Studies of postwar Germany, from 1945-1955, have concentrated on the American influence as a military occupier, the development of German reconstruction and national identity, and memory of this period from the German perspective. Within the memory analyses, firsthand accounts have been analyzed to understand the perspectives of Germans living through the postwar period. Absent from this historiography is an account of American memories and firsthand perspectives of the occupation, particularly during the 1950-1955 period. This thesis employs oral histories of American veterans stationed in postwar Germany, American propaganda and popular cultural mediums during the early 1950s, and modern historiographical trends to provide an understanding of how Americans remember the German postwar decade. American veterans remembered this period, and their encounters with local Germans, as a positive experience. These positive memories were mediated by 1950s Cold War rhetoric and propaganda and were subsequently predicated upon the men's perspective as occupying soldiers. Their recollections align with American popular memory delineating the military occupation as ending in 1949 upon the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany, therefore overshadowing the 1950-1955 period of occupation. The ways in which Americans remember the postwar occupation in Germany, particularly from 1950-1955, inform broader memory and historical narrative trends of this era.

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 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

Many historians have conducted oral history interviews with Vietnam War veterans in an attempt to offer a more personal perspective to the study of the Vietnam War; however, most historians do not consciously differentiate between drafted and volunteer veterans. Identifying whether a veteran was drafted into service or volunteered is critical because the extent to which this service was voluntary or coerced may affect the way a veteran remembers his military service. By conducting oral histories, one can consciously delineate service members who volunteered as opposed to those who were drafted to determine if the veterans‟ experiences change based on the nature of their entry into the military. Additionally, examining the implementation of a national draft and its effects on service members‟ experiences will offer a better understanding of American military history. While much of the attention of scholars has been on drafted soldiers in Vietnam, little research has been conducted on the experience of the volunteer soldier. This study relies on oral history interviews conducted with volunteer and drafted service members of the Vietnam War to determine if there were differences between draftees and volunteers based on their entrance into the military. The research and oral history interviews with the two veteran groups establishes that the dissent detailed by draft protesters was not always the case and service members, volunteers and draftees alike, more often than not accepted their military service. The interviewed veterans‟ responses suggest that resistance to military service during the Vietnam War may not have been as great as one might think given the attention that has been placed on the anti-draft movement.

Historical narratives and anecdotes concerning Captain John Smith have been told and retold throughout the entire history the United States of America, and they have proved to be sacred, influential, and contested elements in the construction of the individual, sectional, regional, and national identity of many. In this thesis, I first outline some of the history of how narratives and discourses surrounding Captain John Smith were directly connected with the identity of many Americans during the 18th and 19th century, especially Virginians and Southerners. Then I outline how these narratives and discourses from the 18th and 19th centuries have continued and evolved in the 20th and 21st centuries in American scholarship and popular culture. I demonstrate how Captain John Smith went from being used as a symbol for regional and sectional identity to a symbol for broader national American identity, and how he has anachronistically come to be considered an American. I then show how Captain John Smith has continued to be constructed, to a seemingly larger degree than previous centuries, as a hero of almost mythic proportions. Finally I demonstrate how this constructed American hero is used as a posterchild for various interest groups and ideologies in order to legitimize the places of certain discourses and behavior within constructed and contested American identities.

The archive and the historian are symbiotically dependent on one another. The archive relies on the historian to make use of the records it houses, and the historian looks to the archive to reconstruct history. But can a historian responsibly reconstruct history when the archive is fraught with relativity and bias? This thesis serves two purposes; one, pulling from seminal archival science and collections management texts, it chronicles the monumental, intellectual changes to American archival sciences, theories, and institutions, and two, it shows how these early conversations pertaining to archival theories are both not far removed from digital preservation efforts and at times incompatible with the unique non-analogous problems created by web-born sources. But as this thesis argues, theoretical offerings are not always the most implementable for archives; the crux of archival science has historically and contemporarily been responsibility versus practicality, particularly in regard to appraisal theory. These problems exacerbate in the digital realm where the sheer amount of records and material produced by the second warrants extremely narrow but careful collecting. To not add to the overwhelming problem of digital appraisal theory, this thesis offers tangible solutions to help mitigate irresponsible collecting practices.

One hundred years may or may not seem a long time. To the geologist, one hundred years is but a moment. To the historian it may represent a convenient yardstick to measure events or empires. To the average individual, one hundred years may seem a short time when history tells us that old world civilization was brought to the shores of California in 1542 by Cabrillo, and the first Franciscan mission was established in 1769. One hundred years is a long time When it includes such a period of phenomenal events as mankind has experienced in the past ten decades. Certainly the course of California since the discovery of gold in 1848 or the gold rush of 1849 has undergone unparalleled change. Practically no region of the State has escaped alteration in some form, including Central California and the City of Stockton. It is intended to present one small aspect of that total picture of Central California's and the City of Stockton's past one hundred years. Historians employ all manner of tools to aid them in their quest for truth. Records, diaries, letters, photographs, even garbage dumps serve as instruments for exploring antique lands, cultures, and events. There i no better instrument for understanding the past than a traditional cemetery with well maintained grounds and records. Central California and the City of Stockton are fortunate to have such a cemetery serving the community today as it has for the past one hundred years. A consideration of Rural Cemetery's past one hundred years is more than a chronicle or burials and maintenance problems. It is a source for better understanding the community's history, growth, and citizens. It is not intended to present the entire story of the Stockton region since the "days of '49." By delving into the history of the Rural Cemetery, this writing will present part or that interesting story. Through this approach, the history of' a cemetery and its community will unfold.

When man first learned to write, his primary objective was to have his message delivered as quickly as possible. Consequently, in ancient civilizations runners transported clay tablets from city to city, and ships sailed the known seas and rivers carrying in their holds precious cargoes of the written word. As methods of transportation were improved, the speed and safety by which communication could be relayed was likewise advanced. In fact, within the evolution of transportation progress it is possible to trace the importance and the influence of the mails. Runners were succeeded by horsemen or coaches, primitive board by modern steamers, horses and coach by locomotives, and now comes the airplane. ... The story of the Air Mail Service is the story of the conquest of a new frontier, a frontier which, like all its predecessors, has yielded grudgingly but surely to Man's indomitable courage and resourceful intelligence. The story is filled with visionary dreams, bitter disappointments, and encouraging realizations. It contains elements of romance, heroism, and intrigue, and throughout its course runs the thread of Man's unquenchable desire to overcome those physical barriers which have so long restricted him to mere surface travel upon the earth. To the casual observer this particular phase of mail transportation is comparatively new, but viewed from the perspective of history it is merely the modern link in the long chain of mail communication devices. Thus, the story is not ended, but is in a constant state of expansion, and the present phase of it would seem to indicate that the future will produce a chapter more startling than any that has yet been revealed.

Situated within the interpretive and critical traditions, this study aims to contribute to one of the continuing primary themes in urban preservation: how to interpret and preserve the intangible values of built environments. A comprehensive analysis of dominant theories of urban preservation forms the conceptual framework within which this dissertation takes place. It starts by locating the intellectual context of preservation in North America, and examines its basic premises and core issues. It identifies three limits to the traditional approach to preservation planning. The complexity and fragility of history, its narrative quality and its particularities, its emotional content and economic values, all connect urban preservation with public history. Therefore, in the spirit of communicative democracy and "a shared authority", the study incorporates collective memory as an essential construct in urban landscapes, and suggests a culturally sensitive narrative approach (CSNA). The study employs an in-depth case study. The setting is Kensington Market in Toronto, Canada. It examines retrospectively the urban renewal planning of Kensington Market in the 1960s, identifies the pivotal events that prompted the change of urban renewal policies, and demonstrates, through the interpretive policy analysis, that sometimes urban renewal plans that fail to be implemented can become success stories in how to preserve urban neighborhoods as a kind of public history. To probe deeper into the sources of conflict between the professionals and the public, the study further explores the mutual relationship between collective memory and urban landscapes. It takes a selective look at some significant sites of memory, and connects them into a narrative path. Through oral history interviewing, field observation, and material cultural analysis, this part of the analysis constitutes an empirical study of CSNA. A proposition is derived from this critical case study. The study concludes with seven steps of CSNA, a guide for urban landscape preservation and planning.

The end of the Second World War brought many questions to the United States. One of the greatest among these was what to do with defeated Germany. Many clamored for the dissolution of the former Nazi State and the shameful humbling of its people while others recognized the value of a revitalized Germany as an ally against the looming threat of an emboldened and empowered postwar Soviet Union. Though retribution held sway immediately following the war, the Cold War consensus of an alliance with West Germany and a reimagining of the German people as victims rather than perpetrators won out as the years progressed. This work examines this evolving shift in perception by the United States and its people and how it can be tracked through several prominent films of the day.

My work seeks to understand the origins of national identity as it pertains to the Anzacs of Australia and New Zealand, their service at the Battle of Gallipoli, and its use in the establishment of a white, male creation myth in both nations following the end of World War One. I furthermore plan to examine how this Anzac myth excluded and even erased the place of marginalized communities in the birth of Australia and New Zealand as modern nations. In other words, my thesis explores both the insiders and the outsiders of the Anzac myth. My cutting-edge research aims to build upon the small but growing scholarship about these "forgotten" Anzacs and their role in the construction of nationhood. Much has been written about white male Anzacs, and by writing this thesis, I hope to contribute to bridging this disparity in the scholarly literature. Not only will I highlight the roles of women and people of color in greater detail, but I will also analyze how the formation of the Anzac myth systematically excluded them in the first place. The work also explores the ramifications and implications of this exclusion in Australia and New Zealand as increasingly multicultural nations. In sum, it brings together three threads of research: the formation of national identity in these nations, the paradox of the public's reverence of the failed military campaign of Gallipoli, and the exclusion of the "forgotten" women Anzacs and people of color.