Durwood Dunn

Bio: Durwood Dunn is an academic researcher from Tennessee Wesleyan College. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 2 publications receiving 4 citations.

Locating the butt of ridicule: Humor and social class in early American literature

Abstract: x, 196 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.

The Frontier in Books

Abstract: U 'nique among contemporary Western nations, the American national identity was created from present and living memory, unlike the English m o d e m national identity, which was created out of distant memories from an era m a n y centuries past. The English visions, wh ich hea rkened back to Anglo-Saxon England and the mythical Arthurian realms, were mediated by a small group of scholars who alone could unders tand the ancient languages. The books those scholars wrote were then read by a narrow circle of educated people who reinterpreted the ancient histories and myths for the general public, and in time the sense of what medieval England had been and how it related to the present began to work its way into the popular conception of English history. By the eighteenth century, the average Englishman was fully conscious of his Anglo-Saxon heritage that dist inguished him from all other peoples and endowed him with an innate strength of character and democratic spirit. These modern Anglo-Saxons looked to the past wi th pride and to the future with a certainty in their own moral superiority and thus the righteousness of British imperial dominion. In America, which also shared in this Anglo-Saxon heritage, there was no need for scholarly mediation or a hearkening to the distant past, as the general reader could read about the frontier even as he or she experienced it firsthand. The first at tempt to make sense of the new land was made by the Puritans, who for the most part rejected the wilderness and its inhabitants. William Bradford, in Of Plymouth Plantation, explained the Puritans' v iew of the new land:

Dime store deco : the architecture and adaptive reuse of depression era S.H. Kress 5 & 10 cent stores

Abstract: In 1880, Frank Winfield Woolworth opened the world’s first 5 & 10 Cent Store. With the success of the F. W. Woolworth Company numerous other five and ten cent stores developed at the end of the 19 century. One of these was the S. H. Kress Company that was started in 1896 by Samuel Henry Kress. Even though Samuel Kress utilized the identical business principles as all other five and ten cent stores, his company differed in the fact they employed an in house architectural firm to design new stores. The Kress architectural division reached its zenith during the Great Depression of the 1930’s, under the supervision of Edward F. Sibbert. These depression era stores became instant landmarks in cities across America, because of their modern art deco designs with regionally and locally influenced ornamentation. These buildings represent an important part of America’s commercial architectural history and the development of Main Streets. Many cities have realized the significance of these buildings and have rehabilitated them so that they may continue to contribute to the economic viability of the community.