my orientation as an intern at Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site, I was told that 90% of visitors who come into the site have a very limited knowledge of who Maggie L. Walker was and what she had accomplished in her 70 years of life. Equipped with that information I felt a heightened sense of responsibility for the overall quality and accuracy of my tour of her home. In my opinion, Mrs. Walker is one of the most extraordinary people in history, a big claim to make, but this claim speaks for itself even in …

Thunderstruck: Teaching Boy Scouts About History And Cannons, Gary H. Nobbs Jr., Andrew D. Nicholls

The Exposition

No abstract provided.

Pushing The Protestant Culinary Agenda In Depression Era America, Brittany M. Millidge

The Exposition

No abstract provided.

African-American Labor History In Waterloo: The Exhibit, Niria White

McNair Scholars Program Summer Research Symposium

Abstract: This study uses a labor history lens to research African American labor impacts in Waterloo, Iowa. During the Great Migration, African American laborers travelled to Iowa to work on the Illinois Central Railroad. In time, they began to work at the Rath Packinghouse and helped to build the community. This work is being developed into a public history exhibit at the Grout Museum, furthering knowledge of African American contributions to the Mid-West; countering the idea that African Americans have only been politically active during the Civil Rights Era. Historical records, artifacts, and personal interviews provided the data for this …

Risky Business Provocation And Interpretation, Alexandria J. Andrioli

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

The fourth commandment of Freeman Tilden’s six principles for interpretation is, “The chief aim of Interpretation is not instruction, but provocation.” This statement is both profound and problematic because the very heart of provocation is goading some sort of reaction from someone or something. Provocation usually has a negative connotation associated with it, like to purposely play the devil’s advocate in order to upset someone. Of course, a museum’s goal is never to intentionally upset visitors. However, at the same time, a museum may want to change the way visitors might think about a certain topic in order to view …

Wagon Tracks. Volume 2, Issue 4 (August, 1988), Santa Fe Trail Association

Wagon Tracks

No abstract provided.

Wagon Tracks. Volume 2, Issue 3 (May, 1988), Santa Fe Trail Association

Wagon Tracks

No abstract provided.

Wagon Tracks. Volume 2, Issue 2 (February, 1988), Santa Fe Trail Association

Wagon Tracks

No abstract provided.

Wagon Tracks. Volume 2, Issue 1 (November, 1987), Santa Fe Trail Association

Wagon Tracks

No abstract provided.

Wagon Tracks. Volume 1, Issue 4 (August, 1987), Santa Fe Trail Association

Wagon Tracks

No abstract provided.

Wagon Tracks. Volume 1, Issue 3 (May, 1987), Santa Fe Trail Association

Wagon Tracks

No abstract provided.

Wagon Tracks. Volume 1, Issue 2 (February, 1987), Santa Fe Trail Association

Wagon Tracks

No abstract provided.

Wagon Tracks. Volume 1, Issue 1 (November, 1986), Santa Fe Trail Association

Wagon Tracks

No abstract provided.