Despite recent celebrations of diverse beauty in America, whiteness has maintained its foundation as the standard. Historic and contemporary parameters of beauty continue to play a role in not only American society in general, but in higher education. This paper examines the circumstances surrounding the crowning of two Black women as beauty…

In the article the involvement of Federal government into adult education is analyzed; the nature and extent of legislative measures taken in order to improve the quality of adult education in the USA is investigated. [For the complete Volume 12 proceedings, see ED597979.]

Explores why, following September 11, historical education should provide a framework that eschews pronouncements about our own superiority and prompts greater self-consciousness among Americans and greater knowledge of those arrayed against us. (EV)

To address the confusion and concern surrounding the issue of literacy in the United States, this article outlines the history of literacy development in this country (tracing the growth of literacy, methods of estimating population literacy, and changing definitions of literacy), assesses the present scene, and draws implications for schooling…

This document contains a biographical sketch of Ernie Pyle, the Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist from Indiana who gained fame during World War II as a nationally syndicated correspondent for the Associated Press. The story of Pyle's life is traced from his birth in Dana, Indiana, through his college years and his early years as a roving reporter…

This paper has 2 parts: (1) an overview of the history and chronology of Chicano literature; and (2) a review of bibliographies of Chicano literature. Chicano literature can be divided into pre-Chicano literature (1535-1959) and contemporary Chicano literature (1959 to the present). Colonial literature is that written between 1542 and the Mexican…

The involvement of women in U.S. politics of the 1890s, specifically in the Populist Party and the National Farmers' Alliance, is discussed in this paper. Women comprised a large percentage of membership in many of the sub-alliances of the National Farmers' Alliance and a number were national leaders, including Mary Elizabeth Lease, Annie LePorte…

This study focuses on the rhetoric about, rather than the rhetoric of, two Revolutionary War heroines, Mary Hayes and Deborah Sampson Gannet. The rhetoric about these women is divided into three areas: the rhetoric of neglect, as practiced by conventional historians; the rhetoric of praise, as given by patriotic societies such as the Daughters of…

This paper discusses Thomas Jefferson's evolving concept of the form and manner of education most useful for republican citizens. Jefferson both respected and resented Europe's claims of superiority in cultural matters. But as captivated as Jefferson was by European artistic and literary attainments, he was appalled at the misery and squalor that…

While concerns over literacy are common in contemporary times, similar concerns have been raised in other historical periods. Despite earlier predictions of American mastery of English, the Harvard Reports of the 1890s reflected anxiety over literacy among freshman college students from even "the best families in point of culture and…

This document outlines the development of an American Studies learning community in which a literature and a history professor created a framework for collaborative inquiry across the two disciplines. The learning community was situated within General Education requirements, and thus reflected the freshman course level. The community was linked…

Although few leaders will attain the legendary status of Mother Jones, social movements depend upon practitioners of drama to interest others in their quest. In the contemporary classroom, the blending of the rhetoric of social movements with the creation and performance of reader's theater in honors public speaking has produced extraordinary…

The rhetoric surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy offers a unique testing ground for theories about the construction of knowledge in society. One dilemma, however, is the lack of academic theorizing about the assassination. The Kennedy assassination has been left almost exclusively in the hands of "nonhistorians," i.e.,…

The number of history reference works has proliferated at a tremendous rate in the past few decades. The effective use of these tools is one of the most important research skills of the historian. Bibliographies should be understood as more than just books that list books. The design and workings of these tools are meant to influence search…

Through the narratives of North American slaves a vivid picture of their lives, struggles, hopes, and aspirations emerges. The slave narrative arose as a response to, and a refutation of, claims that blacks could not write. Slave writings were often direct extensions of speech. Through a process of imitation and repetition, the black slave's…