The aim of this thesis is to narrate and analyze lynching and atypical violence in Denton County, Texas, between 1920 and 1926. Through this intensive study of a rural county in north Texas, the role of law enforcement in typical and systemic violence is observed and the relationship between Denton County Officials and the Ku Klux Klan is analyzed. Chapter 1 discusses the root of the word lynching and submits a call for academic attention to violence that is unable to be categorized as lynching due to its restrictive definition. Chapter 2 chronicles known instances of lynching in Denton County from its founding through the 1920s including two lynchings perpetrated by Klavern 136, the Denton County Klan. Chapter 3 examines the relationship between Denton County Law Enforcement and the Klan. In Chapter 4, seasons of violence are identified and applied to available historical records. Chapter 5 concludes that non-lynching violence, termed "disappearances," occurred and argues on behalf of its inclusion within the historiography of Jim Crow Era criminal actions against Black Americans. In the Prologue and Epilogue, the development and dissolution of the St. John's Community in Pilot Point, Texas, is narrated.

During the Great Depression, for the first time in its history, the federal government provided relief to the unemployed and destitute through myriad New Deal agencies. This dissertation examines how "general relief" (direct or "make-work") from federal programs—primarily the Emergency Relief and Construction Act (ERCA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)—was acquired and administered by the government of Texas through state administrative agencies. These agencies included the Chambers of Commerce (1932-1933), Unofficial Texas Relief Commission (1933), Texas Rehabilitation and Relief Commission (1933), Official Texas Relief Commission (1933-1934), Texas Relief Commission Division of the State Board of Control (1934), and the Department of Public Welfare (1939). Overall, the effective administration of general relief in the Lone Star State was undermined by a political ideology that persisted from, and was embodied by, the "Redeemer" Constitution of 1876.

This dissertation is an examination of the interactions of enslaved body servants with their Texas Confederate masters from the American Civil War through the early twentieth century. The seven chapters of this study follows the story of these individuals from the fires of the Civil War, through the turbulence of Reconstruction in Texas, the codification of "Lost Cause" memory in the American South, and the exploitation of that memory by both former body servants and their ex-Confederate counterparts. This study demonstrates that the primary experience of blacks in the Confederate service was not as soldiers, but as enslaved laborers and body servants. Body servants, or camp slaves, were physically and in some cases emotionally close to their enslavers in this war-time environment and played an important part in Confederate logistics and camp life. As freed peoples after the war, former body servants found ways to use the bonds forged during the war and the flawed ideas of Lost Cause memory as a means to navigate the brutal realities of life in post-Civil War Texas. By manipulating white conceptions of former body servants as "black Confederates," some African Americans effectively "passed as gray," an act that earned money, social recognition, and …

Rome was among the largest cities in Europe during the Republic era, with a population that was diverse in social status and ethnicity. To maintain public order and social control of such a large, continually growing and shifting population that encompassed mixed cultures and Roman citizens, the Roman elites had to use various methods to keep the peace and maintain social stability. As religion was so deeply ingrained into every aspect of Roman life, it is worth taking a deeper look into how those in charge used it to maintain peace and relative control in Rome and its territories. Chapter 1 offers a brief look at the history of Roman religion, its terms and definitions, and the idea of social control as it pertains to this thesis. Chapter 2 shows the motivations of the Roman elite classes in their use of religion to maintain public order and enforce social control of the mass population. Couched in the need to uphold the Pax Deorum or Peace of the Gods, religious piety and order was cultivated as a means to protect the Republic from harm. Chapter 3 explains how the Patrician and Plebeian classes directed the attention of the residents of Rome …

Edward C. Fritz was one of the most influential environmentalists in Texas history. Although he took a circuitous route to environmental activism, Fritz evolved into a powerful force fighting on behalf of Texan nature. Participating in substantial actions throughout the second half of the twentieth century, Fritz's contributions to environmental activism resulted in the successful preservation of thousands of acres and multiple wildlife species. Fritz parlayed his legal background into effective activism, beginning his career with a successful lobbying campaign for protection of Harris Hawks. He led the campaign to stop a decades old plan for canalization of the Trinity River. The creation of COST combined Fritz's environmental focus with the concerns of economic conservatives to prevent a billion dollar government funded project that would have significantly altered the river. Fritz then led a cadre who took over efforts to establish a preserve in the Big Thicket national forest. He oversaw the foundation of a protected area far larger than original expectations, capitalizing on the growing awareness of environmental issues in the 1970s. Fritz's interest in the Big Thicket led to a fight against the Forest Service's practice of clearcutting and its effect on Red Cockaded Woodpeckers. Through litigation and …

This thesis attempts to prove the significance of the relationship between the United States and Australia, and how their similar cultures and experiences assisted creating that shared bond throughout the twentieth century. Chapter 2 examines the effects of the Cold War on both the United States and Australia, as well as their growing relationship during that period. There is some backtracking chronologically in order to make connections to important historical legacies such as the ANZAC Legend and settlement on the periphery of their respective societies. Then the first half of chapter 3 delves into the Vietnam War by examining the interactions of the American support unit, the 11th Combat Aviation Battalion, a helicopter unit that includes transports and gunships. Afterwards, the latter half of chapter 3 examines the Australians' after-action reports to better understand their tactical and operational methods. Finally, chapter 4 provides an overview of Australian and American interactions between the advisers and the Vietnamese, as well as their attitudes towards the end of the war and the withdrawal from Vietnam. The conclusion summarizes the significance of the thesis by reemphasizing the significance of US-Australian interactions in the twentieth century and the importance of continued studies on this topic …