Varda, Scott Joseph.Bissell, Jaclyn L.2013-09-162017-04-072013-09-162017-04-072013-052013-09-16http://hdl.handle.net/2104/8724This 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.en-USBaylor University theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact librarywebmaster@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.Elissa (Ship)Galveston, Texas.Public memory.ThesisNo access - Contact librarywebmaster@baylor.edu