History Theses

A Reassessment of Deindustrialization and the Case of Atlantic Steel

Timothy T. Lawrence — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:06:03 PDT

This thesis seeks to understand the causal factors of deindustrialization in the steel industry during the late twentieth century and uses the former Atlantic Steel Company mill in Atlanta, Georgia as a case study. Using company records and secondary sources from a variety of social science disciplines, I explore the roles of neoliberalism, government foreign and domestic policies, and the world economic crisis of 1973 to reassess contemporary understanding of the concept of deindustrialization.

Modes of Power: Time, Temporality, and Calendar Reform by Jesuit Missionaries in Late Imperial China

Ryan S. Blasingame — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:01:15 PDT

This work explores the relationship between time, temporality, and power by utilizing interactions between Jesuit missionaries and the Ming and Qing governments of late imperial China as a case study. It outlines the complex relationship between knowledge of celestial mechanics, methods of measuring the passage of time, and the tightly controlled circumstances in which that knowledge was allowed to operate. Just as the Chinese courts exercised authority over time and the heavens, so too had the Catholic Church in Europe. So as messengers of God’s authority, the Jesuits identified the importance of astronomical and temporal authority in Chinese culture and sought to convey the supremacy of Christianity through their mastery of the stars and negotiate positions of power within both imperial governments.

Liberty Of Mine Own Country: The Political Perspective Of Henry Clay

Joshua T. Walters — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 06:51:05 PDT

Henry Clay’s effect on the second party system is undeniable. However, this thesis intends to do more than chronicle Clay’s life. By analyzing key points of Clay’s political career, one sees several key aspects of Clay’s political philosophy come to life. Unionism, the role of the Constitution, and compromise are fundamental to Clay’s political perspective. Other historians have argued that Clay was always motivated by “self-interest” and personal politics, but Clay’s politics never strayed far from national compromise and maintaining the Union.

The Price of Freedom: Greece's Role in the Cold War

Hristos X. Tzolis — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 11:21:23 PDT

Much of the available scholarship today underplays the role of Greece within the context of the Cold War between, the United States and the Soviet Union. The purpose of this study, we will place Greece as the test subject of a modern approach to war by Washington in assuming a neo-colonial master’s role to reconstruct Europe post World War II. The following thesis will challenge the preconceived notion that Greece and the United States entered into this diplomatic arrangement with only the intentions of containing communism. This research will concentrate on the role of political fear, through government legislation and political rhetoric played out in the Cold War. Re-contextualizing the Greek crisis and the Cold War will bring awareness to the early dawn of this ideological war, or as Howard Jones describes it, a new kind of war, and how it was the basis for future foreign interventions by Washington.

Defending Renaissance Italy: The Innovative Culture of Italian Military Engineers

Brett M. Carter — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 11:21:22 PDT

The cultural and social effect of the Renaissance Italian military engineer is profiled within this thesis. It encompasses their vocational careers concerning the fluctuations in individuality, print censorship, and uneasiness attached to patronage and marketability. Their work and reputation directly coincided with the demand for trace italienne from numerous Italian city-states and entities throughout the cinquecento. As knowledge spread throughout the Italian peninsula, the individualistic demand for military engineers diminished, integrating their discipline with other professions. As the demand for patronage intensified, fears of fraudulence and plagiarism existed among printers and fellow engineers. This apprehension directly contributed to a lack of printed fortification treatises throughout the cinquecento and was escalated by foreign interventions (Sack of Rome, 1527). This thesis aims to tackle these issues met by Italian military engineers.

The Legacy of Luther: National Identity and State-Building in Early Nineteenth-Century Germany

Ruth L. Dewhurst — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 11:21:20 PDT

Historians have posited a number of theories about nationalism. Using Anthony D. Smith's historic ethno-symbolic theory, this thesis examines the development of German national identity in the decades following the French Revolution up to the 1848 revolutions and the National Assembly that met in Frankfurt to write a constitution for the German Nation. Martin Luther was an important figure to Germans in the nineteenth century and a number of influential intellectuals drew on his contributions to define themselves as a distinctive people, even though Germans as yet, had no nation-state. The particular contributions of Luther examined in this thesis are language, music and concepts of freedom and unity.

Evolution of a Word: Democracy and the Democratic-Republican Societies, 1793-1796

Jarrett M. Walker — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 11:21:18 PDT

Even though most historians agree on democracy’s basic definition and that it emerged with the American Revolution in the United States, historians disagree on how it developed after the Revolution. Some argue that democracy thrived while others claim that it was tamed during the 1790s. Instead of siding with one side or the other, this thesis argues that democracy meant different things to different people and developed in multiple ways. People created their own definition and over time they helped evolve it and one group was the Democratic-Republican Societies that formed in 1793 and ended in 1796. Their definition started out by describing an egalitarian society, but over time it evolved in reaction to three different events: French Revolution, the Whiskey Rebellion, and the Jay Treaty. Each event allowed their definition to become clearer because through their responses the Societies defined democracy.

Companionate Lives and Consonant Voices in We Two Together: The 1950 Dual Autobiography of Irish and Indian Reformers Margaret and James Cousins

Jennifer D. Copland — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 10:01:02 PST

This thesis explores We Two Together, the unique dual autobiography of the reformers Margaret and James Cousins. It places this rich text in the context of the first half of the twentieth century and demonstrates its value as a source for Irish, Indian, gender, and global history. It investigates how the Cousinses represent their efforts to create and maintain a companionate marriage over a lifetime, depict their work as activists for women’s suffrage, Indian nationalism, educational reform, and other causes, and recount the impact of cross-cultural encounters on their cosmopolitan lives. We Two Together provides insight into the lives of two extraordinary individuals as they witnessed and participated in several key social and political movements in Ireland and India. In bringing attention to this book, I hope that other historians will make use of it and that librarians will preserve the rare copies in their possession.

"With Vietnam We Are Bound as Brothers": Theorizing Socialism, Internationalism, and the Politics of Public Agency Among Vietnamese Contract Workers in the German Democratic Republic

jonathan m. schmitt — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 12:35:57 PDT

This thesis considers the social, economic and ideological climate in the German Democratic Republic in the last decade of its existence (the 1980s) when excessive labor demands lead the country to import tens of thousands of “contract workers” from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Focusing primarily on theoretical contradictions in GDR socialism, and their impact on the day to day lives Vietnamese workers, I will argue that ideologically freighted pronouncements of “socialist fraternity” with Vietnam functioned to obscure the true, economic reasons for labor importation.

Writing Her Way Back to the Old South: History, Memory, and Mildred Lewis

Cari A. DePalma — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 06:58:02 PDT

Mildred Lewis Rutherford, as one of the most prominent members of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, has been scantly researched in the past, however her speeches and writing had a profound impact on southern historical consciousness during the New South Period. Her influence, interestingly, was not entirely based in reality. A poststructural analysis of her speeches reveals that she strategically fabricated and excluded information in order to create a specific memory of the past in the minds of southerners. Rutherford had difficulty discerning whether or not the economic benefits of industrialization outweighed the accompanying social consequences. Yet, she used the power of text in an attempt to recreate the Old South social structure based on a racial hierarchy that was bound to be defeated by the rising tide of indu-strialization.

"White, Black, and Dusky": Girl Guiding in Malaya, Nigeria, India, and Australia from 1909-1960

Sally K. Stanhope — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 06:49:19 PDT

This comparative study of Girl Guiding in Malaya, India, Nigeria, and Australia examines the dynamics of engagement between Western and non-Western women participants. Originally a program to promote feminine citizenship only to British girls, Guiding became tied up with efforts to maintain, transform, or build different kinds of imagined communities—imperial states, nationalists movements, and independent nation states. From the program’s origins in London in 1909 until 1960 the relationship of the metropole and colonies resembled a complex web of influence, adaptation, and agency. The interactions between Girl Guide officialdom headquartered in London, Guide leaders of colonized girls, and the colonized girls who joined suggest that the foundational ideology of Guiding, maternalism, became a common language that participants used to work toward different ideas and practices of civic belonging initially as members of the British Empire and later as members of independent nations.

"Little Holes to Hide In": Civil Defense and the Public Backlash Against Home Fallout Shelters, 1957-1963

John R. Whitehurst — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 12:53:25 PDT

Throughout the 1950s, U.S. policymakers actively encouraged Americans to participate in civil defense through a variety of policies. In 1958, amidst confusion concerning which of these policies were most efficient, President Eisenhower established the National Shelter Plan and a new civil defense agency titled The Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization. This agency urged homeowners to build private fallout shelters through print media. In response, Americans used newspapers, magazines, and science fiction novels to contest civil defense and the foreign and domestic policies that it was based upon, including nuclear strategy. Many Americans remained unconvinced of the viability of civil defense or feared its psychological impacts on society. Eventually, these criticisms were able to weaken civil defense efforts and even alter nuclear defense strategy and missile defense technology.

Stri-Dharma: Voice of the Indian Women's Rights Movement 1928-1936

Sarah K. Broome — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 11:27:05 PDT

The journal Stri-Dharma, published by the Women’s Indian Association from 1918 to 1936, endeavored to be the voice of the Indian women’s rights movement. It addressed political and social issues facing women in India as well as the achievements of women worldwide. Using the dichotomy of the home and world, this thesis examines how Stri-Dharma represented the tensions experienced by the Indian women’s movement as it pressed for reforms from the British colonial state, participation in the Indian nationalist movement, and inclusion in the international women’s movement.

The Political is Personal: The Georgia Equal Rights Amendment Debate in Public and Private Discourse

Haley Aaron — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 11:24:00 PDT

Although previous scholars have addressed the legislative parameters of the Equal Rights Amendment debate in non-ratifying states, analysis of amendment supporters’ rhetoric has been limited. Examining the public and private writings of activists, This thesis presents the argument that pro-ERA coalitions in Georgia addressed the concerns of their opponents and developed rhetoric that deemphasized connections to the radical women’s liberation movement and argued that the ERA would enact legal, rather than social, change. While the educational materials produced by pro-ERA coalitions presented a logical analysis of the amendment’s legal ramifications, the personal discourse of Georgia activists presented an emotional defense of the amendment that has often been overlooked in previous studies.

James A. Mackay: Early Influences on a Southern Reformer

kevin e. grady mr. — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 07:38:38 PDT

ABSTRACT

James A. Mackay was a decorated World War II veteran, who returned to Georgia in 1945, determined to make a difference in the segregated world of Georgia politics. He was a staunch opponent of Georgia’s county unit system that entrenched political power in rural counties. From 1950 through 1964 he was a state house member who fought to keep Georgia public schools open in the face of political opposition to desegregation. Elected to Congress in 1964, he was one of two deep-South congressmen who voted in favor of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. In 1967 he co-founded the Georgia Conservancy. For the next 25 years he was Georgia’s leading environmentalist. This thesis explores Mackay’s life from 1919-1950 and the significance of his parents, his experiences at Emory University, World War II, his legal challenge to the county unit system, and his role in writing Who Runs Georgia?

White Privilege: A History of the Concept

Jacob Bennett — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:26:22 PDT

This thesis’ goal is to examine the way the term and concept of white privilege has been created in contemporary American society. The argument of the thesis will be that before and directly after discrimination was made illegal in the United States by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, scholars and activists implemented the term white privilege to describe structural and governmentally perpetuated privilege in the United States that had been consciously given to whites. This privilege allowed whites to obtain legal advantages over minorities across the nation. Years after the legislation was passed, however, discrimination was still an issue in the country. White privilege’s definition shifted in order to explain the reason for that reality; White privilege was not perpetuated by conscious and explicit efforts, but by white citizen’s subconscious. This thesis will show how that shift occurred, using scholarly and non-academic writer’s usage of the term white privilege.

Slowly, Surely, One Plat, One Binder at a Time: Choking Out Jim Crow and the Development of the Azurest Syndicate Incorporated

GraceLynis Dubinson — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:22:16 PDT

This thesis explores the intersections of a Black Power leisure identity, real property ownership, the progression of economic agency and land development through the example of Black resorts, focusing on Azurest North, a summer community in Sag Harbor, New York developed in the 1950s by Azurest Syndicate Incorporated. The project traces the history of real estate syndicates during the mid-twentieth century as a way to circumvent the practices of Jim Crow housing discrimination. Independent mortgage financing and land development especially in the field of resort housing, also points to the emergence of what I call a Black Power leisure identity. This study also seeks to determine how the American pursuit of leisure during the twentieth century forged identity and how real estate property ownership has been used to maintain and secure community and individual identity.

Rockin' The Tritone: Gender, Race & The Aesthetics of Aggressive Heavy Metal Subcultures

Kirk W. Mishrell — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 08:55:33 PDT

This paper explores the dynamics of two regional heavy metal styles. It focuses on the aesthetics of Florida death metal and Norwegian black metal. This paper seeks to contribute but also deviate from the great studies linking music with cultural studies. Heavy metal has gained international attention from many social leaders concerned with the direction of its listeners. Heavy metal, from its early foundation, has been used to rebel against social order. As the music evolves, it becomes dangerous to the social establishment; challenging ideologies such as religion, globalization, feminism and common decency. This paper seeks to tell the story of the battle between hegemony and the subversive subculture of intense metal, giving voice to some truly disturbed individuals dissatisfied with the existing social institution. In doing so, I hope this study serves as model for future studies of radical youth culture.

Gendering the Republic and the Nation: Political Poster Art of the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939

Helen M. Greeson — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 08:13:10 PDT

The Spanish Civil War is typically presented as a military narrative of the ideological battle between socialism and fascism, foreshadowing World War II. Yet the Spanish war continued trends begun during World War I, notably the use of propaganda posters and the movement of women into visible roles within the public sphere. Employing cultural studies methods to read propaganda poster art from the Spanish war as texts, this thesis analyzes the ways in which this persuasive medium represented extremes of gender discourse within the context of letters, memoirs, and other experiential accounts. This thesis analyzes symbols present in propaganda art and considers how their meanings interacted with the changing gendered identities of Republic and nation. Even within the relatively egalitarian Republic, political factions constructed conflicting representations of femininity in propaganda art, and women’s accounts indicate that despite ideological differences, both sides still shared a patriarchal worldview.

Ballads, Culture and Performance in England 1640-1660

Sarah Page Wisdom — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:38:17 PST

Ballads published during the English Civil Wars and Interregnum were a uniquely potent cultural medium. Ballad authors and publishers used the tools of format and genre, music, and available discourses to translate contentious topics into a form of entertainment. The addition of music to what would otherwise have been merely another form of cheap print allowed ballads to be incorporated into many parts of daily life, through oral networks as well as through print and literacy. Ballads and their music permeated all levels of society and therefore the ideas presented in ballads enjoyed a broad audience. Because any given ballad was subject to repeated performances, its meaning was recreated with each performance. Performances of ballads published in the 1640s and 1650s created a vision of an imaginary England of the past, and projected hope that this past would be restored in the future.