This is a study of the Chicago Conspiracy trial of 1969-1970, where eight radical leaders were tried in connection to the riots during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the meanings of the trial to American society in 1970 and from today's historical vantage point. Differing from first-hand accounts of the trial in the early 1970s, this study examines the different public perspectives of the trial through the use of such primary sources as underground newspapers, the defendants' writings, and appeals documents. Particular attention is devoted to the interpersonal relationships between the leading participants of the trial (the judge, attorneys, defendants, jurors, journalists, and spectators).The thesis is organized to highlight the major issues and controversies of the trial, while still addressing the personalities involved in the case. The context of the trial in an era of active American radicalism is examined both before and after the case was tried. An entire chapter is devoted to examining the diverse participants in the trial and the different roles they played in the event. Since the trial was so controversial because of legal issues and the conduct of the courtroom participants, a chapter has been devoted to both of these areas. Paticular attention is paid to events precipitating the prosecution of the eight radicals, including the Chicago Convention disorders and the federal grand jury that handed down the indictments. This organization lays a foundation for exploring the contemporary and historical significances of the trial in the conclusion of the study.

This dissertation is a study of a remarkable change that came about in the kind of drawings that architects used to present their work between the decades of 1960 and 1990. Drawings in this period, visually rich and compositionally complex, seemed to mark an entirely new sensibility towards their function; their goal seemed to be not so much to clearly depict the forms of a proposed building, but to instead focus on its conceptual aspects. In fact, in several cases, drawings seemed to be treated as graphic projects in their own right, over and above the work they presented. This trend was accompanied by two other developments. Around the same time, there was a sudden increase in theoretical interest in drawings within the architectural community leading to a flurry of published articles, essays and books on the topic. And all this happened to coincide with the time that the Postmodern movement came to dominate architecture. The study aims to understand the relationship between these trends, and to develop a better understanding of the reasons for these changes to have occurred. It does so by, first, developing a theoretical framework to help understand the nature and impact of the changes in drawings. Next, it presents a detailed historical account of these changes. This is followed by an in-depth study of a single architect, James Stirling, to show how the new types of drawings were not simply a means to present ideas, but played a formative role in design as well. Apart from developing a contextualized historical account of an important development in contemporary architectural history, the study also finds that the change in the drawing practice and the theoretical interests were not simply an outcome of Postmodern cultural theory of the period, but were instigated by concerns that arose from within architecture itself. It thus offers a useful case-study on how changes in disciplinary practice are brought about.