Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses Summer 7-21-2017 Music and Race in the American West William Steven Schneider Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the American Studies Commons, Music Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, and the United States History Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Schneider, William Steven, "Music and Race in the American West" (2017). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 3674. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.5558 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible:
[email protected]. Music and Race in the American West by William Steven Schneider A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History Thesis Committee: David Johnson, Chair Katrine Barber Catherine McNeur Josh Epstein Portland State University 2017 © 2017 William Steven Schneider Abstract This thesis explores the complexities of race relations in the nineteenth century American West. The groups considered here are African Americans, Anglo Americans, Chinese, Mexican Americans, and Native Americans. In recent decades historians of the West have begun to tell the narratives of racial minorities. This study adopts the aims of these scholars through a new lens—music. Ultimately, this thesis argues that historians can use music, both individual songs and broader conceptions about music, to understand the complex and contradictory race relations of the nineteenth century west.