In this thesis, I survey American public commemorations about war, the military, and Black American veterans from the nineteenth century to the present. With historiography about American war commemorations and with primary and secondary sources disclosing America’s racial hierarchy implemented legally and socially throughout this timeframe, this thesis unveils a chronology of discrimination and White supremacy which resulted in the marginalization of Black Americans in public art. Utilizing twentieth century archival records from the “National Home of Disabled and Volunteer Soldiers” as a basis of analysis, I navigate through the history of American war commemorations to unveil how the U.S.’ devotion to denoting race throughout and within its societal structures contributed to a dearth of acknowledgment of Black American servicemen in the public commemorative landscape.I argue that by evaluating the racial climate, devotion to White supremacy, and commemorative politics of American society from the nineteenth century to today, a future, more inclusive monument to Black American veterans may be formed. I also argue that by studying past implementations of public art regarding the military, war, and veterans alongside a timeline of civil rights movements including the contemporary movement “Black Lives Matter,” past monuments and commemorative structures with supremacist representations may be challenged in ways to diversify and improve the American commemorative landscape. I posit that a project to publicly depict Black servicepeople should involve Black narratives, Black leadership, and ample information about the subjects of the structure to combat past measures of erasure of Black American servicepeople in American public art. / History
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TEMPLE/oai:scholarshare.temple.edu:20.500.12613/7699 |
| Date | January 2022 |
| Creators | Bendolph, Jeanette Dianne |
| Contributors | Bruggeman, Seth C., 1975-, Lowe, Hilary Iris |
| Publisher | Temple University. Libraries |
| Source Sets | Temple University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation, Text |
| Format | 85 pages |
| Rights | IN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available., http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Relation | http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/7671, Theses and Dissertations |
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