ABSTRACT Public Memory, Tourism, and Galveston’s Selective Heritage: A Rhetorical Analysis of the Elissa Jaclyn L. Bissell, M.A. Thesis Chairperson: Scott J. Varda, Ph.D. This study explores the rhetorical construction of 1877 iron barque Elissa as a tourist attraction on the island of Galveston, Texas. Focusing on a localized construction of public memory, this study asks questions centered on the presentation and privileging of narratives purposefully aimed at creating a consumable attraction. Since her rescue and decade-long restoration in the late 1970s, the Elissa has been rhetorically constructed as a tourist attraction, redirecting attention from Galveston’s realities of poverty in favor of a memory capable of being sold. Privileging a specific interpretation of race, class, and selecting an era as representative of Galveston as a whole, the Elissa enacts culture via consumable memory. In other words, instead of teaching patriotism or engaging in memorialization, the Elissa enacts a memory to be visited, experienced, and consumed. Public Memory, Tourism, and Galveston’s Selective Heritage: A Rhetorical Analysis of the Elissa by Jaclyn L. Bissell, B.S. A Thesis Approved by the Department of Communication David W. Schlueter, Ph.D., Chairperson Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Baylor University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Approved by the Thesis Committee Scott J. Varda, Ph.D., Chairperson Martin J. Medhurst, Ph.D. Kenneth C. Hafertepe, Ph.D. Accepted by the Graduate School May 2013 J. Larry Lyon, Ph.D., Dean Page bearing signatures is kept on file in the Graduate School. Copyright © 2013 by Jaclyn L. Bissell All rights reserved TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................. vi CHAPTER ONE: Introduction ........................................................................................ 1 Memory as Social “Experience” ...................................................................................... 2 Theorizing Public Memory .............................................................................................. 4 Differing Constructions of Publics ................................................................................... 9 Tourist as Scholar .......................................................................................................... 11 Engaging Physicality at Sites of Public Memory ...................................................... 12 Exploring Visuality at Sites of Public Memory ........................................................ 16 Rhetorical Dimensions of Tourism ................................................................................ 19 Constructed Authenticity in Tourism ....................................................................... 23 The Elissa ..................................................................................................................... 28 CHAPTER TWO: Restoring the Elissa ......................................................................... 42 Revitalization in the Island City..................................................................................... 42 Situated Heritage and the Galveston Historical Foundation............................................ 44 Redevelopment of the Urban Waterfront ....................................................................... 48 Construction of Elissa’s Identity During Restoration ..................................................... 52 Public Presence of the Elissa ................................................................................... 54 The Elissa’s Relationship with the Selective Past .......................................................... 58 Authenticity and Materiality .......................................................................................... 61 CHAPTER THREE: Fulfilling the Rhetorical Function of Display ............................... 73 The Elissa’s Function Shifts .......................................................................................... 73 Elissa Visits Other Ports ................................................................................................ 76 Elissa, Ambassador and Attraction ................................................................................ 80 Memory Mobilized .................................................................................................. 81 Representing the Region .......................................................................................... 83 Success and Growth as a Tourist Attraction ............................................................. 87 CHAPTER FOUR: Sailing the Elissa and Its Cost ........................................................ 96 The Elissa’s Identity as Attraction ................................................................................. 96 Financial Motivations .................................................................................................... 97 Tourism and Consumption ............................................................................................ 99 Experiencing “Authenticity” ........................................................................................ 100 Subjectivity and Touristic Gaze ................................................................................... 101 Tourist as Consumer .................................................................................................... 103 Selling the Elissa ......................................................................................................... 105 Elissa as Synecdoche ............................................................................................. 106 Network of Tourism ............................................................................................. 109 Membership and Participation ............................................................................... 111 iv Revealing Galveston.................................................................................................... 116 CHAPTER FIVE: Conclusion ..................................................................................... 132 Findings ..................................................................................................................... 134 Contribution to Scholarship ......................................................................................... 140 Suggestions for Future Study ....................................................................................... 142 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................... 144 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I can safely say: this has been a learning experience. I have gained an immense amount of knowledge about the intertwined nature of rhetorical studies, the tangential rabbit holes that present themselves, and the political balancing act in which scholars must participate. Most of all, I learned a lot about myself and the kind of scholar I want to become. This thesis articulates my interest in the study of public memory, but it also expresses the possibilities for a career of productive scholarship. I want to first thank Dr. Scott Varda for not only agreeing to direct my thesis, but for guiding this project through its many ups and downs. Throughout this project, I have done more arguing with myself than I knew was possible. Not only did Dr. Varda patiently let me do so, he encouraged the process and demanded answers, teaching me to ask different questions along the way. So for your patience, your irreverence, and your ability to manage my internal arguments, I thank you because I know it wasn’t easy. I’d also like to thank the other two members of my committee, Dr. Kenneth Hafertepe and Dr. Martin J. Medhurst. Each of you contribute something different to my committee, making it a well-rounded panel of professors to challenge my thinking and send me in new directions. Dr. Hafertepe, thanks to you for taking me into the museology world and helping me to understand what goes on behind the scenes in a museum. The opportunity to look at a museum as a business, a collections facility, an exhibition, a place to gather, and an exchange of knowledge was invaluable to this project. Thank you for agreeing to lend that expertise to my thesis committee, helping to vi ensure my rhetorical inquiries don’t miss the mark of practicality and actual practices in the world of museums. To you, Dr. Medhurst, I owe more than any few paragraphs could ever express. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to learn how scholarship is not only produced, but how to read critically and why feedback on one’s work is so important. I have thoroughly enjoyed working on the journal and your research these past two years, and I know that the knowledge and connections I carry with me have set me up to be successful in the academic world. I am grateful the Rhetoric community is so interconnected because I know that even as I leave this place, I’m not leaving your mentorship behind. Finally, to my former professors, family, and friends who have helped keep my eye on the prize during this process, I am so grateful to all of you. Dr. Kendall Phillips, thanks for the frank advice–it finally set me in motion to getting an argument to stick. To the other Communication and Rhetorical department members, thank you for still keeping your doors open to me even though I’m 1600 miles