In the first two decades of twentieth-century Alaska, various groups portrayed the mining prospector as a central Alaskan figure despite the fact that the actual prospector was neither the image maker nor always part of the desired end. Political and economic interests and policies were promoted aggressively by rhetorical arguments; in Alaska, these arguments used the ideals found in the nineteenth-century prospector image as an ideological cover and a material means for early twentieth-century economic and political goals of industrial growth and regional development. The prospector was one of the most complex of Western characters, a prototype that was a product of American cultural, economic, legal and political ideals and notions about the individual and individualism. The mining industry, federal agencies overseeing Alaskan mining, and Alaskan promoters all used prospector images to entice mineral seekers to Alaska, but they also worked to direct prospectors in material ways to ultimately aid their own industrial-based goals of Alaskan growth and settlement. Actual Alaskan prospectors could not fully live up to their images. They faced many challenges in Alaska, but were able, through hard effort, to achieve a limited self-sufficiency. Prospector images were also at center-stage of ideological and rhetorical debates to determine land use policy of Alaskan coal lands, despite the simple fact that actual mineral seekers had little to do with coal mining development. Prospector images also carried political meanings in the struggle for Alaskan home rule. Using this fluid iconic figure did have material consequences, although in the end the political economy had greater influence in Alaskan development.

This dissertation considers processes of hegemony, or the construction of consent, in network television marketing practices in the 1950s. Specifically, a case study of the Today show, which premiered in 1952, examines how RCA, and subsidiary network NBC, generated consent for continuing domination of the national television airwaves. In the context of post-World War II concern about the place of the multi-national corporations and the media in American democracy, RCA/NBC constructed its company, programming, and the image of its audience within a nexus of anti-trust, good trust (or legal monopolies/public utilities), and free speech/free press regulations. To understand this regulatory context, the study begins by identifying the deep structural contradictions of liberal democratic capitalism and the political economic conditions which demand that power, privilege, and control be legitimated. These conditions shape rhetorics of common interest through which groups and individuals---empowered by the state with delegated authority---seek to establish and maintain consent. This control is constructed as an exception to the rules of free trade and free speech/press. In the end, the study suggests that processes of hegemony construct market control---and consumer free choice---as natural, preordained, and in the best interests of the public as a whole, while downplaying, denying, or discrediting any other real alternatives or possibilities. The particular findings of this deep historical and case study can inform present day broadcast reform efforts and offer core approaches for re-framing hegemonic corporate rationales.

This dissertation investigates the rhetorical practices of a tradition: the Reform Movement in Judaism. I analyze the three platforms written in 1885, 1937, and 1999 to define the collective identity of the Reform Movement in America. I begin this study by concentrating on how the Reform Movement framed its collective identity in each of its platforms focusing on what this group agreed on and disagreed on and how they represented those disagreements. Through my investigation, I discovered that these documents reflected different stages in the tradition's development. In this dissertation, I argue that how the Reform tradition framed its collective identity depended on the tradition's stage of development. I argue that in the tradition's first stage of development, it questioned the external, broader tradition from which it diverged, yet it did not question its own internal beliefs, texts, and authorities, and it projected an authoritative identity uncomplicated by disagreements. For example, in 1885 the rabbis authoritatively declared that traditional Jewish practices were no longer meaningful in the modern era. As the tradition developed, the community no longer deferred to internal authorities unquestioningly, but became self reflective and asked questions about itself---questions that enabled the community to understand the lessons from its history and identify inadequacies. So in 1937, the rabbis stated that some of these practices were worthwhile, can be revised to be more meaningful, and can help keep Jews connected as a collective---as a people. Then, in 1999, the tradition faced an epistemological crisis because conflicts over rival answers to key questions could no longer be settled rationally. The problem was that the movement could not resolve the apparent contradiction of having a belief system that valued individual differences and being able to define itself as a collective. It was through the writing process of the 1999 platform that the movement articulated the tradition's most significant beliefs and solved its epistemological crisis by defining reform not by the contents of its changes but in the very process of change---the belief in the value of change and diversity.

This dissertation is a gendered analysis of the creation and attempted implementation of America's first eugenic commitment law. On 1 July 1915, Illinois became the first state to enact a law that stated that any individual found to be "feebleminded" by a competent expert could be committed indefinitely. Women reformers played a critical role in the creation and attempted implementation of Illinois commitment law, and although the language of the law itself remained gender neutral, the arguments used to legitimize the creation of the law and the actual implementation of the law remained highly gender. Young poor and working-class women, not men, remained at the center of the debate over eugenic institutionalization in Illinois. Although Mark Haller argued in 1963 that indefinite institutionalization was one of the most popular eugenic reform measures in the United States, scholars are just beginning to make a detailed historical analysis of the relationships among gender, eugenics, and institutionalization. Illinois provides an excellent opportunity to build on this emerging body of scholarship. As many scholars have shown, Illinois was in the vanguard on most social reform issues. It was also a place where women played a significant role in social reform. Reformers in Illinois created the country's first juvenile court and were among the early advocates of the creation of a separate municipal court. They were also pioneers in labor and education reform, as well as myriad other social issues. The willingness of both female and male reformers in Illinois to experiment with modern state-sponsored social reform measures led to their eventual adoption of the eugenic commitment law, which they viewed as yet another way of using science and the state to improve society. Analyzing the creation and attempted implementation of Illinois' commitment law will expand our understanding of the relationship between "progressivism" and eugenics and, more importantly, our understanding of the role of women and gender in early-twentieth-century eugenics. This dissertation covers not only the legislative process and debates surrounding the eugenic commitment law, but also the rise of "scientific" testing and the emergence and transformation of sociology, psychology, and social work; the contested definition of expertise; the creation and transformation of mental health institutions; and the dynamics among the young subjects of eugenic institutionalization, their parents, and those experts and reformers responsible for their incarceration.

This project examines the creation and implementation of sex discrimination law in the United States during the mid-twentieth century by egg the experiences of women who worked as flight attendants in the United States airline industry. The presentation of female bodies was a critical marketing strategy for the airline industry, and the result was the creation of a series of gender based discriminatory policies. Airlines manipulated women's sexuality through regulations such as a marriage ban, age ceiling, and weight/appearance regulations. An analysis of airline ads, which presented flight attendants as sexually desirable to attract male customers, combined with archival sources that trace discrimination in the industry, reveal the manipulation and presentation of women's sexuality as essential to the labor market practices of the airline industry and the efforts made by flight attendants to combat both the image and the discrimination. This dissertation reveals the constructed nature of women's sexuality by exploring the relationship between cultural representations of women's bodies, labor market practices, and public policy formation. An examination of 1960s anti-discriminatory legislation reveals the link between the regulation of sexuality and policy formation. Dismantling of sex discrimination through policy was problematic because gendered and sexualized work patterns were central to corporate employment structures. The solution was the inclusion of the bona fide occupational qualification clause in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This clause protected employers' ability to retain gender based discrimination if they demonstrated that economic loss would result from a restructuring of employment practices. Flight attendants were among the earliest group of women workers to utilize this legislation, and as a result they contributed to the interpretation and development of sex discrimination law in the United States. This project also reveals the complex interaction of resistance to and intention of sexual norms and gender discrimination. Flight attendants often internalized cultural constructions of sexuality and saw their ability to fulfill dominant cultural notions of beauty as empowering, thus they had difficulty articulating a clear definition of sex discrimination. Despite this difficulty, flight attendants became among the most politically active women in America during the 1960s and 1970s.

This study seeks to articulate in the broadest of terms the cultural legacy of Arapa (the ancestral territory encompassing Aravaipa Canyon and the confluence of Aravaipa Creek and the San Pedro River) as seen through the eyes of a group of its Western Apache descendants. It humbly attempts to sketch the basic outlines of the contemporary relationship between this place and those Apaches who possess a working cultural knowledge of it. Specifically, it demonstrates that the experiential exercise of maintaining place is a fundamentally personal one dependent on its individual actors to interact with it and in the process fulfill their obligation to enliven its history, stories and lessons anew. Finally, it illustrates how the unique historical experience emanating from Arapa has no bounds in time or meaning, proving that events of the past--namely the Camp Grant massacre, which precipitated the Apaches' forced exodus from that place--affect Apache culture and society in the present. This study enlists as its primary analytical lens the "peoplehood" matrix--the notion that indigenous peoples in this country (and elsewhere) possess a unique, place-bound sense of group and community identity shaped by lived experiences that sets them apart, both individually and collectively, from dominant society.

This document focuses upon the past and present role of the Native American flute in the Southwestern United States, with the primary emphasis being placed upon the present-day use of the flute. Through this study, I hope to provide an evaluation of the Native American flute's musical significance (past and present use, and current literature and capabilities) that will lead to its possible inclusion into the Western curriculum of collegiate music scholarship, and contribute to a greater understanding of the instrument. In addition, through the information that is generated and disclosed by this exploration, it is hoped that the Native American flute may begin to gain an overall acceptance as an instrument of cultural and musical distinction and merit, specifically within the world of collegiate music education. This document is divided into chapters dealing with past and present uses of the Native American flute. The "Introduction" states the purpose, scope, and justification for this study. Chapter 1 describes the physical characteristics of the past and present-day Native American flute. Chapter 2 deals exclusively with the past traditions and functions of the flute. For example, selected myths from various tribes that employ the Native American flute are discussed. Also in Chapter 2, the past ceremonial and non-ceremonial functions of the Native American flute are detailed. Chapter 3 deals exclusively with the flute as it is used in today's world. Here, the rise in status of the flute is illustrated by discussing four prominent performers, their recordings, and approach to flute playing. They are as follows: Kelvin Bizahaloni, R. Carlos Nakai, John Rainer, Jr., and Ward Jene Stroud. Also, three composers who are presently creating repertoire for this instrument are discussed. They are James DeMars, Gina Genova, and Jay Vosk. Chapter 4 deals with the ways in which the Native American flute can be imported into the college music curriculum. Finally, Chapter 5 summarizes the document and provides ideas for further study.

This study examines how the Cocopah maintain and express a sense of continuity with their past and how, in today's world, they use their understanding of the past to maintain their cultural identity in the present. An ethnohistorical reconstruction of Cocopah identity from the early period of contact explores the ways in which the political ecology of the Colorado River have influenced Cocopah identity. In approaching Cocopah identity from a political ecology perspective, it is argued that the federal bureaucracy's criteria for tribal status and the recognition of individuals as belonging to particular tribes are based on the commonly held notion of Indian tribes as being clearly distinguished, unchanging cultural entities occupying exclusively bounded tribal territories in stable ecosystems. Political ecology, in contrast, provides anthropology with a dynamic analytical framework in which to understand culture as adaptive systems. Political ecology provides a practical approach in which the interface between history and the dynamic complexities of diverse cultures within a local-global economic context can be examined. I add ethnicity theory to this political ecology framework in order to examine how these historical processes operate at the local level and how they affect Cocopah identity and cultural survival. The coping strategies that the Cocopahs applied to the ecological transformations of the lower Colorado River delta throughout the past 150 years have played a significant role in shaping present-day Cocopah identity. Recent economic development, provided by Indian gaming, has given the Cocopahs the opportunity to revitalize, redefine and perpetuate their cultural identity through the process of planning and developing a tribal museum and cultural center complex on the West Cocopah Reservation in southwestern Arizona.

American fascism is an underdeveloped topic in American history and it often rests in the pale of narratives focused upon, respectively, American extremism, protest movements, and assimilation processes. This informal dismissal is due, in part, to an historiographical misunderstanding of the work of Raymond Swing. Swing, an intellectual to whom all historians of "native" American fascism have turned, pioneered studies of the fascist tendencies extant in specific organizations and politicians of the 1930s; yet, no study of Swing's antifascist life exists. Unrecognized by the scholars who have appropriated small amounts of Swing's writings is that he changed his definition of fascism over the decade, placing the locus of fascism in three different discursive formations: economic, political, and then cultural. Perceiving American fascism in the early thirties to be more than simply the nationalistic politics of demagogues and their followers, Swing first defined the phenomenon as economic: a calculus of expenditure that tolerated the death of Americans deemed superfluous or dangerous by those who expunged them. In the middle thirties Swing perceived fascism to be the political phenomenon of a dictatorship that operated within the calculus. Swing moved towards a cultural definition of fascism as the United States experienced a "red scare" and Germany and Italy both expanded their territory and supported dictatorships emerging elsewhere. By the end of the decade, Swing committed himself to a definition of fascism as a "culture of barbarism" and he presented it to his radio audience of millions as the antithesis of American culture. He had moved far from his 1933 conception of American culture being inherently fascist. Swing's thought is understandable when considered in its contexts. To understand Swing's biographical context this dissertation places him in the history of his family of reformers and elicits the "progressive" theme to his life story. To understand the context of the Great Depression that informed Swing's changing definitions, this dissertation studies Swing's work in conjunction with the decade's popular culture. Special emphasis is placed upon Dale Carnegie, political films of 1933, and the Federal Theatre Project's, It Can't Happen Here.

The patterns of Pueblo textile production, use, and exchange underwent dramatic change during the first two centuries of Spanish-colonial rule as precontact styles and technologies were modified, new ones embraced, and traditional systems of production and exchange were disrupted, usurped, and transformed. This study traces and interprets the historic and socioeconomic processes underlying these changes. Three major research questions are explored: (1) how were Pueblo systems of textile production and exchange organized prior to European contact? (2) how did contact with Spanish religious, political, and social institutions influence and transform these Pueblo systems; and (3) how did Pueblo societies compensate for these changes to ensure continuing supplies of native textiles for secular and ritual use? To evaluate these questions, the research constructs a general cross-cultural model of colonial textile change and then tests this model using archaeological and documentary data from the Pueblo Southwest for the period A.D. 1300-1850. Archaeological data from four regions are investigated and compared: the Hopi region, the Zuni region, the Rio Grande valley, and the eastern periphery. The research presents detailed technical analyses of archaeological textiles and production-related artifacts and features from the large, contact-period mission sites of Awatovi, Hawikuh, and Pecos, along with data from smaller assemblages. Using translations of primary Spanish accounts, the research considers the ways in which Franciscan missionaries, provincial governors, and other colonial entities appropriated Pueblo textiles and labor for Spanish-colonial purposes through systems of forced labor and tribute. The study assesses the impacts of this diversion on the organization of Pueblo textile production, including shifts in the gender of textile producers and in the contexts and scheduling of production activities. The adoption of new fibers and dyes and the growing use of Navajo, Hispanic, and imported fabrics by Pueblo consumers are also explored. On a broader level, the research traces the decline of textile production in the Eastern Pueblo region, the concomitant intensification of textile production among the Western Pueblos, the expansion of textile exchange networks on a regional scale, and the emergence of Hopi as the principal supplier of Pueblo textile needs.