Virginia Tech Undergraduate Historical Review, vol. 4, full issue

Full issue

This year we have selected seven articles for publication. Virginia Tech alumna Andrea Ledesma opens the issue with an article on the interwar feminism of Eudora Ramsay Richardson. Using Richardson’s literary and political activities to craft an argument, Andrea reveals the surprisingly dynamic nature of feminist activism in the 1920s and 1930s. Next, Danielle Ingalls examines the background of and reaction to female bread rioters in the Confederacy during the Civil War, arguing that discontented Southern women defied the strict gender roles of their time. Our third article, by Anna Pope, examines the coalition of white and African American women who stood up to Massive Resistance during the crisis of desegregation in the Norfolk, Virginia, public school system. A fascinating and intimate look at the beginnings of the Virginia community college system, written by Earl Cherry, the son of one of the key players in the story, follows. Our first published article written by a student outside of Virginia Tech comes next as Abigail Gomulkiewicz of the College of William & Mary explores Victorian-era Protestant hymns in relation to the scientific advancements and imperial incursions of nineteenth-century Britain. Morgan Sykes then provides a detailed analysis of the rise of the artificial sweetener aspartame in the food industry. Rachel Goatley, another recent Virginia Tech alumna, rounds out the issue with her article on the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1919, focusing on the disease’s impact in the rural communities of Southwest Virginia.