American History and Culture (Mohsene)

Street bikers are gaining a mass amount of followers each year as gas prices go up and the biking technology advances. In this paper, I represent the street biking community by profiling a group of bikers in my community. In particular, this paper explains the perception of bikers as just being cocky and unsafe. It shows through the interview that each biker is different when it comes to safety, and the perception can be misguided.

In 1948, William Lindsay White, editor of the Emporia Gazette, completed Lost Boundaries. At the center of his story was a New England family - Albert, Thyra, and Albert Johnson Jr. - who had become valued members of their community through occupational and social achievement. Despite prosperity and the appearance of normalcy, however, the Johnson’s status depended upon light colored skin and their ability to “pass” as white.

            Since its beginning in 1933, the Texas Rose Festival continues to present East Texans with a space for cultural exchange through the median of beauty. In the throws of destitution and desperation wrought by the Great Depression, citizens of Tyler, Texas enjoyed more comforts and sustenance than numerous towns in the southern United States. The Oil Boom of the 1930s allowed the citizens of Tyler access to a great source of wealth that caused the local economy to thrive.

By comparing World’s Fair traditions of the past with Disney’s version of a permanent fair in the World Showcase at EPCOT Center, this presentation closely examines Disney’s claim of providing authentic cultural representations within their park.  Beginning with an inquiry into Disney maps, I argue that although the language in Disney’s guidebooks speaks of cultural equality, the reality of space within the physical landscape of the World Showcase clearly presents the United States at the center of a cultural empire with the surrounding countries in the peripher

In an era in which world's fairs were an iconic cultural institution, the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition was organized by a cadre of officials with particular sociopolitical goals who created an insulated discursive universe urging American fairgoers to identify as a collective “American people” that would advance those goals. Along with oratory and spectacular exhibits, the Fair offered a stream of special participatory and spectator events that promoted collective identification: concerts, parades, balls, races, and sports competitions, including the 1904 Olympics.

In the 1940s and early 1950s, economic opportunities for female African Americans were limited. Domestic and service employment formed the core of this demographic workforce. But some African American women looked beyond these economic pigeonholes and in creative ways built successful careers.

Raising the Dead in the Precolonial Southwest; Alvar Nuñez Cabeza De Vaca's Miraculous Walk Across North America, 1528-1537 B.C.E.

By R.C. De Prospo

Professor of English and American Studies    /     Washington College, Chestertown, Md.