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Title: THE ORIGINS OF THE FIRST WOMEN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION: FROM PROPERTY RIGHTS AND REPUBLICAN MOTHERHOOD TO ORGANIZATION AND REFORM, 1776-1848.
Creator: Lengyel, Deborah, Lester, Connie, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The purpose of this thesis is to examine the origins of the first women's rights convention held at Seneca Falls, NY during the summer of 1848. Taxation without representation was one of the foundations that the Continental Congress used as a basis for Independence from England. But when the revolution ended and the Republic was formed, the United States adopted many English laws and traditions regarding the status of women. Women, who were citizens or could be naturalized, were left...
Show moreThe purpose of this thesis is to examine the origins of the first women's rights convention held at Seneca Falls, NY during the summer of 1848. Taxation without representation was one of the foundations that the Continental Congress used as a basis for Independence from England. But when the revolution ended and the Republic was formed, the United States adopted many English laws and traditions regarding the status of women. Women, who were citizens or could be naturalized, were left civically invisible by the code of laws (coverture) once they married. They were not able to own property, form contracts, sue or be sued. In essence, they were "covered" by their husbands under coverture. Single women who owned property or inherited property were subject to taxation, though they had no voice in the elective franchise. Therefore, women, both married and single, who were counted for legislative purposes, were given no voice in choosing their government representatives. I conclude that there were three bases for women's rights: equity, Republican Motherhood, and women's organizations. The legal concept of equity, the domestic ideology of Republican Motherhood combined with the social model of women's organizations formed the earliest foundation of what would become the first feminist movement, leading directly to the Declaration of Sentiments at Seneca Falls in 1848. Through an analysis of the changes in women's property ownership to the enhancement of the female domestic role in the early nineteenth century, women challenged their place in the public sphere. The sisterhood that was created as a result of the new domestic ideology and improved female education led to the creation of organizations to improve women's place in society. Through an almost fifty year evolution, the earliest women's volunteer organizations became the mid-nineteenth century reform organizations, leading to a campaign for woman's suffrage.
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Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: CFE0001926, ucf:47434
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001926

Title: "ANIMAL-LIKE AND DEPRAVED": RACIST STEREOTYPES, COMMERCIAL SEX, AND BLACK WOMEN'S IDENTITY IN NEW ORLEANS, 1825-1917.
Creator: Dossie, Porsha, Lester, Connie, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: My objective with this thesis is to understand how racist stereotypes and myths compounded the sale of fair-skinned black women during and after the slave trade in New Orleans, Louisiana. This commodification of black women's bodies continued well into the twentieth century, notably in New Orleans' vice district of Storyville. Called "quadroons" (a person with 1/4 African ancestry) and "octoroons" (1/8 African ancestry), these women were known for their "sexual prowess" and drew in a large...
Show moreMy objective with this thesis is to understand how racist stereotypes and myths compounded the sale of fair-skinned black women during and after the slave trade in New Orleans, Louisiana. This commodification of black women's bodies continued well into the twentieth century, notably in New Orleans' vice district of Storyville. Called "quadroons" (a person with 1/4 African ancestry) and "octoroons" (1/8 African ancestry), these women were known for their "sexual prowess" and drew in a large number of patrons. The existence of "white passing" black women complicated ideas about race and racial purity in the South. Race as a myth and social construct, or as Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham explains in her essay, African-American Women's History and the Metalanguage of Race, a "metalanguage" exposes race not as a genetic fact, but rather a physical appearance through which power relations and status were to be conferred. My methodology uses race and gender theory to analyze primary and secondary sources to understand and contextualize how population demographics, myths, and liberal 18th century colonial laws contributed to the sale of black women's bodies. The works of Emily Clark, Walter Johnson, Gwendolyn Midlo Hall and other historians who utilize Atlantic history have been paramount in my research. Emily Clark has transformed the "white-black" women from a tragic, sexualized trope into a fully actualized human being, while Hall has tackled the racist underpinnings inherent in the neglect of black women's history. The writings of bell hooks, particularly her essay Eating the Other, establishes the modern day commodification of black women vis-a-vis their representation in media, as well as through the fetishism of their bodies by a white patriarchal system. During slavery plantation owners could do virtually anything they wanted with their property, including engaging in sexual intercourse. By depicting black women as hypersexual jezebels, they could justify their rape, while establishing their dominance and place in the white male hegemony of that time period. For the right price a white male of a lesser class could achieve the same thing at a brothel down in Storyville at the turn of the twentieth century, for as Emily Clark argues in her book, The Strange History of the American Quadroon, these brothels were a great equalizer, allowing all white men to experience "sexual mastery enjoyed only by elite planters before the Civil War." By democratizing white supremacy, the quadroon and others like her forged solidarity that bridge across all classes, while upholding whiteness and oppressing people of color at the same time.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: CFH0004652, ucf:45310
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004652

Title: FARM WOMEN AS PRODUCERS AND CONSUMERS IN THE 20TH CENTURY U.S. SOUTH.
Creator: Kaminski, Joseph J, Lester, Connie, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The intent of this thesis is to examine white, rural women of the South who were directly affected by home demonstration between 1920 - 1950 and to discuss their roles as producers and consumers in the expanding market economy. Home demonstration, a three-tiered bureaucratic agency that provided domestic education and production techniques to Southern women, played a major role in guiding women toward the expanding market economy. Agents often had to temper their programs in order to...
Show moreThe intent of this thesis is to examine white, rural women of the South who were directly affected by home demonstration between 1920 - 1950 and to discuss their roles as producers and consumers in the expanding market economy. Home demonstration, a three-tiered bureaucratic agency that provided domestic education and production techniques to Southern women, played a major role in guiding women toward the expanding market economy. Agents often had to temper their programs in order to compromise with the women they served to accommodate rural restrictions on capital, capability, and confidence. By integrating rural women into a more modernized, less isolated, and more urbanized environment, home demonstration hoped to improve the lives of women through its focus on sanitation, nutrition, and efficiency within household production.
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Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFH2000509, ucf:45653
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000509

Title: THE FARM: A HIPPIE COMMUNE AS A COUNTERCULTURAL DIASPORA.
Creator: Mercer, Kevin, Lester, Connie, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Counterculture history is often divided, with a focus on either the turbulent 1960s or the "back to the land" exodus of the 1970s. A study of Stephen Gaskin and his followers' founding of The Farm, a rural commune near Summertown, Tennessee, provides a unique insight into the commonalities and connections of these two periods. It will be the aim of this thesis to weave the separate narratives of this demographic into one complete idea. The idea that the hippies constituted a counterculture...
Show moreCounterculture history is often divided, with a focus on either the turbulent 1960s or the "back to the land" exodus of the 1970s. A study of Stephen Gaskin and his followers' founding of The Farm, a rural commune near Summertown, Tennessee, provides a unique insight into the commonalities and connections of these two periods. It will be the aim of this thesis to weave the separate narratives of this demographic into one complete idea. The idea that the hippies constituted a counterculture suggests that once that culture went into exile, onto numerous communes, they existed as a diaspora. The Farm's existence as a spiritual commune, with their roots in Haight-Ashbury's short-lived utopian dream, and their continuation and evolution of that dream in Tennessee, make this particular group a model for the diaspora. The Farm, with its larger profile, publishing, and outreach programs, became the preeminent post-Haight-Ashbury commune. The commune was able to preserve the counterculture in exile, while it became a leader in dictating the direction of its progress. The Farm's efforts in midwifery, sustainable living, promotion of vegetarian diets, and outreach in America's inner cities and the Third World all point to a proactive counterculture and the commune's leadership role for the remnants of the counterculture. While the profile of the counterculture has diminished, a shift in American attitudes toward natural childbirth, ecology, and a more earth-friendly diet containing a greater variety of organic and vegetarian options reveal a significant success for their agenda.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: CFH0004195, ucf:44828
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004195

Title: Rebuilt and Remade: The Florida Citrus Industry, 1909-1939.
Creator: Padgett, James, Lester, Connie, Pineda, Yovanna, French, Scot, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Prior to orange juice concentrate, Florida citrus was already an industrialized agricultural sector. This thesis explores the early-20th-century Florida citrus industry and demonstrates that contemporary farming practices were influential in advancing how citrus was produced, processed, worked, marketed, and regulated in early-20th-century Florida. Restarted after devastating freezes in 1894-1895, resolute Florida growers rebuilt their groves into marvels of large-scale citrus fruit...
Show morePrior to orange juice concentrate, Florida citrus was already an industrialized agricultural sector. This thesis explores the early-20th-century Florida citrus industry and demonstrates that contemporary farming practices were influential in advancing how citrus was produced, processed, worked, marketed, and regulated in early-20th-century Florida. Restarted after devastating freezes in 1894-1895, resolute Florida growers rebuilt their groves into marvels of large-scale citrus fruit production. Continuing a legacy in experimental crossbreeding, improved varieties of citrus were developed to lengthen the season and markets. Advocated by nurserymen and university educators, biological innovation helped the citrus thrive in the 1910s and 1920s from adverse weather effects, pests, and diseases. Scientists were agents of modernization whose research influenced its industrialization. With the inclusion of machines in the processing of citrus, technological innovation materialized significantly in Florida's packinghouses by the 1930s. These changes affected the lives of agricultural workers and small growers. Whether by prejudice or by resisting collective efforts, big growers gained power and influence in the industry, Their power concentrated into the Florida Citrus Codes and Florida Citrus Commission in 1935, which effectively allowed large-scale growers to direct the industry's development into the rest of the 20th century. In all, this reexamination into Florida citrus exemplifies the remaking of this industry into a modern agricultural system as well as the gradualism of southern agricultural modernization in early-20th-century America.
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Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFE0007906, ucf:52745
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007906

Title: To The Memory Of Brave Men: The Imperial War Graves Commission And India's Missing Soldiers Of The First World War.
Creator: Sims, Roger, Gannon, Barbara, Lester, Connie, Zhang, Hong, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This thesis examines the commemoration of Indian soldiers who died during the First World War by the Imperial War Graves Commission, Britain's official government body overseeing all imperial commemoration efforts. For the soldiers of the Indian Army their war experience was split between the Western Front in Europe and Mesopotamia in modern-day Iraq. They were also far more ethnically, religiously, and lingually diverse than their British and Dominion counterparts. In order to examine how...
Show moreThis thesis examines the commemoration of Indian soldiers who died during the First World War by the Imperial War Graves Commission, Britain's official government body overseeing all imperial commemoration efforts. For the soldiers of the Indian Army their war experience was split between the Western Front in Europe and Mesopotamia in modern-day Iraq. They were also far more ethnically, religiously, and lingually diverse than their British and Dominion counterparts. In order to examine how geography, religion, and the imperial relationship affected Britain's commemoration of India's war dead, this study uses the Commission's own records to recreate how the IWGC created its policies regarding Indian soldiers. The result shows that while the Commission made nearly every effort to respect India's war dead, the complexity of their backgrounds hampered these efforts and forced compromises to be made. The geography of the war also forced a clear definition between the memories of Indian soldiers who died in Europe and those who fell in Mesopotamia.
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Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFE0007098, ucf:51938
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007098

Title: Sanford, DeBary Hall and the New South Movement in Central Florida.
Creator: Thorncroft, Sarah, Lester, Connie, French, Scot, Walker, Ezekiel, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The so-called New South movement coincided with national industrialization in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. In the New South, modernization focused on the development of small diversified farms, mills that processed cotton and tobacco, and small cities that connected the countryside to national markets and provided area residents with mass produced goods. Florida's experience and more specifically development around Lake Monroe in Central Florida complicates and expands our...
Show moreThe so-called New South movement coincided with national industrialization in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. In the New South, modernization focused on the development of small diversified farms, mills that processed cotton and tobacco, and small cities that connected the countryside to national markets and provided area residents with mass produced goods. Florida's experience and more specifically development around Lake Monroe in Central Florida complicates and expands our understanding of the New South. Located in what was considered a frontier area, Sanford on the south shore of the lake and DeBary Hall on the north shore illustrate the development of Central Florida in the context of the New South movement. Finally, an analysis of two museums, Sanford Museum and DeBary Hall House Museum, assesses the community understanding of the role of New South in the development of the area and offers suggestions for writing the New South into the story.
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Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFE0007256, ucf:52185
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007256

Title: The Tragic City: Black Rebellion and the Struggle for Freedom in Miami, 1945-1990.
Creator: Dossie, Porsha, Lester, Connie, French, Scot, Walker, Ezekiel, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This thesis examines the creation of South Florida's tri-ethnic racial hierarchy during the postwar period, from 1945-1990. This racial hierarchy, coupled with discriminatory housing practices and police violence, created the necessary conditions for Dade County's first deadly uprising in 1968. Following the acquittal of several officers charged in the killing of an unarmed black businessman, a second uprising in 1980 culminated in three days and three nights of violent street warfare between...
Show moreThis thesis examines the creation of South Florida's tri-ethnic racial hierarchy during the postwar period, from 1945-1990. This racial hierarchy, coupled with discriminatory housing practices and police violence, created the necessary conditions for Dade County's first deadly uprising in 1968. Following the acquittal of several officers charged in the killing of an unarmed black businessman, a second uprising in 1980 culminated in three days and three nights of violent street warfare between law enforcement and black residents in Miami's northwest Liberty City neighborhood. The presence of state sanctioned violence at the hands of police in Liberty City set the stage for the city's second uprising. Further, the oftentimes murky and ambiguous racial divide that made people of color both comrades and rivals within Miami's larger power structure resulted in an Anglo-Cuban alliance by the late 1960s and early 1970s that only worsened racial tensions, especially among the city's ethnically diverse, English speaking black population. This thesis project uses a socio-historical framework to investigate how race and immigration, police brutality, and federal housing policy created a climate in which one of Miami's most vulnerable populations resorted to collective violence.
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Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFE0007173, ucf:52269
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007173

Title: A Place in the Sunshine State : Community, Preservation, and the Parliament House.
Creator: Montgomery, Erin, Lester, Connie, Gannon, Barbara, Pineda, Yovanna, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: A Place in the Sunshine State, is a thesis project focused on the Parliament House Motor Inn in Orlando, Florida. This project nominated the Parliament House Motor Inn for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. This nomination was completed using both oral histories and more traditional historical source material. The Parliament House Motor Inn was evaluated using National Register Bulletins and the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Preservation. This nomination was...
Show moreA Place in the Sunshine State, is a thesis project focused on the Parliament House Motor Inn in Orlando, Florida. This project nominated the Parliament House Motor Inn for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. This nomination was completed using both oral histories and more traditional historical source material. The Parliament House Motor Inn was evaluated using National Register Bulletins and the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Preservation. This nomination was presented to give voice to a long-underrepresented community within the national narrative of the United States, along with giving the Parliament House the recognition it deserves as an integral institution within the gay community. This nomination sheds new light onto early gay life in Orlando and concludes that Parliament House is a significant historic and cultural resource. This conclusion is vital to the preservation of LGBT history; it allows for a more complex interpretation of Orlando and central Florida history and helps to recognize LGBT history and the sites associated with them. This thesis also discusses Parliament House and its role as a site of the intersections between gay community and identity creation, place making, and the intricate history of the southern United States. ?
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: CFE0007128, ucf:52319
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007128

Title: Central Florida School Districts' Responses to Hispanic Growth, 1980-2010.
Creator: Hazen, Kendra, Cassanello, Robert, Lester, Connie, Walker, Ezekiel, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Since the 1980s, Hispanics have been the fastest growing minority in the United States and have been moving into rural, Southern areas where there have previously not been populations of Hispanics. Studies of these demographic changes have concentrated on how communities impacted by the influx of Hispanics have created or adjusted socioeconomic and political infrastructures to accommodate the linguistic and cultural needs of the Hispanic population. The public-school system is a...
Show moreSince the 1980s, Hispanics have been the fastest growing minority in the United States and have been moving into rural, Southern areas where there have previously not been populations of Hispanics. Studies of these demographic changes have concentrated on how communities impacted by the influx of Hispanics have created or adjusted socioeconomic and political infrastructures to accommodate the linguistic and cultural needs of the Hispanic population. The public-school system is a sociopolitical structure that has affected and has been affected by the increase in Hispanics. Whereas the modern Civil Rights movement had created legal precedence for students' language rights and led to the creation of the federal Bilingual Education Act of 1968, nationalist backlash to this rise in Hispanic immigrants led to the eventual defunding of federal bilingual education programs by the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001. This thesis is a policy history of Hispanic growth in the public-school systems in Orange, Lake and Osceola counties in Florida from 1980 to 2010. During that time, the three counties grew and diversified at different rates and made decisions for their English for Speakers of Other Languages programs that correlated with the size of their Hispanic population. This time frame encompasses Osceola's fastest period of growth which led to the creation of the Florida Consent Decree, Florida public schools' framework for remaining compliant with federal and state language policies. Even though federal funds for English acquisition programs replaced funds for bilingual or native language instruction during this time, Hispanic and non-Hispanic teachers, administrators, community or activist groups and parents continued to exert agency in gaining culturally inclusive and linguistically affirming language instruction programs for their children.
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Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFE0007649, ucf:52507
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007649

Title: Making Our Voices Heard: Power and Citizenship in Central Florida's Black Communities.
Creator: McPherson, Gramond, Cassanello, Robert, Lester, Connie, Walker, Ezekiel, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This thesis examines the impacts of government policies on community mobilization in Orlando's Parramore neighborhood and the all-black town of Eatonville in Central Florida. The scope of this thesis covers the history of both communities from their formation in the 1880s to the end of the twentieth century. This research reveals the relationships between the predominantly black residents of Parramore and Eatonville and the largely white government officials over the development and...
Show moreThis thesis examines the impacts of government policies on community mobilization in Orlando's Parramore neighborhood and the all-black town of Eatonville in Central Florida. The scope of this thesis covers the history of both communities from their formation in the 1880s to the end of the twentieth century. This research reveals the relationships between the predominantly black residents of Parramore and Eatonville and the largely white government officials over the development and maintenance of each community. By understanding the social creation of both communities during the era of Jim Crow, this thesis reveals the differing levels of power each community possessed that would impact their ability to turn their defined black spaces into black places. Moving forward, each community had to adjust to the impacts of integration that weakened the communal bonds that helped the community endure Jim Crow. However, in detailing the rise of citizen activism in the post-World War II period, the theory of infrastructural citizenship shapes this thesis in revealing how black residents in Parramore and Eatonville exercised their rights as citizens in making their voices heard surrounding various infrastructural changes. While their efforts did not always achieve their ultimate goals, it forced decision makers to anticipate and accommodate the opinions of the residents impacted by these decisions. This thesis uses historical analysis to place Parramore and Eatonville within the broader social, political, and economic contexts of events occurring in Florida, the American South and the country at large.
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Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFE0007685, ucf:52494
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007685

Title: How Change Started to Come: Examining Rhythm and Blues and Southern Identity.
Creator: Davis, Jennifer, Lester, Connie, Cheong, Caroline, Larson, Peter, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This project seeks a better understanding on how blackness has been peripheral to our understanding of the term Southerner. The purpose of this work is to examine an area where the intersection of race and region exists to more fully understand how blacks in the South have presented their sense of Southern identity. The chosen area of examination is the music of rhythm and blues. Rhythm and blues as a genre rose to prominence in the years following World War II. The main reason for analyzing...
Show moreThis project seeks a better understanding on how blackness has been peripheral to our understanding of the term Southerner. The purpose of this work is to examine an area where the intersection of race and region exists to more fully understand how blacks in the South have presented their sense of Southern identity. The chosen area of examination is the music of rhythm and blues. Rhythm and blues as a genre rose to prominence in the years following World War II. The main reason for analyzing rhythm and blues as an intersecting point of race and region is that the music is both a reflection and celebration of the Southern black musical tradition. Along with the sound there is an aesthetic to rhythm and blues that is distinctly of the black South. Within the scope of this work, the examination of rhythm and blues was done by first understanding the genres of music it was built upon; as a way to show the continuity of the Southern black musical tradition. From there, this work chose to identify three prominent rhythm and blues artist (Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, and Nina Simone) as a means to connect people, music, and region. The point in highlighting these artists is to demonstrate how aspects of black identity and Southern identity have intertwined through an institution like music. Through the prism of rhythm and blues there is evidence that Southern blacks did not see themselves absent of regional identity. In highlighting a point of intersection between blacks and the South that prioritizes their experience and sense of identity, this research represents a step in the importance of fully incorporating blacks into our understanding of the term Southerner.
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Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFE0007620, ucf:52524
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007620

Title: The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in the Memory of the Civil Rights Movement.
Creator: Nightingale, Brandon, Lester, Connie, Gordon, Fon, Walker, Ezekiel, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church is a historically black church rooted in the South that was established in 1870. The church had been viewed historically as an (")old slavery(") church, due to its close relationship to the White Methodist Episcopal Church (formerly Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MECS). The history of the denomination encouraged the view that CME churches and schools had not been active in the Civil Rights Movement. Closer research into the denomination's...
Show moreThe Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church is a historically black church rooted in the South that was established in 1870. The church had been viewed historically as an (")old slavery(") church, due to its close relationship to the White Methodist Episcopal Church (formerly Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MECS). The history of the denomination encouraged the view that CME churches and schools had not been active in the Civil Rights Movement. Closer research into the denomination's archives from 1954, when the church changed its name from (")Colored(") to (")Christian(") up to the 1970s, when the movement transitioned, challenges that interpretation. From the individual activist leaders across the South, to CME-affiliated historically black colleges associated with the black student movement, and the work of members of local congregations, the CME church can be shown to have been at the forefront of the movement. By focusing on three groups(-)CME leaders, church affiliated colleges, and a local congregation(-)this thesis argues that activism took many forms. Narrowly defining what constitutes civil rights activism risks overlooking important figures in the movement and failing to acknowledge the struggles individuals and church communities faced in the struggle to end disfranchisement and Jim Crow segregation. Understanding the role of the CME church in the Civil Rights Movement calls for expanding the meaning of the word activism to include acts of defiance and courage less well-understood.
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Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFE0007843, ucf:52832
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007843

Title: The Ideal King: Brian Boru and the Medieval European Concept of Kingship.
Creator: Whittington, Kody, Larson, Peter, Lester, Connie, Dandrow, Edward, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: When one thinks of great kings, and more specifically of great kings of the early medieval period, there are a few names that almost immediately come to mind. Charlemagne is perhaps the first great medieval ruler one may mention. Alfred the Great would likely not be far behind. Both these men represented, for their respective peoples, what a great king should be. The early medieval period was a time of development in thought and in practice for the office of kingship, and the writings and...
Show moreWhen one thinks of great kings, and more specifically of great kings of the early medieval period, there are a few names that almost immediately come to mind. Charlemagne is perhaps the first great medieval ruler one may mention. Alfred the Great would likely not be far behind. Both these men represented, for their respective peoples, what a great king should be. The early medieval period was a time of development in thought and in practice for the office of kingship, and the writings and actions of the men of this period would have a profound influence in the following centuries. Most nations can look back at the early medieval period and pick out at least one ruler that symbolized the ideal of kingship, and Ireland is no different. For early medieval Ireland, the king that stood as the ideal was Brian Boru. This thesis will be examining Brian as a model of early medieval kingship. My argument is that Brian's kingship not only represented the ideal of kingship in a comparable manner to Charlemagne and Alfred, but also blended traditional Irish kingship with models of kingship from the rest of Europe that altered the concept of the High King of Ireland. To do this, this thesis will be examining Brian within three regions of Europe, each receiving its own chapter, and how he fits into the respective ideals of kingship for each region. The three regions utilized by this thesis are Ireland, Frankia and England, and Scandinavia. Through this, this thesis will argue of the similarities between the kings of these regions regarding what caused them to be seen as great kings and models of kingship, and how Brian's own kingship fits into the criteria. This research will serve as an analysis of the concept of early medieval kingship outside of the traditional areas of study, comparing them and examining how each influenced the other, using Brian as the lens of focus.
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Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFE0007875, ucf:52779
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007875

Title: Florida's Paradox of Progress: An Examination of the Origins, Construction, and Impact of the Tamiami Trail.
Creator: Schellhammer, Mark, Lester, Connie, Sacher, John, Larson, Peter, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This study illustrates the impact of the Tamiami Trail on the people and environment of South Florida through an examination of the road's origins, construction and implementation. By exploring the motives behind building the highway, the subsequent assimilation of indigenous societies, the drastic population growth that occurred as a result of a propagated (")Florida Dream("), and the environmental decline of the surrounding Everglades, this analysis reveals that the Tamiami Trail is viewed...
Show moreThis study illustrates the impact of the Tamiami Trail on the people and environment of South Florida through an examination of the road's origins, construction and implementation. By exploring the motives behind building the highway, the subsequent assimilation of indigenous societies, the drastic population growth that occurred as a result of a propagated (")Florida Dream("), and the environmental decline of the surrounding Everglades, this analysis reveals that the Tamiami Trail is viewed today through a much different context than that of the road's builders and promoters in the early twentieth century. While construction projects that aim to prevent, or limit the once celebrated environmental destruction caused by the Tamiami Trail, the unrelenting and economically stimulating growth of South Florida continues to uncover a (")paradox of progress.(")
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: CFE0004597, ucf:49186
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004597

Title: The Seaside Resort Towns of Cape May and Atlantic City, New Jersey: Development, Class Consciousness, and the Culture of Leisure in the Mid to Late Victorian Era.
Creator: Ressetar, Tatyana, Lester, Connie, Crepeau, Richard, Larson, Peter, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: (")Victorianism(") is a highly controversial, sometimes ironic, term penned by historians throughout various works that has come to hold dramatic weight in both its meaning and its influence. Though the term is usually most closely associated with nineteenth century England, Victorianism was a highly influential movement in American culture simultaneously as well, specifically in the spheres of home, work, and play. Of those, (")play,(") or leisure, is undoubtedly the least explored,...
Show more(")Victorianism(") is a highly controversial, sometimes ironic, term penned by historians throughout various works that has come to hold dramatic weight in both its meaning and its influence. Though the term is usually most closely associated with nineteenth century England, Victorianism was a highly influential movement in American culture simultaneously as well, specifically in the spheres of home, work, and play. Of those, (")play,(") or leisure, is undoubtedly the least explored, especially before the latter decades of the twentieth century. Prior to this period, most literature about the Victorians, with the exception of a few works, only dealt with masculinity, religion, and the rigid dynamic of the nineteenth century household. Recently, historians like James Walvin, Pamela Horn, and Hugh Cunningham have attempted to draw attention to Victorian leisure with excellent works on pastimes and society during the nineteenth century, but they represent only a few. However, many works of this caliber focus on England, the (")birthplace(") of Victorianism. Thus, this work attempts to emphasize that the cultural phenomenon of Victorianism was just as present in the United States. Despite the recurring themes of the home and the workplace so often chosen by scholars, it is actually within the realm of leisure that the controversial issues of the Victorian period and its people can be best observed. Class, race, and gender were three major components of the Victorian culture that shaped the various forms of leisure and recreation, as well as the specific restrictions on those amusements. All of these factors had a shared, tremendous influence on the progress (or lack thereof) towards a more modern era and society that occurred at the turn of the twentieth century.In the pages to follow, the numerous contradictions and paradoxes of Victorian leisure in America will be examined, ultimately demonstrating how pastimes and recreation (and their outlets) in the mid to late nineteenth century were neither truly Victorian nor truly progressive, but indeed a combination of both. This creates further irony during this controversial period. However, before exploring these outlets, the term (")Victorian(") will be examined while placing it into the context of mid to late nineteenth century Americans who belonged to all classes of travelers. It will become apparent that American Victorians had much invested in their values, but were also willing to break the rules regarding certain amusements and pleasures. Moreover, the (")democratization(") of leisure will be highlighted as the upper and lower classes began to enjoy the same recreations. Marked innovations of the period will also be discussed, as to highlight their importance on Victorian leisure and its development, which will also be referred to throughout the chapters. These topics will be addressed before examining the specific Victorian leisure culture of two of America's oldest seaside destinations: Cape May and Atlantic City, both in New Jersey. The guests, accommodations and transportation, and offerings at these resort towns will act as a mirror into mid to late nineteenth century culture. There, the contradictory ideals and rules of Victorianism are exhibited as the resorts rose to prominence. The decline of (")elite-only(") leisure and the rise of the (")excursionist(") will be examined throughout the progression of the towns' growth and boom periods. Exploring the ironies of Victorian leisure through the proverbial lens of Cape May and Atlantic City proves effective, as the towns came to represent opposite ends of the (")socially acceptable(") spectrum after a short period, and were full of similar inconsistencies and paradoxes themselves. Additionally, their current fates remain a product of their polarized Victorian heydays, further proving the influence of seaside resort culture, the late Victorian period, and its ideals on the broader field of American leisure history.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFE0004157, ucf:49038
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004157

Title: Experiencing the World of Franklin: The Making of an Immersive and Interactive Historical Exhibit.
Creator: Webster, Daniel, Beiler, Rosalind, Larson, Peter, Lester, Connie, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This thesis involves the creation of a historically-themed museum element. The element, titled (")Improving Community,(") is a virtual interactive game that allows players to explore certain realities of colonial American life. Within the game, players are presented with a number of civic-related issues that existed throughout the eighteenth century, and they are then given options to improve the situation. Interactivity and immersion are key features of the game, and they have been...
Show moreThis thesis involves the creation of a historically-themed museum element. The element, titled (")Improving Community,(") is a virtual interactive game that allows players to explore certain realities of colonial American life. Within the game, players are presented with a number of civic-related issues that existed throughout the eighteenth century, and they are then given options to improve the situation. Interactivity and immersion are key features of the game, and they have been incorporated so that players may engage with the past and assume a more active role in the process of historical reconstruction. Research for the games draws mostly upon historical primary sources, including first-hand accounts, letters, diaries, periodicals, pamphlets, meeting minutes, and legal documents. In addition, the process of developing the games was informed by a number of secondary source works, and therefore this study inspects the ways in which (")Improving Community(") fits within the ongoing scholarly debates. Ultimately this project contributes to the field of public history by demonstrating the usefulness of games as a tool for historical exhibition. (")Improving Community(") is both entertaining and educational, and as a result, the game provides individuals with a unique outlet for exploring and experiencing the past.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: CFE0004196, ucf:49005
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004196

Title: The Amish Farm in Transition: The Amish Response to Modernization in Northern Indiana, 1900-1920.
Creator: Grover, Amy, Lester, Connie, Larson, Peter, Martinez Fernandez, Luis, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This study explored the responses of Amish agrarians in northern Indiana to the mechanization and modernization of rural life in the early twentieth century. This period was marked by a shift towards agribusiness as well as the increased usage of farm machines. In addition to the increased emphasis on farm efficiency, reformers sought to modernize or update rural life. Within the context of these transformations, the Amish maintained their identity by exploring the necessity and the...
Show moreThis study explored the responses of Amish agrarians in northern Indiana to the mechanization and modernization of rural life in the early twentieth century. This period was marked by a shift towards agribusiness as well as the increased usage of farm machines. In addition to the increased emphasis on farm efficiency, reformers sought to modernize or update rural life. Within the context of these transformations, the Amish maintained their identity by exploring the necessity and the consequences of adapting to life in the modern world. Their responses to modernization defined not only their cultural boundaries in the modern world but also created their identity in twentieth century America. In stark contrast to the ideal of the independent farmer, the Amish used the strength of their community (both Amish and non-Amish) and their agrarian roots to endure and overcome the challenging events of the early twentieth century. The purpose of this study was to expand the scholarship of Amish studies in northern Indiana as well as place the Amish experience within the context of agrarian historiography. Resources used to examine this period included Amish writings, farm publications from Indiana and data from the agricultural census.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: CFE0004339, ucf:49456
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004339

Title: The Comradeship of the Open Road: The Identity and Influence of the Tin Can Tourists of the World on Automobility, Florida, and National Tourism.
Creator: Burel, David, Foster, Amy, Walker, Ezekiel, Lester, Connie, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The identity of the Tin Can Tourists of the World, the first recreation automobile organization, has been poorly defined in the historical discourse, the factors contributing to the 1919 formation of the organization in Tampa, Florida represents a landmark shift in tourism in America towards the automobile.The group's subsequent solidification of a distinct identity gives insight beyond their organization. The thesis defines their identity as well as looks at their impact on American...
Show moreThe identity of the Tin Can Tourists of the World, the first recreation automobile organization, has been poorly defined in the historical discourse, the factors contributing to the 1919 formation of the organization in Tampa, Florida represents a landmark shift in tourism in America towards the automobile.The group's subsequent solidification of a distinct identity gives insight beyond their organization. The thesis defines their identity as well as looks at their impact on American automobility and tourism. The thesis therefore focuses on the previously undefined concept of recreational automobility giving it definition and showing how the group helped to define it.The group's early role in mass use and adaptation of the automobile for recreation represents the first steps in creating a market for recreational vehicles. The imposition of organization on the camping experience by the Tin Can Tourists and their influence on creating special places for the practice of their activities helped define recreational automobility.The footprint left by the Tin Can Tourists helped shape part of America's modern tourist industry. The legacy of their ideas about recreational automobility also suggests influence they had on later groups using recreational vehicles. This thesis examines and clarifies the identity and influence of the Tin Can Tourists of the World as a window on important trends in automobility and tourism.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: CFE0004306, ucf:49472
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004306

Title: To The CORE: The Congress of Racial Equality, the Seattle Civil Rights Movement, and the Shift to Black Militancy.
Creator: Jimenez, Michael, Lester, Connie, Walters, Lori, Walker, Ezekiel, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This thesis compares the history of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to that of its Seattle chapter. The study traces the entire history of CORE from 1942-1968 as well as the history of Seattle CORE from 1961-1968. The goal of this examination is to identify why Seattle CORE successfully fended off the movement for black militancy and consequently why national CORE failed to do so. Juxtaposing the two radically different histories shows an integrated organization, bureaucratic...
Show moreThis thesis compares the history of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to that of its Seattle chapter. The study traces the entire history of CORE from 1942-1968 as well as the history of Seattle CORE from 1961-1968. The goal of this examination is to identify why Seattle CORE successfully fended off the movement for black militancy and consequently why national CORE failed to do so. Juxtaposing the two radically different histories shows an integrated organization, bureaucratic leadership, a plan of action based on nonviolent actions, and a strong attachment to the black community were the central reasons for the success of Seattle CORE, and conversely, these areas were why national CORE struggled. Moreover, this study shows the events and failures over the first two decades created a susceptible environment for the organization to abandon CORE's nonviolent ideology and the subsequent disintegration of the Congress of Racial Equality as the walls of Jim Crow broke down.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: CFE0004327, ucf:49411
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004327

History (5)	+ -
African-American History (2)	+ -
American History (2)	+ -
Civil Rights (2)	+ -
Florida History (2)	+ -

Memory (2)	+ -
Miami (2)	+ -
Oral History (2)	+ -
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Overtown (2)	+ -
Parramore (2)	+ -
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Social History (2)	+ -
South Florida (2)	+ -
public history (2)	+ -
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1920s (1)	+ -
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19th century (1)	+ -
19th century South (1)	+ -
Advertising (1)	+ -
African-American Intelligentsia (1)	+ -
African-American history (1)	+ -
Afro-American music (1)	+ -
Agriculture (1)	+ -
Amish (1)	+ -
Amusements (1)	+ -
Arena (1)	+ -
Arthur McDuffie (1)	+ -
Atlantic City (1)	+ -

ETD Collection (27)	+ -
Honors Collection (3)	+ -

Lester, Connie (30)	+ -
University of Central Florida (30)	+ -
Walker, Ezekiel (11)	+ -
Larson, Peter (8)	+ -
Cassanello, Robert (4)	+ -

French, Scot (4)	+ -
Gannon, Barbara (3)	+ -
Sacher, John (3)	+ -
Crepeau, Richard (2)	+ -
Dandrow, Edward (2)	+ -
Dossie, Porsha (2)	+ -
Pineda, Yovanna (2)	+ -
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Beiler, Rosalind (1)	+ -
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Cepero, Laura (1)	+ -
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