African American Studies Commons^™

In With A Runny Nose, Out In A Body Bag: Why Is It So Difficult For Black Women To Leave The Hospital Alive?, Chelsea Carter

Scholars Week

In the Black community, there is an unspoken understanding about Black people going to the doctor with a runny nose, and leaving in a body bag. A recent article published by The Oprah Magazine demonstrates that racism is rampant in the United States healthcare system, and it is taking the lives of Black women at an alarmingly disproportionate rate (Stallings, 2018). When seeking medical treatment, many Black women are at the mercy of doctors who possess an implicit bias against Black women. Simply put, implicit bias describes the phenomenon in which people behave and treat others based on negative preconceptions …

Editing The Eartha M. M. White Collection: Collaborative Projects While Staying At Home, Carol Lynne Hemmingway

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Digital Projects Showcase Exhibitor Award

Editing the Eartha M. M. White Collection is a collaborative electronic editing project that first began creating, editing, and publishing transcriptions of documents from the Eartha M. M. White Collection in 2016. Since Spring 2020, Carol Lynne Hemmingway has headed the project as its student leader. The project has since been presented by Hemmingway as part of the course material for Dr. Clayton McCarl’s DIG3152 Intro to Electronic Textual Editing course that summer and for the virtual 2020 National Humanities Conference with Dr. McCarl, Dr. Felicia Bevel, and Susan Swiatosz, who all play key roles …

Historical Lineage Of Black Preservation, Kellea Roberson

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Project of Merit Winner!

Digital Projects Showcase Exhibitor Award

The topic of this research will showcase Black preservation and perseverance through researching historical buildings that have been utilized for both the benefit and betterment of the Black community over time. Focusing in particular on the Ducote Federal Credit Union, located in Historic Durkeeville, which was the only credit union that serviced African American residents in Jacksonville in the 1960s. Tracking the building’s usage as it became the new home for the nonprofit organization, Families of Slain Children, an organization for families that have lost loved ones due to senseless violence. …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 96, No. 24, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. This issue contains articles:

• Latimer, Jacob. Original Title IX Reporter Anticipates Records Release – Nicole Ares
• Bunton, Gabrielle. Bowling Green’s Redevelopment Effect on Black Community – Shake Rag, Jonesville
• Gaskin, Loren. How Twitch Will Be the Future of Media
• Meyer-Thornton, Zane. Nestled in Nature – Lost River Cave
• Gaylord, Kaden. Appreciating Success in Women’s Sports – Softball, Soccer, Volleyball, Basketball
• Sparkman, Wyatt. Hilltoppers Drop Series at Florida International University, Host Marshall – Baseball
• Lamb, Cassady. WKU Volleyball Set to Play in NCAA Tournament

Five Love Languages: Assessment Of Marital Satisfaction In African American Couples, Freddricka C. Lee

LSU Master's Theses

This mixed-methods study examined marital satisfaction among five (n = 10) heterosexual, African American married couples. In particular, this study examined how acknowledging a partner’s love language (Chapman, 1995) can affect these couples’ level of marital satisfaction. The participants were native to the South and ranged from 26-55 years of age. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data revealed couples were satisfied with their marriages. Although only marginally significant, the findings also revealed acknowledging a spouse’s love language was positively related to higher levels of marital satisfaction. Seven themes emerged throughout the interviews, namely communication; financial stability; understand a spouse’s …

Entertainment Media Perceptions Of Minorities In Young Adult Adaptations, Kynnadie Bennett

Scholars Week

This is an exploration of stereotypical and racist portrayals of minorities, specifically African-American, Latinx, and Native American communities, in film and television in the past and how that has affected representation in film adaptations of young adult literature. Young adult literature is one of the highest-selling genres in literature, purchased by both young adults and actual adults. In recent years, young adult literature has been adapted into film and television series and while representation has improved since the early years of entertainment history, there are still problems in the industry: many of the stereotypes remain, some minorities lack representation, and …

Black Apollo Of Science: The Life Of Ernest Everett Just - Summarizing Timeline, Sumitography And Concept Poster, Lillie R. Jenkins

Perkins Faculty Research and Special Events

This two-part chronology is based on Kenneth R. Manning’s biography, Black Apollo of Science: The Life of Ernest Everett Just (1983). Like other such timelines, this one details Just’s life and pioneering research work. Additionally, and distinctively, this timetable lays out Just’s pioneering fund-seeking and his work mentoring African American female co-researchers (Part 1). A sumitography featuring the United States Postal Service’s postage stamp (1996) recognizes Just’s innovative thinking in biology (Part 2). Following this logic, the author includes a proof-of-concept poster commending E.E. Just’s work as a forward-thinking administrator. This timeline summarizes, chronicles, and aims to re-frame Just’s …

To Let See. The Shocking Picture As A Social Mobilization Weapon, Beatriz Martínez Sosa

Artl@s Bulletin

This paper analyses the role that Emmett Till’s postmortem pictures had in the emergence of the modern civil rights movement. When they circulated in magazines, newspapers, and television in 1955, African Americans mobilized all over the U.S., so the pictures worked as a mobilization weapon. I intend to develop some hypotheses to explain this effect. To this end, the paper comprises four parts: an outline of the murder case; an analysis of the pictures’ formal and semantic features as well as the discourses and context where they were released; an examination of Till’s figure as a martyr through the effects …

Our Legacy: Stories From Prince Edward County, Virginia, Moton Museum, Longwood University

Prince Edward Histories

Volume 4, Ed. 1

"I Am A Arkansas Man:" An Analysis Of African-American Masculinity In Antebellum Arkansas, Tye Boudra-Bland

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

This thesis examines the experiences of African-American men in the years leading up to and through the American Civil War in order to understand how they constructed their own sense of manhood. Contemporary slave narratives and abolitionists’ expositions routinely tailored their definitions of manhood to white notions of gender in order to garner white support. Prominent abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass tailored their language of resistance against slavers to cast them as honorable martyrs as opposed to vengeful slaves so as to undermine racist caricatures of brute violence. But black southern men struggled against the confines of their bondage and …

Ua19/16/2 Women's Basketball Press Releases, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Press releases, photos and game statistics for WKU women's basketball team in 2021.

Ua19/16/2 Basketball Press Releases, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Press releases, photos and game statistics for WKU basketball team from January to July 2021.

Ua3/10 President's Messages - Spring Semester, Wku President's Office - Caboni

WKU Administration Documents

President's Message emails sent by Timothy Caboni to faculty & staff during spring semester, 2021.

• Big Red Restart Plan
• Commencement
• Commencement
• Council for Advancement & Support of Education
• COVID-19 Immunizations
• COVID-19 Masks
• Healthy on the Hill
• Juneteenth Holiday
• Naming & Symbols Task Force Report
• Provost Robert Fischer
• SACSCOC Accreditation
• Spring Semester Strategic Initiatives

The Shields Family: A Dichotomy Of Race In Us Society Through Two Family Lines, Joseph C. Platt

Methods of Historical Research: Spring 2021 (Archived)

The history of the Shields families of North and South Carolina, beginning with William Bryant Shields Sr. and Moses Shields respectively, offer dichotomous responses to American racial hierarchies over the decades. Generations of race mixing within the Shields family has its roots in the sons of Irish immigrants pursuing relationships with enslaved women. The one-sided nature of the power dynamic in these relationships takes on different dimensions in the lives of the mixed-race children of William Bryant Shields Sr. and the lives of Moses’ son, Henry Wells Shields, Henry’s slave Melvinia Shields, and her children. Both family lines take efforts …

The Plan Starts Now: A Study Of Juvenile Delinquency And A Re-Entry Program Back Into The Community, Lynell Porch

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

African American youth are five times as likely as whites to be detained or committed to youth facilities; 1 out of 10 high school dropouts are institutionalized. $8–21 billion is spent locking up juvenile delinquents. The educational system has failed many African American youth, which can lead them into delinquency. These youth are disregarded in the educational system, placed in overcrowded classrooms, and often dismissed as unable to learn. The results of this are school to prison pipeline. Many youths have learning disabilities that are not addressed by teachers, so youth began acting out. These are acts of attention and …

Tracking And Experiences Of Black Students Following The Inception Of No Child Left Behind, Gwenda Walters

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

Academic placement in high school classes is an important decision that can have long-term effects on student success. Research indicates that students most often remain in high or low tracks year after year. However, the precision of placements relative to real achievement disparities in the grouping of students into homogenous groups remains a petulant area of debate. Many scholars consider placement judgments to be dubious, marginal, or incorrect in terms of performance gaps, notwithstanding the assumption that these placements are deemed accurate in representing a student's academic ability. Researchers argue that the process of comparing, sorting, and classifying students has …

Examining Motivation As A Mechanism For The Effects Of Stereotype Threat On Stem Outcomes: A Longitudinal Mediation Analysis, Delaram A. Totonchi

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Although African-American students start STEM majors with higher levels of interest compared to their racial majority peers, they drop out of these majors at higher rates. One often tested explanation for this racial disparity is stereotype threat–the anxiety related to being judged stereotypically or the fear of confirming such stereotypes. Stereotype threat negatively impacts academic outcomes through a variety of psychological mechanisms including declined motivation. Accordingly, in this study, I examined expectancy-value beliefs as motivational mechanisms for the effects of stereotype threat on STEM outcomes. Participants were 362 African-American students in introductory chemistry and biology courses who completed surveys at …

First African American Female Law Graduate Carved Path To Success, St Mary's University

Black History at St. Mary's University - 2025 Collection

Hattie Elam Briscoe is among one of the most notable alumni in St. Mary’s University history, and St. Mary’s School of Law history as well.  Briscoe was the first black woman to graduate from St. Mary’s Law, and one of the first 50 women to graduate from law school. After university, Briscoe went on to have a successful career as well as garnering awards for her notoriety, skill, and service. Briscoe was also a member of many organizations and boards, some of them being the San Antonio Bar Association, Texas Bar Association, National Association of Black Women Attorneys and more. …

Lafayette Walker: Not A Republican Lapdog, But A Pitmaster, Joseph R. Vasquez

Methods of Historical Research: Spring 2021 (Archived)

Lafayette Walker (1822 – 1902), an enslaved black man in Tennessee before the Civil War, became a soldier for the Union in 1861. After the war, he was regarded as a political activist, as a community leader capable of controlling who the next mayor of San Antonio would become, blacksmith, and a “barbecue artist.” The argument here does not lie in what exactly his bbq tasted like or what a black man was doing identifying as a republican. The argument goes much deeper and shows that he did not care he was black or a slave, but instead he showed …

The Sleeping Negro, William L. Blizek

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a review of The Sleeping Negro (2021), directed by Skinner Meyers.

Who We Are: A Chronicle Of Racism In America, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America (2021), directed by Emily Kunstler.

Progressive Era Black Midwives And Healthcare In San Antonio, 1892-1920, Gloria Edwards

Methods of Historical Research: Spring 2021 (Archived)

An African American midwife was a revered woman who was seen as a wise and knowledgeable person in her respective community, an essential healthcare worker long before the term was ever conceived. For many, a midwife was the only healthcare option for maternity care and would remain so into the mid-20th century, decades after the growing professionalization of the medical field discredited their work. These developments were especially pronounced in progressive-era San Antonio, Texas, where African Americans did not have the option to use a professional healthcare facility. Black women, then, most of whom suffered from poverty and discrimination, were …

Music Hears No Color, Nicholas Laurel

Methods of Historical Research: Spring 2021 (Archived)

Growing up on the westside of San Antonio off of Rounds Street, my friends and I played basketball at Ojeda Park nearby. Across the creek from the park sat an old, funky blue building. Some nights we would pass by this blue dome-shaped building and hear the roars of a crowd yelling and cheering for their favorite luchador. From time to time this mysterious blue building hosted outdoor wrestling matches on the weekends. You would have never imagined that this building had been a place where racial barriers were broken down. It was a place where local law enforcement and …

Separate Showing Times, Elyse Rose Echevarria

Methods of Historical Research: Spring 2021 (Archived)

Nowadays, when you go to watch a movie, it does not matter who you are, what you are, or especially what skin color you are. You can walk into a movie theatre, buy a ticket, and go watch your movie. Unfortunately, this was not the case for all movie theatres in the first half of the twentieth century. San Antonio theatres were segregated throughout in this era, which encouraged segregation throughout the city. Segregation occurred in many places, but who could have thought that segregation could have occurred at family-oriented places such as the Majestic Theatre, the Rex Theatre, and …

George E. Banister, Casandra Gutierrez

Methods of Historical Research: Spring 2021 (Archived)

Whenever we think about African American history, we put our focus straight to slavery or the civil rights era, though it is much more than that. African American history in San Antonio has impacted the city’s business and economics, education, religion, migration, and foodways. Regarding foodways, I chose to research the life of George Banister, an African American man who became a well-known fraternalist and chef from working at the Argyle Hotel for over 30 years. George Banister used his expertise as a chef to offer support to the education system, church, social clubs, and actively integrating Black foodways into …

One Man’S Fight Was A Fight For All: The Story Of I.H. “Sporty” Harvey And His Battle Outside The Ring, Ryann D. Garza

Methods of Historical Research: Spring 2021 (Archived)

The Story of I.H. “Sporty” Harvey And His Battle Outside The Ring

How Hbo's A Black Lady Sketch Show Utilizes Humor To Cope And Resist Against Racism And Sexism, Regina Lynnette Sanders

Theses and Dissertations

HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show is a sketch comedy series with a cast and crew of Black women. I draw on rhetorical scholarship from various traditions and Black Feminist Standpoint to analyze how the writers and performers use humor imbued with African American rhetoric to cope with and resist systematic racism and sexism in the United States of America. I begin by analyzing interviews with the creator Robin Thede. Then I analyze sketches and the intentional use of African American rhetoric, such as rhythm, stylin’, indirection, call and response, signification, and double word choice, which leads me to three …

The Arena Players, Inc.: The Oldest Continuously Operating African American Community Theatre In The United States, Alexis Michelle Skinner

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Hay (1994) gave the Arena Players the moniker, “the oldest continuously operating African American community theatre company” in the U.S. But, if Black Theatre is increasingly found in mainstream venues in regional theatre and Broadway while Black Drama is relegated to syllabi, where is the living practice of African American, or black, community theatre? And what guarantees its survival? Craig (1980) and Fraden (1994) give voice to black critics, like Locke (1925), in co-creating objectives for black theatre during the FTP which took stage as the Negro Little Theatre continued. Hill & Hatch (2003) solidify the geographical and ideological connections …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 96, No. 22, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. This issue contains articles:

• Murray, Debra. President Timothy Caboni Signs Employment Agreement to Continue Serving as University President
• Fleischaker, Jon & Michael Abate. Frankfort’s Assault on the Constitution & Transparency
• Fisher, Brittany. Helping Hooves – New Beginnings Therapeutic Riding
• Walters, Sarah. Fighting the Quarantine Blues with New Friends
• Moore, Jake. Softball Looks Strong Ahead of Conference Play
• Fleischman, Ian. WKU to Host Cardinals, Led by Ambere Barnett – Soccer
• Gaylord, Kaden. Hilltoppers Play Louisiana Tech in NIT Quarterfinals – Basketball

Ua12/2/1 Fashion, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

Special edition of the College Heights Herald, includes articles:

• Spainhoward, Emma. Editor’s Letter
• Norvell, Abbey. Thinking Outside the Binary Box
• Keeley, Josie. The Artists Behind the 31 Ink Tattoo Parlor
• Harden, Olivia. Threading a Path from Classes to Careers
• Crisp, Hannah. Back to the Basics
• Jones, Tea. The Closet Upgrade Plan