This dissertation establishes that the Evangelical Anabaptists lived a noticeably distinctive Christian life when compared with their peers, accounts for their committed pursuit of holiness, and describes the outcome of that commitment. The sources used include the arranged archival source material in the Tauferakten, confessions, tracts, letters, debates, martyrologies, miscellaneous writings of the Anabaptists, and subsequent scholarship on the subject.

The history of California's Basque boardinghouses, or ostatuak, is the subject of this dissertation. To date, scholarly literature on ethnic boardinghouses is minimal and even less has been written on the Basque "hotels" of the American West. As a result, conclusions in this study rely upon interviews, census records, local directories, early maps, and newspapers. The first Basque boardinghouses in the United States appeared in California in the decade following the gold rush and tended to be outposts along travel routes used by Basque miners and sheepmen. As more Basques migrated to the United States, clusters of ostatuak sprang up in communities where Basque colonies had formed, particularly in Los Angeles and San Francisco during the late nineteenth century. In the years between 1890 and 1940, the ostatuak reached their zenith as Basques spread throughout the state and took their boardinghouses with them. This study outlines the earliest appearances of the Basque ostatuak, charts their expansion, and describes their present state of demise. The role of the ostatuak within Basque-American culture and a description of how they operated is another important aspect of this dissertation. Information from interviews supports the claim that the ostatua was the most important social institution …

Based on the appropriate archival collections, official documents, and various published materials, this dissertation is an investigation of American diplomacy in Korea from 1945 to 1953. Between the end of World War II and the close of the Korean fighting, the United States moved from a limited interest in Korea to a substantial involvement in that nation's affairs.

The study begins by examining economic, political, and social conditions in Tsarist Russia that prompted the Zale family to immigrate to the United States. They eventually settled in Texas where, as a boy, Morris Zale was introduced to the jewelry business. In his first store in Wichita Falls Zale developed the idea of mass marketing his merchandise, and in order to do so he offered credit to his customers. He also made extensive use of advertising. Both of those approaches were revolutionary in the retail jewelry industry. This study examines various methods used by Zale's to expand its holdings. In addition, attention is given to Zale's diversification in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Emphasis is given in the study to Zale's development of a vertically integrated structure. By purchasing diamonds directly from the Diamond Trading Company, Zale's has been able to process the stones at each stage—cutting, polishing, mounting, and marketing. Such an arrangement eliminated middlemen at each step, permitting Zale's to reduce markups and margins and still maintain necessary profit levels. This study examines several serious adversities that have confronted the company—racial and religious prejudice, the Depression, shortages brought on by World War II, potential competition from a …

Beauford Halbert Jester, thirty-sixth governor of Texas, had served nearly six months of his second term when he died on July 11, 1949. He tends to be remembered as the only Texas governor to die in office, but his accomplishments deserve greater recognition. Elected as the Establishment candidate in a bitter campaign against a liberal opponent, Jester had a surprisingly progressive administration. During his tenure the state generally expanded its services, began a prison reform program, reorganized the public school system, began an ambitious farm-to-market road program, attempted a new approach to juvenile delinquency, expanded educational opportunities for blacks, created a legislative redistricting board, and established a building fund for state-supported colleges and universities.

Given Rebecca West's fame during her lifetime, the amount of significant and successful writing she created, and the importance and relevance of the topics she took up, remarkably little has been done to examine her intellectual legacy. Writing in most genres, West has created a body of work that illuminates, to a large degree, the social, artistic, moral, and political evolution of the twentieth century. West, believing in the unity of human experience, explored such topics as Saint Augustine, Yugoslavian history, treason in World War II, and apartheid in South Africa with the purpose of finding what specific actions or events meant in the light of the whole of human experience. The two major archival sources for Rebecca West materials are located at the University of Tulsa's McFarlin Library, Special Collections, and at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. Many of her works have been recently reprinted and those not easily available are found in the British Library or in the archival depositories noted above. Interviews with persons who knew West were also an important source of information. This dissertation explores chronologically West's numerous works of nonfiction, and uses her fiction where it is appropriate to …

This study analyzes the prisoner of war program in Texas and evaluates the Army's role in carrying out this assignment. Additional questions were, how were POWs treated? What problems did they create? How did civilians react to the presence of 50,000 prisoners?

In 1521 a band of several hundred Spaniards overthrew the Aztec empire in Mexico and its ruler, Moctezuma II. This defeat in itself created a major cultural shock for the indigenious population, but the later arrival of Spanish officials and colonists constituted a far greater if less dramatic upheaval. For the victorious Spaniards rejected Aztec governmental institutions, considering them to be distinctly inferior, and quickly substituted their own. Moctezuma II and a substantial number of the Aztec ruling class had died during the violence which accompanied the conquest and those who remained were not permitted to exercise leadership. It was, however, the stated policy of the Spanish Crown that the Indian population of New Spain should be treated with kindness, allowed to retain their property, and led gently toward acceptance of the Christian faith. Among the surviving members of the Aztec nobility were several of the emperor's children, to whom Spanish authorities accorded special attention because of their unique position. Moctezuma II's son, Tlacahuepan, who on his conversion was baptized Pedro de Moctezuma, was one who received special grants and favors, for it was the Crown's intention that members of the emperor's family should be treated with consideration and be …

This study traces the public life of Stephen Dorsey chronologically from his service in the Civil War to the end of his political career, which came with his failure to have a friend appointed governor of New Mexico Territory in 1889. Traditional interpretations of Dorsey are based on a combination of scant evidence, carpetbagger stereotypes, and the assumption that he was guilty of masterminding the monumental swindle of the Star Route Frauds. Closer examination of Dorsey's public life, however, reveals that this traditional view is distorted. A major conclusion of this study is that the assumption on which most traditional views of Dorsey are based, that he was the mastermind behind the Star Route Frauds, is not supported by the evidence. This study shows that it is impossible to study a Gilded Age political figure without also considering his business interests. Many of Dorsey's political activities, for example his involvement in the Compromise of 1877, can be traced to his business enterprises. Although Dorsey was not entirely innocent in the frauds, he was not guilty of the crimes with which the government charged him. This study also concludes that Dorsey was left vulnerable to the prosecution which ended his career …

During the 1930s, the Republic of Czechoslovakia endeavored to construct a system of modern fortifications along its frontiers to protect the Republic from German and Hungarian aggression and from external Versailles revisionism. Czechoslovakia's fortifications have been greatly misrepresented through comparison with the Maginot Line. By utilizing extant German military reports, this thesis demonstrates that Czechoslovakia's fortifications were incomplete and were much weaker than the Maginot Line at the time of the Munich Crisis in 1938. The German threat of war against Czechoslovakia was very real in 1938 and Germany would have penetrated most of the fortifications and defeated Czechoslovakia quickly had a German-Czech war occurred in 1938.

This thesis is concerned with determining the effect of the establishment of a Jewish state on Anglo-American relations and the policies of their governments. This work covers the period from the awarding of the Palestine Mandate to Great Britain, through World War II, and concentrates on the post-war events up to the foundation of the state of Israel. It uses major governmental documents, as well as those of the United Nations, the archival materials at the Harry S. Truman Library, and the memoirs of the major participants in the Palestine drama. This study concludes that, while the Palestine problem presented ample opportunities for disunity, the Anglo-American relationship suffered no permanently damaging effects.

This thesis examines Imperial, Weimar, and Nazi Germany's attempt to use the Berlin Olympic Games to bring its citizens together in national consciousness and simultaneously enhance Germany's position in the international community. The sources include official documents issued by both the German and American Olympic Committees as well as newspaper reports of the Olympic proceedings. This eight chapter thesis discusses chronologically the beginnings of the Olympic movement in Imperial Germany, its growth during the Weimar and Nazi periods, and its culmination in the 1936 Berlin Games. Each German government built and improved upon the previous government's Olympic experiences with the National Socialist regime of Adolf Hitler reaping the benefits of forty years of German Olympic participation and preparation.

This study focuses on the reaction in the United States to Jay's Treaty, 1794-96. Though crucial in the development of American diplomacy, the treaty's greatest impact was on the domestic politics of the young nation. The most important sources were the correspondence of the participants. Other materials include newspapers, diaries, government documents, and secondary sources. The thesis argues that the treaty was in the best interests of the United States, and the nation was fortunate to be led at this time by the Federalist party.

Slavery was established in Texas with the first Anglo-American settlement in 1822. The constitution of the Republic of Texas protected slavery as did laws passed by the legislature from 1836 to 1846, and the institution of slavery grew throughout the period. Slaves were given adequate food, clothing, and shelter for survival, and they also managed to develop a separate culture. Masters believed that slaves received humane treatment but nevertheless worried constantly about runaways and slave revolts. The Republic's foreign relations and the annexation question were significantly affected by the institution of slavery. The most important primary sources are compilations of the laws of Texas, tax rolls, and traveler's accounts. The most informative secondary source is Abigail Curlee's unpublished doctoral dissertation, "A Study of Texas Slave Plantations, 1822 to 1865" written at the University of Texas in 1932.

Beginning in the 1930's a debate emerged within the American Anthropological Association over applied versus pure research. With a few exceptions the members refused to endorse or support the attempt to introduce applied anthropology as a discipline recognized by the Association. This refusal resulted in the creation of a separate organization, the Society for Applied Anthropology, in 1941. In order to prove the validity of their discipline the members of the Society needed an opportunity. That opportunity appeared with the signing of Executive Order 9066, which authorized the forced removal of Japanese-Americans from the west coast. Members of the Society believed the employment of applied anthropologists by the War Relocation Authority would demonstrate the value of their discipline. When provided with this opportunity, however, applied anthropology failed.

The decade of the 1850s saw the Texas press separate into two opposing groups on the issue of filibustering. The basis for this division was the personal beliefs of the editors regarding the role filibustering should have in society. Although a lust for wealth drove most filibusters, the press justified territorial expansion along altruistic lines. By 1858, however, a few newspapers discarded this argument and condemned filibusters as lawless bands of ruffians plundering peaceful neighbors. Throughout the decade, the papers gradually drifted from a consensus in 1850 to discord by the date of William Walker's third attempt on Nicaragua in 1858.