Browsing by Subject "Galveston"
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Item African American citizen soldiers in Galveston and San Antonio, Texas, 1880-1906(2009-05-15) Blair, John PatrickThe Texas Volunteer Guard, created by the Militia Law of 1879, continued to allow African Americans to serve as citizen soldiers. From 1880 to 1906 over six hundred black men faithfully served in the various state militia companies of Galveston and San Antonio; yet, their service has rarely obtained scholarly attention. Often discounted by historians as mere social clubs or deemed too few and insignificant to warrant study, these men sought not only to demonstrate their citizenship, but to improve their social status during a period of racial segregation. The differences and similarities of these groups of African American men at the grassroots level are illuminated by using the comparative method to examine socioeconomic characteristics. Furthermore, this examination demonstrates how racial attitudes remained flexible enough during this period to allow these men to participate in military-type activities. An examination of these activities, both as citizens and as soldiers, makes evident what inspired this state military service. Framed within the network of local fraternal, social, religious, educational, and political organizations, coupled with a study of previous military service, the militia companies expose the aim of these African American men to improve their social status as citizens through militia participation. The Adjutant General of Texas issued firearms, ammunition, and equipment to the respective companies of African American militiamen from these cities, and coordinated training exercises, which involved the travel of armed black men over the state?s existing railroads. Despite their segregated status, the very presence of armed, uniformed black men officially sanctioned by the Democratic-controlled government of Texas suggests that race relationships still remained flexible enough during this time for African Americans to display their citizenship and manhood through state military service. Conversely, their dissolution in 1906 reveals the termination of that flexibility and solidified their status as second-class citizens. Even though they were unsuccessful in continuing their military organization, the heroic efforts of these men deserves inclusion in the written history of the long struggle for African American civil rights in this country.Item Influence of culture, faith, environment, and building technology on the built form: the case of nineteenth-century Catholic churches in Galveston, Texas(2009-06-02) Dubbelde, David MarkWhy do churches of the same faith built in the same location and era of time differ in their built form? The focus of this dissertation led to the identification of four variables that influence the built form. These are culture, faith, environment and building technology. The physical location (Galveston, Texas), Catholicism, and era of time (last half of the nineteenth century (19C)) are significant to the framework of this study. A single location held constant the physical environment-climate and topography. Catholicism held constant faith. The era of time exposed the study churches to the same, but evolving, built environment and building technology. Galveston, in particular, during the era of study, presented a dynamic confluence of these variables. The city emerged as the commercial entrep?t and financial center for Texas. It was Texas's cultural capital and its most dynamic urban center boasting the most advanced architecture. It had the best newspapers and theater in the state and was the first city in Texas to provide electricity and telephones. During this era Galveston was a gateway for thousands of European Catholic immigrants, who brought to Texas a diversity of culture, traditions and skills. The Catholic Church chose Galveston as the place to reassert itself in America against a Protestant wave swept westward on a tide of settlement. A conceptual model illustrating the interaction of these variables among each other and on the built form was created. From this model two subordinate models were developed and three hypotheses were derived which test the assumption that variety in church form and construction is a function of culture. The research is a qualitative approach implementing a comparative analysis methodology of multiple cases-five Catholic churches (the study units). The data for the individual study units were analyzed against a set of criteria for each of the variables identified. A comparative analysis matrix was used to contrast these data between the variables and the study units from which conclusions were drawn. The results of this analysis demonstrated that of these variables culture was the most influential on the built form, thus supporting the research hypotheses. Therefore, it is concluded that the variety in the churches' built form was a function of culture.Item Public Housing after Hurricane, Urban Renewal or Removal? The Case Studies of Beaumont and Galveston, Texas.(2013-05-01) Tran, Tho Ngo DucDecent housing is a goal for many people not only in the United States but elsewhere in the world. A house becomes the symbol of family spirit whether it is a single-family or multiple-family home. Public housing in the United States is housing of ?last resort,? for families whose incomes do not allow them to find housing in the private market. Yet, many studies focusing on public housing find a host of social issues plaguing these units. The US Government has initiated various programs to improve the quality of public housing as well as the living condition of local resident through agenda of Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HOPE VI is one of the major programs that focuses on distressed public housing. This program funds local government and housing authority in order to revitalized or rebuild public housing. This program has been very successful in providing high-quality housing for public housing residents. However, as any type of construction, housing usually received great damage when natural disaster happening. It can be partly damaged or completely destroyed due to the direct and indirect effects of disaster. Public housing, like most affordable housing, is often built in highly vulnerable areas, such as floodplains or other low-lying areas. When disasters such as hurricanes strike, housing located in these areas is likely to receive the greatest damage and recovery may be slower. This study looks at the case study of public housing in Galveston and Beaumont after Hurricane Ike (2008) and Rita (2005). After Hurricane Rita in 2005, Beaumont has rebuilt some public housing development with a HOPE VI grant awarded in 2007. These areas have successfully rebuilt through the cooperation of housing authority, local government, local residents, and developers. In contrast, Galveston could not reach agreement about the destiny of public housing after Hurricane Ike in 2008. This story becomes more serious when HUD announced that if Galveston cannot rebuild public housing in disaster area, they must refund the money to the federal Government. These two cities provide a comparative case study of the rebuilding of public housing after disaster, where on one successfully rebuilt while other did not. By looking at the secondary data sources, this research analyzes the situation of these places in different period: before the Hurricane, when the Hurricane happened, and after the Hurricane. The paper will address the similarities as well as differences between two case studies in term of historical profile, demography, public housing program characteristics, damage, and recovery. Besides, economic change after hurricane approached is addressed. The housing situation will be further analyzed in Galveston to clearly show the obstacles in which this city coped with. Finally, the study will conclude by suggesting some implications for theory, housing policy, management, and further research.Item Topographic and Base-level Control on Back-Barrier Lagoon Evolution: West Galveston Bay, TX(2014-12-02) Laverty, Paul HEstuaries are economically and ecologically significant regions that are highly sensitive to external forcing from sea-level rise, storm events, and anthropogenic change. West Galveston Bay (West Bay) is a back-barrier lagoon system located immediately landward of Galveston Island, Texas, and it represents a sub-system of the larger Galveston estuary complex in the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM). Previous studies have documented the evolution of many large estuaries along the NGOM in response to Holocene sea-level rise. However, the prehistory of smaller estuaries like West Bay remain largely overlooked and poorly understood. The primary purpose of this study is to complete a paleoenvironmental reconstruction of West Bay in Texas using geophysical and sedimentological approaches. A total of 30 core samples and more than 160 km of CHIRP seismic data were collected from West Bay and neighboring Chocolate Bay, within which several unique lithofacies and seismic facies were identified. As with other regional studies, the Pleistocene unconformity presents as an impedance change in the seismic profiles, and is most likely the Beaumont Formation. Multiple incised channels were observed on the Pleistocene Unconformity that are most likely seaward extensions of the tributaries that flow into Chocolate Bay, and formed the basal surface of the accommodation available for Holocene infill. Radiocarbon dating of salient lithologic and seismic transitions in a few key cores revealed that several flooding events related to Holocene sea-level rise caused the landward back-stepping and geographic reorganization of depositional environments within West Bay. The first flooding event occurred at ~7,600 Cal. yr. BP caused both fluvial-dominated sedimentation to cease and initiation of estuarine conditions. The next flooding event occurred at ~6,800 Cal. yr. BP tripled the spatially inundated area and created ideal brackish conditions for oyster reef proliferation. This was short lived, however, as reduced salinity and increased turbidity from the paleo-Brazos River that was flowing into the area between ~6,100 and ~4,400 Cal. yr. BP ceased oyster reef production. The final flooding event occurred at ~4,400 Cal. yr. BP, which possibly established the connection between Galveston Bay and West Bay. At this time, an ephemeral tidal inlet formed within the incised channels, and then migrated west until stabilizing in the paleo-Brazos River incised valley as the modern day San Luis Pass. This study reveals how the antecedent topography and sea-level rise controlled the environmental changes within West Bay throughout the Holocene. It also provides insight into how a small coastal system responds to varying rates of sea-level rise. Additionally, it may be useful as a baseline for West Bay for predicting future flooding associated with accelerating rates of sea-level rise.