2009 James F. Jakobsen Graduate Conference Abstracts

This paper analyzes various New York productions from 1898 and 1899 to examine how theater performance allowed the figure of the male soldier to emerge as the symbol for national unity. While other popular media privileged the figure of the white Rough Rider, the presence of actual soldiers in late-nineteenth-century theaters, both in the audience and onstage, allowed spectators to imagine themselves as participants in a unified nation, led by virile white men. At the same time, enthusiasm for patriotic war melodramas largely relied on the social status of the audience member(s) in question, and messages of racial inclusion were not always greeted with kind applause. The reception of Spanish-American War representations in the theater held the potential to disrupt the image of America as a masculine, yet benevolent, nation. While scholars often view popular culture in this period as a contributing factor to imperial legitimization, Spanish-American War representations occasionally made social, cultural, and political contestations visible in theaters.

Nearly 4.9 million Irish men, women and children immigrated to the United States between 1820 and 1920. This unprecedented surge of Irish immigrants on American shores led to the burgeoning of Irish American communities across the United States and made the Irish an integral component of a rapidly urbanizing and industrializing America. As the Irish assimilated into the American workforce, politics, and society at large, the Irish American became one of the most recognizable and celebrated characters in American popular culture. From St. Patrick’s Day parades to “Kiss me, I’m Irish,” it seems the Irish have been fully incorporated into American culture. But it hasn’t always been as such. Indeed, the Irish faced significant hurdles on their path to American assimilation, many of which sprang from their unique ethnic and cultural background. Chronicling these challenges from his perch in a Chicago bar was Mr. Martin Dooley, a popular late nineteenth century character all but lost to us now. Devised by Irish American journalist Finely Peter Dunne and made popular by national syndication, Mr. Dooley serves as a reminder of the complicated route the Irish navigated to American assimilation and the many detours they encountered along the way.

Is High Fructose Corn Syrup healthy? Is it a safe substitute for sugar or honey? Who should be in charge of answering these questions? Whose responsibility is it to educate the public on the safety of “artificial” sweeteners like HFCS? These are all questions prompted by the “Sweet Surprise” advertisements and website created by the Corn Refiners Association that promote HFCS as a safe and healthy food additive. My study will attempt to place these advertisements in the context of this larger conversation about nutrition and public health as well as the recent debates over the corn industry prompted by texts such as King Corn.