Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2021, History

World War I saw the deployment of visual media propaganda on an unprecedented scale. British propaganda was far more nuanced and voluminous than the other belligerents during the conflict. Government agencies in Britain utilized the mechanism of visual presentation to bombard the civilian population in cities across the Isles, preying on themes of masculine military duty and feminine national sacrifice to compel the population to enlistment and rationing. The development of various propaganda narratives found life in a torrent of propaganda posters that demanded a masculine national response to both the German enemy and civilian malaise. Propaganda enticed service to the nation through gendered imagery in posters, unflinching painted canvases of shell pitted hellscapes, and staged action in the newly minted technology of film. Through an examination of the psychological language of propaganda, and a thick analysis of government agencies involved in the development of visual media propaganda, the rhetoric of the image will foster examination, analysis, and deconstruction. By blending both art history with historiographical research, psychological analysis and semiotics, a more thorough accounting of the creation, messaging, and audience for visual media propaganda is possible. The tools of artistic deconstruction and examination work in conjunction with notions of visual representation, class dynamics, gendered language, and national identity to provide a multi-disciplinary approach to propaganda studies in the 21st century.

Committee: Martin Wainwright (Committee Chair); Gedimas Gasparavicius (Committee Member); Timothy Scarnecchia (Committee Member); Michael Graham (Committee Member); Stephen Harp (Committee Member) Subjects: Art History; European History; History; Mass Communications; Modern History

BA, Oberlin College, 1989, Anthropology

This thesis concerns Oberlin local legend, its forms and functions. It focuses on one of the vital legends in Oberlin, the local/historic legend of the Oberlin Wellington Rescue, about the town's efforts to send a recaptured slave to freedom. The event occurred in 1858, twenty-five years after Oberlin's founding. This incident was instrumental in "putting Oberlin on the map," it helped to precipitate the abolition of the Fugitive Slave Act. The legend has been associated with the better known story of the John Brown Rebellion, a contemporary historical tale that also has Oberlin origin.The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue has been popular for over one hundred years, and its telling has become an Oberlin tradition; it is a part of the seventh graders' local history curriculum, and often Bill Long, the town expert on the legend and my prime informant, is invited to retell the story for the middle school children. It is also recalled during Oberlin's Heritage Days Celebration during the summer. Long has used the legend to help Oberlinians come to terms with the events of the McCarthy era and to help them understand their relation to Martin Luther King's dream.The Rescue legend has assumed many forms that some would not classify as legend. Bill Long has written two plays on the Rescue, one of which has been acted out repeatedly in Oberlin. He is looking for a larger, outside audience for the presentation of his more imaginative second version. So far he has been unsuccessful. In the process of looking for an audience, Long contacted a novelist, Nat Brant. Brant took an interest in the story, but not in Long's play, and is now writing his own monograph on the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue. In the monograph the Rescue story leaves the realm of legend and will probably become a combination of national folktale and history in its reception into the mass culture.This thesis is in part an acceptance of Alan Dundas' invitation to future folklorists and anthropologists to begin to interpr (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jack Glazier (Advisor) Subjects: American History; History

BS, Kent State University, 2008, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of History

During the uneasy years predating the American Civil War, self-proclaimed prophets and messengers of God traveled the frontier proclaiming their interpretations of truth as revealed through Protestant Christianity. As they attempted to convert the nation, they conceived American utopias which, constructed within a sacred history of Christianity, played an important role in redefining the religion in North America. As part of the process of establishing these utopias, individuals interested in the conversion of society utilized and revised the “New Haven” theology of Yale College, from which would emerge a reconstructed concept of “sanctification” in Oberlin, Ohio. These individuals would use this theology to form the basis for their attempts to reform society, applying religious meaning to social action. In Lorain County, Ohio, we can observe these changes in religious thought and practice as numerous “religious virtuosi” carried out social action which they considered to be bound to a sacred history. In tandem with social action would come ecclesiastical conflict, tearing the New England Plan of Union asunder. This thesis is interested in how reformers' attempts to create heaven on earth would result in conflict highlighted by a series of events which would ultimately change the religious landscape of the county as it contributed to and reflected the changing face of religion in America.

Committee: David Odell-Scott PhD (Advisor); Guy E. Wells PhD (Advisor); Leonne Hudson PhD (Committee Member); Leslie Heaphy PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; History; Religious History

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2005, History

The British soldier of the Peninsular War, 1808-1814, has in the last two centuries acquired a reputation as being a thief, scoundrel, criminal, and undesirable social outcast. Labeled “the scum of the earth” by their commander, the Duke of Wellington, these men were supposedly swept from the streets and jails into the army. Their unmatched success on the battlefield has been attributed to their savage and criminal natures and Wellington's tactical ability. A detailed investigation, combining heretofore unmined demographic data, primary source accounts, and nutritional analysis, reveals a picture of the British soldier that presents his campaign and combat behaviors in a different light. Most likely an unemployed laborer or textile worker, the soldier enlisted because of economic need. A growing population, the impact of the war, and the transition from hand-made goods to machined products displaced large numbers of workers. Men joined the army in hopes of receiving regular wages and meals. In this they would be sorely disappointed. Enlisted for life, the soldier's new primary social group became his surrogate family. The shared hardship of campaign and battle forged bonds of extraordinary strength between the British soldier and the men with whom he fought, lived, and suffered. When the commissariat failed to feed him, the soldier plundered out of desperation, sharing whatever could be found with his comrades. With little in the way of sustaining support on campaign, such as medals, chances for promotion, or the appreciation of the British public, the men looked to each other for esteem. Group mores, which put an emphasis on selfless acts that enhanced group survival, become the paramount driving force. Such group values applied on and off the battlefield; the ranker learned to lean on his group in order to face the physical and psychological demands of campaign and combat. No more a criminal than any other soldier of the Napoleonic wars, the British soldier was co (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: John Guilmartin (Advisor) Subjects: