The Chico Historian
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1 The Chico Historian Volume 18 2008 Editors Bryce Havens & David Wysocki Editorial Board Brett Belanger Meghan Bigley Dillon Carroll Samantha Johnston James Morey Jesse Pluim Garret Root Faculty Advisors Chico Historian Dr. Stephen Lewis Phi Alpha Theta Dr. Stephen Lewis Published by the Alpha Delta Omicron Chapter PHI ALPHA THETA Department of History California State University, Chico 2 Dedicated in Loving Memory of Professor Weikun Cheng, 19532007 3 Obituary Weikun Cheng was born on August 25, 1953, and grew up in Beijing. After he finished his freshman year of high school, turmoil in China forced him to delay his formal education for nearly a decade. The policies of the Cultural Revolution closed down all schools, including his. Two years later, when Weikun would have graduated from high school, he was sent to southern China to work on a state-run sugar plantation. He later spent two years in the army, where his commanders were quick to recognize his culinary skills. He soon became the lead chef of his company. As Weikun often told his students, the only way that he and his friends could read books during this time was to break into public libraries, all of which had been closed as part of the Cultural Revolution. In 1977, China’s government reopened the universities. One year later, and with only one year of formal high school training, Weikun took the university entrance exam and passed. He studied History at Sichuan University and received his Bachelor’s degree in 1982. He returned to Beijing and completed a Master’s degree at the People’s University of China in 1984. For the next five years, he lectured at the Qing History Institute at the People’s University of China in Beijing. He carried out extensive archival research on the social and economic impact of the 1911 Revolution and published twenty articles in Chinese professional journals. He married his wife, Xiaoping Lei, in 1985. Their son, Stephen Si Cheng, was born in 1986. In 1989, Weikun came to the United States and began his doctoral work in History at the Johns Hopkins University. His research interest shifted to Chinese women and social history. He defended his dissertation in 1996 and was hired by the History Department at CSU Chico in 1997. Xiaoping and Stephen joined him in Chico in 1999. At Chico State, Dr. Cheng taught nine different classes covering the political and social history of China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and ancient civilizations. He was a prolific scholar who authored several important peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in English on the history of women in twentieth century Beijing. In 2002, Dr. Cheng was tenured and promoted to the rank of Associate Professor. In the area of service to the University, Dr. Cheng coordinated CSU Chico’s Asian Studies program for eight years and took a group of students to Beijing in fall 2001 as part of the Beijing Semester, sponsored by the College of the Humanities and Fine Arts. Many students remember Dr. Cheng as the faculty adviser to the History Club. Beginning in 2002, he took students to local sites of historical interest (like Oroville’s Chinese Temple and the Vina Monastery), made annual treks to San Francisco’s Chinatown and the Asian Art Museum, and hosted lectures and movie nights. At the time of his death, Dr. Cheng had three articles in press, including one in Chinese Cultural Studies, a leading journal in his field. His forthcoming book, City of Working Women: Life, Space, and Social Control in Early Twentieth-Century Beijing, 1901-1928, draws from a variety of original sources and will make a major contribution to the history of lower-class women and their use of urban space. It will be published by UC Berkeley’s renowned Institute of East Asian Studies in late 2008. Dr. Cheng had also begun research on a new book-length project on 4 Chinese actresses. In December 2007, Dr. Cheng was posthumously promoted to the rank of Full Professor. Those fortunate enough to have known Dr. Cheng were touched by his wisdom and his good cheer. He will also be remembered as a champion in the effort to internationalize CSU Chico. He viewed himself as a bridge between his Chinese homeland and our campus, and he worked hard to recruit Chinese faculty and integrate them into the local Chinese-American community. As we mourn Dr. Cheng’s premature passing, we also remember his contributions to our campus and pledge to carry on his powerful legacy of wisdom, kindness, and international understanding. 5 Note from the Editors After years of difficulties and delayed release dates The Chico Historian, reaching its eighteenth edition, has emerged stronger than ever. The work published in this annual journal is done completely by students at California State University, Chico and this spring’s edition should prove to be among the best thus far. Graduate and undergraduate students have dedicated time and energy to a wide range of topics and we at the Historian have done our best to edit and include those papers that presented the best combination of originality, thoroughness, and overall scholarship. This journal is intended for historians and lay people, alike. For a journal like this to be completed you need a lot of people willing to lend a hand. Needless to say we received this help, plus some. I would like to thank co-editor Bryce Havens and our new editorial board members who have made this project much more viscous and complete. Taking time out of a busy school schedule is not easy for students, but the extra help from our editorial board has greatly contributed to our ability to complete this edition much earlier than it has been in past years. Once again, without the tireless contributions from Phi Alpha Theta advisor Stephen E. Lewis the Historian would be just a skeleton of its current state. Dr. Lewis has been a consistent supporter of hard working students and the time he has dedicated to the Historian is always greatly appreciated. Along with Dr. Lewis, we would like to thank every professor or instructor who has assigned research papers in their classes. It is this type of hands-on work that has allowed students to really love their developing trade and learn research and writing skills that translate in countless aspects of life after school. Last but not least, we would like to thank the anonymous donor whose contribution will be more than enough to cover all of the costs of production for this eighteenth edition of The Chico Historian. Following the wishes of this anonymous donor, this issue is dedicated to the memory of Professor Weikun Cheng, whose untimely and tragic death in December 2007 has left a real void in the History Department. I hope that readers enjoy the collection of student work and consider submitting a paper themselves for the nineteenth edition next fall. Co-editor, David J. Wysocki 6 Table of Contents The Unwanted Nelson Boys: Child Saving in Minnesota, 1890 – 1930 By Claudia Beaty . .7 Embracing Genocide: Allied Strategic Bombing and the Destruction of Dresden By James Morey . .21 Newman Johnson: Life of a Colusa County and Chico Pioneer, 1850-1900 By Garret Root . .28 A President’s Influence on HIV & AIDS in South Africa By Meghan Bigley . .45 Theodore de Bry and the Historia Americae: A Case Study of Early European Publishing By Bryce Havens . 51 Allegory and History in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness By Jesse Pluim . 71 A United States Senate Debate: United States Imperialist Policy in the Philippines, 1898-1899 By Sarah Emmerson . .79 From Sermon to Print: Savonarola in Florence and the World Beyond By Brett Boston . 93 Butte County Wheat in 1867: Production, Markets, Transportation, and Land Holding at the Dawn of California’s Bonanza Wheat Era By Curtis Jeffords . .108 An Overzealous Argument: R.A Reiss’ Account of Austro-Hungarian Atrocities Committed Against the Kingdom of Serbia in 1914 By Christopher Lasley . .120 The Role of Women in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam By Lindsey Shirah . 127 7 The Unwanted Nelson Boys: Child Saving in Minnesota, 1890 – 1930 Claudia Beaty “The Nelson Boys have a bad reputation and are not wanted.” Minnesota State Agent A. J. Haupman, September 9, 1912 During the Progressive Era, from approximately 1890 to 1930, enormous changes took place in almost every aspect of life in the United States, including social, political and economic transformations. Progressive reformers, consisting mainly of Protestant members of the middle- class, fought for causes such as women’s suffrage, prohibition, public safety, and bringing an end to government corruption. By the end of the nineteenth century, the matter of “child saving” had captured the attention of the nation, bringing it to the forefront of many of the reformers’ agenda. As with all issues during this era, the opinions and suggested solutions for helping orphaned and neglected children varied, as did the success of child-saving measures taken. In Chicago, for example, settlement houses such as Jane Addams’ Hull House provided schooling, food and recreational activities for neighborhood children, and assistance for their parents. Before Addams’ work, New York City minister and reformer Charles Loring Brace had instigated a system called “placing-out,” which involved sending children away from large urban areas to Midwestern farms on what became known as “orphan trains.” And some states, such as Minnesota, created and ran cottage-style institutions like the Minnesota State Public School for Dependent and Neglected Children (MNSPS), located in Owatonna, Minnesota. This study examines the child welfare concerns of Progressive Era reformers, which led to the formation of facilities such as the MNSPS, as well as the impact that particular school had on the lives of the members of one Minnesota family.