Introduction to the Seventeenth Volume

This volume of Ibid. presents nine essays, written by graduate and undergraduate students, which explore a wide range of historical topics and research methods. The authors utilize different methodologies of historical analysis to highlight the intersections of history, society, and culture. They utilize original research to explore Black-owned newspapers and their use of Christian rhetoric, review books focused on the American West, investigate the creation of Arlington National Cemetery, and inquire whether or not Brown v. Board brought about integration for all public schools.

The first section of essays in this journal highlights the two winners of the Valentine J. Belfiglio Best Paper Awards. The first essay in this section, “Preaching in Print: The Use of Christian Rhetoric in Black-Owned Newspapers During Reconstruction,” by Damon Parker, demonstrates the connection between Christianity and Black-owned newspapers following the Civil War. According to Parker, Black journalists and editors used Biblical language to engage with their Black readers and encourage them during a time of radical change. The second essay, “Nineteenth Century Collegiate Secret Societies and Their Roles Within the Female World of Love and Ritual,” by Meghan A. Pearce, examines how women in the nineteenth century participated in collegiate societies through the lens of Carrol Smith Rosenberg’s world of female love and ritual. Pearce connects these two topics to discuss how Rosenberg’s idea of female love and ritual applies to the values of love and companionship that collegiate societies promoted.

The second group of essays highlights different aspects of American Western history. The first essay in this section, “The Encomienda: The Spark to the Pueblo Revolt,” by Miranda Adams, sets the stage for the Puebloan revolt by discussing Spanish oppression of the Puebloan people, with a primary focus on the Encomienda system. The second essay, “Review of Stephen Kantrowitz, Citizens of a Stolen Land,” by Madelon Proctor, is a review of Kantrowitz’ 2023 publication about the Ho-Chunk people and how they dealt with an encroaching American government. The final essay in this section, “Review of David Burge, A Failed Vision of Empire: The Collapse of Manifest Destiny, 1848-1872,” by Madelon Proctor, reviews Burge’s 2022 work examining the ways America fell short on its promises made with the term “Manifest Destiny.”

The third section of essays focuses on the changes brought by the Civil War and Reconstruction. The first essay in this section, “The Creation of Arlington National Cemetery,” by Haylee Cardinal, dives into how the United States government created the Arlington National Cemetery through extralegal means. The second essay, “The Weeping Land and Its People,” by Tanya Souther, investigates how the Great Depression and the Agricultural Adjustment Act impacted sharecroppers and tenant farmers.

The last group of essays in this journal discusses efforts in social justice with varying degrees of success. The first essay in this section, “Women’s Work in the Abolition Movement,” by Thandy Tolbert, surveys the many ways in which women aided the abolitionist movement in Antebellum America. The second essay, “A Tale of Two Cities: Desegregation and Resegregation in Mansfield and Dallas, Texas,” by Dawn Welch, analyzes the Brown v. Board of Education ruling by reviewing the integration efforts of two Texas school districts.