A (Very Selective) Early History of Ballet in America

Ballet Class ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 3-24
Author(s):  
Melissa R. Klapper
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Young People ◽  
World War I ◽  
The United States ◽  
Early History ◽  
World War ◽  
Ballet Dancers ◽  
Metropolitan Opera ◽  
History Of

Ballet developed slowly in the United States and depended on European dancers and teachers at first, but by mid-nineteenth century a few American-trained ballet dancers were beginning to make their mark. The opening of the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School in 1909 and the tours of Anna Pavlova contributed greatly to popularizing ballet and inspiring young people to begin taking ballet class before World War I. Expansion continued from the 1920s through the 1940s with the founding of the School of American Ballet and the performances of the various Ballet Russe companies in every corner of the country. The Littlefield sisters and Christensen brothers helped make ballet American by establishing important homegrown ballet companies with primarily American dancers. The regional ballet movement fostered further growth. All these developments in professional ballet encouraged ever-increasing numbers of Americans not only to enjoy performances but also to take ballet class themselves.

scholarly journals PLAYING ON UNCLE SAM'S TEAM: AMERICAN CHILDHOODS DURING WORLD WAR I

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 677-690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mischa Honeck
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Young People ◽  
World War I ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
The United States ◽  
World War ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
Childhood And Youth ◽  
Constructions Of Childhood

If World War I has interested historians of the United States considerably less than other major wars, it is also true that children rank among the most neglected actors in the literature that exists on the topic. This essay challenges this limited understanding of the roles children and adolescents played in this transformative period by highlighting their importance in three different realms. It shows how childhood emerged as a contested resource in prewar debates over militarist versus pacifist education; examines the affective power of images of children—American as well as foreign—in U.S. wartime propaganda; and maps various social arenas in which the young engaged with the war on their own account. While constructions of childhood and youth as universally valid physical and developmental categories gained greater currency in the early twentieth century, investigations of young people in wartime reveal how much the realities of childhood and youth differed according to gender, class, race, region, and age.

Evergreen: The First U.S. Veterans’ Blind Rehabilitation Center

2019 ◽  
Vol 113 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-193
Author(s):  
Gregory L. Goodrich ◽  
Tom Zampieri
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War I ◽  
Role Model ◽  
Vision Loss ◽  
The United States ◽  
Rehabilitation Program ◽  
World War ◽  
Rehabilitation Facility ◽  
Adult Inpatient ◽  
History Of

Evergreen was a World War I (WWI) adult, inpatient vocational rehabilitation facility for war-blind soldiers, sailors, and marines in the United States. Although Evergreen shared similarities with European war-blind rehabilitation organizations, it was novel in its philosophy and approach. It was also unlike any civilian blind rehabilitation program of its day. Although there are no comprehensive records known to us of how many troops became blind or sustained vision loss during WWI, studying published reports of the veterans served by Evergreen provides some insight into this population. As the United States’ only blind rehabilitation facility for adults, Evergreen achieved several firsts, including having a national scope, being racially integrated (at least to some degree), and innovating a residential family training program. A role model of its day, it is now largely a footnote in the history of blind rehabilitation. We argue that the story of Evergreen contains lessons that should be remembered.

scholarly journals A Song with “Dash” and “Pep”: A HISTORY OF THE “MARINES’ HYMN” TO 1919

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-22
Author(s):  
Lauren Bowers
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
World War I ◽  
General Public ◽  
Marine Corps ◽  
Early History ◽  
World War ◽  
History Of

From its unknown nineteenth-century origins, the “Marines’ Hymn” has grown from a collection of unregulated verses into a dignified anthem reflecting the proud history of the Corps. Focusing on the song’s early history until the end of World War I, this article tells the story of that evolution. During this period, the hymn played an increasingly important role in official recruiting and publicity efforts, resulting in a growing popularity among the general public, disagreements about the need to standardize the lyrics, and the introduction of new formats and technologies to allow for wider accessibility. Together, these trends culminated in the authorization and copyright of an official version of the song in the summer of 1919. The “Marines’ Hymn” is known worldwide as a reflection of Marine Corps experiences and values, and this article aims to bring some of its forgotten history and the contributions of its strongest advocates to the attention of a modern audience.

From Workshop to Factory: The Evolution of the Instrument-Making Industry, 1850–1930

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Brenni
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War I ◽  
Precision Measurement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Scientific Instruments ◽  
Measurement Instruments ◽  
World War ◽  
Instrument Making ◽  
History Of ◽  
Materials Used

This article focuses on the evolution and transformations of the instrument-making industry between 1850 and 1930. It begins with an overview of some broad categories of instruments, namely: research and precision measurement instruments, didactic and teaching instruments, industrial instruments, professional instruments, and scientific instruments. It then examines the history of the production of physics instruments and how workshops were organized, along with some of the techniques and materials used in the production of instruments. It also discusses the advertising, trading, and selling of instruments during the period; how instrument-makers in France, Britain, and Germany fared; the state of instrument-making from 1900 to World War I; and instrument-making in the United States and other countries in Europe. Finally, it evaluates instrument-making during the inter-war years.

Mythologies Without End

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerome Slater
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War I ◽  
The United States ◽  
Early Years ◽  
War And Peace ◽  
World War ◽  
History Of ◽  
Entire History ◽  
Historical Truth ◽  
The Cold War

Every nation has narratives or stories it tells itself about its history but which typically contain factually false or misleading mythologies that often result in devastating consequences for itself and for others. In the case of Israel and its indispensable ally, the United States, the central mythology is “the Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity,” as the Israeli diplomat Abba Eban famously said in a 1973 statement that has been widely quoted ever since. However, the historical truth is very nearly the converse: it is Israel and the United States that have repeatedly lost or deliberately dismissed many opportunities to reach fair compromise settlements of the Arab-Israeli and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts. The book reexamines the entire history of the conflict from its onset at the end of World War I through today. Part I begins with a reconsideration of Zionism and then examines the origins and early years of the Arab-Israeli state conflict. One chapter is devoted to the question of what accounts for the nearly unconditional US support of Israel throughout the entire conflict. Part II focuses on war and peace in the Arab-Israeli state conflict from 1948 through today, arguing that all the major wars—in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973—could and should have been avoided. This section also includes an examination of the Cold War and its impact on the Arab-Israeli conflict. Part III covers the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from 1917 through today, and examines the prospects for a two-state or other settlement of the conflict.

Global Violence and Nationalizing Wars in Eurasia and America: The Geopolitics of War in the Mid-Nineteenth Century

1996 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 619-657 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Geyer
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War I ◽  
Political Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
World War ◽  
Total War ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
History Of ◽  
National Programs ◽  
The Cold War

The histories of Germany and the United States became deeply entangled in the century of total war. After (re)unification on the battlefield in the midnineteenth century, both countries underwent rapid transformations through national programs of industrialization based on new products and technologies and emerged as great powers with global pretensions at the beginning of the twentieth century. An initial, and somewhat hesitant, confrontation in World War I was followed by a period of oscillation and confusion during the 1920s and 1930s, as leading elements in the two economies sought grounds for collaboration even as the political development of the two nations diverged, one moving toward fascism, the other toward a liberal democratic renewal. This produced the deeply ideological collision of the Second World War, which resulted in an equally dramatic turnabout, as the Germans endured what Americans then most feared, a grim (albeit partial) communist takeover, and the United States became the staunch ally of the German west in its faceoff with the east. Recently this close partnership has turned into a more perplexed and occasionally suspicious friendship, as the familiar terrain of the cold war is ploughed up. This is a history of extreme reversals is tied inextricably to war and preparations for war.

Negotiating under the Monroe Doctrine: Weetman Pearson and the Origins of U.S. Control of Colombian Oil

2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 529-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Bucheli
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
World War I ◽  
The United States ◽  
World War ◽  
Internal Politics ◽  
Colombian Government ◽  
History Of ◽  
British Firm ◽  
Oil Contracts

Before World War I, most foreign investment in Latin America came from Britain. By World War II, however, the United States had become the main and unchallenged foreign investor in the region. This analysis of the negotiations that took place between the British firm (Pearson and Son) and the Colombian government over oil contracts reveals the reasons for the shift in influence. The company's lack of awareness that Britain had been overtaken by the United States as the hegemonic power in the hemisphere eventually caused the negotiations to collapse. While talks were proceeding, the company failed to consider how much influence the United States had on Colombian internal politics, and it overlooked the history of U.S.–Colombia relations. As a result, Pearson never received oil concessions in Colombia; instead, they were granted to American companies, consolidating U.S. power in the region.

scholarly journals Why Pandemics Matter to the History of U.S. State Development

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-333
Author(s):  
Stephen Colbrook
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
World War I ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
The United States ◽  
State Governments ◽  
World War ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
History Of

When a new strain of influenza circled the globe in the fall and winter of 1918, it swept through the United States at terrifying speed, infecting at least 25 million Americans—roughly one-quarter of the population—over the next two years. Based on any metric, the pandemic was the country's largest mass-mortality episode of the twentieth century, killing approximately 675,000 Americans and surpassing the death toll of World War I. Even as the virus struck the United States with unprecedented ferocity, however, the federal government left most public health decisions to the states, producing a disjointed and hyper-localized approach to a crisis that was national and global in scope. In the absence of a strong federal role, state governments carved out their own policy paths, adopting widely divergent strategies to stem the spread of the disease. This preventive playing field was wildly uneven. Some states were well-equipped with robust public health infrastructures; others lacked the tools to manage the disease's rampant spread.

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