Please join students from Xavier University’s “Cincinnati and the Civil Rights Era” class at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House on December 7, 2013 at 1:00 p.m., as they present their projects on riots, freeways, women, neighborhoods and the politics of respectability.

The event is free to the general public but seating is very limited. Please call 513-751-0651 to reserve your space.

Ann Senefeld, majoring in Liberal Arts, explores the neighborhoods from where activists in the 1950s-1970s came and what it was about their upbringing in these neighborhoods that inspired them to become involved in the Civil Rights Movement.

Kelsey Witzgall, a senior History and French major, focuses on the roles of two Cincinnati women influential in the Civil Rights Movement, Marian Spencer and Betty Daniels Rosemond.

Jennifer Bakes is a senior in Xavier University’s Scholars program majoring in History and English. Her presentation examines the “politics of respectability” in the Civil Rights Movement: how did Civil Rights activists’ self-presentation communicate their dignity and status?

Kelly Schmidt is a senior community- Engaged Fellow with a double major in Honors Bachelor of Arts and History. Her digital presentation, the “The Cincinnati Race Riots of 1967 and 1968” describes the 1967 and 1968 race riots in Avondale and explores their causes and consequences.

Chuma Nnawulezi, is a junior Philosophy Politics and the Public major from Omaha Nebraska who has been researching urban development projects in Cincinnati, specifically the highway system. His video, “Cincinnati’s Freeway Fighters,” investigates the process of freeway construction and the consequences of highway placement for urban neighborhoods.

Hamilton County Municipal Judge and UC History grad, Hon. Tyrone K. Yates comments on the legacy of John F. Kennedy on the 50^th Anniversary of his assassination.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20131122/EDIT02/311220056

Short, Precise, Eloquent:

A quick heads-up to let you know of some of our historians in the news these days! 

African-American history expert, Professor Nikki Taylor, recently appeared in a new television documentary hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross, which debuted on PBS in October.   In The Age of Slavery, episode 2 of the documentary, Prof. Taylor is featured in a riveting segment focused on the compelling and tragic story of Margaret Garner, a runaway slave who, after her capture, murdered her own daughter rather than allow her to be forced back into a life of slavery.   For more on the documentary, see the web site, which allows you to view a number of the episodes (including episode 2 – look to about minute 45 for the segment featuring Prof. Taylor).  On the site, you’ll also discover a trove of fascinating details on the African-American experience in our country. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/

Interested in the Civil War during this centennial year?  Follow our own Professor Chris Phillips who is blogging on the history of the war for the New York Times.  His most recent post on the Times blog Disunion focuses on the still little-known history of the war in the west.  Click here to read more: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/28/the-wicked-war-in-the-west/?_r=0

HIST 3075: Urban African American History in the 20^th Century

MWF 12:20-1:15

The course examines the forces, events, and demographic movements that shaped the development of racially isolated, low-income African American communities in American cities in the 20th century, starting in the 19th century and continuing through the last 20 to 30 years of 20th century, with attention to trends in race, residence, and employment.  It will look at the interaction between black efforts for self-determination, public policy choices at the local, state, and federal levels, and the actions of private individuals and organizations, all of which helped to shape the residential and economic environments experienced by urban African Americans.

HIST 6010: Public History Practicum

This course offers a practical orientation to and exploration of various fields encompassed under the rubric "public history," approached through specific team projects in conjunction with local organizations. Students will develop a museum exhibit, short publication, or other historical product examining an aspect of Cincinnati history with a view to the end product being available to the general public or to be turned over to a museum or other organization to expand into a professionally finished product.

HIST 1099 001: Pregnancy, Birth, and Health: Sociological and Historical Perspectives on Reproduction

T 2:00-4:40 PM

This UC Forward Freshman Seminar will integrate historical and sociological readings on women's health with community action through service learning. Consistent with the aims of Medical Humanities, students will study the historical, social, and political issues surrounding reproductive issues - namely, childbirth, pregnancy, midwifery, prematurity, pregnancy loss and infant mortality, adoption, abortion, infertility, and birth control. We will pay special attention to differences of gender, race, and class. Students will be invited to reflect on course material through in-class exercises and assignments that develop writing skills and critical thinking. In addition, in order to fulfill the service-learning component, students will work in groups to build strategies and provide evidence-based resources for local Cincinnati advocacy organizations.

HIST 1099 002: Cold War and Atomic Tourism

MWF 1:25-2:20 PM

This seminar course will consider the establishment of the American Cold War nuclear weapons complex, the cultural, economic, environmental, and political ramifications of building this arsenal, and the recent efforts to memorialize and preserve the history of the complex. The class will specifically consider the nuclear weapons sites in the Ohio River Valley and the wide array of efforts to either save historical sites or to erase them from public memory.

The "History Out There" Speaker Series welcomes...Greg McCoy, Senior Archivist at the Procter & Gamble Heritage & Archives Center. Please join us on Wednesday, November 6, 2013, from 1:00-3:30pm in the Von Rosenstiel Reading Room in the Department of History for a conversation about the growth and development of the P&G Archives, and the work of corporate archivists within that process.

Immigration Course with Trip to New York City

Immigration, Race and Citizenship: Across the Disciplines is an Honors seminar with a study tour to New York City along with field trips around Cincinnati that provide a hands-on approach to the past and present dimensions of the immigrant experience.  Students must carry a 3.4 GPA or higher to enroll.

Course Description for HIST 3096 (meets W 3:30-5:50, Spring ’14)

No phenomenon has helped to define our modern global era more than the migration of people across national borders.  And no nation-state has been more central to the realities and imaginations of the “immigrant experience” than the United States.  This multidisciplinary seminar explores the transnational and domestic dimensions of immigration – including the related themes of race and citizenship -- in U.S. and international history from the eighteenth century through today.  Though focused primarily on the U.S., this course is as globally oriented as the lives of the people we examine.  We will systematically interrogate course themes from a diversity of academic disciplines and non-academic vocations.  These include history, film, music, journalism, literature, law, political science, sociology, and grass-roots activism.  The course, then, has two intertwined goals:

Trips to New York City and around Cincinnati

At the end of the semester (4/27-5/2), we will travel to New York City, long a critically important global and national hub for the immigrant experience.  We will dive into a range of lively phenomena central to our course themes, including different culinary cultures (aka, delicious food!); the arts; community mobilization; nongovernmental advocacy; religion; public policy; and the evolving landscapes of neighborhoods that successive waves of immigrants have shaped.  During the semester, we will explore Cincinnati’s “immigrant experience” through historical and architectural walking tours.  We will additionally explore the migration experiences of African Americans through the Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

* Trip begins one day after graduation and two days after the last day of final exams.

Costs

Total expected cost to be paid to UC is $1050. The actual cost per person for UC is $1650, but this will be offset by a $600 grant from University Honors, making the actual total expected cost $1050. All participants will receive the grant from UHP, whether in the Honors Program or not.

Costs will include airfare, accommodations, group dinners, tours and guides, and entrance fees.

Costs do not include some lunches and dinners, tips, ground transportation, any additional tours that you choose to go on, and other personal expenses (such as souvenirs).

Interested?

If interested, immediately email History professor, Dr. Stephen Porter at Stephen.Porter@uc.edu.  Enrollment may be closing very soon.  You will also need to complete a brief application form, found at http://www.uc.edu/honors/Seminars/travel/newyork.html

PIZZA AND PROFS

Come for free pizza and a chance to chat with your History professors

Majors, Minors, and Non-Majors welcomed

Wednesday, October 23rd, noon to 1:30 pm in McMicken Room 315/ Von Rosentiel Reading Room

Sponsored by the UC History Department

See the attached press release regarding a wonderful collaboration between the Cincinnati Opera, the University of Cincinnati’s Department of History led by Prof. Elizabeth Frierson, and a number of other Cincinnati cultural institutions. The year 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, which, as Prof. Frierson notes, marks for many historians the true end of the 19th century and the true beginning of the 20^th.

This Saturday, September 21^st, from 11am to 4pm, Cincinnati area residents can enjoy a history tour of Hamilton Avenue and the College Hill area. Sponsored by the Mt. Healthy, and the North College Hill  and College Hill Historical Societies, the Clovernook Center, the Twin Towers Senior Living Community, and the College Hill Bicentennial,  the tour will include ten sites where historic characters will bring alive the rich abolitionist history of the communities along Hamilton Avenue:  From the Liberty Party conventions in the 1840's to the Underground Railroad agents and conductors—black and white—who led 28 "freedom seekers" out of Boone County Kentucky on April 2, 1853, through College Hill and then on to begin a new life in Canada.  Attendees can enjoy historic sites on the avenue, a dramatic production of the Escape of the 28 at the new Aiken High School at 1 pm and 3 pm, period dance and music, children's activities and living history characters throughout the day at each site.  

For more information:

UC’s own undergraduate history major, Samuel Hahn, had an internship with the College Hill Historical Society, helping to prepare for the tour and creating a video giving the historical background that tour participants will need to enjoy and understand the abolitionist reenactments they see throughout the day.

Here is a link to the video Sam helped create: Hamilton Avenue: Road To Freedom

See the history department’s webpage in the near future for a more in depth look at Sam Hahn’s internship. The piece will also discuss how the internships one can connect with through UC’s History Department can help academic and professional development for undergraduates.

HISTORIANS AGAINST SLAVERY TO HOST A NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COMBATING SLAVERY AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING --SEPTEMBER 19-21, 2013.

Cincinnati, Ohio — “Crossing Boundaries, Making Connections: American Slavery and Antislavery Now and Then,” a conference to be held at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center addresses the challenges of slavery and human trafficking in the 21st century. It brings together distinguished historians of slavery and abolitionism, nationally recognized antislavery activists, survivors of modern-day enslavement and human trafficking, community leaders, university and high school teachers, their students and others. Its goals are to develop dialogue and collaboration among all of these groups and lead to sustained antislavery learning, planning and action.

The conference is being chaired by University of Cincinnati History Professor Nikki Taylor, Ph.D. It will take place September 19-21, 2013, at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, 50 East Freedom Way, Cincinnati, Ohio. Registration is free and open to all who are concerned about and wish to help combat contemporary slavery and human trafficking. Early registration is strongly encouraged, however,  as space is limited.

“This conference will help expand our understanding of the global nature and persistence of slavery through addressing the relationship between historic and modern slavery and abolition,” said Luke Blocher, director of national strategic initiatives for NURFC.  “Most importantly, it will provide an unprecedented opportunity for all participants—whatever their backgrounds— to begin working collaboratively against one of the great injustices of our time,” said Dr. Taylor.

Additional information and conference registration may be found at:  http://historiansagainstslavery.org/conference.htm .

Contact:  Stephanie A. Creech: 513.374.9500 ; creechs1@gmail.com

Please mark your calendars to join us for a research presentation the week after next by Professor Stan Corkin of the UC English Department.

Professor Corkin’s research area is the history of American culture, literature, and film.  He has just completed work on a new book focused on the TV series The Wire that examines the series in the light of questions about American urban history.  He will be joining us to talk about this work and his other research interests in American Studies and US cultural history.

See the details below and plan to join us for Professor Corkin’s presentation.

Date: Thursday September 26^th

Time: 2:00-3:20

Place: McMicken 130

Fine food and drink to follow!

Myles Horton and his Highlander Folk School were key elements in organizing for Civil Rights in the South for several decades starting in the early 1930s. Rosa Parks spent a week there in the months before she helped set off the Montgomery Bus Boycott with her refusal to yield her seat to a white man. Dr. King went there a number of times to work with other leaders of the movement. And others met there for planning, organizing, and to seek safe haven.

Myles Horton

Pizza available before, child care available by reservation. See the attached flyer for more details.

Pizza at 6 pm

Film at 7 pm

First Unitarian Church

536 Linton St. (corner of Reading and     Linton) two blocks north of W.H. Taft Rd.

                                                                        Cincinnati

                                                                        513-281-1564

The "Catholicism in Latin America Film Festival" brings together students, faculty, and administrators to consider the profound relationship between the Catholic Church and Latin American society, politics, and culture. A part of the University's celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, the three films in the series will raise awareness of the religious foundations of Latin American culture and the continuing relevance of Catholicism in the drama of Latin American history.

Dates and times:

Monday, September 16th, 12:00-3:00 PM: "The Mission." This unforgettable 1986 drama addresses the savage enslavement of the South American Guaraní people by the Spanish and Portuguese crowns and the Guaraní's defense by Jesuit missionaries.  It won a Palm d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and an Academy Award for best cinematography.  In 2007, the Church Times elected "The Mission" number one on its list of the top fifty religious films of all time.  The film stars Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, and a young Liam Neeson.

Tuesday, September 24th, 12:00-3:00 PM: "For Greater Glory: The True Story of Cristiada."  Released in 2012, this film relates one of the most significant events of modern Mexican history: the Cristero Revolt of Catholic Christians against the anti-religious government of Plutarco Elias Calles.  Fought between 1926-1929, the revolt characterized the religious-secular tensions of the modern world, leaving some 90,000 dead on both sides and devastating the institutional presence of the Catholic Church in Mexico.  It stars Andy Garcia as General Enrique Gorostieta, the leader of the Catholic militias.

Wednesday, October 9th, 12:00-3:00 PM: "Romero."  This acclaimed 1989 film depicts the ministry of Archbishop Oscar Romero (d. 1980), who devoted the resources of his church to the poor in their desperate struggle against the repression and death squads of El Salvador's violent military regime.  Starring Raul Julia as Romero, the film drew attention to the disastrous ten-year civil war in El Salvador and to the martyrdom of Catholic priests and laity in defense of social justice.

All films will take place in TUC 417. Join UC in celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month and enjoy three great movies!

Mae Ngai, Lung Family Professor of Asian American Studies and Professor of History at Columbia University, is the History Department's Taft Departmental Lecturer for the 2013-14 academic year. Her visit is being co-sponsored by the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights in the College of Law. Her talks will take place on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons 17-18 October 2013. Time and place to be announced. 

Professor Ngai is the author of award winning Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America (2004) and The Lucky Ones: One Family and the Extraordinary Invention of Chinese America (2010). Her current work about which she will speak when she visits, titled Yellow and Gold: The Chinese Mining Diaspora, 1848-1908, is a study of Chinese gold miners and racial politics in nineteenth century California, the British colony of Victoria in Australia, and the South African Transvaal. Before becoming a historian, she was a labor union organizer and educator in New York City, working for District 65-UAW and the Consortium for Worker Education. 

First-year doctoral student Alyssa McClanahan has been awarded the fifth annual Roger Daniels Summer Fellowship.  McClanahan will continue her research of anti-nuclear feminists in the 1980s, exploring an online archive from the Seneca Women’s Encampment for a Future of Peace and Justice (http://peacecampherstory.blogspot.com/). Featuring countless oral interviews, photographs, songs and stories, this source details how anti-nuclear feminists lived at this peace camp near Seneca Falls, New York, beginning in 1981. Protesting the deployment of Cruise and Pershing II missiles from the nearby Seneca Army Depot to Europe, the camp, set up a mile-and-a-half from the depot, organized numerous anti-missile rallies and acts of civil disobedience at its gates.  The Daniels Fellowship provides $1,500 to support McClanahan’s research over the summer.