Date Awarded

2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Department

History

Advisor

Paul Mapp

Committee Member

Carol Sheriff

Committee Member

Adrienne Petty

Abstract

Ulysses S. Grant in Popular Memory. The time period from the 1880s (beginning shortly after his death) to the 1930s was crucial in regards to the popular memory of general and president Ulysses S. Grant. Accessible writings made available both to the public and historians cemented his image among informed readers as an incompetent president and simple-minded general. These included biographies, novels, popular histories and even academic writings, many taking heed of the Dunning School of thought in regards to Reconstruction. Through tracing his journey in popular memory, it becomes clear that many characterizations of Grant owed more to political agendas and beliefs of the time than accuracy in regards to how they treated Grant. Many in the North lost interest in the Civil War and allowed the history surrounding Grant to be written by those who sought to categorize his pursual of Reconstruction as a failure and those who wished to redeem Confederate losses in battle. Jewish Quotas At Elite Universities. From the early 1900s to the 1950s, elite universities often enforced unofficial quotas on the amount of Jewish students they admitted. Though this was not publicized at the time, potential students were often screened through entrance exams or character questions. Harvard, Princeton and Yale were three particularly notable culprits of this policy. This policy both maintained and was formed by stereotypes of Jewish students, which one can glean through campus newspapers and materials. The exclusion of Jewish students through quotas and through behavior on campus reinforced a world where access to wealth through these elite colleges was safeguarded to only the right amount of people. Discrimination was and still is tightly linked with both elite schools and with the way they feed into capitalism.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21220/1rpy-gf45

Rights

© The Author

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