In this Issue:

Pablo Mitchell is the Thomas B. Lockwood Professor of Latinx History. He is the author of "West of Sex: Making Mexican America, 1900-1930" (2012) and "Coyote Nation: Sexuality, Race, and Conquest in Modernizing New Mexico, 1880-1920" (2005). A paperback edition of his Latina/o History textbook, "Understanding Latino History: Excavating the Past, Examining the Present," was released by ABC/CLIO in 2017. He is also the co-editor of "Beyond the Borders of the Law: Critical Legal Histories of the North American West" (Kansas University Press, 2018) and has recently completed a digital history project, “Reclamation Projects: An Archive of Queer Latinidad,” for Queer Pasts. His current research examines the history of Latina/os in US higher education at the turn of the twentieth century.

Zhongtian Han is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Chinese History. Zhongtian is a historian of modern China, specializing in the Chinese Communist revolution, science and technology, and intelligence. His work on these topics has been published in "War in History." Zhongtian’s book project, Institutionalization within Revolution: The Chinese Communist Party’s Radio Communications and Reconnaissance, 1930–1953, uses Chinese, Japanese, and English-language archival sources to analyze how the Party employed radio technologies to create an institutional framework to centralize the revolutionary movement and seize intelligence advantages in military struggles. His second book project explores how the Party developed the intellectual and institutional frameworks of meteorology to build a knowledge infrastructure for the socialist state in the 1950s and 1960s.

Before joining the University at Buffalo, Zhongtian received his PhD in history from George Washington University. He was also a Hans J. Morgenthau fellow of grand strategy at the University of Notre Dame. Additionally, Zhongtian has been the instructor of record for graduate and undergraduate Asian history courses at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Maryland, College Park.

Dr. Christy Garrison-Harrison’s primary research foci are on the American South (with a concentration on Black women’s political leadership and influence upon economically developing Black communities within the region,) Black Womanist Geographies, and the cultural dynamics of White American matriarchy. Secondary research interests include Afro-Latinx community advocacy and Black Women in colonial Europe and America. Dr. Garrison-Harrison is the second author on an Africana Women’s History textbook scheduled for Fall, 2023 publication, is currently completing a solo manuscript on Black women’s community activism in Atlanta, Georgia during the modern Civil Rights’ Movement era, and developing a manuscript on the role of Matriarchy in antebellum American culture. Her most recently completed article is Remembering Jacqueline Anne Rouse, 1950–2020: Scholarship, Educational Advocacy, and Mentoring as Audacious Leadership, co-authored with Dr. Kenja Foster McCray and Dr. Charmayne E. Patterson. In conjunction with Southern University and Agricultural & Mechanical College’s Department of History, she developed an initial roundtable series centering Black Women’s activist-scholarship. She is expanding the series to spotlight Latinx and Indigenous scholars in the upcoming academic year. 

Before joining us in 1992, Prof. Thornton taught for three years at SUNY-Fredonia. A renowned scholar of early American culture, Prof. Thornton is the author of three books, including Nathaniel Bowditch and the Power of Numbers: How a Nineteenth-Century Man of Business, Science, and the Sea Changed American Life (2016), Handwriting in America: A Cultural History (2006), and Cultivating Gentlemen: The Meaning of Country Life among the Boston Elite, 1785-1860 (1989). At UB, she taught courses on American cultural history, the history of the American landscape, crime and punishment, and intellectual history. She was a dedicated and immensely popular teacher, and the halls of Park Hall are notably quieter without the throng of students often lining up outside her door for office hours.

An academic career can be deeply rewarding, but it sometimes lacks variety. This was one reason that I was eager to take on the role of director of UB’s Gender Institute. I was also drawn to the opportunity to work with colleagues across the university and community who care deeply about issues related to gender and sexuality. As the only research center that focuses on women, gender, and sexuality in the entire SUNY system the Gender Institute has nurtured students and scholars for more than a quarter century. Because I believe so strongly in the Gender Institute’s mission, I will be doing all I can to increase the visibility of the Institute, both within the university and in the broader community. We are at a crucial moment in our history, with concerted attacks on the LGBTQ community, particularly transgender people, and the loss of reproductive rights. The Gender Institute can play a vital role at this moment, bringing feminist scholarship across all disciplinary fields to the wider public. I’ve spent much of my summer organizing programming for the coming year and seeking external funding for the institute. This has already pushed me outside of my academic comfort zone. But I view my research and teaching as intricately linked to my new administrative role. And I’m looking forward to amplifying the voices of scholars who place gender and sexuality at the center of their research.

The opioid overdose crisis is no longer in the headlines, but that doesn’t mean it has gone away. In fact it’s getting worse, with more deaths every year.  The nature of the crisis is also shifting, as deaths are now rising fastest among minority communities.  We are in dire need of solutions to the crisis that address what scholars call “the social determinants of health,” i.e., the social stratifications and inequalities put some communities at higher health risks than others, and that transform individual risks into public health crises.

To address this need, David Herzberg led a group of faculty experts in the College of Arts and Sciences, Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Public Health, Nursing, Law, Social Work, and Education to develop a new MA program called “Drugs, Health and Society.”  Most academic work in the addictions space is housed in the sciences—in biomedicine, or psychology, or treatment.  Our new program is unique in that it is truly multidisciplinary, led by Herzberg, an internationally recognized expert in the social and political dimensions of drugs and addiction.  The goal is to train the next generation of experts in all aspects of drugs and addiction as a scientific, social and political problem, so that we can address the overall social crisis as well as the individuals harmed by it.

Since 2017, Assistant Teaching Professor Sarah Handley-Cousins and her colleagues, UB History PhD alums Marissa Rhodes, Averill Earls, and Elizabeth Garner Masarik, have produced nearly 200 episodes of DIG: A History Podcast. While the episode topics vary broadly - in just the past year, they’ve produced episodes on Chinese medicine, Irish radical Roger Casement, the fall of Rome, and Igbo and Ibibio resistance to British colonialism - they each present complicated and important history in an accessible way to public audiences.

This year, they expanded beyond the audio format and have written a book, Spiritualism’s Place: A Reflective History of Lily Dale, NY. The book centers on the intentional Spiritualist community of Lily Dale, located about an hour south of Buffalo on Cassadaga Lake. Founded in 1879, the community began as a camp meeting location for Spiritualists but grew into a quaint, year-round village that played an important role in the suffrage and temperance movements as well as a target for investigations into the authenticity of spiritualists claims of communication beyond the grave. Today, it remains a popular summer destination for those hoping to commune with the dead or delve into New Age philosophy. Inspired by the tone of the podcast, the book is deeply researched but also approachable, allowing the personalities and friendships of the authors to shine through. The book will be released by Cornell University Press in 2024.

Written by Prof. Michael Rembis

The graduate program is revitalizing itself in the wake of the pandemic. We welcomed five bright, dynamic PhD students in 2023: Fernando Jauregui, Chijioke Ngobili, Michael Samul, McKensie Sprow, and Jessica Sullivan. Our already strong MA program has benefited further from an influx of UB Teach students working on their credentials to teach in the K-12 classroom. Our MA and PhD students, as well as UB Teach students and students from other departments, bring their diverse experiences, backgrounds, knowledge, and wisdom into the classroom, where they engage in vibrant and wide-ranging discussions. Outside the classroom, our students are conducting cutting edge research, attending conferences, and engaging in valuable work in the community. Valuable support from our donors and other sources enables our graduate students to come from across the country and around the world to UB to study. When they leave our program, our graduate students are well prepared for a competitive job market.

In the Spring and Summer of 2023, three PhD candidates successfully defended their PhD dissertations. Congratulations new PhDs Emily Bowlus-Peck, Eric Deutsch and Brent Rosenstein!

“The Rise of Public Hospitals for the Mad in Eighteenth-Century London: A Proto-Psychiatric Movement”
Abstract: This dissertation focuses on the “proto-psychiatric” movement in eighteenth-century London. Medical practitioners observed a patient’s behavior, symptoms, and emotions to determine whether the patient was “curable” or “incurable.” Those deemed “incurable” were displaced within society. My work follows the London hospitals Bethlem, St. Luke’s, La Providence, and Guy’s Hospital, all of which were involved in admitting the first incurable patients. By studying each hospital’s admission requests, institutional operations, patient case studies, and leading hospital practitioners’ published works, I discovered that these hospitals produced the first forms of incurable or long-term care in England.

The development of the “proto-psychiatric” field itself was largely a cultural construction of the eighteenth century. Language and linguistics as well as social values and beliefs influenced diagnosis, prognosis, and medical care. In particular, I examine the mental maladies madness and melancholy and trace the development of “proto-psychiatry” through the growing distinction between curable and incurable maladies as well as the rise of incurable care within these voluntary hospitals. This project focuses on socio-medical studies and methodology, while recognizing economic and political influences. The development of incurable versus curable care continued to influence the psychiatric movement of the nineteenth century. Moreover, by comparing early modern medicine to current studies of mental conditions, I determine that modern-day psychiatry continues to be an amalgamation of science, medicine, and cultural conditions.

“Shepherding Independence: The Guide Dog Movement in the United States and the Construction of Disability, Rehabilitation, and Citizenship, 1927-1941”

Abstract: This dissertation is a sociocultural history of the guide dog movement in the United States, analyzing discourses regarding disability and rehabilitation to illustrate how the movement reflected and entrenched dominant understandings of disability vis-à-vis citizenship, notions of the latter linked to considerations of gender, race, age, disability, work, pity, charity, and mobility. This work is focused on the formative years of the guide dog movement, roughly 1927 through 1941, and utilizes media publications and public records to reveal the connections between rehabilitations and portrayals of such to meanings of deservingness and civic engagement. This work argues that the guide dog movement, and coverage thereof, validated prejudicial notions of disability that substantiated disabled people’s social and civic marginalization. Finally, this work considers the creation and sociocultural impact of historical memory regarding the guide dog movement.

“The Face of the Nation: Drogmans and the French State, 1669-1880"

Abstract: By the late seventeenth century, French officials were inundated with complaints about having to rely on local interpreters in the Mediterranean, centering on their unreliability. In response, France began to create its own drogmans - agents trained from childhood to serve as interpreters and to advance French economic and diplomatic interests abroad. The state spent the next two centuries attempting to refine the training of the drogmans, who gradually rose to greater prominence in French society. Constructed as intentionally liminal figures, the drogmans came to play a key role as cultural mediators, serving as the primary lens through which France understood the Islamic world. By examining the drogmans' training and their relationship with the state, we can see how France attempted to shape the way that it was represented in the Mediterranean. Moreover, looking at the ways in which individual drogmans actually carried out their duties shows us how French perceptions of the Islamic world changed dramatically across this period, shifting from a more pragmatic and balanced stance in the eighteenth century to a full embrace of the imperial mission in the nineteenth century.

Ryan Adams, PhD Candidate, was the GHA President for the 2022-2023 academic year and was awarded a Milton Plesur Pre-Doctoral Fellowship as well as a Department Travel award.

Brandon Burger, PhD Candidate, was the recipient of the 2023 Department of History Yearley Award. In Spring 2023 he was a co-organizer for a Digital Scholarship roundtable in the Dept. of History.

Angela Gallagher, PhD Candidate, was awarded a Milton Plesur Pre-Doctoral Fellowship. She conducted research at several archives in the UK and Ireland in Spring and Summer 2023.

Kevin Kostin, PhD student, is the History Dept. representative to the Graduate Employee Student Union.

Jenna Labbie, PhD Candidate, was awarded a Milton Plesur Pre-Doctoral Fellowship. She is currently completing her research year. Her research centers on gender, human rights, and the United States' relationship with Latin America during the Cold War.

Ashley Morin, PhD Candidate, presented, “Violence Always Destroys: A Spatial Analysis of Peace and Conflict” at the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics at Queen's University Belfast. In Spring 2023 she was a co-organizer for a Digital Scholarship roundtable in the Dept. of History. Over the summer she taught HIS 318 History of Ireland at UB.

Tory Nachreiner, PhD Candidate, taught HIS 367 Women, Gender, and Sexuality in Africa at UB in Fall 2023. She is working on her dissertation, "A Marriage of Aesthetics: Afropolitan Consumption, Bodily Practices, and Cis-Atlantic Gendering in Old Calabar, 1840-1940," which examines how men and women in southeastern Nigeria navigated changing meanings of womanhood, masculinity, and marriage as the influence of Christianity, British colonialism, and Atlantic commerce increased in the region.

Breanna Pelonero, a second year MA student and high school global studies teacher, is writing her MA thesis on how enslaved and free women of color utilized African cultural and religious practices to combat racial hierarchies in New Orleans in the first half of the 19th century.

Beth Pryor, PhD student, is researching muskets and their socioeconomic and political impact on the British Atlantic World.

John Root is in the second year of his MA. He is the 2023-2024 GHA president. He was also the editor for two published volumes, Once Upon a Time… by Ida Gregoire M.D. and A Primer For Eighth Graders: An Introspective Journal by Ida Gregoire M.D. both published in 2023.   

McKensie Sprow started her PhD at UB this year. She recently completed an MA at Columbia in Latin American & Caribbean Studies. She is interested in researching 20th century Latin American history, specifically how the intersection of politics and religion impact reproductive health in the Southern Cone.

Ashley Tibollo, PhD student, was awarded a Department Travel Award. She also had her review of Sean Morey Smith’s “Medicine & Healing in the Age of Slavery” published on H-Net

Shu Wan, PhD Candidate, was featured in the UB Now article, “Graduate student studies experiences of Chinese-Americans during COVID”. Shu was awarded a Milton Plesur Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, a Baldy Center Research grant, and the Graduate Student Research Community Grant from the Office of International Education.

James Coughlin, “City of Distant Neighbors: The Proliferation and Entrenchment of Residential Segregation in Buffalo, New York (1934 to 1961)”

Abstract: "City of Distant Neighbors" is intended as an accessible history for those seeking to change the numerous inequalities wrought by Buffalo, New York's racial segregation. It is a work of love and commitment to the Buffalo community. The inspiration for "City of Distant Neighbors" was born from three injustices impacting Buffalo's Black community. First, the heinous and tragic Jefferson Avenue Tops massacre on May 14, 2022 by a white supremacist terrorist, was a targeted attack aimed at Black Buffalonians that shook Buffalo to its core. Amid mourning May 14th, Buffalonians of all backgrounds began asking "how did Buffalo, a city that purports to be the 'City of Good Neighbors' get to be so segregated?" Yet as many sought to "choose love," the bare minimum was done to address Buffalo's systemic racism and segregation. On December 23, 2022, an abysmally prepared Buffalo incurred a second injustice, the cataclysmic "Christmas" blizzard, claiming an estimated forty-seven lives, disproportionately impacted the city's East Side. Buffalo's 2022 Christmas Blizzard once again brought the city's residential segregation to the forefront of conversation.

This work of history attempts to trace the historical roots and processes of Buffalo's racialized residential segregation. It is not intended to be a complete or holistic history which leads up to the present. Rather, the years 1934 through 1961 are emphasized because an effort was made by federal and local government, Buffalo's real estate industry, and white Buffalonians to segregate Buffalo's Burgeoning Black population. Furthermore, it seeks to illuminate the experiences and resistance of everyday, yet extraordinary, Black Buffalonians who wanted their city to live up to its City of Good Neighbors moniker. Also of note, is that "City of Distant Neighbors" does not discuss the Kensington Expressway's construction, which stands as the most visible example of Buffalo's segregation. Rather, preceding events and processes before the Kensington's construction show how Buffalo's segregation was well underway. Lastly, by hoping to provide an accessible history, "City of Distant Neighbors" seeks to be a political education tool for those wanting to address Buffalo's third injustice, the detrimental impacts of Buffalo's segregation. It is dedicated to those who lost their lives in the May 14th, 2022 Tops massacre and the 2022 Christmas Blizzard.

Copies of James’ MA Thesis are available through Burning Books. James has also presented his work on numerous occasions, a recording of his presentation on February 9, 2023 is available.

Molly McCreedy
“’The World is Afraid of Black Female Champions:’ Colonialism and Racial Othering in Women’s Sport”

Molly’s MA thesis was created using StoryMaps and is freely available to read at the link above.

Written by Ryan Adams, 2022-2023 GHA President

We are proud to report that the 31st Annual Milton Plesur Graduate History Conference, held on March 10-11th, was a resounding success. This was the first Plesur conference since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. As a result, we sought to organize a conference that grappled with the realities of historical research in the present day. The theme of the conference was “The Presence of History: Historical Research and the Politics of the Moment,” which sparked important discussions about the role of historical knowledge in contemporary debates across our society. We were delighted to host Dr. Lauren MacIvor Thompson, Assistant Professor of History and Interdisciplinary Studies at Kennesaw State University, to give a keynote address entitled “Before Roe: A Century of Reform in Reproductive Law and Medicine.” Her keynote address perfectly set the stage for a conference full of fantastic panels that covered a broad range of topics, methodologies, and geographies. The conference hosted panelists from six different universities covering a range of geographic locations and time periods. We even included a panel on the use of maps in historical research. In addition, we were pleased to host a roundtable entitled “Doing the Work: Amplifying Marginalized Voices and Stories,” featuring Dawnavyn James, Dr. Robert Caldwell, Dr. Shanleigh Corrallo, and Dr. Averill Earls. The roundtable fostered an important conversation about how historians can make history more relevant to non-academic audiences and promote histories of marginalized communities. We are especially grateful to the roundtable participants for their insights and ideas about how to be more accountable and accessible to the communities we live in.

Although this was the first Plesur conference in a few years, we believe it was an unequivocal success and hope the tradition will continue into the distant future.

Written by: Professor Camilo Trumper, Director of Undergraduate Studies

Greetings from the Department of History’s interim Director of Undergraduate Studies. This will be my second stint as DUS: I served as DUS for three years before passing the baton to Professor Daum; I will be occupying the position for the 2023-2024 Academic Year, before Prof. Daum returns next year.

We have had a busy and exciting past year. We have expanded our course offerings in Latinx History, the Islamic World, and the Atlantic World. Our History Honors cohort has remained strong, hovering around the double digits again this year. And we continue to create new and exciting opportunities in and beyond the classroom.

The Department doors are always open to our students. We work hard as a Department to build a welcoming and inclusive community for and with our students. We offer monthly Lunch Meetings and Coffee Breaks, opportunities for students to gather, break bread, hear from guest speakers, and learn about the many opportunities we offer our students, including internships, study abroad programs, and combined programs in Social Science Education and Law. We also hosted informal Study Halls in during Finals week in the Fall and Spring, with hot chocolate, tea, snacks, and community building and destressing activities. Finally, the Department revived a pre-pandemic activity - History Movie night - with a showing of the 1954 film Godzilla; we hope that this will become an annual tradition!

In fact, we continue to build on the success of these initiatives in the upcoming months. This year, we inaugurate the Undergraduate History Association. This will also mark the first year of our History/Library Science degree, which builds on the success of our combined degree programs with the School of Education and the Law School.

Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions: ctrumper@buffalo.edu.

Our undergraduate students have been recognized both inside and outside of the UB community for their outstanding achievements!

• Russel Bassarath
  Russel is currently teaching in Cyprus.

• Connor Whitney
  

In Spring 2023, The Department of History was able to award numerous scholarships, prizes and awards thanks to the generosity of our friends and donors!

• Russel Bassarath
  

• Noah Bruster
  

• Ryan Cocchiarella, “Media, Drugs, and their Role in Shaping the Memory of the Vietnam War” 
  

• Michael Rechichi, “William Dampier’s Travels in the Pacific Ocean”
  

• Rafi Ahmed
• Atallia Brown
• Rebecca McGlynn
• Elizabeth Mellors
• Leah Perry
• Elliot Seminario
• Fiona Serrano
• Darcy Winter

• John Graber
  

• Joshua Brice
  

• Zachary Henry-Daniel
• Alexi Lodes
• Melanie Thompson
  

• Mia Delap
• Montana Desabio
• Isabella DiMura
• Mary Dixon
• Megan Dreher
• Jacob Klink
• Aurora Liu
• Teresa Sciandra
• Kate Stiglmeier
• Hongyu Zhao

• Nicholas Sarris
  

Written by Prof. Cari Casteel
Phi Alpha Theta Chapter Adviser

Phi Alpha Theta at UB continues to grow. It has been a busy year but next year will prove to be even more so.

This year, we inducted 30 new undergraduate and graduate members. Last September, we held the first PAT-sponsored Welcome Event for new and returning history students. The event was a success, and this year’s equally successful 2nd Annual Welcome Event was scheduled for Sept 20.

At graduation in May, PAT also organized and presented the chapter’s inaugural “Outstanding Educator Award” to my esteemed colleague Prof. Jenifer Barclay. This was fully facilitated by PAT students who wanted a small way to thank those who have been outstanding mentors.

Now to the big news…

In April six UB history students (Russel Bassarath, Haylie Byres, James Coughlin, Madison Feldman, John Root, and Sarah Wack) presented their work at the Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference at Lemoyne College. They all did a fantastic job and did UB proud. Sarah Wack won the award for Best Graduate Paper. Russel and Madison won awards for their papers as well.

In April 2024, we will be hosting the PAT Regional/International Conference. This is an exciting time, and our students are thrilled to host scholars and present their work. As we finalize the dates, we will update you all. Hosting a conference is a huge undertaking and we welcome any donations of time or money to continue supporting PAT's growth here at UB.

• Alexis Heng
• Madelyn Lemay
• Danielle Redfield
• Caroline Spaulding
• Sarah Wack
  

Hometown: Vestal, New York
Additional Major: Law BA

I chose to major in History because I have always found learning about and studying the past fascinating. I switched my focus to pre-law in my sophomore year, and I took HIS 161 – US History 1 with Dr. Casteel, as a Pathway course. I enjoyed this class so much that I decided to continue taking classes. I eventually added on a History Major because I truly fell in love with history and the History Department at UB.

I have always felt drawn to United States History. I find it particularly captivating to learn about the history of the country I was born and grew up in. I especially liked to learn about the Revolutionary Period and the Early Republic. Ultimately, however, I loved all the classes I took, which spanned all different types of history.

My favorite class was HIS 329 – US History since 1945 with Professor Wolcott.

I am currently attending the University of Miami School of Law and studying to earn my JD. I am on track to graduate in Spring 2026, and I hope to work as an attorney in the future.

I loved my time at UB, and I could not have asked for a better undergraduate experience. The people and lessons I learned at UB were invaluable. The faculty and staff in the History Department truly encouraged me to work my hardest and take classes outside of my comfort zone. All the professors I had pushed me to be my best self, and I am where I am today because of it.