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A History of the Mississippi River Commission, 1879-1928: from Levees-Only to a Comprehensive Program of Flood Control for the Lower Mississippi Valley

Description: In 1879 Congress created the Mississippi River Commission (MRC) to develop and coordinate federal flood control policy for the Lower Mississippi River. Through 1927, that Commission clung stubbornly to a "levees-only" policy that was based on the mistaken belief that levees alone could be effective in controlling the flood waters of the Mississippi River. When the levees failed--and they occasionally did--the MRC responded by raising and strengthening the system but refused to adopt a more comp… more
Date: August 1996
Creator: Pearcy, Matthew Todd, 1967-
open access

The Political and Congressional Career of John Hancock, 1865-1885

Description: John Hancock was a Texas Unionist. After the Civil War, he became an opponent of the Radical Republicans. He was elected to Congress in 1871 and had some success working on issues important to Texas. As the state was redeemed from Radical Republican rule, Hancock was increasingly attacked for his Unionism. This led to a tough fight for renomination in 1874, and losses in races for the U.S. Senate and renomination in 1876. He was an unsuccessful congressional candidate in 1878, but was elected a… more
Date: May 1996
Creator: Hancock, W. Daniel
open access

The Persistence of Castilian Law in Frontier Texas: the Legal Status of Women

Description: Castilian law developed during the Reconquest of Spain. Women received certain legal rights to persuade them to move to the villages on the expanding frontier. These legal rights were codified in Las Siete Partidas, the monumental work of Castilian law, compiled in the thirteenth century. Under Queen Isabella, Castilian law became the law of all Spain. As Spain discovered, explored, and colonized the New World, Castilian law spread. The Recopilacidn de Los Leyes de Las Indias complied the laws … more
Date: May 1996
Creator: Stuntz, Jean A.
open access

Beyond the Merchants of Death: the Senate Munitions Inquiry of the 1930s and its Role in Twentieth-Century American History

Description: The Senate Munitions Committee of 1934-1936, chaired by Gerald Nye of North Dakota, provided the first critical examination of America's modern military establishment. The committee approached its task guided by the optimism of the progressive Social Gospel and the idealism of earlier times, but in the middle of the munitions inquiry the nation turned to new values represented in Reinhold Niebuhr's realism and Franklin D. Roosevelt's Second New Deal. By 1936, the committee found its views out o… more
Date: May 1996
Creator: Coulter, Matthew Ware
open access

Medgar Evers (1925-1963) and the Mississippi Press

Description: Medgar Evers was gunned down in front of his home in June 1963, a murder that went unpunished for almost thirty years. Assassinated at the height of the civil rights movement, Evers is a relatively untreated figure in either popular or academic writing. This dissertation includes three themes. Evers's death defined his life, particularly his public role. The other two themes define his relationship with the press in Mississippi (and its structure), and his relationship to the various civil righ… more
Date: December 1996
Creator: Tisdale, John Rochelle, 1958-
open access

Americans who did not wait: the American Legion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1915-1917

Description: This study examines the five American Legion battalions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force formed in 1915 specifically to recruit American volunteers for the Canadian overseas contingent of the First World War. This study reviews the organization of Canada's militia and Anglo-American relations before examining the formation of the American Legion, the background of its men, and the diplomatic repercussions it sparked. This study is based largely on material in the Public Archives of Canada in… more
Date: May 1996
Creator: Smylie, Eric
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