Women's History Commons^™

Winnie's Feminism: A Tribute To Mama Dr. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela As A Radical Feminist From 1986-2018, Anna Lefatshe Moagi

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

Growing up in South Africa and having read several “tell-all” biographies by influential women have made this researcher aware of the struggles of women to be recognised and valued within their social environments. The many names that come to mind, when speaking of women’s voices that challenged their position in our society, belong to those of struggle veterans such as Adelaide Tambo, Ruth First, Lilian Ngoyi, Albertina Sisulu, Thandi Modise, Baleka Mbethe, Leymah Gbowee, Ruth Mompati, Charlotte Maxeke, Joice Majuru, Thuli Madontsela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Their as women leaders roles remain undervalued (Shekhawat 2015). These phenomenal influential women and many …

The Method And The Machinery: Gloria Steinem, India, And The Cold War Making Of American Second Wave Feminsim, 1956-1972, Rashida Shafiq

History Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation argues that Gloria Steinem became one of the most visible feminists of her generation because two political inheritances — postcolonial India and the Cold War liberal United States — converged in a single career. In 1957 and 1958, on a Chester Bowles Asian Fellowship, Steinem spent eighteen months in India, where she moved from elite intellectual circles in Delhi to Gandhian and Sarvodaya peace work in the villages of Ramnad. Walking with Bhoodan fieldworkers through caste-riot-stricken communities, she absorbed a repertoire of organizing practices — listening across difference, lateral and leaderless structure, decision by consensus, and the conversion …

Las Otras Rosas: Mexican American Women Workers And World War Ii, Talisa Flores

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

The image of Rosie the Riveter has become one of the most enduring symbols of patriotism, women's empowerment, and gender equality in the United States. Yet this iconic representation has obscured the experiences of many women whose wartime labor remains marginalized in both public memory and historical scholarship, particularly Mexican American defense workers. This thesis reexamines the history of Rosie the Riveter by centering the voices of Mexican American women employed in wartime industries during the Second World War. While the war undoubtedly shaped their lives, this study argues that the conventional Rosie narrative, one that portrays wartime employment as …

Front Matter Volume 2 No. 2, Editors Note

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

This is yet another issue of the Zamani journal which takes on varied debates and discussions of historical importance through the contributions to the issue. As we embark on volume three of the new journal’s series, this volume carries six articles, varied in scope but interesting in terms of contribution and relevance to historical synthesis. As editors, we hope that the articles contained here will be of interest to a wider audience of not only historians but also of allied disciplines, practitioners and the general readership. As we publish this volume, we also note the advantage of expanding the scope …

Crises In The Nigerian Defence Sector In The Post-Civil War Period, Hussaini Jibrin

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

History has it that post-war period in any country in the world appeared to be with many challenges of re-planning the defence system. It involves the reconstruction of pre-war institutions that are destroyed during the war for onward growth and development. Contrary to this tradition, this article explores that, in 1970 while Nigerians were celebrating about the end of the Nigerian civil war, fresh crises emerged in the country’s defence sector. Thus, General Yakubu Gowon’s government redirected its focus on addressing the crises. The crises are numerous, however, this article dwells on four only. These are demobilization exercise in the …

Performance Of Buffer Zones In Tanzania: A Case Of Maswa Game Reserve, 1950s-2010s, James Benedict Kuboja

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

National parks as core protected areas are universally regarded as the most important wildlife conservancies as they are protecting pristine nature or untouched wilderness. For this reason, global conservationists, with the assistance of colonial governments, introduced buffer zones in a bid to protect important protected areas from poaching and habitat destruction. Despite the promulgation of these buffer zones from the 1950s, scholars have not exhaustively evaluated their effectiveness in the conservation of wildlife resources within core protected areas and wildlife ecosystems at large. Using the case of Maswa Game Reserve in the Serengeti Mara Ecosystem, this article argues that internal …

Historicising Nyerere’S Presidency In The Nyakyusa Mythical Narratives, Ignas Fedeo

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

Julius K Nyerere, the founding President of Tanzania, held office from 1962 to 1985. Much has been written about Nyerere's presidency, with the literature generally falling into two categories: strong advocacy for his decisions, actions, and ideas, and pointed criticism against him. Using narrative and new historicism theories, this article examines the recreation of the history of Nyerere’s presidency in local narratives, specifically Nyakyusa myths. The myths were collected using the oral history interviews from Kyela and Busokelo districts in Tanzania. The Nyakyusa believe that Nyerere was endowed with immense mystical powers, some of which embedded in his stick and …

Śaṅkha-Dvīpa And The Swahili Littoral: Reconstructing India–East Africa Contacts Before The Common Era, Narendra Vijayasimha

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

This article is the first focused attempt to explore India–East Africa relationships in the Bronze Age and early Iron Age, approximately two to three millennia before the Common Era (3000–300 BCE) from a puranic perspective. While extensive scholarship exists on medieval and later Indo–African exchanges, the pre-Common Era period has remained underexplored. Drawing on Purāṇic cosmographies, Greco-Roman geographical accounts, African archaeology, and Indian Ocean trade studies, this research reconstructs possible networks of contact facilitated by monsoon navigation and long-distance exchange. Methodologically, the article integrates textual exegesis, comparative cosmography, and archaeological correlation. The findings suggest that Indian conceptions of Śaṅkha-dvīpa reflect …

Labour Migrancy And Ethnic Stereotypes: Experiences From Mufindi Tea Plantation, Ca. 1920s To 2000s, Hezron R. Kangalawe

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

While tea plantations brought good fortunes to some parts of Southern Highlands in Tanzania such as Mufindi and Rungwe during the British mandate, its production sites became centres of ethnic contestations in relation to work discipline. The colonial and post-colonial enterprises labelled some ethnic groups as “reliable labourers” and others “unreliable”. This article, uses the tea plantations in Mufindi district, Iringa, to debate the labour question and ethnic identity in tea plantations between 1920s and 2000s. It argues that tea plantations were practical point of colonial stereotyping whose architects were anthropologists. Interviews in Mufindi tea plantations and factories, archival and …

Collaboration In The Spread Of Missionary Christianity In Africa: The Case Of The Apostolic Church Of Nigeria, Caleb Abiodun Adeleye, Oluwasegun Peter Aluko

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

This article explores the significance of collaboration in the spread of missionary Christianity in Africa through a historical study of The Apostolic Church of Nigeria (TACN). It examines how the partnership between British missionaries and Nigerian leaders produced a hybrid mission model that combined Western ecclesiastical structure with African spirituality. Drawing on historical records, church documents, and existing scholarship, the article adopts a narrative–analytical method to trace how figures such as Pastors George Perfect, Idris J Vaughan and DO Odubanjo negotiated issues of theology, finance and cultural identity. The study finds that collaboration initially fostered institutional growth and doctrinal development …

A History Of The Underground Comix Scene: The Seriousness Of An Unserious Genre, Harris Darcie Shugart

Master's Theses

The Underground Comix Scene of the 1960s and 1970s was born out of an age of censorship. The Comics Code Authority, a regulatory body created by the Comics Magazine Association of America in 1954, established guidelines requiring publishing houses to self-regulate following a recommendation from the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency in 1953. Comix with an X, for their X-rated nature, represent an emerging counter-culture in the latter half of the 1960s and the 1970s, with an epicenter of San Francisco. These comix and their artists were not interested in obtaining the looming ‘Seal of Approval’ from the …

Fidelity And Fortitude: Dolley Madison’S Political Ideas Of The First Lady, Olivia Mares

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Dolley Madison helped create the modern idea of a First Lady taking political action and stances through her work to reelect her husband James, build a thriving city and capital for the nation to enjoy, and unite the new republic, further solidifying its place in history for decades. Dolley’s theory of the First Lady made her responsible for organizing, launching, and legitimizing James’ administration and the new capital while growing a sense of Americanness. She believed it was part of her public duty to encourage republicanism and work towards social solutions to make a cohesive government without threatening the current …

Identity And Ideology: Dolores Ibarruri's Reconciliation Of Motherhood And Communism, Marvin Black

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The Spanish Civil War remains a significant cornerstone of the historical narrative of the early 20th century, as it served as the political and military precursor to World War II. The war was far more complex than a simple conflict between two ideologies, with many political and military leaders often overlooked. One of these individuals was Dolores Ibárruri, a leader of the Spanish Communist Party, who called on her experiences as both a mother and a communist to galvanize support for the Second Republic. How these two facets interacted and were shaped by Ibárruri’s personal experiences is often overlooked. Through …

Martha Mitchell: Loud Mouth Of The South, Emma Bernice Kolker

History Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this paper, I will argue how Martha‘s Arkansas identity presents itself as a double edge sword, with her personality attracting the attention of the public with the consent of powerful men in the Republican party, while at the same time her comments and actions were the very reason she was blamed and marginalized by the same men who allowed her to speak in the first place.

Res Historica, Volume 5, Alpha Rho Epsilon Phi Alpha Theta, Lindsay Rae Smith Privette Phd

Res Historica

The 2026 journal of historical research by Anderson University students, Res Historica.

The editorial team for this edition of Res Historica was Dr. Lindsay Rae Smith Privette, Julia Ackerman, Callyn Wright, Logan Davis, and John Hinton. Cover art by Mary Beth Lee.

Back Matter

Tenor of Our Times

Back Matter

Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Jr Duke, David T. Richardson

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Faculty Spotlight

Front Matter

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Front Matter

Full Issue

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Full Issue

Spotlight - Mecca Mejor, William Deloach

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Staff Spotlight

One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other: Differences Between The New Deal And Great Society, Brayden T. Gallagher

Tenor of Our Times

This paper examines the differences between the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson, challenging the prevailing interpretation that the latter administration was the logical continuation of the former. Through comparative historical analysis of policy and rhetoric, the research finds that, despite clear similarities such as expanded government involvement and social welfare programs, the two initiatives diverged significantly. The New Deal prioritized economic recovery through short-term job creation while often tolerating or reinforcing racial inequality. In contrast, the Great Society directly confronted systemic racism and struck at the roots of poverty through education, …

Model Woman: Realizing Frances Folsom Cleveland As A Fashion Archetype Of Gilded-Age America, Olivia R. Sweet

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

This paper is an exploration of former First Lady Frances Folsom Cleveland’s position as an influential figure in women’s fashion during her years in the White House, seeking to fill a gap in historical scholarship regarding her legacy. It proposes the term “fashion archetype” to describe the phenomenon of celebrity that Frances experienced in which her public persona was detached from her individual identity and manipulated by the media to influence American women. Analysis of her early-White House wardrobe and the media attention her style and appearance received reveals the power that clothing held in nineteenth-century American society, as well …

Editor's Note, William Deloach

Tenor of Our Times

Editor's Note

Speculative Spies: The Pinkerton National Detective Agency, Business, And Labor Conflict In The Gilded Age, Luke M. Gibbs

Tenor of Our Times

The Pinkerton Agency molded into an “arm of capital” used by the wealthy against labor during the Gilded Age. However, such a transition seems confusing given the life of the company’s founder. Allan Pinkerton, once a champion of workers’ rights in his home country of Scotland, seemingly used his agency to side with the wealthy elite. In explaining these shifts, historian Sean Paul O’Hara agrees with a “profits and negative image” narrative. The poor financial position of the agency, coupled with a battered reputation resulting from failures in the American West, would be remedied through the lucrative business that was …

Phi Alpha Theta Arkansas Regional Conference 2026, Jacob Rooney

Tenor of Our Times

Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference 2026

History Day At Harding 2026, Julie E Harris

Tenor of Our Times

History Day in Arkansas summary.

Women With Will: The Power Of The Women Of The Renaissance, Madeline E. Stewart

Tenor of Our Times

Women of Italy in the Renaissance period were not powerless. They may or may not have had articulate power, but in many cases, they wielded an inarticulate power or influence that is more complex and difficult to define by modern terms associated with feminism. Feminism is simply anachronistic for this time, and the people of this time cannot be expected to have upheld ideals that had not been developed yet. Claims that women had no power or development in this era are false. Some excellent examples of some of the most powerful people in Italy politically were women, and they …

Living Letters, Jacob Rooney

Tenor of Our Times

Living Letters

Wedded To Power: Dynastic Marriages And The Hidden Diplomacy Of Women In Early Modern Europe, Amelia H. Earl

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

The diplomatic power of women in the ‘Great Power’ dynasties of Europe has been passed over in historiography because very often their power rested in their relationships to their male counterparts. Dismissing these women’s diplomatic and political power as “soft power” of the domestic sphere overlooks the fact that the political structure of Europe relied heavily on familial ties. In early modern Europe, the whole continent was a kinship; thus, familial relationships between two dynasties were inherently political. The daughters and mothers of these dynasties discovered that there was permeable access to the European political arena through marriage and motherhood. …

“A Loving And Faithful Wife”: A Study Of Dakota Territory Divorce Law And Marital Expectations In The Late Nineteenth Century, Cassidy Amanda Abfalter-Dial

Dissertations and Theses

“A Loving and Faithful Wife” provides a procedural and gender-based analysis of twenty-five Dakota Territory divorce cases, from Clay County, ranging from 1867-1884. This analysis is based on an understanding of the procedural aspects of the territorial divorce court system, as well as nineteenth century gender ideologies, include the ideals of True Womanhood, and Separate Spheres. By employing a close reading method, this research analyzes the language in court filings, allegations used in complaints, and the outcome of the cases. This analysis reveals men and women used unspoken gender scripts to present their marriages to the court and attempt to …