This study deals with the influence of rivers on the history of Indiana. It is difficult for us to visualize that some of the small streams that we cross many times with hardly a glance, were once the most important link in a vast chain of commerce. The early settler depended on these streams to get his surplus products to market. A glance at a road map of Indiana will reveal the importance that the early settler assigned to rivers and streams. Can you find any city or town of any size that is not located near a stream of some kind? This study dealt with the ways in which the early settler used the rivers and how they influenced his mode of living. Some historical events involving rivers were studied in the light of their influence on the history of Indiana.

A biographical thesis on W.W. Otey, prominent preacher in the Churches of Christ and controversial writer.

The unity of Western Europe has not yet approached the political, economic and religious entity realized under the Roman Empire. Nor is it likely to duplicate such a centralized and authoritative basis of organization. It is the purpose of this paper to explore European economic association on the basis of co-operation rather than dominance. For this purpose historical cornerstones of economic co-operation and commercial endeavor will be discussed. ... Among them the individuals and groups who pursued trade not only revived the collapsed commerce known to the Roman world, but provided the framework for modern commercial and financial activity and cooperation. Their motives were, no doubt, selfish, since basic human self-interest is a commanding force. The results, however, were liberating, both socially and politically, as well as economically. Thus the Medieval commercial heritage is enjoyed not only in the lands of North and West Europe, but in the Western Hemisphere as well today. It seems singularly important in explaining political as well as economic developments of the twentieth century.

By the late nineteenth and early twenty century both the United States and Europe were experiencing massive shifts in social organization, social attitudes, and global influence due to the effects of the industrial revolution and imperialistic expansion. This birth of a public sphere and the mass entertainment industry was related to a blurring of the lines between traditional social classes. Mass entertainment's growth was directly related to the need to attract large audiences with entertainment that appealed in some way to a broad spectrum of the populace. At the same time, stage illusionists or magicians were one of the most recognizable stars of mass entertainment. In fact, they were in the midst of what has been termed the “Golden Age” of magic. By recognizing the popularity of their performances in the United States and Europe, this thesis will use them as a reflection of historical trends and popular attitudes in areas such as romanticism, secular/technical superiority, race, and gender. Historians, like Lawrence Levine, have produced a number of historical studies in regards to performance art, mass entertainment, and the historical implications represented in entertainment. Previous studies of magicians during the time period have been primarily biographical or technical in nature. It is only recently that historians have begun to combine the two in regards to performance magic. This thesis will combine previous research on the historical narrative of the time from authors such as Leon Fink, Sean Cashman, and Alan Trachtenburg in order to analyze how magical performances confirm conclusions reached by previous work on the historical context of these performances. The themes that are addressed within this work begin with the birth of mass entertainment, the need for an act with mass appeal to attract audiences, and how the mass entertainment displays a blurring of class lines. It will expand on work by Daniel T. Rogers in explaining how these trends were not exclusive to the United States or Europe and were actually a transatlantic phenomenon. It will use Simon During to explain how magicians, with roots in folk culture, became stars on the stage because of their appeal and their unique position in performance art. It will add to work by authors such as Lawrence Levine, showing how magicians needed to perform acts for mass consumption by working class, middle class, and upper class individuals. Finally, it will use magical performances as text to reflect social attitudes of the time period much in the way that authors such as Eric Green or Katherine Prince have done in their work.

Since the invention of the cinema, people have been taking home movies. The everincreasing popularity of this activity has produced a hundred years worth of amateur film culture which is in desperate need of preservation. As film archival and public history have coalesced in the past thirty years around the idea that every person’s history is important, home movies represent a way for those histories to be preserved and studied by communities and researchers alike. The University of Central Florida is in a perfect position to establish an archive of this nature, one that is specifically dedicated to acquiring, preserving, and presenting the home movies of Central Florida residents. This project has resulted in the establishment of The Central Florida Home Movie Archive, and the resulting analysis will show that the archive will be a benefit for researchers from all areas of academic study as well as the residents of Central Florida.

The Orlando Metropolitan Statistical Area became the fastest growing Puerto Rican population since 1980.1 While the literature has grown regarding Orlando‘s Puerto Rican community, no works deeply analyze the push and pull factors that led to the mass migration of Puerto Ricans to Central Florida. In fact, it was the combination of deteriorating economies in both Puerto Rico and New York City (the two largest concentrations of Puerto Ricans in the United States) and the rise of employment opportunities and cheap cost of living in Central Florida that attract Puerto Ricans from the island the diaspora to the region. Furthermore, Puerto Ricans who migrated to the region established a support network that further facilitated future migration and created a Puerto Rican community in the region. This study uses the combination of primary sources including government document (e.g. U.S. Censuses, Orange County land deeds, etc.), local and nation newspapers, and oral histories from Puerto Ricans living in Central Florida since the early 1980s to explain the process in which Puerto Ricans formed their identity in Orlando since 1980. The result is a history of the Puerto Rican migration to Central Florida and the roots of Orlando‘s Puerto Rican community

In 1953 a small, seemingly insignificant, church was founded in Winter Park, Florida. By the early 1970s, Calvary Assembly of God, a church that had started with a dirt floor, was declared one of the fastest growing churches in America with membership easily reaching over several thousands.1 In the late 1970s and 1980s, it became a major religious and political force in central Florida so much so that it had received visits from then presidential hopefuls Pat Robertson and Vice President George Bush. The changes that took place at Calvary Assembly, both politically and religiously, provided a microcosm of the rest of the nation, while at the same time, these changes made Calvary a leader within the charismatic neo-evangelical subculture. The incredible growth of Calvary Assembly is part of a larger narrative on the expansion of neoevangelicalism, and more specifically, the charismatic movement in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as, the growth of central Florida. As a result of their growth Calvary was able to launch, and participate in, many programs on both the local and national level. Religious orthodoxies seeped into the political and social thought of those at Calvary, which influenced, and helped to explain, how the church became politically active. Part I examines the growth of Calvary within the context of the growth of Central Florida and the growth of the charismatic movement, This section will include the founding of Charisma 1 Stephen Strang, “Calvary Assembly-Fastest Growing Sunday School in the U.S.,” Pentecostal Evangel, July 30, 1978, 6. iii magazine, major national events such as the Jesus Festivals, and the impact of charismatic revivalists. The impact of Calvary on the local community is another part of the story. Part II addresses the political bloc Calvary produced in central Florida. The church participated in and influenced national rallies such as “Washington for Jesus.” It shared its political views with central Florida through bulletins like Insight, which addressed moral issues like pornography, homosexuality, education and abortion. Calvary also used events like Freedom Celebration, and articles in Charisma to promote its views on American freedom. As a result local and national politicians and political groups recognized Calvary Assembly as a political powerhouse. Another part of the story is that Calvary and central Florida represented the local side of a national story on evangelicalism and national politics.

The public history project described herein was performed at Blakeley Historic Park, Alabama. The project included the preparation of survey maps depicting the location, size and directional orientation of Confederate and Union earthworks, which were used during the siege and battle of Fort Blakely in April 1865. The project also included historical research and documentation of findings relative to the design, construction and use of the Confederate fortifications at Blakeley Park. This research attempts to answer the questions; who ordered or directed the earthworks to be built, who designed them and supervised their construction, when were they built, and who provided the labor for their construction? Recommendations are made for the acquisition potential of earthworks found that were outside of present park boundaries. In addition, recommendations are made for preservation of existing earthworks within the park. The historical essay on the Confederate fortifications advances the argument that the design and construction effort was beset with shortages of engineers needed for design and supervision, shortages of labor needed for construction, and a shortage of troops to man the fortifications. Because this project combined modern day Global Positioning System surveying and Geographic Information System mapping technology with historical research methodology, collaboration with faculty experts in the College of Engineering and Computer Science was essential.

The creation of a digital model of a physical artifact can be a viable method for preserving physical artifacts from deterioration. The purpose of this thesis is to explore how to make digital artifact creation more accessible to non-scanning experts in order to expand the field of historical preservation to all people. The goal of the thesis is to determine which method of digital artifact capture produces the highest fidelity digital artifact while balancing user accessibility, cost, and usability. This study analyzed this through the creation of an online survey that asked participants to compare models created utilizing various digital capture methods. The results of the survey suggest that photogrammetry is currently the best method of high-fidelity digital artifact creation that balances accessibility, cost, and usability. The results also suggest that photogrammetry is effective at creating digital models of small artifacts with characteristics that typically cause errors in data capture and three-dimensional model creation. These results support the potential for democratizing digital artifact creation to include the contributions of non-experts from all communities and backgrounds, potentially deepening historical knowledge.

The purpose of this paper is to present in brief form, far too brief for the wealth of material available, an account of the history of the town of Elko, Nevada. There has been no attempt to include in these pages all the interesting events which are traditional in the gossip of the town. Every effort has been made to include only such material as can be readily verified either by the memories of those still living who remember the events or, in cases where this has bailed or there has been an evident conflict of stories, by resort to the written records. It is fortunate, indeed, that there are so many still living who were present in the early days, especially since the written records are not so complete as might be desired. Because of the limitations of space, the history has been limited to the years 1868-1890.