Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2023, Media and Communication

Generations of women in the Evangelical Church have embodied narratives passed from mother to daughter, from church leadership, and through their religious communities. These narratives, including those of women's subservience and deserving of suffering endured from spouses, church leaders, and others, have origins in the earliest days of church history. In this thesis I examine how such narratives are embedded in books on pubertal guidance targeted to mothers and daughters in Evangelical Christian communities. Building on Fish's work on interpretive communities, Gramsci's conceptualization of hegemony, Foucault theorizing on power, and an interdisciplinary literature on the interaction between religion, culture, and politics, I interrogate themes of puberty, sexual function, gender roles, consent, and gender-based violence addressed in books on pubertal guidance, and how these books contribute to or reinforce evangelical Christian doctrinal narratives on gender and sexuality. Through a methodological approach using grounded theory, narrative inquiry, autoethnography, and textual analysis, findings indicate Evangelical Christian culture creates an interpretive community which drives only acceptable interpretation of religious texts (primarily the Bible), gender norms, and patriarchal power dynamics. Themes emerging from the texts analyzed, including Complementarianism, submission, purity, modesty, inadequacy, and silencing, have deep consequences not only for women and girls in Evangelical Christian communities, but for society at large as the legislative push for adherence to Evangelical Christian doctrinal ideologies work to remove access to basic human rights for people who do not adhere them. Misinformation, incomplete information, and hegemonic narratives serve to perpetuate gender inequality and have broad effects on women's and girls' mental, emotional, and physical health. In light of the most recent intrusions by Christian Nationalists into the legislative (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2023, Art/Art History

This thesis investigates the intersectionality of ink painting and revolutionary politics in modern China with the work of Fu Baoshi (1904-1965) as an analytical lens. Through a critical sociopolitical contextualization of Fu's paintings at crucial junctures in his career, I will analyze the ways in which his paintings have changed to reflect their respective eras. Along with negotiating his artistic identity and practice, these same junctures have provided a means by which I will critically examine Fu's negotiations of national identity. Born in 1904 when China's final imperial dynasty—Qing (1636-1912)—was in a terminal decline, he grew up during the tumultuous era of warlordism and the shaky beginnings of the Republican Era (1912-1949). Fu was an artist and political activist during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). He was an artist in service of the entire Chinese state as a propagandist (1926-27, 1929-30 for the Kuomintang, and 1950-66 for the People's Republic of China). Though he died one year before the Maoist-led Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), Fu's work was posthumously affected. In addition to the abovementioned events, I examine Fu's negotiations of national identity evident in his art historical writing, his time as a propagandist, as well as his formative studies in Japan from 1932 to 1935. His studies proved fruitful as he developed a novel trajectory of modern “guohua” (Chinese national painting) and his signature style that elevated his work to a position of paramount importance. The goal of my project is to provide, a succinct yet satisfactory historiography of modern China while interrogating the ways in which Fu Baoshi not only captured the essence of his natural subjects through novel landscape painting, but the ways in which his career embodies the search for a quintessential “Chinese-ness” within the fine arts and in the realm of national character.

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2022, Leadership and Change

This study is an effort to turn to older Chinese immigrant women aged 60 and above, one of the most marginalized groups in American society, to recognize their humanity and rediscover the unseen and unheard. It asks what we can learn from their life stories, particularly from the ways in which each experience(d) being a woman in different societal systems. Using in-depth life story interviews supplemented with secondary sources of information, this study crafts four women's stories that are first read and interpreted individually to capture the whole person in context, and then are looked at thematically. Nine themes are presented, ranging from their remembered histories to their life journeys in different societies, integrating three lenses: the dialogue between the past and the present, the intersectionality (of race/ethnicity, gender, class, education, age, location, generation, nationality, immigration, etc.), and the interplay between the individual and the historical, political, and economic environment in different contexts. This study acknowledges that all of these women, across time and space, have developed capabilities that brought about positive changes to their lives, and that perhaps they have relied on their strengths and capabilities developed throughout their lives to become resilient and accepting of the unknown challenges. It is in this light that these women, as “normal” people whose lives are often overlooked by society in general, become heroic. It is hoped that the stories can serve for any readers as a small window into the older Chinese immigrant women's worlds, sparking empathy and imagination, helping break down the barriers of differences, and leading readers to see and hear these women's stories that are different from theirs. From there, it is hoped that this study prompts more connections and conversations with immigrants and refugees in daily life, and that one effort of that kind begets more. This study also provides implications for (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2021, Educational Leadership

The purpose of this qualitative, arts-based research study was to understand new arrival students' experience, meaning making, and opportunity for developing intellectual self-trust during an illustrated memoir project. The project was set during the school day, in a high school, English Language Learners classroom with the aim of centering new arrival students' lived experience and unique funds of knowledge in their academic setting. A year long pilot study informed the design of the final research study. The dissertation study engaged 13 students from 10 different countries ranging in age from 14-19. All 12 participants who remained throughout the school year completed a minimum 24-page illustrated memoir. Narrative analysis and visual analysis of student memoirs, combined with thematic analysis of researcher journals and informal interviews provided insight into participant experience, meaning making, and the project's potential to foster intellectual self-trust. Recommendations for future research in this area include scaffolding additional curricular activities to reinforce and enhance intellectual self-trust, adopting illustrated memoir making and hands-on visual art learning as a classroom pedagogy, and planned opportunities for peer-to-peer mentoring. The study provides an example of how an illustrated memoir-making project can further the development of intellectual self-trust on the part of new arrival high school students.

Doctor of Education (EdD), Ohio University, 2020, Educational Administration (Education)

This is a narrative inquiry study that presented types of women's activism during and after the conflict in Aceh, Indonesia (1976-2005). The study sought to explain how divergent women's activism becomes possible against the backdrop of this conflict and how the establishment of peace alters the patterns of their activism. Women's activism here was confined to the theory of feminist popular education. The popular education uncovers strategies utilized by women activists to foster women's economic, social and political interests during these tumultuous periods. Insights from eight women activists leaders supported by observation and relevant documents were analyzed to gain a better understanding of Acehnese women's movement in the two periods--during the conflict (1998-2005) and the post-conflict tsunami recovery period (2005-2015). Gender in each period was explored to reflect the underpinning of women activists in manifesting their feminist agendas in two separate periods. Although the condition was threatening and the resources were scarce during the conflict, women groups in Aceh had taken risks to address practical and strategic needs of their fellow women. The conflict had deprived women of their rights to safety, education, livelihood, health care, and a safe space. Women activists manifested their ethics of care in a very calm and quiet way. In order to ensure women's safety, the popular education in the form of consciousness-raising occurred underground, in secretive forms, informal, and formal through existing organized groups. Beside organizing and educating their fellow women, women activists also educated the general public so that they could be informed of the politics of masculinity that perpetuated injustices that aggressively controlled women's actions. The conflict had called for women activists to take a collaborative approach to raise public consciousness on women's plights during the war, and their work was to empower every woman to step up to (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2019, English

This thesis challenges reductive historical and contemporary representations of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald (1900-1948) as the iconic flapper figure, the insufferable schizophrenic, or the wife of famous author F. Scott Fitzgerald. Throughout her life, Zelda Fitzgerald produced a wealth of valuable artistic creations, including several essays and short stories, paintings, a play, and a novel. Unfortunately, due to the professional anxieties of her husband and, in the later years of her life, the influence of her psychiatrists, Zelda received little due recognition for her artistry. Instead, her husband's and her psychiatrists' narratives, particularly regarding her mental illness, crafted the public's perceptions of her as someone incapable of valuable literary production. This thesis, then, recognizes Zelda's own writings as significant counternarratives to the identities constructed for her. Similarly, this project critically examines late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century representations of Zelda Fitzgerald in popular media in order to elucidate the causes for lingering misconceptions regarding one of our most widely misunderstood and underappreciated female writers. Ultimately, this thesis works to return to problematic representations of Zelda and, in so doing, recuperate her as a valuable contributor to American literary modernism.

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2019, Leadership and Change

Blind and visually impaired people in the United States face a dire employment situation within professional careers and corporate employment. The purpose of this research study was to gain insights into the phenomenon of employment of blind people through analyzing the lived experience of successfully employed blind adults through ethnographic interviews. Previous research has shown that seven out of ten blind adults are not in the workforce, that a large percentage of those who are employed consider themselves underemployed, and that these numbers have not improved over time. Missing from previous research were insights into the conditions leading to successful and meaningful employment for blind adults. My top research questions were: what experiences and relationships were most significant in the lives of successfully employed blind adults in U.S. corporations, and what the most significant factors were, from employers' perspectives, leading to these successes. Based on semi-structured interviews of 11 blind adults who self-identified as successfully and meaningfully employed in corporate America, I found successfully employed blind adults have largely forged their own paths, with family support, valuable knowledge, skills, and abilities, and a strong sense of agency playing crucial roles. Corporate inclusion of blind employees is in its infancy. The implications for social change revolve around changing societal perceptions of the capabilities of blind people, transforming corporate cultures to ones of integration rather than differentiation, and building family, school, community, and service provider mechanisms to instill a strong sense of agency in young blind people. My recommendations to others are to focus on a leveraging difference framework of diversity and inclusion, in which every individual is valued for their unique characteristics, and make sure that blind people are positioned to be part of this societal transformation. This dissertation is availa (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2018, English/Literature

In the last two decades, there has been growing disagreement between queer theorists about the role of affect in both queer theory and queer lives. Theorists seem torn between the necessity of recognizing and attending to the sadness and suffering of queer people and the impulse to reframe queer experiences into feelings of pride and hope. These priorities and lenses are not mutually exclusive, and this project contributes to the reconciliation of these perspectives. As we continue in exhuming queer histories, we have opportunities to address this conflict of affect: literary biographies allow us to imagine the emotional interiors of real queer individuals in their navigation of these diverse affects. I examine Moises Kaufman's Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and Tom Stoppard's The Invention of Love, about Wilde's contemporary A. E. Housman, as texts that negotiate the losses and loves of these men. These two plays acknowledge the genuine hurts of their subjects without languishing in catharsis of negative affect; instead, the concurrence of genuinely positive and more measured negative emotions create feelings of bittersweetness, which straddling the emotional divide. This allows Kaufman and Stoppard to reimagine Wilde and Housman, despite their heavy emotional burdens, as contented by the queer work they devoted themselves to. I argue that these plays present these bittersweet attachments to queer work as a new model of queer desire.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2016, History

This study examines the establishment of the United States Air Force as an independent service, through the lens of General Laurence Kuter. Covering from his birth through the end of the Second World War, it yields five observations. First, Laurence “Larry” Kuter played an unappreciated role in shaping the United States Air Force and its antecedents. Second, the Air Corps Tactical School's impact on its students was likely minimal, but the school's impact on its faculty—particularly its most junior members—was almost inestimable. Third, fighter pilots dominated the senior ranks of the Air Force and its antecedents from the Interwar Period through well into the 1950s. Fourth, the Army's interwar personnel policies had disproportionately negative impacts on Air Corps development, but very positive impacts on Kuter's career. The effects of those policies, combined with the massive army air corps/army air forces expansion from 1939 through 1944, provided a greater justification for service independence than strategic bombing did. Finally, the first major war that the Air Force fought, wherein it had reasonably full control over the selection and professional development of its people, all the way up to its senior leaders, was the First Gulf War in 1991.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2016, Civil Engineering

Land-surface and ecosystem models classify trees into functional types by phenology, leaf traits, and bioclimatic limits, while excluding their hydraulic properties. Frequently, trees are grouped within the same plant functional type, despite having opposing hydraulic strategies. Errors in the prediction of transpiration and carbon uptake by land-surface models have been linked to the coarse resolution of plant functional types. We pair a field and modeling study comparing tree species typically classified together within the same functional class to highlight their divergent responses to drought and disturbance, which result, in part, from contrasting hydraulic strategies. We measured sap flux, stem water storage, stomatal conductance, photosynthesis, rooting depth, and bole growth in tree species in disturbed and undisturbed field sites in Michigan from 2010-2015. Within our research site, two of these species represent opposing extremes of the proposed whole-plant hydraulic safety-efficiency spectrum. Red oak employs an efficient but high-risk hydraulic strategy (i.e., anisohydric stomatal regulation, highly conductive xylem, deep roots) while red maple relies on an `ultra' safe strategy (i.e., isohydric stomatal regulation, less conductive xylem, shallow roots). Species-specific differences significantly influenced temporal patterns of stomatal conductance and overall transpiration responses to both drought and disturbance. Use of emergent tree-level hydraulic traits has the potential to improve model predictions of ecosystem-level transpiration and growth, particularly during periods of drought and disturbance. The implementation of such functional properties could be accomplished through either the recasting the plant functional type classification system to include whole-plant hydraulic traits, or explicitly representing plant hydrodynamics within land-surface models. Databases of species-specific hydraulic traits, such as the TRY Global Plant Trait Databas (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2016, Journalism (Communication)

The life of Archibald W. Campbell Jr. intertwined with the press, the formation of a new state, the growth of West Virginia, and vast changes to the United States over a dynamic half century. Campbell's life story provides a prism through which is revealed a spectrum of social, as well as personal meaning during the period from 1855 to 1899. The journey sheds new light on the role of the press in West Virginia's formation and early development and uncovers human virtues and imperfections of a man who was integral to the improbable realization of statehood at a time when the region was critical to the country's survival.

Master of Fine Arts, University of Akron, 2016, Theatre Arts-Arts Administration

The purpose of this project is twofold: to describe Andy Warhol's self-promotion and marketing strategies within inter/VIEW magazine and then translate them into a social media strategy for artists today. The use of inter/VIEW magazine as a marketing tool by Warhol is new research. This deduction will be gathered from accounts of persons who worked directly with Warhol, within inter/VIEW magazine and images from the magazine itself. By reviewing Warhol's methodology within his use of inter/VIEW magazine as an inherent self-promotion and marketing tool, a social media strategy can be deduced and translated for artists to use within today's technological age.

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2016, Geography

A current assessment of wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) distribution throughout the Masai Mara National Reserve (MMNR) and adjoining group ranches has not been investigated for over 15 years. This information is greatly needed to protect populations of wildebeest and their ranges. MaxEnt, a statistical model, was used to evaluate influential factors for wildebeest distribution and predict suitable habitats throughout the northern extent of the Serengeti National Park, the MMNR, and adjoining group ranches. There were thirty five abiotic and biotic variables used to create two distribution models in MaxEnt across the study area for two different time periods. Both models performed well with training AUCs >0.80. Precipitation seasonality, isothermality, and distances to lodges were the greatest contributing variables to wildebeest distribution in the November model. Kauth-Thomas wetness, annual temperature range, and distances to camps were significant factors for wildebeest distribution in the June model. Predictive maps from the June 2010 model revealed higher concentrations of predicted habitat suitability in areas historically impacted by the expansion of mechanized farming practices. It is recommended that the MMNR collaborate with local group ranch conservancies to secure seasonal dispersal sites for wildebeest and impose land use policies in unprotected areas. Results from MaxEnt also revealed that bioclimatic variables and soil and plant moisture are significant contributors to wildebeest distributions. The MMNR should evaluate the potential effects imposed by climate change to wildebeest distributions and populations.

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2015, Leadership and Change

This dissertation is a biographical study of the life of Dr. Helen Caldicott that details her life and work over the years from 1997 to 2014. The history of her significant role in the end of the Cold War and her influence in public opinion regarding nuclear power and nuclear arms has been well-documented through many books, films, and articles as well as her own autobiography up to this twenty-year-period. My study will help to fill the gap in her most recent life. In particular, I will explore the impact of her activism on society and her personal life in this period. Research methods include interviews with Dr. Caldicott, interviews with her collaborators, archival material, and deep reflection of the researcher. I am interested in what Dr. Caldicott understands now, about her work and her life, that may not have been apparent to her twenty years ago when she wrote her autobiography A Desperate Passion (1997) and was in the middle of her effort to educate a population about pending nuclear disaster. The electronic version of this Dissertation is at AURA, http://aura.antioch.edu/etds/ and OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2015, Leadership and Change

The purpose of this study is to give recognition to and lift up the voices of African American women leaders in the Civil Rights Movement. African American women were active leaders at all levels of the Civil Rights Movement, though the larger society, the civil rights establishment, and sometimes even the women themselves failed to acknowledge their significant leadership contributions. The recent and growing body of popular and nonacademic work on African American women leaders, which includes some leaders' writings about their own experiences, often employs the terms “advocate” or “activist” rather than “leader.” In the academic literature, particularly on leadership and change, there is little attention devoted to African American women and their leadership legacy. Using a methodology of narrative inquiry, this study begins to remedy this gap in the leadership literature by incorporating history, sociology, and biography to describe the key characteristics of African American women leaders in the Civil Rights Movement. In acting to dismantle entrenched and often brutal segregation, they had no roadmaps, but persisted with authenticity, purpose, and courage. Few had position power; they led primarily as servant leaders. They widely engaged in adaptive leadership, which was often transformational. This study's interviews with nine women leaders who represent a range of leadership experiences and contributions reveal leadership lessons from which we can learn and which lay the groundwork for future research. This Dissertation is available in open access Ohiolink ETD Center (http://etd.ohiolink.edu) and AURA (http://aura.antioch.edu).

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2015, Leadership and Change

This study is a leadership biography which provides, through the lens of Black feminist thought, an alternative view and understanding of the leadership of Black women. Specifically, this analysis highlights ways in which Black women, frequently not identified by the dominant society as leaders, have and can become leaders. Lessons are drawn from the life of Anna Julia Cooper that provides new insights in leadership that heretofore were not evident. Additionally, this research offers provocative recommendations that provide a different perspective of what leadership is among Black women and how that kind of leadership can inform the canon of leadership. Cooper's voice in advocacy, education, community service, and involvement in the Black Women's Club Movement are the major themes in which evidence of her leadership is defined. This leadership biography moves beyond the western hegemonic point of view and the more traditional ways of thinking about leadership, which narrowly identify effective leaders and ways of thinking about leadership development. The findings of this study propose an alternative view of leadership that calls attention to the following critical elements: 1. Black women carry the co-identifers, gender and race, which continue to be nearly nonexistent in leadership theories, discourse, and mainstream leadership literature. 2. The positivist view, as being the only legitimate knowledge claim, must continue to be challenged. 3. There is a need to correct and update our history, making it more inclusive of all human beings. This leadership biography centers on the notion that Cooper, as a quintessential leader, remains paradoxical. For the most part, she continues to be an unknown figure to most Americans, both Black and White. Yet, remnants of Cooper's ideology and leadership are prolific. It is precisely this dissonance between Cooper the undervalued figure and Cooper the scholar/activist leader that is being analyzed in this study. Under (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1993, History of Art

Under turbulent social conditions, Hungarian artists of the early twentieth century rose to champion humanitarian issues and proletarian revolution. Yet, Bela Kadar does not readily fit into the outspoken milieu of his contemporaries. He did not belong to the politically active artistic groups which dominated progressive trends in Budapest. Nor did he focus on the hardships of the oppressed or advance his art as an intellectual foundation for a new societal order. But Kadar's works represent an important and enduring dimension of twentieth-century Hungarian art. Through his resolutely modern approach to compositional design and stylistic handling, Kadar gives contemporary meaning to concepts grounded in his nation's creative traditions--myth, legend, the wondertale, peasant music, and lamentation practices. Kadar's working methods embraced a remarkable scope of international trends, including Cubism, Orphism, Futurism, and Neo-Primitivism, as well as neoclassical imagery. In his perpetual blending of divergent sources, he repeatedly focused on themes involving life roles and life passages, particularly those pertaining to the male/female relationship, and to processes of emotional and spiritual discovery. The image of the horse was Kadar's most recurrent symbol, which he used both in specifically Hungarian contexts, and in contexts explored by the international avant-garde. This study presents biographical material on Kadar that has previously rested in obscurity, and shows that through his unique synthesis of ancient, ethnic, and modern expressional forms, Kadar contributed vitally to the sphere of both Hungarian and international artistic achievement.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1993, History of Art

Much of the contemporary literature on Antoine-Jean Gros derives from the works of his first two biographers, Jean-Baptiste Delestre, a student of Gros's during the Restoration, and Jean Tripier Le Franc, a friend of Gros's later years and an early founder of the Society for the History of French Art. These authors characterized Gros as sharing the moderate Royalist socio-political outlook of his parents and their celebrated neighbors, Madame Elizabeth Vigee-Lebrun and Jean-Baptiste Lebrun. Yet in examining Gros's early career in detail it is quite possible to reach different conclusions from those of his biographers. The artist's correspondence, when read in full and not in the excerpts presented by his biographers, reveals one who possessed a decidedly positive attitude towards the Revolution (Philippe Bordes also reached similar conclusions regarding Gros's correspondence). It is not just the content of Gros's letters of the 1790's that indicate his republican outlook but also his choice of the radical Jacques-Louis David as an instructor, his early commitment to Neo-classicism when it was closely associated with reform, his acceptance of republican-inspired commissions, and his close friendships with others dedicated to revolutionary principles. Showing Gros to be a republican paves the way for the major contention of this dissertation, that Gros's Napoleonic history paintings, rather than being unequivocal tributes to the French Emperor, are rather works that are allegorical/dialectical in nature and offer covert criticisms of Napoleon's imperial ambitions and foreign wars. Separate chapters are devoted to Gros's paintings of The Battle of Nazareth, Napoleon at the Pest House at Jaffa, The Battle of Aboukir, and Napoleon on the Battlefield at Eylau, analyzing each from this standpoint. Another misconception regarding Gros, also stemming from the same sources, was that throughout his career he was a slavish follower of David's Neo-classical style, even thou (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Musical Arts, The Ohio State University, 1997, Music

The motivation for choosing this topic comes directly from Alfred Cortot's edition of the Chopin Etudes, in which he explains the technical difficulties and provides some possible solutions for each of the etudes. This kind of analysis has never been written about Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini. This is a work which one must study extensively and practice accurately in order to give an exquisite performance. Chapter Two explores Rachmaninoff's role as a composer and a pianist. The year 1917 was the turning-point in Rachmaninoff's life, not only causing his exile, but also creating his new pursuit--as a concerto virtuoso in the newland. The discussion mainly focuses on his becoming a concert pianist and on his unique piano mastery. Chapter Three presents solutions for technical difficulties in each variation of the Paganini Rhapsody, solutions that will help to build piano playing in a natural way. The technical challenges in this composition include: 1. scales 2. staccato passages in single-notes, double-notes, octaves, chordal patterns 3. arpeggio passages 4. rapid sixteenth-note passages 5. octave and chordal patterns 6. alternating patterns in single-notes, double-notes, octaves, chordal patterns Because of the wide range of tempi, these technical difficulties appear in diverse combinations, often requiring considerable virtuosity. As a frame of reference for these solutions, I have included principles of playing the piano that are the most useful to me and that form the basic of my piano technique. This will provide the readers with practice methods that will be helpful in this formidable piece as well as others. My belief is that technique functions as a tool and its purpose is to fulfill the musical expression.

Master of Arts in English, Youngstown State University, 2008, Department of Languages

During the 1920s and 1930s, Fay M. Jackson broke traditional barriers by serving as the first African American foreign correspondent for the Associated Negro Press (ANP). Jackson was the only African American female reporter of the ANP who covered the coronation of King George VI in 1937 and used the opportunity to report on the sociopolitical affairs of Blacks in Europe while specifically underscoring the Italio-Ethiopian conflict. While in Europe, Jackson set out to meet with various political figures and activists of color to emphasize the parallel treatment between Blacks in the U.S and other communities of color outside the U.S. Furthermore, Jackson started Flash the first Black intellectual news weekly magazine on the west coast, in 1928,and became a political news editor for the California Eagle in 1931. She served as the first African American female Hollywood correspondent with accreditation from the Motion Pictures Directors Association. Jackson used her positions to re-contextualize the identity of Black America by advocating for progressive reform inside and outside Hollywood. The following research will create a sociopolitical narrative of Jackson's career by analyzing the political and social statements made by her as a publisher, editor, and correspondent.Little research has been done on the role of African American female journalists in American history. Therefore, Jackson's importance is further accentuated by the fact that she was one of few women who forged a way into the Black Press. Jackson's a voice that has gone virtually unnoticed with scant acknowledgments of her career and contributions to the Black experience in America. This thesis will be the first scholarly work to highlight Jackson's efforts in developing the Black identity by participating in the formulation and expression of the Black political consciousness during the 1920s and 30s.