African American Studies Commons^™

Maternal Sacrifice And Resilience: The Legacy Of Harriet Jacobs And Enslaved Black Motherhood, Beverly A. Duran

GLI MA in American History Student Works

This paper explores the unique role of enslaved Black women in preserving family and cultural identity during the American slavery era, focusing on the life and writings of Harriet Jacobs. Through her autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Jacobs exemplifies the extraordinary sacrifices and resilience of enslaved mothers, who navigated the dual burdens of racial and gender oppression. The study delves into Jacobs’s years-long confinement in an attic to avoid separation from her children and her use of storytelling, education, and cultural practices to resist dehumanization. It highlights how enslaved women, despite systemic constraints, developed strategies to …

Usa Archaeology Museum Newsletter - June 2024, Archaeology Museum

Archaeology Museum Newsletters

In this edition of the museum's newsletter:

• Document the Historic Plateau/Africatown Cemetery?
• Giving to the Archaeology Museum

The Creation Of An African American Jewish Culinary Tradition: Michael Twitty And The Passover Seder As A Vehicle For Remembering Trauma And Celebrating Survival, Samira Mehta

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

The Exodus of the Israelites has long held meaning for African American Christians, as noted by scholars of African American religious history. Jewish studies scholars, meanwhile, have written about both Passover and Jewish relationships to the Exodus. Michael Twitty, public historian, James Beard award-winning author, and memoirist, has fused an identity for himself by drawing on the foodways of both traditions to remember and memorialize the trauma of both traditions While Twitty uses food to create meaning in the context of holidays, his memoirs, Kosher Soul and The Cooking Gene, explore how the food of trauma, poverty, and resilience provide …

The Black Press And Late Imperial Russia, Benjamin Pierce

History Undergraduate Honors Theses

For centuries, western observers had looked to Russia and seen a place fundamentally different from their home countries. In their accounts, Russia was distinctly oppressive, a state characterized by tyranny, barbarism, and Mongolian influence. But these accounts were faulty. They were written by merchants, diplomats, and explorers, wealthy white men who had never experienced the kind of repression they witnessed in Russia. When Black Americans looked to Russia, however, they saw a place fundamentally similar to the United States. Both countries were large, multiethnic empires driven by territorial acquisition and fueled by forced labor. By tracing the coverage of Russia …

Writing, Performance, Resistance: Examining Feminist Ideology And Theory In Theatre Since The Second Wave, Olivia Cross

Theater Honors Papers

This project seeks to identify and analyze how feminist theatre is informed by theory and activism in its resistance against white, heteronormative, and patriarchal hegemony offstage through onstage representation. By identifying three consistent themes of gender & sexuality, race, and trauma and the methods used to effectively convey them to an audience, feminist theatre displays how advocacy takes unique forms to uproot the status quo. Furthermore, this research highlights how theatre is a viable and rich outlet for feminist intellectual history, displaying its versatility as a frame of analysis.

Res Historica, Volume 3, Lynneth Miller Renberg Phd, Alpha Rho Epsilon Phi Alpha Theta

Res Historica

The 2024 journal of historical research by Anderson University students, Res Historica.

The editorial team for this edition of Res Historica was Dr. Lynneth Miller Renberg, Johnathan Sorce, and Samuel Sanders.

Lessons On Racism: The Senior Prom At The Elks Club, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

A Historical Analysis Of Health Institutions, Professionals, And Advocates In The Civil Rights Movement In Columbia, South Carolina, Anusha Ghosh

Senior Theses

From 1900 to 1970, widespread racism severely restricted healthcare access for Black citizens in the South, leading them to establish and staff alternative healthcare institutions to support their community.

Such institutions faced debilitating issues such as chronic financial shortages and patient overflow. Despite these problems, oral histories, media, and primary written sources show that Black healthcare workers in alternative healthcare institutions demonstrated a greater ability to meet the health needs of Black patients due to cultural understanding and external community involvement.

Dr. Matilda Evans was an African-American woman physician who became a leader in medicine, public health, and education in …

Bearing The Benefit: An Evolution Of Passing To Trespassing & How We Got Here, Kennedi J. Williams

Honors College Theses

In recent years, we have seen a shift in the social treatment of white people in America. The desire to be politically correct at all times, in hopes of avoiding becoming the next viral “Karen” or racist has become imperative. The following thesis will explore the latest trend of white women buying racial capital by producing mixed-race children. At first glance, this idea can be a bit problematic. How can we assume the reasoning behind a woman choosing to bear a child? With this in mind, I would like to emphasize that individuals do not have to consciously be racist …

Navigating Archival Silences: Black History At Purdue, Sammie L. Morris

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

There are gaps in the historical record of Purdue University as evidenced in the lack of source materials in the University Archives. In particular, researching history on Black alumni, faculty, and staff and other people of color in Purdue's past is challenging due to the scarcity of source material. This presentation discusses gaps or archival silences in the University Archives and measures being taken to preserve and share access to Black history at Purdue.

“Now, What’S One Story I Wanted To Tell You?”: Oral History Exhibition Archives At The Chicago History Museum At The Turn Of The 21st Century, Arianne Nguyen

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

Starting in the 1970s, American history museums have undergone a shift away from seeing themselves collections-focused historical societies acting as “temples to the past.” In the face of broader political challenges—civil rights, increasingly multicultural urban audiences, and the “culture wars” of the 1980s, public historians have sought to reclaim their institutions’ relevance by seeking to share their authority and mission with those “publics” they serve.

While secondary literature on public history has generally agreed that museums pulled off this shift—and museums themselves have touted successful exhibits and outreach—this essay uses a specific case study to complicate the narrative. The Chicago …

Determining Jury Impartiality In The Malice Green Murder Cases, Marco Cardamone

Rushton Journal of Undergraduate Humanities Research

Detroit Police Department officers Walter Budzyn and Larry Nevers beat Black resident Malice Green to death in November 1992 and were convicted of second-degree murder, however, their convictions were overturned by appellate courts on the basis that the jury was influenced by outside sources. Race played a critical factor in the trials and public opinion as both officers were White and the judge, juries, and prosecutors were Black. While the evidence of the case suggests a wrongful death, public opinion in Detroit and exposure to media compromised the juries’ impartiality.

Social Justice Autobiography, Javar Hollins

Writing Beyond the Prison Living Archive

Social Justice essay on Jim Crow South; crack epidemic; inter-racial cooperation

Soul Of One King, Ramsceair Jacques Flemmings

Writing Beyond the Prison Living Archive

Poem on Religion; Black history; Black liberation; Reform

The Ecosystem Of Justice, Corey Jasmin

Writing Beyond the Prison Living Archive

Social Justice essay on criminal justice; MLK; Israel and Palestine conflict; Nazi Germany; Holocaust; Prophet Amos.

Legacy, Gerard Lawless

Writing Beyond the Prison Living Archive

Essay on Black Freedom Struggle; Black Music (spirituals, protest songs); Civil Rights Movement; Black Panthers

Guardian, Ramsceair Jacques Flemmings

Writing Beyond the Prison Living Archive

Poem on Racism; Religion; Black history; Black liberation; Media; Reform

Social Justice Autobiography, Dewitt Faulkner

Writing Beyond the Prison Living Archive

Social Justice autobiography on: LA Riots; Rodney King; Gangs; racial violence; police brutality; criminal justice system; Wisconsin; Truth-in-Sentencing; Black history; Sharecropping.

Invisible Me, Rashad El

Writing Beyond the Prison Living Archive

Poem on Race, Protest, Historical Memory (Black Freedom Struggle); Immigration; popular culture (books, film); Religion/Morality

Are Gangs Working For The Klan?, Timothy Brown

Writing Beyond the Prison Living Archive

Political Essay; Satire; Poetry; Gangs, Ku Klux Klan; white supremacy; inter-racial violence; capitalism; racial empowerment; Black Power; Black Capitalism

Dear Black People, Timothy Brown

Writing Beyond the Prison Living Archive

Critical Satirical essay on: Black Capitalism; Black Power; Black nationalism; slavery; colonialism; capitalism; Sojurner Truth; Harriet Tubman; Marvin Delaney; Mary McCloud Bethune

Untitled, Mark Barney

Writing Beyond the Prison Living Archive

Social Justice Autobiography on the topics of: Racial consciousness; Black Panthers; Nation of Islam; Race; Personal responsibility; George Jackson; Angela Davis; California Department of Corrections; Social Justice; Political consciousness

The Network For Autonomy: Development Of Early Black Voluntary Associations And The Progress Of The Black Community, Marc T. Williams

History Theses - Archive

This thesis centers around and attempts to answer the question: between the Revolutionary era and the beginning of the Civil War, how did some of the earliest local Black benevolent communities develop themselves over the course of their lifetime? Three Black benevolent societies established during the late eighteenth to mid nineteenth century period will be analyzed — the Free African Union Society of Newport and Providence Rhode Island, the Free African Society of Philadelphia and the New York African Society for Mutual Relief in Manhattan — to assist in answering this question. It follows the commonly held idea scholars have …

Confronting Yanqui Racismo: The Cuban Revolution And The (R)Evolutionary Radicalization Of Amiri Baraka, Ariane Ribeiro Santana

Theses and Dissertations--History

This study examined the July 1960 trip to Cuba financed by the Fair Play for Cuba Committee and the Cuban cultural center Casa de las Américas, in which the Black poet and activist Amiri Baraka took part. Diving into his experiences in Cuba and his later writings, it is possible to conceive of diaspora as an interaction that is based not only on race, but on points of common oppression, as seen between Baraka and the African American delegation he joined in 1960 and the Cuban society he engaged with during the trip. This work therefore furthers the field of …

The Battle Over Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion And Critical Race Theory In Florida: A Case Study On The Stop W.O.K.E. Act, Grace Anne Castelin

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Accelerating from 2022 and continuing through 2024, the state of Florida has experienced significant policy changes, particularly within the realm of higher education and affairs of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Many progressive officials, experts, and activists assert arguments that the state is on the verge of evolving into an authoritarian regime while many illiberal policies are being produced through the Florida legislature and current executive leadership—social and economic sectors are consequently threatened in order to maintain political oppression. The Stop W.O.K.E. Act has served as a catalyst for shifting the state's political stance on DEI, culminating in a chain …

An Excavation Of Margaret And Jerry Morgan: How The Architecture Of Black Liminal Spaces Shaped Antebellum Conflict Between Maryland And Pennsylvania, Felicia A. Appenteng

Dissertations and Theses

In the 1830s, Jerry and Margaret Morgan and their six children were living as a free Black family in rural Pennsylvania, one of a growing number of such families in a part of the state that bordered Maryland. Suddenly, their lives were violently disrupted in 1837 when a group of men from Maryland, led by Edward Prigg, entered into Pennsylvania to seize Margaret and the children so that they could be enslaved. Although the most dramatic, this was only the latest twist in the unusual lives of the Morgan family. Jerry Morgan was born into enslavement, gained his freedom, and …

La Fiesta Del Espiritu Santo: An Original Work For Choir, Soloists, And Small Ensemble Influenced By The Santeria Music Of The African-Dominican Community In The Dominican Republic, Rafael Scarfullery

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This study examines the role of Santería music as practiced by African Dominicans in Villa Mella, a neighborhood of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. This musical tradition comes from the culture and religion of the Yoruba people who were brought as slaves from Africa, and features complex drum rhythms and call-and-response chants. This paper deals with the historical and social context of Santería music within the Dominican Republic, but its principal objective is to adopt the musical language of this tradition and use it to create a new contemporary work for mixed choir and small ensemble.

One of the most …

Undergraduate Experiences Of Black Women At Pwi Campuses, Nilsa Laine

Honors Projects in History, Literature, and the Arts

Black women in modern-day American society face various forms of oppression as a result of misogynoir, the disliking of or bias against black women. A smaller society of our modern societies is college campuses. Predominantly white institutions (PWIs) specifically have a structure that results in a unique yet universal cultural experience for Black women. This research will answer the question: are there commonalities between Black women in their undergraduate experiences at PWI campuses? Qualitative research will be conducted with methodology including archival research and interviews to collect data. Intersectionality theory, Invisibility theory, and Black feminist thought/theory will be used as …

‘Following The Line Of Least Resistance’: African American Women In Domestic Work, 1899–1940, Taylor Simsovic

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

This paper examines the challenges faced by African American women employed in domestic service between 1899 and 1940, with a focus on how race, class, and gender intersected to shape their experiences. Specifically, the study investigates how these women continued to perform reproductive labor as they migrated from the South to Northern states during the Great Migration. Drawing on a range of primary and secondary sources, the analysis argues that Black women's persistent employment in undervalued labor within white American homes was driven by the mutually constitutive systems of capitalism, white supremacy, and patriarchy. These systems channeled Black women into …

Leeland Jones And Claude Clapp: Case Studies Of Civil Rights In Western New York, Kaelynn Beckman

History Theses

The Civil Rights Movement, which occurred primarily in the 1950s and 1960s, aimed to acquire justice, equality, and an end to racism and discrimination against Black Americans. In an attempt to do so, Black activists staged protests, walkouts, and boycotts and turned to institutions of education and politics to usher in change. However, the historiography on the Civil Rights Movement focuses on the more prominent events and individuals of the time, for example, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The missing components of the historiography include the …