The Development of Railroads in Oklahoma (open access)

The Development of Railroads in Oklahoma

This thesis is a study of the growth and expansion of railroads in Oklahoma.
Date: 1948
Creator: McDonough, Terrence C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Railroads of the South Before 1860 (open access)

Railroads of the South Before 1860

The purpose of this paper is to give a historical account of the railroad systems in the southern states prior to 1860.
Date: June 1950
Creator: Carter, James D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Development of Basic Industries and Railroads in Russia to 1932 (open access)

Development of Basic Industries and Railroads in Russia to 1932

Russia's position as one of the two greatest powers in the world of today is generally known. Industrial development, on of the factors that has played the major role in raising her to this position, is too often slighted in studies in favor of political and social matters. Her industrial development is unparalleled; it is completely single and unique. Because of all these factors the writer has endeavored to trace the development of Russia's basic industries and railroads up to 1932.
Date: 1949
Creator: Cottrelle, Jesse Stephen
System: The UNT Digital Library
A History of Land Grants to Texas Railroads 1852 to 1882 (open access)

A History of Land Grants to Texas Railroads 1852 to 1882

This study examines the history of federal land grants given to railroads in Texas upon their admittance to the Union in the "Iron Horse Age" of Texas. Covering the rise of the land grant idea, the first period of special land grants, the period of the first general land grant act, the period of prohibition of land grants, and finally last of the land grant periods,
Date: August 1949
Creator: Ramsey, Volney E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Vegetative Analysis of and Distribution of the Grasses of North Central Texas (open access)

A Vegetative Analysis of and Distribution of the Grasses of North Central Texas

Accurate identification is fundamental in any study of grasses by farmers, ranchers, range specialists, ecologists, or students interested in the changes taking place in the grass habitat. Frequently it is convenient, and sometimes it is necessary, to identify the grasses by their vegetative characters. Some are readily recognized at a glance by their habitat and certain characters well known to the experienced observer. In other cases, identification is more difficult; and, perhaps with a few, it is impossible to be certain of the species from vegetative characters. However, this may also be true when the characters of the floral parts alone are considered. The inflorescence, used in most keys and descriptions, is often available only for a short period of time. Identification by the characters of the vegetation can be used throughout the growing season, even if grazing or mowing has removed or prevented the development of the floral parts. There have been other studies of grass identification related to vegetative characters, but they have been local and have not covered North Central Texas. This paper provides a means of identifying grasses by their vegetative characters. It can be used by the scientist, the technician, and the layman interested in …
Date: August 1970
Creator: Smith, David Lawrence, 1932-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Memory and Continuity Amidst Irreversible Decline in the Texas Big Empty (open access)

Memory and Continuity Amidst Irreversible Decline in the Texas Big Empty

This thesis interrogates sense of place and place attachment in the Big Empty on the north central Texas plains. The region stretches from the Red River on the north to the Colorado River basin on the south and from the Cross Timbers on the east to the Caprock escarpment on the west. Since 1930, the Big Empty has seen sustained and severe population decline such that some counties there now register less than a quarter the population they did at their peaks during the interwar years. Through in-depth field interviews, I examine sense of place and place attachment amidst apparently irreversible decline. I also describe conditions of postindustrial rurality arising from rolling reconfigurations of economic and social relations, particularly changes in scale in farming and the diminished centrality of productivist agriculture in local economies and culture, and how these conditions become legible through the study of place.
Date: December 2016
Creator: Underwood, Robert Reed
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Place to Call Home: A Study of the Self-Segregated Community of Tatums, Oklahoma, 1894-1970 (open access)

A Place to Call Home: A Study of the Self-Segregated Community of Tatums, Oklahoma, 1894-1970

This study examines Tatums, Oklahoma, under the assumption that the historically black towns (HBT) developed as a response to conditions in the South. This community provides a rich example of the apparent anomalies that the environment of self-segregation created. Despite the widespread violence of the Klan, the residents of the HBTs were not the targets of lynching or mob violence. During the years after World War II, Tatums residents enjoyed the greatest prosperity. The final chapter looks at the battle Tatums' residents fought to keep their school from being closed after the state of Oklahoma began to enforce the Brown v. Board of Education decisions in the 1960s. Their solidarity during the desegregation transition remained powerful enough for them to negotiate compromises regarding the fair treatment of their children in a world that was integrating around them.
Date: August 2005
Creator: Ragsdale, Rhonda M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Geology as a Georegional Influence on Quercus Fagaceae Distribution in Denton and Coke Counties of Central and North Central Texas and Choctaw County of Southeastern Oklahoma, Using GIS as an Analytical Tool. (open access)

Geology as a Georegional Influence on Quercus Fagaceae Distribution in Denton and Coke Counties of Central and North Central Texas and Choctaw County of Southeastern Oklahoma, Using GIS as an Analytical Tool.

This study elucidates the underlying relationships for the distribution of oak landcover on bedrock and soil orders in two counties in Texas and one in Oklahoma. ESRI's ArcGis and ArcMap was used to create surface maps for Denton and Coke Counties, Texas and Choctaw County, Oklahoma. Attribute tables generated in GIS were exported into a spreadsheet software program and frequency tables were created for every formation and soil order in the tri-county research area. The results were both a visual and numeric distribution of oaks in the transition area between the eastern hardwood forests and the Great Plains. Oak distributions are changing on this transition area of the South Central Plains. The sandy Woodbine and Antlers formations traditionally associated with the largest oak distribution are carrying oak coverage of approximately 31-32% in Choctaw and Denton Counties. The calcareous Blackland and Grand Prairies are traditionally associated with treeless grasslands, but are now carrying oak and other tree landcover up to 18.9%. Human intervention, including the establishment of artificial, political and social boundaries, urbanization, farming and fire control have altered the natural distribution of oaks and other landcover of this unique georegion.
Date: December 2007
Creator: Maxey, George F.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Woman's Place is at Work: The Rise of Women's Paid Labor in Five Texas Cities, 1900-1940 (open access)

A Woman's Place is at Work: The Rise of Women's Paid Labor in Five Texas Cities, 1900-1940

This thesis is a quantitative analysis of women working for pay aged sixteen and older in five mid-size Texas cities from 1900 to 1940. It examines wage-earning women primarily in terms of race, age, marital status, and occupation at each census year and how those key factors changed over time. This study investigates what, if any, trends occurred in the types of occupations open to women and the roles of race, age, and marital status in women working for pay in the first forty years of the 20th century.
Date: August 2017
Creator: Scott, Codee
System: The UNT Digital Library
A geospatial tool for assessing potential wildland fire risk in central Texas. (open access)

A geospatial tool for assessing potential wildland fire risk in central Texas.

Wildland fires in the United States are not always confined to wilderness areas. The growth of population centers and housing developments in wilderness areas has blurred the boundaries between rural and urban. This merger of human development and natural landscape is known in the wildland fire community as the wildland urban interface or WUI, and it is within this interface that many wildland fires increasingly occur. As wildland fire intrusions in the WUI increase so too does the need for tools to assess potential impact to valuable assets contained within the interface. This study presents a methodology that combines real-time weather data, a wildland fire behavior model, satellite remote sensing and geospatial data in a geographic information system to assess potential risk to human developments and natural resources within the Austin metropolitan area and surrounding ten counties of central, Texas. The methodology uses readily available digital databases and satellite images within Texas, in combination with an industry standard fire behavior model to assist emergency and natural resource managers assess potential impacts from wildland fire. Results of the study will promote prevention of WUI fire disasters, facilitate watershed and habitat protection, and help direct efforts in post wildland fire mitigation and …
Date: August 2005
Creator: Hunter, Bruce Allan
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Analysis of the Alexander Cooper Report on Housing for the Central Business District of Dallas (open access)

An Analysis of the Alexander Cooper Report on Housing for the Central Business District of Dallas

The questions arising over the deterioration of the 0BD have brought this topic to the attention of the public. This thesis will discuss the Central Business District of D311a5 and its decline. In order to study alternatives to these downward trends, the Central Business District Association of Dallas commissioned Alexander Cooper to make. an analysis of the possibilities for one alternative, namely, housing. The purpose of this study is to examine the le.rander Cooper Report on housing. The facts presented in this thesis will provide an analytical base of urban theory from which a discussion of housing prospects will be initiated. The feasibility of dointovm housing construction will 'be examined as it is presented in the Cooper Report.
Date: August 1976
Creator: Armstrong, Sonia V.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Women and Men in Central Appalachia : A Qualitative Study of Marital Power (open access)

Women and Men in Central Appalachia : A Qualitative Study of Marital Power

Semi-structured interviews were administered to 16 married couples in Central Appalachia. Questions addressed power relations and division of labor in marriage.
Date: August 1994
Creator: Dabbs, Jennifer Mae Burns
System: The UNT Digital Library
Too Ill to Find the Cure? - Health Care Sector Success in the New Democracies of Central and Eastern Europe (open access)

Too Ill to Find the Cure? - Health Care Sector Success in the New Democracies of Central and Eastern Europe

This study examines the factors that have contributed to the success of some Central and Eastern European countries to improve their health care sector in the post communist period, while leaving others to its demise. While most literature has been focused on the political and economic transition of Eastern Europe, very little research has been done about the welfare aspects of the transition process, especially the health care sector. While the focus on political consequences and main macroeconomic reforms has shed light on many important processes, the lack of research of health care issues has lead to consequences on our ability to understand its impact on the future of the new democracies and their sustainability. This model looks at the impact of international (World Bank) and domestic institutions, corruption and public support and how they affect the ability of some countries to improve and reform their health care sector in the post-transition period.
Date: August 2006
Creator: Radin, Dagmar
System: The UNT Digital Library
Multiple Regression Equations to Estimate Mean Nutrient Concentrations in Streams of North Central Texas from Landsat Derived Land Use (open access)

Multiple Regression Equations to Estimate Mean Nutrient Concentrations in Streams of North Central Texas from Landsat Derived Land Use

Nutrients are of critical concern in water quality assessment. The development of empirical models to estimate mean nutrient concentrations, based on satellite derived land use, could aid water resource managers. Models using land use acreages outperformed those using percentages, and discrete urban land uses were superior to lumped urban. Regressions of the combinations of two, three and four of the eight possible land use variables were investigated. Sensitivity analyses, with one stream deleted each series, identified robust combinations of variables at each level. Although uncertainty exists regarding the final regression coefficients, five of the six actual measured nitrate and total phosphorus mean concentrations were within the 95 percent confidence limits.
Date: May 1994
Creator: Kerr, Barry Douglas
System: The UNT Digital Library
Sowing the Seeds of Stewardship in Texas: An Ethnographic Study of Nature and Visitor Experience at Texas State Parks (open access)

Sowing the Seeds of Stewardship in Texas: An Ethnographic Study of Nature and Visitor Experience at Texas State Parks

This study uses a mixed methods approach to investigate how individuals perceive nature and engage with Texas state park (TSP) programs and resources while also identifying major barriers that visitors perceive/encounter when visiting TSPs. This study looks through the anthropological lens by using theoretical frameworks such as habitus, presentation of the social self, space and place, as well as communities of practice (CoP), to better understand the factors that influence the establishment and maintenance of an individual's relationship to nature and participation in related practices. This study illustrates how an individual's relationship to nature is influenced by experiences in early life that involve activities, landscape or bioregion, and social factors. Relationships with nature are strengthened through social support especially when CoPs are involved. By understanding park visitor experiences through motivations and limitations to participating in the outdoors, parks can expand engagement tactics, foster existing and create new CoP related to nature that aid in the introduction and adoption of outdoor learning and experiences creating lifelong stewards. The study offers recommendations on how TSPs can address visitor barriers and increase nature affinity with the use of targeted outreach and engagement methods through agency interpretive resources and programs with the goal of …
Date: May 2023
Creator: Saintonge, Kenneth C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparative History of Certain Phases of Early Railway Construction, Financing, and Administration in England, France, Germany, and the United States (open access)

A Comparative History of Certain Phases of Early Railway Construction, Financing, and Administration in England, France, Germany, and the United States

This thesis contrasts railroading history in England, France, Germany, and the United States to highlight the differences and similarities between them.
Date: June 1940
Creator: Fisher, George William
System: The UNT Digital Library
A History of the Texas Electric Railway, 1917-1955 (open access)

A History of the Texas Electric Railway, 1917-1955

This is an economic and social history of the Texas Electric Railway, which operated three interurban lines branching out of Dallas. The railway operated from 1917 until 1948, although the company was not dissolved until 1955. Of necessity, the study is based on primary source materials, including railway pamphlets, trade journals such as the Electric Rai Journal, personal interviews, Texas and United States Government documents and publications, and newspapers. Unfortunately, original financial records of the company no longer exist; therefore, financial information comes from Moody's Manual of Investments, Public Utilities.
Date: May 1972
Creator: Gilson, Margaret M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Factors Affecting the Efficient Performance of the Thai State Railway Authority: a Time-Series Data Analysis (open access)

Factors Affecting the Efficient Performance of the Thai State Railway Authority: a Time-Series Data Analysis

The Thai State Railway Authority (RSR) is a public enterprise in Thailand. As an organization its performance is subject to the argument of contingency theorists that operating efficiency is dependent upon various factors both in the internal and external environments of the enterprise. Most of the internal factors are those that organization theorists in the developed world have identified such as goals and objectives, resources, and organization structures. Meanwhile, external factors such as political, economic and social conditions of the society are regarded as indirect factors that have less importance than do the internal factors. Scholars of the developing world have argued that political, social and economic conditions in the society are as important as internal factors. These factors may have a very significant influence on the enterprises and on the society as a whole. Consequently, public enterprises in developing countries always encounter the same problem of operating inefficiency. The RSR is selected as a case study because of its advantages over the other public enterprises in Thailand in terms of size of operation, length of service, and data availability. For the purpose of this project, data are collected from 1960 to 1984 for longitudinal analysis. The methods of analysis …
Date: August 1988
Creator: Chalermpol Waitayangkoon
System: The UNT Digital Library
An environmental justice assessment of the light rail expansion in Denton County, Texas. (open access)

An environmental justice assessment of the light rail expansion in Denton County, Texas.

This study analyzes the proposed passenger rail line expansion along US Interstate Highway 35 in Denton County, Texas. A multi-dimensional approach was used to investigate potential environmental justice (EJ) consequences from the expansion of the transportation corridor. This study used empirical and historical evidence to identify and prioritize sites for potential EJ concerns. Citizen participation in the decision making process was also evaluated. The findings of this research suggest that the southeast Denton community has the highest potential for environmental justice concerns. This study concludes by offering suggestions for an effective public participation process. These include the incorporation of a community's local history into an environmental justice assessment, and tailoring the public planning process to the demographics and culture of the residents.
Date: August 2007
Creator: Moynihan, Colleen T.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Retail Change and Light Rail: an Exploration of Business Location Changes Accompanying Commuter Rail Development in Denton County, Texas (open access)

Retail Change and Light Rail: an Exploration of Business Location Changes Accompanying Commuter Rail Development in Denton County, Texas

Within the past few decades, commuter rail routes in several major metropolitan areas have been implemented to provide an alternative to automobile transportation. Urban planners in these cities are looking to commuter rail to mitigate congestion and pollution. However, research on the impacts of commuter rail development on the surrounding retail landscape is still needed. In metropolitan Dallas-Fort Worth, the Denton County Transportation Authority recently opened its new A-Train light rail service linking suburban Denton and downtown Dallas. This thesis examines urban changes that occurred in the years before and after the A-Train line's 2011 opening, with a focus on restaurant and retail development in the vicinity of the A-Train stations in Denton County. This analysis evaluates changes in retail density and type, the population surrounding stations, and municipal initiatives that shape the retail landscape of station vicinities. This was done by gathering field data, retailer listings, population data, and conducting interviews with local businesses and city planners. The findings suggest that A-train stations have had a differential impact on the surrounding landscape, depending on the existing retail landscape, the types of retailers present, and the current state of municipal infrastructure that promotes accessibility. Overall, results suggest that urban planners …
Date: August 2014
Creator: Yarbrough, Trevor S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Farmers' Alliance in Wise County, Texas, 1880-1897 (open access)

The Farmers' Alliance in Wise County, Texas, 1880-1897

The Farmers' Alliance in Wise County, from its introduction in 1880 to its demise in 1897, endeavored to improve the mental, moral, social, and financial conditions of small agrarians in the north central Texas county. This paper details the Alliance's efforts, in cooperative ventures and political activism and third-party politics, to place farmers in a better economic position. Additionally, the paper focuses on the Alliance's attempts to provide educational and social opportunities and moral guidance to the membership. Source materials include government documents and publications, contemporary accounts, the county Alliance's official newspaper, area newspapers, and the original minutes of the county Alliance from 1893 to 1897.
Date: December 1979
Creator: Riney, James E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
David Lefkowitz of Dallas: A Rabbi for all Seasons (open access)

David Lefkowitz of Dallas: A Rabbi for all Seasons

This dissertation discusses the impact David Lefkowitz and his ministry had on Dallas during the years of his ministry (1920-1949) at Temple Emanu-El in Dallas Texas, and the years following his death in 1955. The focus is on his involvement in civic activities, although his pastoral activities are also discussed. Sources include interviews with family members, friends and acquaintances, newspaper articles, journals, internet sources, unpublished theses and dissertations about Dallas and related subjects, minutes of the Temple's Board of Directors' meetings, minutes of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, minutes of the Board of Directors' Meetings of the Dallas Jewish Welfare Federation, the Temple Emanu-El Bulletins, and selected sermons, speeches and letters of David Lefkowitz. David Lefkowitz was an important figure in the history of Dallas. He taught, by precept and example, that Jews could participate fully in the civic life of Dallas. Because of his teachings, Jews made a positive difference in the development of Dallas. He has left a lasting impression on Dallas, and through his ministry and hard work, he made Dallas a better place for all its citizens.
Date: August 2000
Creator: Guzman, Jane Bock
System: The UNT Digital Library
Growth and Urbanization of the Texas Population, 1940-1950 (open access)

Growth and Urbanization of the Texas Population, 1940-1950

It is the purpose of this thesis to consider the growth and urbanization of the Texas population since 1880, with primary emphasis on changes which took place during the decade from 1940-1950. The problem involved, therefore, in the second part of this study is to determine the amount of urbanization which took place in Texas during the 1940-1950 decade, to determine the variations among the several regions and "size groups" of cities, and to describe some of the factors related to such increases and variations.
Date: August 1951
Creator: Boulter, Oscar H.
System: The UNT Digital Library

The Balkan Imbroglio: The Diplomatic, Military, and Political Origins of the Macedonian Campaign of World War I

The Macedonian Campaign of World War I (October 1915-November 1918) traditionally remains one of the understudied theatres of the historiography of the conflict. Despite its vital importance in the outcome of the war, it is still considered as a mere sideshow compared to the Western Front and the Gallipoli Campaign. This dissertation presents a much-needed re-evaluation of the Macedonian Campaign's diplomatic and political origins within the war's early context. In doing so, this study first concentrates on a longue durée perspective and assesses the main historical events in the Balkans and Central Europe from the end of the French Revolution to World War I. In a perspective running throughout the entire nineteenth century, this dissertation integrates the importance of nascent nationalism in the Balkans and examine the Austro-Hungarian Empire's steady decline and subsequent diplomatic realignment toward the Balkans. Similarly, this work depicts the intense power struggle in Southeastern Europe between some of this story's main protagonists, namely the Austro-Hungarian, Russian and Ottoman Empires. This dissertation also evaluates the rise of new regional powers such as Bulgaria and Serbia and examines their connection to the European balance of power and general diplomatic equilibrium. In the first half of this dissertation, I …
Date: August 2021
Creator: Broucke, Kevin R.
System: The UNT Digital Library