Tom (Thomas) Isern - Thesis Committee

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But the Roots Remain: The Wisconsin Progressives in the Great Depression and Post-War Era
(North Dakota State University, 2012) McCollum, Daniel David
This work is concerned with the development of the Progressives, a political faction of the Republican Party which was active in Wisconsin during the first half of the 20th century, throughout the Great Depression, and the Post-War era. It was during this period that the Progressives broke with the Republican Party, formed the Progressive Party and gained control of the state from 1934 through 1938, before finally dissolving in 1946, with many members moving into the Democratic Party, where they rejuvenated that moribund state party. This work, furthermore, focuses on the those Progressive leaders who operated in Wisconsin’s northern counties, a region which had a long tradition of Progressivism, the influence they had upon the creation of the Progressive Party and the political realignment which followed its dissolution.
Caretakers of the Community's Past Volunteers in North Dakota Museums
(North Dakota State University, 2017) Lien, Amber
The bulk of museum studies research focuses on professionalized museums. Little research has been conducted on the challenges of small museums. This study looks at volunteers in small North Dakota museums. Sparsely populated North Dakota lacks the funds and manpower to professionally staff their rural museums. While it is especially difficult for museums to recruit younger volunteers because they tend to be more mobile and have constricted schedules, North Dakota’s small museums have adapted by staffing with older volunteers. Museums in Southwest North Dakota such as the Hettinger County Historical Society, Dakota Buttes Museum, and Mott Gallery of History and Art survive because older volunteers sustain their museums. These older volunteers do not always follow strict professional guidelines, but they do contribute life skills, knowledge of the community, and historical understanding to their work at the museums in North Dakota. Their contributions are vital to the survival of these museums.
Construction, Adaptation, and Preservation of Earth Homes on the Northern Plains
(North Dakota State University, 2018) Kurtz, Robert Kevin
The earth home, in its many varieties and styles, played an important role in the development of the American Great Plains during the mid-nineteenth century. However, the lack of further study into the material culture of these homes has allowed many of these homes to be misrepresented in the historical record as temporary shelters. Not all of the earth homes constructed during this period were temporary. Further study of the materials used, the locations in which they were built, and their construction methods suggest that many of these homes were built to last. The three case studies used in this thesis represent a large number of earth homes still standing today. The findings of this study enhance the history of the region and open up new avenues for further research on earth homes as well as the possibilities and the importance of their preservation.
Drought, Depression, and Relief: The Agricultural Adjustment Wheat Reduction Program in North Dakota during the Great Depression
(North Dakota State University, 2012) Gostanzik, Brent Alan
The purpose of this thesis is to examine how the Agricultural Adjustment Wheat Reduction Program functioned in North Dakota from May of 1933 to January of 1936, why it ran so smoothly, and why it was such a success within the state. By using county Extension Agent reports that date from the time period this thesis uses an extensive number of primary sources that have not been used before. These reports, along with farmer journal accounts, newspaper articles, and Agricultural Adjustment Administration reports show that North Dakota wheat farmers openly embraced the policies of the Wheat Reduction Program and participated in it in higher numbers than any other state in the nation. The farmers embraced the program because the drought and economic depression they were facing left let them little choice, but also because the program did not seek to radically alter the structure of wheat farming in North Dakota.
The Emperors of Sport: Dominican Baseball during the US Occupation of the Dominican Republic, 1916-1924
(North Dakota State University, 2017) Larson, Karl
While baseball is typically associated with the United States for most Western readers, the sport was already being played in Cuba, Japan, and the Dominican Republic before the United States fully realized its own Major League system. During the First World War, the United States invaded and occupied Santo Domingo in an attempt to maintain hegemony in the Western Hemisphere. Dominican intellectuals in the capital city utilized baseball in their nation-building endeavor, seeking to prove that not only were they capable of performing their own westernization, but that Santo Domingo was the modern heir of ancient Athens in the New World.
The Importance of the Schleswig-Holstein Conflicts in German Unification: A Primordial Case Study, 1839-1871
(North Dakota State University, 2018) Ahlers, Christian Anthony
Considerations of German Unification usually center on Otto von Bismarck and Prussian power politics, the German Confederation, and Austria along with the Franco-Prussian War. Often overlooked are the important events that brought together certain northern German speaking states. But these conflicts were also the conclusion of a continuous feud between the Germans in the Schleswig and Holstein Duchies and the Danish. The feud, a series of wars which led to the creation of the Norddeutsches Bund in 1867, centered around the ‘Schleswig- Holstein Question’: the rightful rule of the Schleswig Duchy. Successional questions involved various intermarriages, personal unions, competing ambitions, the Danish Lex Regina (totalitarianism), and the German Primogeniture (the exclusion of female rule). The historical patterns emerging through this feud involve questions of legal, cultural and military history. They show not only the importance of Schleswig-Holstein but also of a kind of nationalism that can be called dynamic.
"The Indians may be led, but will not be drove": The Creek Nation's Struggle for Control of Its Destiny, 1783-1795
(North Dakota State University, 2016) Cummings, William
History tends to portray the interactions between Euro-American settlers and native Indian Nations as one in which Euro-American settlers imposed dominance on the Indians. This work takes an in-depth look at the relationship between the Creek Nation and the Euro-American settlers of Georgia in the early years of the American republic and shows the Creeks in control of their own destiny, as well as the destiny of Georgia and the young republic. The core argument is that the nature of the Creek nation allowed them to maintain autonomy while affecting the physical development of the United States. From Massachusetts to Carolina various Native American nations had tried to fend off Euro-American expansion but were forced off their land in short order. The Creek Nation considered Georgia and its settlers to be usurpers without valid claim to Indian land, and put forth a near impenetrable defense of their claim for over a decade. The Creeks steadfastly maintained their claim to the land between the Ogeechee River and the Oconee River, and declared war to enforce the boundary on their terms. In their struggle, primarily with the state of Georgia, new leaders emerged and new polities replaced old traditions. This was a significant accomplishment when one considers the lack of any form of political unity around which to take a stand against the expansionist plans of Georgia. This study will show that the Creeks succeeded because a common determination united the nation in its opposition to Georgia’s attempts to take their land, while its political disunity prevented any group less than the whole from negotiating effectively concerning their land.
Jocelyn Hagen and Timothy Takach: An Introduction to their Choral Music and a Study of their Positions within a Lineage of Minnesota-Based Composers
(North Dakota State University, 2013) Culloton, Michael Patrick
This study serves as an introduction to the choral music of Jocelyn Hagen and Timothy Takach. It also examines their positions within a lineage that includes three generations of successful Minnesota-based composers. It begins with Dominick Argento as the key figure in the first generation. The second group includes Stephen Paulus, Libby Larsen, Carol Barnett, and Craig Carnahan. Hagen, Takach, and Abbie Betinis have emerged as leaders of the third generation, and are discussed in that context. Major similarities that link each generation include a high level of compositional craft and advocacy work on behalf of other composers and the artistic community in the Twin Cities. These similarities are explored as part of this thesis. Additionally, this study explores the link between the composers of this lineage and the thriving choral community found in Minnesota, especially in the Twin Cities region. Conductors Dale Warland and Philip Brunelle have been important figures in the musical and personal lives of nearly every composer in this lineage. Their careers and philosophies regarding the commissioning of new music are also studied.
Petroleum Exploration History in North Dakota to 1951
(North Dakota State University, 2013) Herz, Clarence Anthony
The delayed discovery of oil in North Dakota resulted from remoteness, environment, and economic disadvantage, three of the six themes of Elwyn B. Robinson. Initially, lacking outside capital, the local explorers turned to their communities from 1917 to 1935 to raise the capital necessary to search for oil. As a result a complex group united to raise the capital necessary, but did not discover oil. The Great Depression ushered in the era of outside capital from 1937 to the successful discovery of oil on April 4, 1951. During this entire exploration period the state legislature, restricted by a lack of tax revenue, was unable to properly fund the North Dakota Geologic Survey. The survey achieved only marginal success throughout this exploration period. This history of early petroleum exploration not only enhances public knowledge but also lays the groundwork for further research toward a complete history of the industry.
“Read and Be Convinced”: The Image of the Nonpartisan League in Its Creative Production, the Early Histories, and Wider Popular Culture
(North Dakota State University, 2018) Hest, John
In this thesis, I examine the image of the Nonpartisan League in several different contexts, arguing that the League carefully crafted their advocative political image and their opponents painted them as disloyal socialists. The Nonpartisan League was an agrarian radical political movement beginning in North Dakota in 1915, and both its proponents and opponents created powerful images of it. I first examine the creative output of two Leaguers, the poet Florence Borner and the cartoonist John Miller Baer. I then transition to four competing histories of the Nonpartisan League, published from 1920-21, by Herbert Gaston, Charles Edward Russell, William Langer, and Andrew Bruce, all of whom craft divergent images of the League dependent upon their vantage point. I close with a look at the image of the League within wider popular culture, examining Main Street by Sinclair Lewis, the public statements of Theodore Roosevelt, and the 1978 film Northern Lights.
Roosevelt, Ranches, and Resources: Theodore Roosevelt National Park's Search for a Balance Between Human and Natural History
(North Dakota State University, 2018) Wiese, Lauren
National parks share the same challenge debating the significance of their cultural and natural resources. In the past, many parks decided to emphasize the value of natural resources over that of their human histories. Theodore Roosevelt National Park was an exception to that trend because of its connection to President Theodore Roosevelt. In the early years of the park’s existence, National Park Service management emphasized the value of its cultural resources. The preservation and interpretation of Theodore Roosevelt’s Maltese Cross Cabin and Elkhorn Ranch were two of the park’s top priorities. Around the 1980s, park officials increasingly placed emphasis on the park’s natural resources in an attempt to balance the significance of its natural and cultural resources. Through this attempt, Theodore Roosevelt National Park has embraced the concept that human and natural history cannot and should not be separated.
Running Wild, Running Free?: Changing Perceptions of Wild Horses in the American Landscape
(North Dakota State University, 2014) Mott, Andrea Lynn
Since the 1930s, wild horses have become a subject of public concern. They are often showcased as symbols representing the historic past of the western United States. More recently they have become symbols of a mythic, or imagined, west. Writers, scholars, politicians, advocates, ranchers, and land managers are among the few groups who have taken a role in the livelihood of these animals living freely on public rangelands. The protection movement that began in the 1950s and carried over into the 1970s ultimately resulted in the passage of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. This act placed all wild horses living on public rangelands under the protection of the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service. Before this legislation individuals in the West could round up wild horses without interference. Afterwards, only the federal government and appointed contractors were allowed to do this. As a result of all the policy changes people in the general public began learning more about the wild horse situation in the United States. Perceptions regarding wild horses have undergone some change since the passage of the 1934 Taylor Grazing Act. Case studies contained in this dissertation provide examples of perceptions in different parts of the country. The personal narratives gathered from these areas are analyzed as essential pieces to the wild horse dilemma. They help provide an additional lens through which scholars can examine the changing perceptions regarding wild horses. The second section of this dissertation delves into the developmental stages of wild horse protection in the United States. Advocates, activists, and politicians sometimes view the subject in varying ways and those are examined. Legislation, slaughter, holding facilities, and adoption methods are a few of the main areas analyzed within this section. As times have changed it has become necessary to reform and adapt under the Act of 1971. Doing this could ensure the future of wild horses living in the United States. Perceptions about them have changed, and it is still a subject wrought with emotion, but American identity is still connected to their aesthetic appeal.
Transformations of the Red River Valley of the North: An Environmental History
(North Dakota State University, 2016) Brokke, Kathleen Ruth Gilmore
This environmental history of the Red River Valley from the mid 1850s – 2000 encompasses those who lived in this tallgrass prairie region and asks how did they live within this environment? In addition, it seeks to understand how they utilized their surrounding natural world. Beyond this, with less than 1 percent of the tallgrass prairie remaining, this work showcases an important aspect of our region few know. Why is this important? The tallgrass helped create the fertile soil, which is the major reason for the high yields of wheat and other crops, and agriculture is the major industry in this region. Also, many of the native plants that once grew abundantly were eaten as food or used as medicine. A ‘cornucopia’ of food existed in this region. There is a loss in our Red River Valley that few know. This region was actually a complex environment, which looked remarkably simple to most who viewed the ‘sea of waving grass.’ This environmental history researches the changes to the surrounding tallgrasses, wetlands, and rivers, as transitions occurred from Native American to Euro-American settlers who adjusted to this new prairie environment, changing the natural world in the process as well. Geology and geography help us to understand the issues of floods in this very young river valley. This research also addresses how changes since the early 1900s have dramatically altered our rivers and wetlands, which were a major part of this landscape, and how this has impacted our lives today. My original quest was to discover how this region appeared with its differing grasses and forbs, riparian forests along the rivers, and the thriving wildlife – bison, deer, elk, bears, wolves, and coyotes. In addition, I sought to understand how others had lived here before Euro- Americans settled in this Red River Valley. All of this is important for us to better understand our environment and ourselves and to learn from our past for our present lives as well. This is a very unique environment and we are wealthy beyond measure in our residence upon it.
The Upper Musselshell Valley: A Grassroots and Bioregional History
(North Dakota State University, 2012) Lewis, Miles Dwight
The Upper Musselshell Valley: A Grassroots and Bioregional History chronicles the history of central Montana's Upper Musselshell Valley in an attempt to craft a viable history of region. As a corrective measure or alternate explanation that revises not only historical interpretation, but also takes into account who, or what group, is the driving force behind each distinct narrative stream (i.e. grand narrative history--histories penned by professional scholars and academics--or grassroots perspectives, the history of region as told by local dwellers), which stream is or is not authoritative, and how to modify, adjust, or meld the various interpretations in order to arrive at a more judicious, perceptive, and democratic version of history. The New Regional History is a coalescence of the grand narrative, the grassroots perspective, bioregionalism, and memory studies that is concerned with humankind's interaction with the physical environment, and the succession of cultures within that environment. It examines the use of historical memory in the creation of regional identity in order to expose and explain regional anomalies while providing synthesis and maintaining a stance of critical scholarship. This is much more than a localized case study; it is a novel approach to the history of region that incorporates local and professional scholarship in order craft a much more viable and judicious history of place. The Upper Musselshell Valley of central Montana provides a strong proving ground for a New Regional History. It is a place rich in regional history and lore, provided by a long tradition of local narrators, while fitting within most of the grand narrative paradigms of Montana and the Great Plains in general. As with most comparable regions within the Great Plains, the Upper Musselshell Valley has never been held up to such a standard.

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