American Studies
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Item Raising Black Dreams: Representations of Six Generations of a Family's Local Racial-Activist Traditions(2007-04-20) Daves, John Patrick Cansler; Caughey, John; American Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)How do local African American leadership traditions develop and change? How do they compare to and connect with national African American leadership traditions? This dissertation explores some answers to these questions through an examination of the history of one middle-class African American family's communal activist legacy. It is built, first, on my research into my adopted family's local, evolving communal-leadership ideology, which extends from the antebellum era to the present; and, second, on my examination of how my family's leadership tradition compare with and connect to patterns in national black leadership conventions. In the chapters, I lay out the basic issues I will investigate, discuss the literature on black leadership, contextualize my study, and introduce and define the concepts of racial stewardship, local racial activism, local racial ambassadorship, and racial spokesmanship which are central to my exploration. I conclude the dissertation with an summation of my work, and how my research contributes to existing scholarly conversations about black leadership traditions found in African American Literature, History and the social sciences.Item "We Seek What We Find - We See What We Look For": Looking for Literary Production in Washington, D.C. 1921-1928(2006-08-30) Bowden, Ebony Vanessa; Struna, Nancy; American Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Though acknowledged as the intellectual and cultural hub of African American enlightenment, many artists' experiences attest that the reputation of Harlem as an artistic haven has in many ways, been overestimated. The promotion of Harlem's dominant characteristics has led many historians to overlook other culturally productive locations like Washington, D.C., which was also a major center for literary and artistic development during the twenties. My project explores Georgia Douglass Johnson as D.C.'s agent of cultural and literary production through her hostess-ship of Saturday-night literary salons held in her 1461 S. Street Northwest D.C home from 1921-1928. The discussion of this literary salon is original because it includes theories of cultural production and cultural studies submerged within a traditional literary context. Allowing room to cross interdisciplinary lines, this paper involves an investigation of members of the salons as well as the internal and external dynamics of the literary community itself.Item Stephen W. Meader: His Contributions to American Children's Literature(2005-05-25) Looney, Chesley Howard; Kelly, R. Gordon; American Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Stephen W. Meader published forty-four books of adventure for children from 1920 through 1969. His books successfully captured important aspects of American life and values, and were very popular across these very different decades of American history. This dissertation examines each of Meader's books at least briefly while paying special attention to questions of values and formula in key and representative works. Meader wrote both historical tales and stories with contemporary settings, set in many regions and most historical eras of the United States; his heroes mature in some way during the course of his books. Meader emphasized important American values: self-reliance, honesty, community, courage, loyalty, friendship, and clear thinking. He used formulas, especially the ordeal, in which the protagonist is separated from responsible adult leadership, faces a challenge, and successfully meets that challenge. This approach allowed him to test his protagonists to see if they would stay true to their values. Meader's heroes usually had sidekicks and often had mentors as well. They often tangled with memorable villains, received rewards, and sometimes found romance. Meader had an interest in entrepreneurial themes which he expressed most memorably in four contemporary novels in which the young hero starts a business. Along with the fictional story, Meader provides information to the reader in both general approach and specific costs, on how to start certain business ventures: trucking (T-Model Tommy 1938), fruit cultivation and production (Blueberry Mountain 1941), earthmoving (Bulldozer 1951), and ski resort management (Snow on Blueberry Mountain 1961). The protagonists of most of Meader's books are good at making do with what they have and at thinking on their feet. Two illustrative examples of his many historical novels are Boy With a Pack (1939), whose protagonist is a Yankee peddler and for which he won a Newbery honor award, and Red Horse Hill (1930) based on his New Hampshire boyhood. Meader wrote many historical stories of the sea in various eras. He also wrote on environmental themes throughout his career. Meader's work during World War II stood out among American juvenile authors because he confronted the war directly as it was happening while most such writers avoided the war until after it was over. An example is The Long Trains Roll (1944).