This dissertation surveys the development of the Hawaiian higher educational system in the 19th century Hawaiian Kingdom as a strategy of Hawaiian leadership in promoting and protecting Hawaiian independence. This analysis revisits a Hawaiian educational history canon that overwhelmingly credits missionaries and foreigners as imposing an…

In this study on educational change in Pennsylvania from 1790 to 1838, I reexamine the history of how the state established its common school system, the predecessor to the state's public school system. In doing so, I identify a series of three leaders, argue that poverty was the primary catalyst for educational reform, and explain the nature of…

This dissertation delves into the profound impact of the Second Great Awakening on American higher education and its enduring social consequences. Examining the period from the late eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century, the research uncovers the core belief that drove the Awakening--that America and its citizens were chosen for a…

This qualitative case study sought to analyze and describe both the quantity and quality of African American history curriculum integration into Virginia's U.S. History curriculum standards at three points in time (2008 standards, 2015 standards, and revised 2020 standards) in the three U.S. history courses (USI, 5th; USII, 6th; VUS; 11th).…

The Morrill Act of 1862 provided the funding mechanism for the modern land-grant college system. In the over 160 years since its passage, the tripartite land-grant mission of teaching, research, and service has become the most recognizable legacy of the legislation. Recent scholars of land-grant education caution against viewing the history of…

When discussing college student voice, the historical narrative has generally focused on large-scale student activism as the definitive medium through which students expressed their beliefs. However, this inevitably leaves more subtle forms of student expression left uninterrogated, specifically in the South, and other areas of the country where…

It is widely recognized that religious groups played a key role in founding institutions of higher education before the early 20th century. However, until now, scholars have lacked the detailed data required to articulate how those denominations' early commitments to higher education shaped the system of colleges and universities we know today.…

Historically Black Colleges and Universities are institutions that contribute to the higher education of people of African descent. The archives of enslaved and freed people describe their systematic approach to education, highlighting the ways that Black communities in America engaged in teaching and learning. Despite enslavement and forced…

This dissertation examines what professional organizations, specifically the American Teachers Association (ATA) and the National Education Association (NEA), communicated with their members about participatory democracy in the Civil Rights Era, 1954-1968. Major publications of the ATA and the NEA as well as archival records of the NEA-ATA Joint…

Disabled individuals in Western history have encountered barriers, both physical and attitudinal, that limit their potential in society. These barriers are both constructed intentionally and unintentionally, according to disability studies. They have been unintentionally built as the disabled have been specifically excluded, making the need for…

This study examined whether there was a significant difference between the End-of-Course Examination scores (EOC) across multiple academic disciplines between students who participated in sports and those who did not participate in athletics at all in three rural high schools in South Carolina. The theoretical foundation for this study was based…

Education is the cornerstone of American society. However, American society has a long history of providing unequal access to education resources, often to the detriment of Black children. Black children are often perceived as threatening, even when only 4 years old. Relative to their White peers, Black children receive a disproportionately high…

Currently, the perceived use of critical theoretical frameworks to shape instruction in public K-12 education is undergoing intense scrutiny in popular and political debate. Chief among such frameworks has been Critical Race Theory (CRT), which, at the time of this writing, has been legally banned or restricted in eighteen states -- with similar…

This dissertation contains three chapters, each investigating a question in American economic history. The first chapter is co-authored with Ran Abramitzky, Santiago Perez, and Joseph Price. In this work, we conduct a large-scale digitization of historical college registers, encompassing 2.7 million students at 65 elite US universities. We use…

Despite accounting for a majority of college students in the United States, women fill a minority of professional leadership positions often associated with collegiate success. This suggests that educational access alone does not guarantee equitable societal outcomes after graduation, but rather remains shaped by a patriarchal social order. The…