Vol. 1, No. 1 Fall 2018 THE SPRINGS GRADUATE HISTORY JOURNAL Edited by Timothy Vilgiate 0 1 Acknowledgements LEAD EDITOR Timothy Vilgiate SUPPORTING EDITORS Amy Beth Frederickson Kellen DeAlba Baylee Schopp PEER REVIEWERS Alexander Archuleta Nick Ota-Wang Andi Walker Michael Bunch Emilee Schindel Elijah Wallace FACULTY REVIEWERS Brian Duvick Roger Martinez-Dávila Samantha Christiansen Robert Sackett Paul Harvey Christina Jimenez FACULTY ADVISORS Samantha Christiansen Christina Jimenez Michelle Neely WEB SERVICES Tabatha Farney Susan Vandagriff FRIENDS OF THE JOURNAL Kayla Crosbie Michael Stephen Trent Bailey Stephanie Fields 0 Fall 2018 Vol. 1, No. 1 Notes from the Editor Timothy Vilgiate Hello, and thank you for reading issue, and to include anyone at UCCS to the first issue of The Springs Graduate consider submitting next year. History Journal. Whether you’re a The three student papers UCCS student, or you have stumbled presented in this issue of the journal across an article our journal online, I represent many hours of diligent work hope that you find the papers in our making thoughtful comments by our journal interesting and useful. From peer reviewers, which the authors when Kellen DeAlba initially proposed followed up with equally dedicated and the creation of this journal to our patient work as they conducted their school’s chapter of Phi Alpha Theta in revisions. All of them look attempt to Fall 2017, we envisioned it as a way to correct or broaden historical narratives start cross-disciplinary and cross- established by previous scholars. regional conversations about historical topics on campus and in the wider The first paper, written by Sydney community. From February of this year Pearson, offers a counternarrative to to the beginning of May, I worked on studies that portray Baroque painter laying the groundwork for the journal Artemisia Gentileschi as, first and with the support of Michelle Neely, foremost, a victim. Instead, Pearson director of the Writing Across the presents Gentileschi as a dynamic Curriculum program at UCCS, our woman of agency. faculty advisors Dr. Christina Jimenez Michael Stephen’s paper focuses and Dr. Samantha Christiansen, as well on how women in 18th Century Britain as Tabatha Farney, and Susan inserted themselves into the public Vandygriff of the Kraemer Family sphere. His research demonstrates how library. their participation in the public sphere At the same time, I worked as an influenced Lord George Macartney’s co-editor with the other on campus embassy to China in 1793, correcting journal, the Undergraduate Research past narratives about the British public Journal, which provided me with sphere that mainly emphasized the invaluable experience with managing participation of men. the peer review and publishing process. Lastly, Donald Unger’s paper on I’d like to thank everyone who Roman mining in Iberia highlights the volunteered to help with the journal, importance of the industry to the including the student and faculty peninsula, something downplayed by reviewers. I’d also like to thank the contemporary writers, in an authors whose work is included in this interdisciplinary history that supplements his interpretation of the 1 Fall 2018 Vol. 1, No. 1 available primary sources with ice core Navajo land. He describes his process and sediment data. seeking the approval of the IRB and the tribal government, conducting fieldwork I made several attempts over the on the Navajo nation, and the course of the review period to contact implications of his findings from a people who might be interested in historiographical, social, and political writing research reflections, but we perspective. Both of the two edited ultimately did not receive any. In lieu of interviews offer perspectives on both research reflections, I have decided to how to conduct fieldwork in general, and include an editorial piece on the on how to work with the “subjects” of an Memory Box project, which the Tau Chi oral history or ethnohistory in order to Chapter of Phi Alpha Theta worked on advance their interests rather than only last year to gather memories from the interests of the researcher. people around campus. My essay addresses the ideas behind the project, Consolidating these interviews its results, and considerations for into essays proved somewhat anyone who might want to replicate the challenging. I struggled to balance idea at their school. editing the interviews into concise and clear essays without compromising the Kellen DeAlba also sat down with voice of the speaker. Both authors had me to discuss his fieldwork for Dr. the chance to read their pieces before Bernice Forrest’s class on Native publication, and they were also reviewed American history, and a consolidated by members of the faculty in order to form of the transcript is included in the ensure that they were suitable for section on Research Reflections. His publication. reflection raises interesting questions about history, and about how the With all of this said, I hope that Kickapoo Indians in Northern you enjoy reading this issue of The Mexico/Southern Texas try to find a Springs Graduate History Journal. We balance between maintaining a sense of appreciate the time you take to read our refuge and autonomy and engaging with journal, and encourage you to leave the outside world to combat comments on the articles if you would misinformation about their history. like to add your thoughts or start a discussion. On a similar note, I interviewed Donald Unger about his work studying uranium Mining and Reclamation on 2 Fall 2018 Vol. 1, No. 1 Book Reviews pg. 4: Grass Roots by Nick Johnson (Reviewed by Timothy Vilgiate) 3 Fall 2018 Vol. 1, No. 1 Nick Johnson. Grass Roots: A History of Cannabis in the American West. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Press, 2017. 256 pages. Reviewed by Timothy Vilgiate Based on author Nick Johnson’s thesis for the Master’s Program at CSU Fort Collins, this book gives much needed scholarly attention to the history of cannabis, in an environmental history that considers the plant as a crop rather than only as a drug. While a number of resources have been produced about this topic in general, a large amount of the works have been written by journalists, as Johnson points out in his introduction, and the politics of prohibition often color the way the history of the drug is approached. Finding a reliable, scholarly source on the history of cannabis that does not overexert itself with weed puns and overly colloquial language can often be difficult. In Grass Roots, Johnson succeeds in putting forward an accessible book, one that is useful for both students and a general reading audience. Much of the historical information in the book—the racist roots of cannabis prohibition in the early 20th Century, the anti- drug crusade of Harry Anslinger in the 1930s, and the failures of the War on Drugs—are well addressed in popular histories of the topic. However, Johnson’s book calls attention specifically to the environmental history of cannabis, highlighting negative impacts of both illegal grows in the “Emerald Triangle,” a region in the mountains North of San Francisco that produces a large portion of the nation’s illicit cannabis, and indoor cultivation in states like Colorado where it has been legalized. Johnson traces the roots of these issues to prohibition, which forced growers to rely on energy intensive indoor grows and unsustainable cultivation practices. In Chapter 1, Johnson examines the history of cannabis use in the Southwest, looking at how the press constructed “cannabis” as a promising medicinal plant, but attached “marijuana” to migrant workers from Mexico. The strongest points in Johnson’s analysis hinge around his use of newspaper articles, owing in part to his background as a journalist. Johnson’s individual case studies tend to be fluid, engaging, and interesting to read. Johnson continues on this theme in Chapter 2, as he looks at the progress towards prohibition under Harry J. Anslinger, beginning with a news story about a plot of cannabis plants that sprung up from a batch of bird seed. This chapter feels somewhat more disorganized than the previous chapter. The opening case study, about a plot of marijuana found in a backyard in California that sprouted up from bird seed, comes from the 1950s, and then quickly jumps back to the late 1930s and 1940s. Johnson means to illustrate the futility of the federal government’s crusade to ban a plant that grew wild across the United States, and to shed light on the enduring confusion about the difference between “cannabis” and “marijuana.” However, the rapid shift from the first case study into the federal hearings on marijuana, peppered with examples of poor drug enforcement, leaves the chapter feeling disjointed. Chapter 3, “The Workers’ Weed”, is one of the stronger chapters of the book. Focusing on the role of cannabis in the daily lives of Hispanic workers in the American 4 The Springs Graduate History Journal West, the chapter adds a great deal of depth and clarity to the origin story of cannabis. Most popular origin stories of cannabis prohibition mention that Mexican immigrants brought the drug to the United States, but do not often go beyond mentioning the racial stereotypes that provided the foundation for prohibition. By using specific case studies, informed largely by newspaper reports, Johnson successfully attaches real human experiences and emotions to the narrative. The fourth chapter of Johnson’s book focuses on the role of cannabis in the American counterculture. Readers of other books on cannabis history will note the lack of attention to either the Beat movement in the 1940s and 1950s, or to Romantic-era bohemians like Walter Benjamin. The discussion of the counterculture also makes some overly general claims about the role of nature in American culture prior to the 1950s, emphasizing a divide between an older generation that saw nature as something to be ordered and dominated, and a younger generation that wanted a deeper connection with nature.