History
Bio
Nora is originally from Decatur, a small town in southwest Michigan. In her time at Duke, she has been lucky enough to participate in multiple study abroad programs and meet new people from all over the world, but she still retains an interest in communities like hers. In the future, she plans to work in the field of public history and help people explore their own local history.
Thesis
See full thesis: Radical Reform Movements in Kansas, 1890-1914
Faculty Advisors: Sally Deutsch / Reeve Huston
Thesis Abstract
Reform movements have long served as opportunities for middle- and working-class Americans to show their dissatisfaction with the two major political parties. The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were a time of great upheaval as poverty and corruption ran rampant and Americans began to voice their frustrations. Kansas witnessed numerous third-party reform movements during this time, of which the two largest were the Populists and the Progressives. Both parties saw a great deal of support in Kansas but failed to achieve similar results in most other parts of the country. Strong coalitions that appealed to numerous diverse constituencies were a vital part of the success of small movements. This thesis analyzes the coalition building practices of the two parties and examines how the groups within each coalition changed the parties themselves. This thesis also considers what these shifting coalitions say about the nature of political participation in Kansas and throughout the United States.
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