Newspaper coverage of cavalry raiders during the American Civil War

During the American Civil War, military actions took place across a vast distance, from southern Pennsylvania to the future state of New Mexico. While a majority of the war was fought in the Eastern Theater, essentially the region east of the Appalachian Mountains, the Western Theater, roughly stretching from the Appalachians to the Mississippi River, saw plenty of action as well. Unlike the Eastern Theater, which saw large armies of infantry repeatedly clash against each other, the Western Theater was more suited to long range cavalry operations. Between 1863 and 1865, several bodies of Union forces pushed into Alabama, doing their part to hinder the Confederate war effort in that state. At the same time, Confederate cavalry raiders were harassing northern troops in Mississippi and Tennessee, hampering their plans to end the rebellion. Southern cavalry forces even pushed into the North, bringing the war to the American Midwest. This research will not only attempt to tell the stories of the men who led these raids and who are oft overlooked in the war’s historical narrative, but also fairly closely examine how newspapers of the time wrote about their campaigns, including the many different sets of facts received, unconfirmed rumors and discrepancies being widely reported, and the inability, many times, to see these raids in the larger picture of the war. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Millennials and the future of magazines: how the generation of digital natives will determine whether print magazines survive

In today’s rapidly evolving media ecosystem, two important narratives emerge: the demise of print publishing and the rise of the Millennial generation—the digital natives—as media consumers. In the midst of the persistent discussion that print journalism is dying in this era of digital revolution, data and literature suggest that many magazines are thriving, particularly with Millennials. This discovery, while noteworthy given its direct contradiction to the popular belief that Millennials have forsaken traditional media, is where knowledge pertaining to this phenomenon is prematurely truncated. This study seeks to contribute to a greater understanding of the motivations behind these quantitative conclusions by giving voice to Millennials’ reasons for continued magazine consumption in a way that the available data from closed-response surveys and questionnaires has not. Through a mixed-methods study grounded in uses and gratifications theory, utilizing a preliminary survey and subsequently concentrating on a qualitative design built around focus groups with Millennials (ages 18-25), this work seeks to reveal how this instrumental demographic—the industry’s audience for the years to come and the population whose lives have been most immersed in digital technologies—feels about magazines. Participants reported reading magazines for reasons that pertain to content, aesthetics, entertainment, escape, habit, and ease of use. Findings revealed three instrumental themes: (1) although participants admit that “everything is going digital,” they still overwhelmingly prefer print magazines; (2) while print remains their magazine media preference, they will consume digital content when it infiltrates their daily lives; and (3) despite their strong feelings for print magazines, they think print magazines could cease to exist at the hands of the generation that follows them—Generation Z. Participants feel they are the “in-between” generation, and Generation Z is the one most likely to force future media into the realm of digital-only. The future of print is one of the most pivotal points of discussion trending across the publishing industry today. These digital natives will inevitably dictate the course of the industry through their collective consumer behavior in the coming years. Therefore, the motivations behind their use of such media are of more importance than ever. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Individual, technological, socio-cultural factors affecting Facebook and Instagram use

This study explores the differences between Facebook and Instagram use by investigating the influence of technology attributes (visualizing elements, the friend recommendation algorithm, privacy settings, openness, perceived ease of use and usefulness), individual factors including innovativeness and motivations/gratifications (social interaction, entertainment, peeking, passing time, need for recognition) in using Facebook and Instagram, and socio-cultural factors (subjective norms, SNS culture) on the general use and use change of both sites. Whether and what kind of different characteristics of using the both platforms exist between younger and older generations were also examined. The findings of the current study indicate that individual, technological, and socio-cultural factors differently influenced individuals’ Facebook and Instagram use. Among the technology attributes, visualizing elements were positively related to Instagram use, and the friend recommendation algorithm was a positive predictor of using Facebook. In terms of the individual factors, while Facebook users were likely to utilize it to get a good reputation and to access it when they want to spend time alone, Instagram users tended to employ it for entertainment. SNS culture, which refers to using Facebook (or Instagram) because it is part of the culture of one’s generation, was the only socio-cultural factor that had a significant relationship with Facebook use. Generational differences of the proposed factors influencing Facebook and Instagram use were also found. More specifically, Instagram’s visualizing elements were the only significant predictor of use by younger generations; older people tend to use Facebook and Instagram for passing time and to fulfill their need for recognition. The findings of the current study expand the theoretical frameworks of the technology acceptance model (TAM), uses and gratifications (U&G), the theory of reasoned action (TRA), and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) by revealing how perceived ease of use and usefulness can differently activate the level and change of Facebook and Instagram use; which motivations/gratifications can significantly stimulate the two stages (general use and use change) of Facebook and Instagram use; and how subjective norms differently influenced level of using Facebook or Instagram. Further specific findings will be valuable assets for practical social media industries. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Bloody bogalusa and the fight for a bi-racial lumber union: a study in the Burkean rebirth cycle

The Great Southern Lumber Mill (Great Southern Lumber), for which Bogalusa, Louisiana was founded in 1906, was the largest mill of its kind in the world in the early twentieth century (Norwood 591). The mill garnered unrivaled success and fame for the massive amounts of timber that was exported out of the Bogalusa facility. Great Southern Lumber, however, was also responsible for an infamous suppression of a proposed biracial union of mill workers. “Bloody Bogalusa” or “Bogalusa Burning,” to which the incident is often referred, occurred in 1919 when the mill’s police force fired on the black leader of a black unionist group and three white leaders who supported unionization, killing two of the white leaders, mortally wounding the third, and forcing the black unionist to flee from town in order to protect his life (Norwood 592). Through the use of newspaper articles and my personal, family narrative I argue that Great Southern Lumber Company, in order to squelch the efforts of the union leaders, engaged in a rhetorical strategy that might be best examined through Kenneth Burke’s theory of the Rebirth Cycle. In order for the company’s rhetorical strategy to operate within the realm of Burke’s rebirth cycle, the pentadic ratio of Agent: Act was employed in each phase of the cycle in order to define the individual elements that proved pivotal in the success of this drama. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

An examination of Barnett Newman and Isamu Noguchi's artistic works in relation to World War II photojournalism in the New York Times, Life, and Time

The events of World War II fundamentally changed Barnett Newman and Isamu Noguchi, both Abstract Expressionist artists. Although neither artist served in the military, their distinctive heritages influenced how they reacted to three major occurrences during the War: the Holocaust, the Japanese internment, and the detonation of the atomic bombs. Upon seeing the images of liberated concentration camps publicized in popular media, Newman, a Polish-Jew, actually destroyed most of his pre-War art, arguing that after such violations of human rights, what subject was worthy of painting? Noguchi, a Japanese-American, spent much of his childhood on the West Coast, and was interred in a Japanese camp following Pearl Harbor, an experience that forever altered the rationale behind his sculpture. Lastly, the image of the mushroom cloud over Hiroshima and Nagasaki transformed the entire post-War generation, not just Newman and Noguchi. Using the images promulgated in three popular publications--the New York Times, Life magazine, and Time magazine--this study seeks to examine the stories and the photojournalism that had a direct influence on the two artists' War and post-War works. Additionally, artist statements accompanying the selected pieces will further illustrate just how influential these popular media outlets were to their subsequent creations throughout the next decades. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Lois Long, 1925-1939: playing Miss Jazz Age

This study demonstrate's how Lois Long's career at the New Yorker, which lasted 45 years, serves as evidence of Long's place in the annals of New Yorker history, past her initial success as a society writer. Her work, including the popular "Tables for Two" and "On and Off the Avenue" features, as well as her longevity with the magazine show Long was unique in that she outlasted many of the original New Yorker writers, eventually falling into a workhorse role rather than glorified writer. This paper uses Long's published work in the New Yorker and additional unpublished sources to provide depth to the story of Long's professional career and personal life, from 1925 to 1939. Going beyond her initial success as fashion critic and nightclub writer, it demonstrates how Long's career evolved as her own life and the society around her changed throughout the early twentieth century. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

The Jewish lived experience in Cuba

This research utilized an interdisciplinary qualitative approach to inquiry that requires border-crossing as its methodology for discovery in order to fully understand the lived experience of the Jews of Cuba. The study included a deep read of the Jewish Diaspora with a starting point being 597 BCE, then followed thousands of years of waves and world-wide movements, eventually leading to those Jews who settled in Cuba. For access into the lives of the present-day Jews, interviews with four participants who represented a cross-section of the Cuban Hebrew community were conducted; visits to the synagogues and to the kosher butcher shop were made; and many trips to the Ashkenazi and the Sephardic cemeteries in Guanabacoa, Cuba, were also made in order to take photographs and personally visit the sites. The four respondents interviewed were English speakers, were over 20-years old, and were citizens of Cuba. They were asked identical questions via e-mail with follow-up correspondence. For other narrative resources, 19 unpublished recorded stories were transcribed and included in the study to gain further access into the lives of Cuba’s Jewish population. To complete the inquiry, one published narrative was used to show parallels between those who were interviewed, as well as to show the similarities to those voices from the unpublished group. The end research result finds that today’s Cuban Jews, whose rich historical past on the island began as early as 1492, have survived despite all odds, and thrive with their traditions and laws intact. This research covered a period of 4 years—and four separate trips to Cuba. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

The causes of the Civil War: a newspaper analysis

This dissertation examines antebellum newspaper content in an attempt to add to the historical understanding of the causes of the Civil War. Numerous historians have studied the Civil War and its causes, but this study will use only newspapers to examine what they can show about the causes that eventually led the country to war. Newspapers have long chronicled events in American history, and they offer valuable information about the issues and concerns of their communities. This study begins with an overview of the newspaper coverage of the tariff and territorial issues that began to divide the country in the early decades of the 1800s. The study then moves from the Wilmot Proviso in 1846 to Lincoln's election in 1860, a period in which sectionalism and disunion increasingly appeared on newspaper pages and the lines of disagreement between the North and the South hardened. The primary sources used in this study were a diverse sampling of articles from newspapers around the country and includes representation from both southern and northern newspapers. Studying these antebellum newspapers offers insight into the political, social, and economic concerns of the day, which can give an indication of how the sectional differences in these areas became so divisive. This study shows what issues became such insurmountable problems for the nation that Americans finally reached a point where it seemed the only solution was going to war. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

TOO MANY COOKS: National Purpose and Equalization

(3) effective the same date. The Institute's chief objectives include: a) initiating and conducting research identifying current and emerging economic and public policy issues facing Atlantic Canadians and Canadians more generally, including research into the economic and social characteristics and potentials of Atlantic Canada and its four constituent provinces; b) investigating and analyzing the full range of options for public and private sector responses to the issues identified and acting as a catalyst for informed debate on those options, with a particular focus on strategies for overcoming Atlantic Canada's economic challenges in terms of regional disparities; c) communicating the conclusions of its research to a regional and national audience in a clear, non-partisan way; and d) sponsoring or organizing conferences, meetings, seminars, lectures. training programs, and publications, using all media of communication (including, without restriction, the electronic media) for the purpose of achieving these objectives