Introduction to the Thirteenth Volume
In this volume of Ibid.: A Student History Journal, ten authors, including undergraduate and graduate students, present their works covering a diverse range of research topics and themes. The authors analyze their sources and extrapolate and interpret the facts therein to illuminate the intersectionality of society and race, health and nutrition, pop culture, and both colonial and Texas histories. They explore the connections between birth control and eugenics, the resilience of white supremacy in thought and politics in twentieth century America, legislative histories of food and drug regulations, formative influences on modern pop culture, and local histories of crime and deviance as they relate to resistance to federal law at the state level.
The first group of essays in this journal investigates the intersection between societal pressures and individual agency during the colonial and revolutionary periods in America.
The first essay in the 2020 volume of Ibid., “To Hang a Witch! Religion and Paranoia in Seventeenth Century Hartford,” by Aaron Whiting, winner of the Valentine J. Belfiglio Prize, highlights the frequently overlooked history of broader New England witch trials which are often eclipsed by the singular happenings in Salem. Through his outstanding use of primary source criticism and research, Whiting reconstructs the uniqueness of time and place that Hartford and the surrounding region occupied. Through a thorough analysis of the confluence of social, political, religious changes taking place during decades preceding the age of enlightenment, we are shown how it is possible to hang a witch.
The second essay in this section, “Gentility in Maryland and Virginia From 1763-1774,” by Madison Schraeder, demonstrates the material culture of a handful of estates to relate the socio-cultural importance of tea culture in revolution era America, and the desired acquisition of prestige items and assets that displayed the cultural capital necessary to identify membership within the genteel class. Schraeder utilizes primary and secondary sources to show what these items represented and the benefits of belonging to the gentility afforded its members.
The second group of essays highlights the authors’ research on the cultural and socio-political crossroads of smuggling contraband in Texas giving insight into the standards of operations for state and federal policing during both prohibition and the war on drugs.
The first essay in this section on Texas History is “Tequileros and Moonshiners: Prohibition in Texas,” by Matthew Febre. This essay relates the discrepancies of policies within Texas law enforcement in dealing with tequileros and moonshiners. While both groups participated in the illegal distribution of alcohol, ethnicity played a significant role in determining the urgency of action and level of force employed by local law enforcement. Febre engages his sources and brings awareness to the different realities between white moonshiners operating in northern Texas and the oft-overlooked Mexican Americans in south Texas viewed as a threat to national security. This essay highlights the issues surrounding the socio-economic, socio-ethnic, and political aspects of policy enforcement in varied communities.
The second essay, “Rex Cauble: Texas Businessman, or Marijuana Kingpin?” by Charlotte Thornburg, investigates the speculation surrounding the rise and fall of self made Texas millionaire Rex Cauble, chronicling his start as wildcatter oil man to his eventual arrest as the kingpin behind a multimillion dollar smuggling ring. Thornburg utilizes court documents and news articles to deconstruct the myths from realities surrounding this larger than life cultural figure from Texas reported to be the head of the “Cowboy Mafia.”
The third section presents topics covering the interplay of society and race and covers themes of eugenics, the persistence of systemic discrimination in a stratified society, the myth of passivity among minority groups, and the media's role in popularizing public opinions on race and immigration and the legislation stemming from these opinions.
The first essay in this section and winner of the Valentine J. Belfiglio Prize, “A Tale of Two Cities: Separation and Contact Between Dallas’s Black and White Communities, 1919-1936,” by Hunter Vermeer, highlights the cultural richness of minority communities in Dallas, Texas despite being overlooked by the Federal Writers Project’s guide to Dallas in the mid 1930s. Vermeer showcases that despite deep seated racism within Dallas’ white community during the 1920s and 1930s which kept communities from interacting with one another, Deep Ellum developed a vibrant and independent cultural identity that allowed them to participate in the Harlem Renaissance and the creation of art.
The second essay in this section, “Straining the Melting Pot: How the Saturday Evening Post Articulated America’s Changing Attitudes on Immigration in the 1920s,” by Kasie Moffett, conveys how the end of the Great War brought with it a xenophobic zeitgeist as increasing sentiments of isolationism and nationalism began to color the conversation on immigration. Through her use of sources, Moffett shows that in the early part of the 1920s, the Saturday Evening Post purposefully sought to normalize nativist views and garner support for immigration restriction on the basis of jeopardizing American racial purity, morality, and overall standard of life.
In the third essay in this section, “‘He’s only a payin’ ‘em back!’ Struggling For Freedom During Civil Conflicts,” by Philip Smith, focuses on the Lowry Wars during the Civil War and Reconstruction to show the active participation of freed slaves and minority groups in fighting for their rights against oppressive power structures. Smith engages his sources to reconstruct the multi-ethnic solidarity of the Lumbee tribe of North Carolina, with whom the Lowry’s belonged.
The fourth essay in this section, “Autonomy Revoked: Forced Sterilization of Women of Color in 20th Century United States,” by Paola Alonso, explores the intersections of socio-economic status, ethnocentrism, and contraceptives to highlight the use of the eugenics movement to legitimize early movements for birth control and forced sterilization in minority communities. Through her use of sources, Alonso showcases the contrasting goals of reproductive health innovations in a society succumbing to fears of racial impurities that manifested in policies aimed to control the reproductive choices of women of color.
The fourth section of this journal focuses on the health regulations in food industries by using similar legislative precedents established in the tobacco industries.
This essay, “Legislative History: The Regulation of Tobacco and Food Companies to Address Public Health,” by Brandon Kelly, offers a critical and comparative study of the legislative history surrounding the tobacco and food industries as a means to understand the precedence of laws and lawsuits that inform and influence current and future regulations within the industry. Kelly utilizes a wealth of sources to shed a light on the legal outcomes of the tobacco industry’s regulations such as eliminating marketing towards children, banning cartoonish mascots on all products deemed unhealthy, and restricting the use of misleading wording in advertisements to offer a foundation for fast tracking regulations aimed at curbing the current obesity issue.
The fifth and final section of this journal highlights the cultural relevance of Disney’s works during the depression and their contribution to contemporary pop culture.
This essay, “Exploration in Imagination: The Walt Disney Silly Symphony Cartoons and American Animation in the 1930s,” by Kendall Wagner, showcases the pivotal role of Walt Disney upon the American Culture. Through her use of source materials, Wagner relates that while originally a form of escapism during the Great Depression, in the hands of Disney, animated shorts would serve to cement the medium’s place among American entertainment. Moving from a loosely structured gag-based reel to the story driven art form we know today, she explains that had it not been for Disney’s innovations and advancements in the field, contemporary animation as we know it would not be the same.
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