University of Louisville ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository Electronic Theses and Dissertations 5-2017 American emergency : catastrophe and culture in the U.S.A., from the Civil War to Hurricane Katrina. Lynda Kristian Mercer University of Louisville Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons Recommended Citation Mercer, Lynda Kristian, "American emergency : catastrophe and culture in the U.S.A., from the Civil War to Hurricane Katrina." (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2633. https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/2633 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. 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AMERICAN EMERGENCY: CATASTROPHE AND CULTURE IN THE U.S.A., FROM THE CIVIL WAR TO HURRICANE KATRINA By Lynda Kristian Mercer B.A., University of Louisville, 2005 M.A., University of Louisville, 2007 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Louisville in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Humanities Department of Humanities University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky May 2017 AMERICAN EMERGENCY: CATASTROPHE AND CULTURE IN THE U.S.A., FROM THE CIVIL WAR TO HURRICANE KATRINA By Lynda Kristian Mercer B.A., University of Louisville, 2005 M.A., University of Louisville, 2007 A Dissertation Approved on April 24, 2017 By the following Dissertation Committee: ________________________________________________________ Director, Dr. Susan Ryan ________________________________________________________ Co-Director, Dr. Aaron Jaffe ________________________________________________________ Dr. Simona Bertacco ________________________________________________________ Dr. Judith Roof ii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my best friends—my family. To my parents, Rebecca Mercer and Stanley Hensley; to my big sister Sabrina and my little brother Troy: the most unusual and enchanting people I have ever met. To my Aunt Annabell Zachery, a kindred spirit and inspiration, you lived unapologetically by your own set of rules and you taught me what happiness looks like. I really wish you were here. To my Aunt Lisa, whose gentle care for others has served as a model of love and strength. And to my Grandma and Grandpa, Gladys and John L. Mercer, who took such perfect care of me. Thank you all for being part of me. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the members of my committee for their generosity and insight as I worked to put together the many pieces of this project. Dr. Aaron Jaffe, as co- director, has been instrumental in helping me to be a better scholar, and his willingness to work with so many of my ideas has made this research exciting and fun. The friendliness and guidance that he and his wife, Dr. Tatjana Soldat-Jaffe have extended to me over the years has made my time working on this project all the more valuable. Dr. Susan Ryan’s co-directorship has also played a big part in showing me how to shape and connect ideas, and her expertise and attention has improved my scholarship in countless ways. Her service to me as a scholar has been a gift. Dr. Simona Bertacco has given me much- appreciated warmth and encouragement. Her feedback has generated intersections of new and immeasurably useful scholarship for me, and I am glad I had someone with so much rich perspective on this committee. She has been a source of encouragement at every level since I began this research, and I am grateful to her even more, knowing how many others she serves every day in her role as a Professor and as Director of the Humanities Ph.D. program. My Outside Reader, Dr. Judith Roof was critical in incredibly helpful ways. She engaged my work with thoughtful respect and guidance as she pushed me to refine my points and build clearer arguments. Her insights have significantly improved my development even in the short time I have known her. Her generosity and approachability has been an unexpected bonus in this endeavor. The Humanities Ph.D. program and the Humanities Department have given me a lot. In particular, Lisa Schonburg has absolutely been the strongest link in the chain that makes our program a wonder of interconnected parts that somehow works smoothly. She manages, troubleshoots, communicates, and researches anything and everything that needs attention, no matter how minor. I am so grateful for her competence and help through the years. Dr. Annette Allen championed my instincts as a student and helped me to find outlets for my creative abilities that I would never have recognized without her. iv Professor Elaine Wise has been thoughtful and attentive to me in many ways, and if it were not for her, I would never have had the unique and enviable teaching opportunities that I have had. Shari Gater, Lisa Shugoll, Brandon Harwood, and Justy Engle have been friends in the department who have made the space better just by being there. My ideas were influenced by several Literature Professors who introduced me to innovative and fun ways to interact with texts. Dr. David Anderson and Dr. Karen Chandler from U of L’s English Department were two of the most intellectually stimulating and genuinely kind Professors I ever had. Dr. Glynis Ridley and Dr. Susan Griffin also made my experiences in graduate school rewarding; they both provided the tools for some of my favorite ongoing research topics in eighteenth and nineteenth century literature, and I enjoyed every minute of the work I did in their courses. Unexpectedly, a course on Shakespeare that I took early in my graduate career, taught by Dr. Julia Dietrich, changed my research fundamentally and introduced entirely new approaches to interpretation and writing in academic and in creative realms. I am so thankful that my best friends and family have been part of this process with me for so long. I have needed undue attention, and having someone to listen as I processed my ideas has made the difference in my writing and thought. I think my completion of this project has made the people close to me happier than it has made me. My best friends, Emerald Feland, Stephanie Koenig, Travis Gault, Mary Margaret Trinkle, Georgette Covert, Natasha Montague, Jeremy Garrett, and Levity Tomkinson have been an extended family. Having a group of loud, irreverent, and unfathomably caring friends to support me has kept me optimistic and happy, even in the most challenging times of my life and graduate career. Adam Robinson’s friendship to me since our undergraduate years is a gift I could never repay. He has made me a much better person and helped me find my path in life, and I am grateful to know him. Larry Robinson, Sr. and Lynn Robinson are two of the most accepting and humble people I know, and they have made my world a lot warmer. I am honored to call them my friends. I will be forever grateful to Coach Haak and Phillip Woosley for taking the time to mentor me during the formative years of my youth and young adulthood. I will always be grateful for the efforts they put forth in pushing me to recognize my own value and put myself out into the world. Joyce Basil and Stephi Wolff v also gave me support and unconditional love during turbulent times, showing me the nitty-gritty of how to grow up and focus on what really matters. Their care and patience with me has enabled me to do and give more in every area of my adult life. My brother and sister have given me hope, acceptance, lightness, honesty, and loyalty. I have long said that in the midst of everything bad that ever happened, I always knew I had them. That is the biggest blessing of my life. They have been companions since day one and are the two people who know me best and who support me with the kind of tough love that only a sibling can give. If all else fails and I get bogged down in my own neuroses, I know they will find a way to make me laugh at my own absurdity (or someone else’s). My parents have given me more than they should, and I’m so happy that they get to celebrate this accomplishment with me. They are the most delightfully delusional dreamers a kid could hope to call parents. I was lucky to have adults around me who treated me with respect and camaraderie, who let me make my own decisions and face my own consequences. From my youngest childhood years, I have gotten to explore everything I wanted to explore, with no judgments or directives, no lofty expectations to uphold, no fear of failure or disappointment—a dizzying and truly fun childhood characterized by curiosity as a virtue unto itself. I could not ask for a more generous cohort or better champions than these four people have been and continue to be. My very closest friend and partner, Dr. Steven Watkins has kept me moving forward as I worked on this project, and has shown me what discipline and depth means. I am lucky to have him in my life—a truly open-minded and sincere human being. Having someone like him tell me that he admires me has made me rethink my adage that I don’t want to be part of any club that would have me as a member.