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This dissertation offers an outlined proposal and a model for practicing queer oral history—a nuancing of oral history praxis. Queer oral history is rooted in performance studies’ call to consider everyday texts alongside Dwight Conquergood’s (1985) articulations of ethical and dialogic performance of the other. I propose that queer oral history exists as an alternative praxis to traditional oral history; in order for this distinction to emerge, a practitioner must accept two charges. The first is a commitment to destabilizing oral history through the inclusion of other diverse methodological practices. Further, the researcher must welcome the ethical imperative to reflexively question subjectivity through their own role in constructing an oral history. Queer oral history demands of its practitioners a different set of goals that grow from traditional oral history, but also carefully complicate the practice of oral history as a methodology in order to address the in-between role of the subject-researcher. This placement within the gaps—the in-between—renders queer oral history theoretically queer, opening up possibilities beyond simply an oral history about queer themes. Because of its focus on commitments as a way to lead practice, queer oral history could prove useful for other person-based qualitative research methods. In order to propose queer oral history, this document traces one specific performance—Bless Our Hearts: An Oral History of the Queer South—from intellectual inception through scripting, staging, performance, and reperformance. Offering theoretical precepts, a completed script, and deep discussions of choices in scripting and embodiment, this dissertation offers a model that shows one queer oral history—about the intersections of queer and Southern identities—as it moves from interview process to complete performance project.

This thesis uses the uniform of the Stó:lō First Nation’s Lower Fraser Fishing Authority as a cultural, material item to inform and discuss Indigenous-Crown relationships, the history of the community the object belongs to, and the meaning that the object holds for that community. I use the uniform to argue that a single object can hold complex and contradictory meanings that can inform cultural history and relationships. This thesis adds to the historiography of the use of artifacts as an object of study, the history of the Lower Fraser Fishing Authority, and also larger discussions of Indigenous-Crown relationships in Canada. / Graduate

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While there are facts that are known about Claudius Greer Clemmer, there is much that is not known. By most accounts, he was a generous man who grew up during some of the hardest years of the Great Depression, worked to get an education, and had a successful teaching career. Clemmer worked diligently to do what he could to support himself and his family, working at two jobs. When his career track changed from teaching to business, in 1946, he experienced success in business and investments, sharing that wealth with East Tennessee State University and others. The intent of this qualitative study was to learn about the life of Claudius Greer Clemmer, and determine the events of his lifetime that made him who he was. The examination of his life was grounded by a series of six research questions that framed the study and expanded to include his family and work: What influenced him to pursue high educational standards?What influenced his view of education?What contributed to his philanthropy?What are people's perceptions about his life and work?Who influenced him, and in what way?Who was influenced by him, and in what way? Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory outlines five levels of basic need, beginning with physiological needs, safety and security, love and belonging, esteem, and finishing with the highest level at self-actualization, which is described as accomplishing all that one can accomplish. Maslow's theory describes Clemmer, as he had either achieved or was as close to self-actualization as possible. While the author was considering that he had accomplished self-actualization, it was expressed first by his son and acknowledged later during interviews with friends and associates. The study is significant in that there are no other studies about the life of Claudius Greer Clemmer. Research findings will be of interest to many, including the Clemmer family, the East Tennessee State University family, friends, and alumni of the Claudius G. Clemmer College of Education, along with individuals interested in biography, oral history, and philanthropy.

This research investigates the children's conditions and their daily routine during WWII. Three individuals' narrative will give us an inside view of what happened in their local community that could correlate to the national level.The focus will be on the children’s family, health conditions, school activities; social activities and their encounter with the German soldiers and refugees. The use of micro and oral historical approach, will not only explore how the children were affected by the war but more importantly to give them voice and not be the forgotten people in the society.

This thesis interviews two women attorneys who have not previously shared their stories to relate their experience of going to law school and entering the field after graduation. The study of women lawyers and their stories is not a new topic, however, there is a focus in the scholarship to only explore the tales of the women who reached the big firsts, such as first female lawyer or first female judge. By providing interviews of women who have not reached these big accomplishments, the field gains a more rounded understanding of the history of female lawyers. The two women interviewed were part of the same county and same firm, though one is now retired. Through connecting these women’s stories to the existing literature, we find several shifts in attitudes towards female lawyers. The 1960s seem to be the time in which women profited off of their previous gains into the field, but it was not until after the 1990s in which the perception towards female lawyers shifted in a positive manner. This thesis comes at a pivotal moment for the law in the United States, as women’s rights and attitudes towards women are regressing. Through learning the hardships women went through to enter a field previously dominated by men, we are able to gain an understanding how recent these gains were made and the barriers that still exist.

By using oral history as the primary research method, the aim of this thesis is to document and analyse the experiences of women woollen textile workers in the mid-twentieth century. The thesis contains a critique of oral history as a research method in general and the feminist practice of oral history in particular. In order to locate the women in the study in a particular place, there is description of the development and eventual collapse of the woollen textile industry in the Huddersfield area of West Yorkshire. Tape recorded interviews were carried out with 17 women. The key findings from their experiences fall into two main areas. The first relates to the experiences the women describe about the daily routine within the woollen mill, especially for new recruits and the tasks they had which were unconnected with their job. The second relates to the descriptions of the actions the women took during the collapse of the industry. This thesis contributes to the wider body of work on working class women and offers original insights into the experiences of women who worked in an industry which has all but disappeared.

The Other in mainstream U.S. society—in this case, the Latino Other—faces oppressive forces in the journey to find belonging. Latinos are marked by stereotypes, regardless of whether such stereotypes have a factual foundation. Latinas specifically are labeled as submissive servants, maids, or nannies. On the other end of the spectrum, Latinas are exotic and enticing sexual beings that must satisfy white men’s fetishes and lechery. Through this thesis, I will explore what Latina women face as an Other that is paradoxically both rejected and desired and evokes aversion as well as awe. In this creative thesis, in creative nonfiction, poetry, and oral history interviews with Latinas in my life, I will survey and expose stereotypes of Latinas, with the goal of uplifting the voices of such women of color and helping bridge the gap of understanding between the “average American” and their “Othered” Latino neighbors. If the non-Latino American public becomes educated on topics such as xenophobia and anti-Latino discrimination, they may do their part to create a community that is more inclusive and welcomes the ethnic diversity that has always been present in America.

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