Annual Brian Bertoti Conference Features 20 Graduate Student Presentations
April 1, 2019
The 22nd Annual Brian Bertoti Innovative Perspectives in History Graduate Conference was held March 29–30 in Owens Banquet Hall and the Graduate Life Center; it featured 20 presentations by students from seven U.S. institutions, including Virginia Tech. Department of History graduate students organized the conference; faculty from the Department of History served as discussants. Presenting papers were the following master’s students in History: Nick Bolin, “‘The Population Problem’: Origins of American and Indian Concerns Over Population”; Taylor Boyd, “Establishing a Narrative: Local Historical Memories of the Martinsville Seven Case in Martinsville, Virginia”; Jeff Felton, “The Realities of Defeat: The Turning Points of the Civil War in Virginia, September–December, 1864”; Heath Furrow, “‘We Can Do Very Little with Them’: British Discourse on Shi’is in Iraq”; Jenni Gallagher, “‘Remove Him to the Poorhouse’: Poor-Relief in Montgomery County, VA, 1830–1880”; John Legg, “Changing Perspectives: The Contested Memories of the U.S.–Dakota War of 1862”; Kaitlyn Martin, “The Thesmophoria and the Women of Thebes”; Marlee Putnam, “A Jane of All Trades: Janet Taylor’s Contributions to Victorian Navigation”; Spenser Slough, “Forgetting by Avoidance: African American Burial Grounds, Forgotten History, and Jettisoned Memory in Northwest Wake County, NC, 1870–2018”; Kathryn Walters, “20,000 Fewer: The Wagner-Rogers Bill and the Jewish Immigration Crisis”; Ryan Wesdock, “The Floatplane Controversy: Proscription, Procedure, and Protection in Carroll County”; and Emily Wild, “The Complexities of Womanhood: The Identities of Female Quaker Unionists in the Civil War.”