Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
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Item Perilous propagation: the origins and growth of eugenics in Montana(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2022) Pallister, Casey J.; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Mary MurphyWhile Montana is seldom mentioned in broader histories of eugenics in the United States, 'the science of better breeding' appeared in the state in various realms by the early twentieth century, including the legislature, public education, institutions, public health, and the women's suffrage, maternalist, and child welfare movements. Like many states, Montana enacted eugenic laws intended to target 'unfit' persons for policing, segregation, and sterilization. This dissertation examines Montana's multifarious and overlapping experiences with eugenics from the late nineteenth-century to the present. Using various primary sources, including patient records, newspapers, legislative reports, and government documents, this project demonstrates that the origins of eugenics in Montana are much deeper than scientific ideas, faith in scientific expertise, and the tumultuous societal changes of the early 1900s. In Montana, laws intended to regulate, police, define, and separate 'normal' and 'abnormal' bodies predated the arrival of eugenic ideas and policies in Montana by many decades. Investigating this legal foundation allows for a consideration of the topic of eugenics within a larger historical narrative and challenges simplistic notions about eugenic origins. In Montana, a variety of contextual factors interacted to create an environment in which eugenics could at times flourish but at other times diminish. This study of Montana is an example of how to assess the specific political and social factors necessary to implement eugenic practices. Carrying out eugenic actions required a high level of cooperation at the individual, community, state, and federal levels. This project interrogates those different levels and layers of context, demonstrating that a eugenic history of Montana defies any universal 'American' models in terms of origins, growth, development, and decline. Locating Montana's interaction with eugenics in a broader history that accounts for deep origins, continuity, and contextual layers demonstrates the uniqueness and similarity of Montana's eugenic past in relation to other localities. In addition, this dissertation shows that addressing eugenics from a framework based on interconnection helps resurrect 'lost' histories of eugenics in states, such as Montana, where this past is largely forgotten.Item Regarding policy in chronic traumatic encephalopathy as a transhistoric disorder(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2019) Negri, Adam Christopher; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Michael ReidyAn individual historian can be categorized as belonging to one of two mutually exclusive and exhaustive groups: transhistoricists, those that believe in an object's existence independent of external forces and its ability to remain fundamentally unaffected across time, or culturalists, believing an object's quality or features are dependent on the time and place of its reference. Disease entities have been examined through both perspectives quite fruitfully, expanding the whole of academia's appreciation of the relationship between disease and history. However, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, has recently been embroiled in a nationwide National Football League scandal wherein the livelihood of many affected retired players depends on the court's decision in the accompanying tort case to deal out appropriate justice. The nosological understanding of CTE is crucial in the debate - to include all affected players, despite dramatic revisions in our understanding of CTE as a disease across the 20th-century, all parties must recognize CTE, originating in a 1928 case study as 'punch drunk syndrome,' as a timeless entity that has undergone progressive iterations in categorization. In this instance, the culturalist perspective would render the disease's history sufficiently fragmented and prevent a cohesive narrative that includes all manner of diagnostic varieties. Even if antithetical to the present state of the humanities, the transhistoric approach is the only satisfactory perspective to uphold justice in the case of suffering football players.Item Midwives in Montana : historically informed political activism(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2013) Hill, Jennifer Janna; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Mary MurphyStates contiguous to Montana legalized direct-entry midwifery only in the 21st century, while the Montana legislature exempted lay midwives from the Medical Practice Act during the 1989 legislative session and approved a licensing protocol for Certified Professional Midwives in 1991. Midwives in Montana examines the historical context of the legalization of midwifery in Montana and identifies significant individuals, groups, and events in the confrontation over home birth in the state. Based on oral histories of legislative participants and drawn from primary and secondary source materials held by individuals and institutions throughout the state, this research compiles scattered documentary evidence to present the history of Montana midwives from territorial days through the legislative events of 1989 and 1991. The efforts of midwifery supporters in the Montana legislature prevailed over organized and well-funded opposition from individual physicians, medical organizations, and hospitals, and resulted in statutory changes that enabled the licensing of homebirth midwives. With a strong rural representation, the 1989 legislative body supported the availability of midwifery care for constituents unable to access urban medical centers. The lobbying strategy employed by midwifery advocates embodied a sophisticated understanding of the conflict between midwives and institutionalized medicine and utilized beliefs about gender and Montana identity to enable legislative success. Additionally, the individuals most closely involved in the lobbying process remained committed to a clearly defined agenda. As a result of their efforts, Montana became the ninth state in the nation to legalize and license homebirth midwives and remains a national leader in homebirth midwifery care.